Last-minute strategies for earning World of Hyatt status

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As the end of the year approaches, you should consider your progress on any hotel elite statuses you’ve been working toward this year. Log into your account to check whether you’ve earned the status or still need more nights, points or other metrics.

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re striving for World of Hyatt status. Regardless of which World of Hyatt status you’re working toward this year, read on for last-minute strategies to get you across the finish line.

World of Hyatt status overview

Hyatt uses a calendar year for its qualification period, so you’ll need to accrue the following between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 each year:

  • Discoverist: 10 nights or 25,000 base points
  • Explorist: 30 nights or 50,000 base points
  • Globalist: 60 nights or 100,000 base points
Room at Miraval Austin in Texas. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

Once you earn a specific World of Hyatt status, you’ll keep it for the following calendar year, plus two additional months. You’ll also earn World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards each year starting at 20 nights or 35,000 base points.

Related: How much value does World of Hyatt status provide when you book directly?

Strategies for earning more qualifying nights

If you plan to qualify for a specific Hyatt status based on nights, now is a good time to check your progress.

If you haven’t reached your target yet, consider how many nights you’ll get through stays before the end of the year. If your currently planned trips won’t get you to your qualifying night goal, here are some strategies you could use.

Open the World of Hyatt Credit Card

The World of Hyatt Credit Card gives primary cardholders five tier qualifying night credits each calendar year.

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Existing cardholders will get five credits within the first eight weeks of each calendar year. However, new cardholders will get the five credits within eight weeks of opening their card. While that’s cutting it close, these often reach your account much faster, so you’d hopefully receive them in time to help this calendar year.

The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers many useful perks that can easily justify paying its $95 annual fee. Check out our World of Hyatt Credit Card review for all the details.

Related: 6 reasons I love my World of Hyatt Card and plan to keep it for the long term

Spend on your World of Hyatt card

There are two currently available World of Hyatt credit cards: a personal version and a business version. While only the personal version gives you five qualifying nights each calendar year (as discussed above), both offer night credits when you meet set spending thresholds with your card:

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The offer details for both cards state that tier qualifying night credits will apply to the calendar year in which the spending occurred. However, the offer details also say you should allow up to eight weeks from the last day of the calendar month in which your spending met a threshold for tier qualifying night credits to reach your World of Hyatt account.

There’s no cap on the number of qualifying night credits you can earn via credit card spending. So, you could theoretically spend your way to whatever number of nights you need. However, we don’t recommend making purchases you don’t need or can’t afford solely to earn qualifying night credits.

Related: World of Hyatt card vs. World of Hyatt Business card: 2 valuable hotel earners

Plan a new trip or staycation

One final option if you need more night credits is staying more nights with Hyatt. You could do a mattress run at the nearest Category 1 Hyatt hotel to your house, but we recommend making a trip or staycation out of it.

Room at the Hyatt Place Melbourne / Palm Bay / I-95 in Florida. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

You can check out the current Category 1 Hyatt hotels via a map on Hyatt’s website. You can, of course, book a paid rate or stay at a higher-category Hyatt hotel, but we suggest considering award nights at Category 1 hotels since these nights will cost you 3,500, 5,000 or 6,500 points per night. If you have flexibility, use the Hyatt award calendar to find off-peak nights that only cost 3,500 points per night.

Related: Your guide to the World of Hyatt award chart

Strategies for earning more base points

Based on Hyatt’s terms and conditions, you can earn base points as follows:

  • 5 base points per dollar spent on eligible room rates, eligible incidental charges and eligible nonstay charges at any points property other than a Hyatt Studios hotel
  • 2.5 base points per dollar spent on eligible room rates, eligible incidental charges and eligible nonstay charges at Hyatt Studios hotels
  • 10 base points per dollar spent on Find Experiences
SOFIE DELAUW/GETTY IMAGES

Unfortunately, many of the Hyatt points you earn are bonus points instead of base points. So, if you are short of the base points needed for a specific elite status tier, you’ll likely need to spend real cash to top off your base points. Sometimes, getting the remaining nights you need for your desired status might be easier or cheaper than chasing base points. However, this will depend on your specific situation.

Related: How and why to get Hyatt lifetime Globalist status

Other strategies for earning Hyatt status quickly

There are also several other ways to quickly earn World of Hyatt status.

Get a Hyatt credit card

If you only want Discoverist status, you could open the World of Hyatt Credit Card or the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. Both cards offer complimentary Discoverist status for the primary cardholder. The primary cardholder can also gift Discoverist status to up to five employees with the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card.

Room at Hyatt Place Los Angeles/LAX/El Segundo in California. RACHEL MEIER/HYATT

As mentioned above, both cards also allow the primary cardholder to earn qualifying night credits through spending on their card.

Related: Why I aim to spend $15K on my World of Hyatt Credit Card each year

Look for a status challenge

If you have American Airlines AAdvantage elite status and have linked your AAdvantage and World of Hyatt accounts, you can occasionally enjoy status offers with Hyatt.

For example, earlier this year, American AAdvantage elite members could enroll in Hyatt Explorist status for 90 days and snag Hyatt status through February 2026 by staying with Hyatt for a set number of nights within 90 days of enrollment. Unfortunately, this opportunity is no longer open for enrollment, and we’re unaware of any other active Hyatt status challenges.

Related: Complete guide to airline status matches and challenges

Bottom line

It’s always best to earn elite status organically through travel you’re already doing. But, if you find yourself just short of your desired Hyatt status tier as the end of the year approaches, it may make sense to book a few extra nights, spend on your World of Hyatt Credit Card or World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, book a Find Experience or use one of the other strategies discussed in this article to reach your goal.

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