If you’re trying to reach Globalist status or another elite level, don’t make this mistake with your World of Hyatt account. Be sure your Hyatt year end checkout is correct.
You’ve worked hard all year to stay at Hyatt hotels.
Sometimes you’ve gone out of your way and stayed farther away from where you needed to be to get in an elite qualifying night.
But that hard work will mean nothing if you make this mistake.
Good thing, you have time to fix it.
Keep reading to find out what you don’t want to do and how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
Don’t Make This Mistake With Your World of Hyatt Account
Last year I waited until the end of December to requalify based on nights vs points. But I cut it close, like seriously, nerve-wracking close.
Jeff and I booked two nights using Points + Cash at the Park Hyatt Aviara.
At the time, the points + cash rate for the Park Hyatt Aviara, a Category 5 hotel was 10,000 points and $125 a night. Now it’s 10,000 points and 50% of the standard room rate.
The Park Hyatt Aviara had a New Year’s Eve event with live music and other festivities. Jeff and I don’t go out on New Year’s Eve – too many years helping drunk and injured people.
Being able to stroll downstairs, join the party, and be back safely in bed in a few minutes appealed to us.
We checked in on December 30 with a checkout of January 1.
The two-night stay would give me 61 nights for the year. You need 60 nights to earn Hyatt Globalist status. I’d have one extra night more than I needed.
Or so I thought.
What Date You Should Check Out
Your Hyatt year end check out can mean that a view like this or not…
Photo courtesy: Park Hyatt St. Kitts
But there was a little wrinkle in the plan.
With Hyatt, when you check out on January 1, all those consecutive nights count towards the new year.
So my two-night stay counted as two nights for this year instead of last year.
Not good.
For nights to count in the current year, you should check out on December 31.
Pro-tip: Back to back reservations will count as a single reservation.
I knew something was wrong when the “welcome to another year of Globalist status” email didn’t arrive and my account didn’t show as a Globalist.
An email to Hyatt fixed the situation. They were able to split my reservation and show a checkout of December 31. It also meant the second night didn’t count for this year. But I didn’t care.
Keeping Globalist was worth losing one night.
I didn’t want to cut it close again this year so I requalified early.
How Not to Make This Mistake
There’s still time not to make the same mistake I did. With two more nights of the year left, you can still qualify for elite status.
Here’s what you need to do.
If you’re going to check out on January 1, you should book two separate hotels.
Check out at the first hotel on December 31 and on January 1 at the second hotel.
By checking out on December 31, your night counts towards this year.
When you check out on January 1, your night counts towards the new year.
Pro-tip: You get 5 elite qualifying nights each calendar year with the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
And you get 2 elite qualifying nights with every $5,000 you spend on the card. There’s no limit to how many free elite nights you can earn.
The Hyatt card is a quick and easy way to help you earn those nights without having to spend extra money or do mattress runs.
Conclusion
Don’t make this mistake with your World of Hyatt account if you’re trying to requalify for elite status. You’ll want to make sure your Hyatt year end checkout is correct.
If you only need 2 more nights to requalify for Hyatt Globalist, Explorist, or Discoverist, there’s still time.
But make sure you check out on the correct date (December 31) or the nights won’t count for this year.
Consider getting the Hyatt card. You get 5 elite qualifying nights every year plus unlimited 2 elite qualifying nights every time you spend $5,000.
Have you already requalified?
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DD
Sunday 19th of June 2022
We actually had this work in our favor this year... we were well over Globalist for 2021 and had a 25 night stay that extended over the New Year by a couple of days. The whole 25 nights credited in 2022 giving us a nice jump on Globalist. That plus our 5 from the Hyatt card put us 1/2 way there!
Debra Schroeder
Wednesday 29th of June 2022
Hi DD,
Very nice! Great way to jumpstart your requalification.
Carl
Saturday 29th of December 2018
I feel quite fortunate that I also didn’t know this rule last year yet managed to save my last SPG Suite Night Award for New Year’s Eve, therefore checking out of a Hyatt property on the 31st and unknowingly ensuring my 60th night would count.
What I did learn on that same trip, however, is that check-in time matters at Hyatt. I’d arrived on a flight after midnight and went to grab a bite with my friend who picked me up. Once at the hotel, I checked in quickly and all was well. That is, until my stay posted, and I realized I’d received no stay credit (nor earned points) for the first night. What?! I eventually learned that if you check in after the night audit has run (which apparently could happen even before midnight at slower properties), the system automatically marks you as a no-show, and you get nothing. You’d think it would correct this automatically later or alert the person checking you in, but no. Now if checking in very late (as I’ll be doing at GH Manchester tonight), I ask if the night audit has already been run. Hyatt will give you points retroactively when requested, but this can still affect bonuses. Fortunately the Globalist phone person noted that I would’ve earned a promo bonus, so she manually added these points as well. But if this had been a one-night stay at a brand I hadn’t previously explored, I suspect getting the Brand Explorer credit may have required extreme measures.
This year, I’m happily using the check-out rule to my advantage: arriving on the 29th means I’ll have already earned 2019 credit for five nights when I check out on the 3rd.
Debra Schroeder
Saturday 29th of December 2018
Hi Carl,
Thanks for the great tip about check-in time, good to know!
Wow, 5 nights right off the bat plus the 5 from the credit card, that's a great start for 2019. :)