With so many unknowns on the travel horizon, it’s been interesting to see how companies have responded. From United refusing to issue mandated cash refunds to multiple hotel companies extending free night certificates and elite status, the handling of this unprecedented time has been mixed by the travel industry. About a week ago, Hyatt announced that they would be extending members’ elite status for an additional year. Good news: the Hyatt elite status extensions are here.
Hyatt Elite Status Extensions Through February 2022
Like many programs, Hyatt’s elite period rolls into the first couple months of the calendar year following qualification. I attained Globalist status for 2020 from my 2019 stays, valid through February 2021.
When I logged in this morning to check award inventory after getting a notification from Open Hotel Alert, I noticed the promised status extension had posted. I’m figuring that this has been applied systemwide, so everyone with Hyatt elite status should now see a new expiration date of February 2022.
Final Thoughts
I’m not sure where we’ll actually end up going in 2021. Personally, I’m very optimistic. I have trips on the calendar for May, June, September, and October, and I don’t plan on canceling unless it is shown to be completely necessary. All four of these will include Hyatt stays, if I’m able to go.
I’d actually planned to achieve status for 2021 through a mix of stays plus a substantial amount of card spend. The upside to the Hyatt elite status extensions is that my Hyatt Visa can have a rest. I won’t be needing the elite nights from spend anymore!
I thought free night certs were also supposed to be extended. That did not happen.
I was going to make the same comment. I have one certificate expiring early next month and others later this year. I figure it was an oversight, so I’ll leave it alone for a couple more weeks.
They are. I’m sure they will get around to them soon. I actually did not expect the status extensions to be processed this quickly.