As many of you know, today is the roll out of Hyatt’s new loyalty program, World of Hyatt. This replaces the old program, Hyatt Gold Passport.
Since I was matched to Hyatt Diamond Status over a year ago, under the new program I became a Hyatt Explorist. One of the benefits I have been looking forward to most is the Hyatt Explorist 4 free club lounge access upgrade certificates.
My family has enjoyed Hyatt club lounges at a few recent Hyatt stays. We have especially loved the lounges at Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa and Grand Hyatt Denver. The lounges have a great breakfast spread, drinks and snacks during the day as well as a decent selection of hors devours for dinner. Eating in the club lounge has saved my family a bundle on food costs while traveling.
Calling It In
Since I have a stay at a Hyatt resort next week, I was eager to see if I could apply one of these upgrades to the stay that I already have booked on points. Free food? Yes, please!
This morning, I logged into my Hyatt account. Sure enough, I could see my 4 free club lounge access upgrades in my account. The instructions stated I needed to call Hyatt to use them.
I called the number, expecting a horrendous wait time. Thankfully, I was only on hold about a minute until I was connected to a live human. I told her I wanted to apply an upgrade to my stay next week. She put me on hold for about two minutes, came back to the line and said it was done. Easy!
Note that I did not have to cancel my reservation and start fresh to apply this (or maybe the phone representative did that for me). I did ask about applying an upgrade to another future reservation, and I found out that reservations booked on the Friends and Family rate are not eligible for the club lounge access upgrades. I’m actually considering changing my summer reservation to points in order to get lounge access.
Is anyone else calling in today to use the Hyatt Explorist club lounge access upgrades?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Does anyone know how many guests can get the free breakfast at the Club Lounge? My wife and 2 kids are all registered for an upcoming reservation. How many guests get the free breakfast?
@Earl Lee Sorry for the late reply, it’s been a busy week. No worries. You are all eligible for club access.
@Earl Lee I have 5 in my family (3 kids) and we’ve never had a problem getting all 5 of us in the club lounge. Enjoy your upcoming stay!
So, when booking with points, you’re eligible for Club lounge access, but not a Club lounge room? I suppose that’s better than nothing. Anyone ever try mixing cash booking of a Club room with (pure) points booking, and either requesting an upgrade (mere Explorist here), or offering to pay for an upgrade (with either cash or points)? I’d expect the property to consider this, but likely heavily dependent on room availability?
@Daniel I’ve used these Explorist Club Lounge upgrades three times this year and have never been assigned to a Club Lounge room. I bet that most locations would be open to offering a cash upgrade, it’s certainly worth trying.
I am so upset the club upgrades aren’t usable for friends and family rates. I travel with Hyatt a lot and this F&F rate isn’t even that great at my current property — but I need the club upgrade and they won’t let me use it.
@Bob That stinks! Have you reached out to the property directly? Even though Hyatt won’t let you apply the cert, the property may let you have club access as a courtesy. Doesn’t hurt to try.
This perk has been a dud for many, though I had success redeeming one certificate during Christmas holidays. YMMV
@Bob–it is a bummer, but given the choice, I would pick the Friends and Family rate over the free lounge access. We are fortunate to be booked on two F&F rates later this year, and the price is a significant discount. I’ll bring my own breakfast. 🙂
Hi Nancy – do you know if you can apply these lounge club certificates to another reservation when you’re not traveling? My wife will be staying at a Hyatt and I was wondering if they will let me apply a lounge club certificate to her reservation?
@Prashant Nancy is currently out of town due to an emergency. I suggest that you book the reservation in your name and add her as an additional guest. That should work. Technically, it’s a loophole, but I’ve never heard of properties denying benefits to a guest as long as they are listed. Let me know how it goes.
Do you have to use your lounge club certificates by March 1? Or can you make a future reservation past March 1, and use a lounge certificate?
@James Ryan They have to be used by February 28th, 2018.
Here are the terms from Hyatt website:
“Club Access Awards are valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance and must be redeemed in connection with reservations with a checkout date before the expiration of the Club Access Award”
The interesting question here is: What kind of romm will you get?
Are you stuck in the category booked or will you receive an upgrade to Club level…
@Bumsdude I checked my reservation and it indicates that it’s a standard room, not Club level. It’s possible we will get upgraded at check-in, but no guarantees. It’s not a huge thing to me, since the rooms are the same size.
I have been to the wonderful Hyatt Regency Düsseldorf (http://www.bumsbude.eu/2016/09/17/medienhafen-ole/). This hotel has significantly nicer club rooms (located on the top floors): https://dusseldorf.regency.hyatt.com/en/hotel/rooms.html
I think it’s pretty poor that even with club access you might (!) not stay in a club room.
@Bumsdude That looks like a nice property. We’ve stayed in one in Mainz and loved it. The room had a view of the river, which was neat.
As far as club rooms go, I’m just glad we got those certificates, period. I thought that after losing Diamond status we would no longer have lounge access. But yeah, it would be nice to get upgraded to a Club room.
@bumsbude I just returned from a Hyatt after using my lounge upgrade. I was given an upgraded room (with a balcony, and with a sunset view) but I don’t believe it was a “club” room. We were on the 9th floor and the club lounge was on the 17th floor, so I assume that floor had the official club rooms. But, I can’t complain! Half of the rooms at the hotel didn’t have balconies at all, and many didn’t have a view of the sunset.
So jealous of your Globalist status…I’m stuck with Discoverist, but at least I don’t have to pay for resort fees in Kauai. I would love to be able to visit the lounge there though. Enjoy your upgrades.
Not paying resort fees is a huge improvement for the Hyatt program! They can really add up.
Congrats, Nancy! Got mine booked today as well. Hooray! BTW, have you seen this video? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WCqm4H3m3Ew
Oh Diamond status, I will miss you so!
Glad you got yours booked as well! Ha, yes I’ve seen that video. I’m not quite as demanding, I think. 🙂