I recently saw a post on Frequent Miler that details a new promotion from Bilt Rewards. Basically, from today until April 1, you can sign up for a temporary Hyatt Explorist status for a 90-day trial. Then, during the 3-month period from April 17 through July 16, you can potentially earn Explorist status or even earn Globalist status through February 2025. To keep Explorist status, you must have 10 qualified Hyatt nights during the 3-month period. To earn Globalist status, you must have 20 Hyatt nights during that period. And yes, award stays do count! You can read all the details on this post from Frequent Miler.
Why would anyone do this offer? It’s an easier way to earn Hyatt Explorist or Globalist Status. Normally, Explorist status requires 30 nights and Globalist status requires 60 nights. Explorist status opens up matches to MGM, which then opens up possible casino matches for Carnival and Holland America free cruises. (I got 3 free cruises this way! See this post). Globalist status includes Hyatt hotel perks like 4 p.m. checkout, free breakfast and suite upgrades.
More About this Offer
You don’t need to have the Bilt Mastercard to take advantage of this promotion. Anyone can create a Bilt Rewards account for free.
As I mentioned above, Hyatt award nights do count for the total nights required. In addition, there is an overlapping Hyatt Bonus Journeys promotion going on. With this promo, you can get 3000 Hyatt points for every two nights after your second stay. So potentially, you could use your existing Hyatt points to book stays at a Category 1 hotel, get points back with the Bonus Journeys promotion, and earn Explorist or Globalist status for almost 2 years.
Unfortunately, you cannot match your trial Explorist status to MGM. You have to actually earn Explorist status during the 3-month trial by staying 10 nights in order to become a “full” Explorist eligible for MGM match. To me, this is a major bummer.
Mattress Running for Hyatt Globalist?
I see online that many hobbyists are rejoicing at this promotion and going for Globalist status with 20 nights. For some people, having Globalist status is worth it. If you stay at the nicer Hyatt properties often, those suite upgrades and free breakfasts are very nice. To get to the 20 nights during the 3-month time period, most folks need to go on mattress runs (booking and paying for hotel stays solely for hitting the goal you need to get hotel status).
I’m definitely the oddball of the group, because I’m not going for Globalist status. I looked at our travel plans for 2023 and 2024, and decided that for my family, Globalist status isn’t worth the mattress runs. I’ve got a few Hyatt stays coming up, but I already have lounge access for one. The majority of our lodging will be at Airbnbs due to the size of my family and the fact that we’re traveling to Europe multiple times where most hotel rooms only fit 2 people.
But, what about my husband? Should I try to get him Explorist status so that he can get another set of casino matches for more free cruises?
I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. He doesn’t have a lot of vacation time from work, and he would have to be a passenger on the free cruises.
But, I went ahead and signed him up for the promotion anyway. Why not? I created his Bilt Rewards account. Then, through the Bilt app, I connected his World of Hyatt account to Bilt and signed him up for the promotion. He already has 2 Hyatt nights during the timeframe. At this point, I doubt we will make mattress runs to get him up to 10. But, it costs nothing to sign up for the promotion in case we change our minds later.
Readers, are you signing up for this Bilt/Hyatt promotion? What are your plans?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I signed hubby up, too, but probably getting late for those free cruises! Not sure if we’ll do the 10 nights, either. I really blew it a few years ago when he was explorist and didn’t continue the match with MGM! At least I continued it with myself. So thanks to you and others I managed 2 free cruises.
@Lynn I think it’s smart to sign up anyway, even if you don’t decide to go for the full-time Explorist.
Mattress running is easier when you’ve got Tier 1 properties nearby. Living in California, the cheapest near me is 8,000 points a night. I have to do the math.
@Jeremy Yes, for sure. I was hoping that some of the Category 1’s near me would have off-peak redemptions during the window, but they don’t.