tl;dr – If you’re a Hyatt Globalist, it’s time to go to work.
Many folks in the points and miles world bemoaned the big news that dropped last week – Hyatt’s unveiling of its ‘expanded’ award chart, which introduces five redemption levels for each category to times of higher demand. In my opinion, the consensus ‘woe is me’ is a bit overblown. Don’t get me wrong, higher peak rates are bad news, but there’s still a ton of value in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. And for any Globalists out there – you still have a handy tool to help you snap up award availability for future stays, before the new five-redemption-level state of the world takes effect. Points Advance Reservations.
How Do Points Advance Reservations Work?
Points advance reservations are simple. Exclusively for World of Hyatt Globalists members, the points advance feature allows a member to reserve a points booking for a future stay, even if they don’t have the required amount of points in their account. The member need only have the requisite amount of points needed to redeem for the stay, 7 days prior to check-in, or they risk cancellation of the stay or having their reservation converted to a cash rate.
Needless to say, this perk, while valuable at any time, is especially clutch now, after the revelation of the impending changes to Hyatt’s award chart.
As points advance, reservations can be cancelled (they have a cancellation policy just like any other reservation), so long as you’re aware of the cancellation terms, there’s little to no downside to opportunistically holding a room on points, particularly if you can snag the off-peak rate.
How to Make a Points Advance Booking
To make a points advance reservation, you’ll want to find award availability at your desired property with your desired dates, and call into the Globalist line (or hit up your Hyatt Concierge specialist/call the general My Hyatt Concierge line) and request a points advance booking.
If successful, you should receive a confirmation email, and you’ll see the reservation in the upcoming section of your Hyatt dashboard.
Bottom line – If you’ve earned Globalist status, now’s the time to use your benefits and reserve those aspirational properties at their more ‘affordable’ redemption rates before it’s too late!
