Hyatt’s loyalty programme World of Hyatt is now offering tier status and benefits extensions to all members globally amid the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide.
Hyatt said the membership status and benefits will be extended for all existing elite members without having to re-qualify. According to the hotel group, no matter what a member’s status was as of March 31 this year – whether Discoverist, Explorist or Globalist – it will be automatically updated to reflect the new expiration date of February 28, 2022.
All elite tier extensions should be reflected in members’ accounts no later than April 15, 2020, Hyatt added.
Previously, World of Hyatt only offered the extensions to members based in the Asia-Pacific region.
The hotel group said it is also suspending the forfeiture of points through December 31 this year. According to the group, points do not expire, but they will be forfeited if a member’s account is inactive for 24 months.
It added that all unused Free Night, Suite Upgrade or Club Lounge Access awards with expiration dates between March 1 and December 31 this year will be extended to December 31, 2021. The hotel group said this includes existing awards and awards that may be earned throughout this year with a 2020 expiration date.
According to the group, the award extension will be generated by World of Hyatt and members do not need to take action. What’s more, awards that expired between March 1 and March 31 this year will be replaced with new awards on April 20, 2020. All other qualifying, unused awards will be updated by the 20th day of the month, in which the award would have originally expired.
Meanwhile, Hyatt is extending its changing and cancellation fee waivers through June 30 this year.
According to Hyatt, all existing reservations booked on or before April 1 for arrivals through June 30, 2020 can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before the scheduled arrival. The hotel group said this also includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations.
What’s more, it added that reservations booked between April 2 and June 30 this year for any future arrival date can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before the scheduled arrival.
While Hyatt said this includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations, it added that the only exceptions are reservations booked after April 1, 2020 at Destination Residences and Special Events Rate reservations booked after April 1, 2020. It added that the cancellation policies for a Special Event Rate will be noted in the rate’s Rate Rules section when booking.
According to Hyatt, reservations can be changed or cancelled up to 24 hours before a scheduled arrival on hyatt.com or via the World of Hyatt app.
The hotel group also advises guests who booked via online travel agents or other third parties to contact their booking provider for information on their policies and for assistance.
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific is updating a list of hotel groups that are waiving changing and cancellation fees for stays due to the global coronavirus crisis:
