The value of top-tier status declines preciptously as soon as it's available to far greater volumes of people via credit card. Americans who might not be frequent Hyatt users will want to use their hotels in high end properties on their few days away from work - the same hotels that I'd be staying at. It's partly a volume thing, but also partly that hotels no longer feel the same connection to people. Hyatt Globalists have historically been in the top 1% of frequent guests at the chain and would generally have quite a lot of knowledge and affinity with the brand. No more. Look at what happened to Hyatt Diamond and Marriott Platinum - neither of which are even top tier statuses any more as part of a pretty rapid decline in service offering to elites.