solewalker

Yep. I don't think I was even shooting for that. It's more of a case of, need a hotel for 21 nights for work in Beijing, have remaining TSUs, and oh wait! They are offering globlite with CC. I guess I can look forward to free breakfast in Hyatts for the next 1 year or something.

solewalker

That's just dreadful. Seriously, who has the time to do this every.single.time? I do applaud those who fight tooth and nail for their benefits, but boy, it's tiring. Sometimes, you just want to check into a place, and be off for the day without having to argue for benefits.

cruisingmickey

Do you know mind sharing the hotel? Thanks.

zombietooth

Andaz 5th Ave.

antonius66

I cannot imagine not finishing LT if I was 92.1% of the way there.

zombietooth

It's become an issue of "sunk costs". I can no longer use the TSUs, which used to be the most desirable aspect of being Diamond, so why invest more in something that is no longer working for me?

Free breakfast or club access just isn't that valuable to me, my loyalty was always all about getting upgraded rooms and suites for long stays.

HoustonConsultant

I've been sitting in the 50s for a couple of months now and moving my stays to Marriott/Starwood, but I just moved a stay at the end of the month back to Hyatt so that I can go ahead and hit 60-night Globalist.

I have a reward stay next June booked that I want to use a TSU, and I don't want to risk the suite availability going away.

One backwards warped benefit of getting the TSUs when you qualify as opposed to waiting until February is that you can lock in suites for spring and summer stays now rather than crossing fingers and waiting until February.

Of course, the ideal thing would be to make the TSUs available and good through the next full year, but it's not like we can expect Hyatt to be nice about the benefits.

CopperSteve

Currently at 47 nights and 57,498 base points. Will be at 50 nights once my current stay at HP NYC hits the account. 18 more nights are already reserved and I've got 4-6 more nights to book. I think I'm going to fall just a little short of LT Globalist by the end of this year, but should hit fairly early first quarter of 2018. Then, I'll be switching a lot of stays to Marriott with a goal of LT Gold there in 4-5 years (I'm currently about 45% of the way).

A larger Hyatt footprint would make me much less likely to want lifetime status with another chain...

eponymous_coward

Took Explorist status/Globalist challenge on a whim when my company email address qualified me.

Looked at traveling for next few months.

LOL'ed and decided I'll enjoy Explorist at the two Hyatt Places (hahahaha) I can realistically use and will let the status expire.

I'm still gonna shoot for Hilton Gold, though, because I can actually STAY at Hiltons when I travel instead of contorting into all kinds of bizarre "I'll stay 30 miles away and fight LA traffic/Oh, look, it's a Hyatt Place/Hyatt House that's $30 more than a Hampton Inn" contortions.

TBH Hyatt Places/Hyatt Houses are fine for my needs, because quite frankly I don't mind limited service hotels if the price is right, but the pricing often doesn't work for me compared to other options (and they only go so far in getting past Hyatt's limited footprint). I get that Park Hyatts are awesome, but if I am staying in one it's self-funded, and the points involved in getting an uber-redemption are silly. I do have a few points I got from some promo or other that have turned into a stay in a Hyatt Place in Tempe during spring training (when the cash paid for a stay is over $200, a 5k/night redemption's pretty sweet).

The fact that Hyatt is offering zippo, bupkiss, nada, nil as far as promos in Q4 2017 while Hilton is handing out 2x points at all properties is a factor as well. But hey, if Hyatt is doing so well they can not offer a promo when Hilton/Starwood/Marriott/Best Western/Club Carlson can all offer them... more power to them.

zombietooth

You should look into the AMEX Surpass card. It conveys automatic Gold status as well as giving you 12x bonus points and fantastic rental car coverage.

eponymous_coward

There are reasons why this isn't an option for me at the moment.

Thankfully, Hilton Gold status challenges essentially involve fogging a mirror, and last well over a year if you time them right (thus allowing them to be performed serially).

sapguy

I was sitting at 16 nights when the Chase Visa 20-nights to Globalist promo email hit my inbox.

So I signed up and moved some nights from HH (will not make Diamond for 2018 unless they offer a similar promo) & even rearranged some award nights to Cash & Points (from Cat 1-7 cert & Anniversary cert) so that those nights will count (side benefit was that I was able to use my TSU at the PHPV ^)

Once I achieve my 20 nights to requalify for Globalist, I will end up with 36 nights or so.

For me, WoH has been OK, not great (60 nights is a high bar) but not bad (got 9 suite upgrades without asking, was able to use 3 of my 4 TSUs already), granted Guest of Honor twice, enjoyed quite decent breakfast & evening meals at lounges), so to be Globalist again in 2018 is fine with me.

I have a feeling that the 25-stays will make a grand return next March! May be WoH will bump it to 30-stays to qualify for Globalist with all the perks? Here is hoping that changes will be happening

CHOPCHOP767

I hit LT Gold with Marriott a few years ago, but then ceased booking with them as a first choice after some terrible experiences at three JW properties. Just two many inconsistencies at the property level and the Gold Benefits (mostly lounge access, or lackthereof, and upgrades, what upgrades?) didn't make up for the subpar service and room comfort. That said, it's nice to have the status just in case I have to use a MR property.

Also, I'm kind of surprised that WOH's top status level is 60 nights. Yes, it mirrors Diamond with HH, but MR is 75 nights. I guess I was with MR for too long.

Of course, Globalist benefits (are there any?) don't do me much good at the HP Richmond/Chester, where I'm currently on work trip.

zombietooth

Until 2015, I never once stayed at a Marriott. But since UA gave me Marriott Gold status, I decided to try them. I still was pretty loyal to Hyatt and Hilton throughout 2015 and 2016, enough to get Diamond with both, but I also got about 20 Marriott nights each year. I found the clubs to be the equal of the Hyatt clubs in proximity (internationally), and got the odd upgrade here and there. Last year (2016) I got several very nice upgrades to suites at Marriott resorts and at SPG after I linked my accounts-this as a Gold.

Since then, I have cut my Hyatt nights as much as I could (still got 43 this year) and am giving all of my high-end business to Hilton and Starriott. I give my low-end business primarily to Wyndham now (never stayed with them before 2015 either) and less with Marriott and Hilton.

In 2017, I haven't gotten one suite upgrade with Hyatt and haven't been able to use even 1 TSU while, as a Marriott/SPG Gold, I have gotten 2 suites (12 nights total, internationally). I am not saying Marriott is a fantastic program, but certainly Marriott Gold is better than Explorerist. I will be Platinum by the end of the year, and we will see how that goes.

edgewood49

Just remember that "globalist" status is the Lite version not full status