Seagull689

Current situation: globalist, 58 EQNs. I currently have 3 cat 1-4s with expirations around mid 2024, a future cat 1-7 once I hit 60 nights. EQNs earned this year were pretty even split between credit card spend (18), work trips (22), vacations (18). Having a second kid in December so I fully expect the vacations to go down significantly next year. If the work trips can maintain around the same number, I'd just have to charge more to the credit card to make up the other nights. I will spend that money organically regardless, just will "pay" for it in opportunity costs by not using a more "efficient" credit card. To re earn globalist, I have a couple options:

• spend about $1k more on the personal credit card to hit the $5k milestone in 2023
• use 2 of the free night certs I have at local hotels 10-20 mins away. These would be purely mattress runs and we likely not even stay the night. Just check in, come back the following morning for the free breakfast. I also need 1 more night for the 3k bonus journeys promo, so there's another benefit

I'm certainly leaning toward option 2, as there is a chance we may not be ready to travel with in infant in the first half of 2024. Better to use the certs before they expire. I also like the idea of "saving" the credit card spend to pass that $5k milestone in 2024. Thoughts from the experts?

Schnit

If you would spend the 1k anyway, that is certainly the easiest way to go

craigthemif

Cat 1-4 certificates as a mattress run are a quite expensive way to do it... A cheaper mattress run would probably be worth it thanks to the 3k bonus points.

+1 for just spending more on the card.

js1993

What's the difference?

If you're not sure you can use two Cat 1-4 certs by "mid-2024," then you shouldn't worry about Globalist at all.

Seagull689

At this point, I’m just not sure what 2024 travel will look like. Yes, by mid next year if globalist is out of reach, I’m not going to spend money to chase it. At least for now, I want to at least stay on track to re earn through whatever means are available.

It’s a lot easier to earn the status when you already have it.

js1993

In any event, spending the $1,000 seems like the easy choice here vs. wasting two mid-2024 certs on a mattress run.

jameswes

100% agree, spend $1K on your card and get the bonus nights now to requalify for globalist next year. It's not worth burning 2 Cat 1-4 certs which should be worth at a minimum $150+ each.

With life changes it's hard to know what will change. Who knows, maybe you'll want to do family vacations just to get out of the house

sethb

Globalist is nice for business trips, which someone wouldn't use certs for.

Matt4200

Just as a reference once our baby hit 6 months we traveled a ton. He’s currently 2 and has been on 22 flights and multiple 1-2 week road trips.

Seagull689

That's helpful. Those 1-4 certs could definitely be used for some road trips to San Diego then

js1993

Right, but we were talking about night credits. There's no difference between night credits from certs or from spending $5,000 on the WoH CC.

xooz

Assuming you are one who pays off the credit card every month, adding $1K spend to the card seems a no brainer. You can even just pre-pay bills you otherwise will be paying in the future so that you aren't spending unnecessarily but just spending early.

Schnit

My electric company lets me pre-pay up to $1,500 for a flat $3.25 fee. Its a great way to hit minimums or spending thresholds

MDtravels

A third option is to buy $600 worth of gift cards from Mr and Mrs Smith through Hyatt's current promo (link here). This will get you 2 EQNs (1EQN per $300 gift card), plus 5 at least 5 base points per dollar (more if you buy the gift cards using your WOH CC. This gift cards never expire so you have some time to use them for yourself or someone else.