The World of Hyatt program allows loyal members to earn elite status and enjoy benefits and preferential treatment when staying at Hyatt hotels.
The highest status tier, Globalist, is where members receive the most perks, including suite upgrades, free breakfast, and more.
If you remain faithful to Hyatt, there’s also a pathway for the most loyal members to earn Lifetime Globalist status, affording you access to all the perks without needing to re-qualify every year.
What Is World of Hyatt Lifetime Globalist Status?
Globalist elite status is the only World of Hyatt status tier that has a lifetime equivalent.
Unlike all other World of Hyatt elite statuses, Lifetime Globalist status can only be earned through the accumulation of “Base Points”. In other words, it doesn’t matter how many nights you stay at Hyatt hotels, or even how many years you’ve been a World of Hyatt elite member.
In fact, the only way to earn World of Hyatt Lifetime Globalist status is to earn 1,000,000 Base Points throughout your membership period.
It’s important to note that World of Hyatt bonus points and points earned through credit card spending don’t count towards the required Base Points.
Instead, you’ll need to earn 5 Base Points for every US dollar spent at Hyatt hotels on eligible room rates and eligible incidental charges. This means, you’ll have to spend $200,000 (USD) at Hyatt hotels and resorts to reach Lifetime Globalist status.
As a World of Hyatt Lifetime Globalist member, you’ll receive all of the same benefits offered to regular World of Hyatt Globalist members, including the following:
- Free breakfast for up to two adults and two children
- Access to club lounges, where available
- Room upgrades, including standard suites (subject to availability)
- Guaranteed late check-out of 4pm
- Free parking on award stays at participating Hyatt hotels
- Access to a Hyatt Concierge agent
What’s more, Lifetime Globalist members will receive an annual gift of one Category 1–7 Free Night Award and four Suite Upgrade Awards.
Once a World of Hyatt member earns Lifetime Globalist status, they’ll enjoy all of the above benefits for the remainder of the member’s natural life, until the World of Hyatt program is terminated, or the member’s World of Hyatt membership is terminated, whichever occurs first.
If Hyatt removes the Globalist tier, for example, they may transfer Lifetime Globalist status into a comparable elite tier.
In fact, this happened in 2017, when Hyatt transferred all previous Lifetime Diamond status members from the Hyatt Gold Passport program to Lifetime Globalist status in the updated World of Hyatt program.
World of Hyatt Lifetime Globalist Status vs. Earned Globalist Status
Unlike Lifetime Globalist status, regular World of Hyatt Globalist status can be reached by earning Base Points or by earning qualifying nights.
You can reach this status year after year by earning 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 Base Points (spending $20,000 USD) in a calendar year.
There are some slight differences between the benefits that come with earning Globalist status in any given year versus earning Lifetime Globalist status.
As we’ve already mentioned, Lifetime Globalist members receive all of the same benefits as regular Globalist members, plus a Category 1–7 Free Night Award and four Suite Upgrade Awards.
Comparatively, members who earn Globalist status by reaching either 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 Base Points each year receive additional perks through World of Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards.
After earning 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 Base Points, Milestone Rewards perks include a Category 1–7 Free Night Award, two Guest of Honor Awards, two Suite Upgrade Awards, and the My Hyatt Concierge feature.
Lifetime Globalist members can also enjoy this great feature, as they can continue to earn Milestone Rewards in addition to the yearly benefits as long as they meet the milestone requirements.
Given this, if you’re a Lifetime Globalist member and reach the required number of qualifying nights or Base Points every year, you could double up on the Category 1–7 Free Night Award, bank even more Suite Upgrade Awards, and continue to benefit from your spending and stays at Hyatt hotels.
In terms of benefits during your stays, Globalist and Lifetime Globalist members should be treated equally; however, hotels and resorts can distinguish between Lifetime Globalist members and regular Globalist members.
Depending on the property, Lifetime Globalist members may receive preferential treatment.
Is It Worth Pursuing World of Hyatt Lifetime Globalist Status?
World of Hyatt Globalist status is arguably the best hotel loyalty status to have, and World of Hyatt Lifetime Globalist status comes with even more benefits.
That being said, it’s hard to ignore the steep price tag of $200,000 (USD) attached to Lifetime Globalist status. In order to reach this level of spend at Hyatt hotels, you’d need to stay 1,000 nights at a cost of $200 (USD) per night.
As a point of comparison, Marriott Bonvoy’s Lifetime Platinum elite status can be reached after earning 600 qualifying nights, plus 10 years of Platinum Elite status. If we assume the same $200 (USD) per night cost, this status would only cost $120,000 (USD).
Additionally, it’s actually possible to earn Bonvoy’s Lifetime Platinum elite status without spending any money at a Marriott-affiliated hotel. This can be achieved by earning the required number of qualifying nights through spending with co-branded credit cards.
Comparatively, there’s no way of getting around World of Hyatt’s spending requirement.
With this in mind, the question really is: should you spend $200,000 (USD) for World of Hyatt Lifetime Globalist status?
All things considered, it’s difficult to say yes to this, since even if you were to spend, say, $5,000 (USD) per year at Hyatt hotels, it’d still take 40 years to earn this prestigious status title.
That being said, if you can meet the spending threshold, or if you travel a lot for work, then your situation may be different, and Lifetime Globalist status may be much more in reach.
What’s more, if you’re able to earn Lifetime Globalist status while you’re still relatively young, and the World of Hyatt program doesn’t go through any drastic changes, you could enjoy the benefits of Lifetime Globalist status for 40, 50, even 60+ years.
One final thing to note is that you can earn regular World of Hyatt Globalist status without spending money at Hyatt hotels by earning qualifying nights through spending on World of Hyatt co-branded credit cards.
Chase offers two Hyatt-branded credit cards, and depending on which card you hold, you can earn qualifying nights for just becoming a cardholder and for every $5,000 (USD) or $10,000 (USD) you spend.
If you earn 60 qualifying nights in a calendar year through this method, you’ll enjoy the same benefits as you would by having Lifetime Globalist status, plus the perks earned through Milestone Rewards.
For most people, earning 60 qualifying nights is certainly easier than spending $200,000 (USD) at Hyatt hotels. However, with this method, you’ll have to earn the 60 qualifying nights every year to keep enjoying the Globalist benefits.
Conclusion
The World of Hyatt loyalty program is one of the best hotel loyalty programs around. Through the program, you can earn Lifetime Globalist status and enjoy elite benefits for the rest of your life.
The benefits offered at this status level are quite substantial, with annual Free Night Award and Suite Night Awards, on top of all the usual Globalist perks.
However, in order to earn Lifetime Globalist status and enjoy these benefits, you’ll have to spend $200,000 (USD) to earn 1,000,000 Base Points.
While this is certainly a considerable cost, if you’re able to reach this lofty threshold, you’ll be handsomely rewarded.