New benefits coming for AAdvantage and World of Hyatt elite members — at the expense of reciprocal earning privileges --[Reported by Umva mag]

American Airlines AAdvantage and World of Hyatt launched a partnership in 2019, offering reciprocal benefits for elite members in each program. Since then, we’ve seen a number of limited-time promotions for members, including the ability to pick up instant status (the most recent offer ended in September). Now, the two programs are launching an array …

Oct 9, 2024 - 14:56

New benefits coming for AAdvantage and World of Hyatt elite members — at the expense of reciprocal earning privileges --[Reported by Umva mag]

American Airlines AAdvantage and World of Hyatt launched a partnership in 2019, offering reciprocal benefits for elite members in each program. Since then, we’ve seen a number of limited-time promotions for members, including the ability to pick up instant status (the most recent offer ended in September).

Now, the two programs are launching an array of new perks that select travelers can unlock during the year, including the ability to use AAdvantage miles for Hyatt free night awards, as well as new Loyalty Choice Rewards and Milestone Rewards, all of which take effect in early 2025.

Unfortunately, at the end of this year, the ability to earn bonus American miles on Hyatt stays and bonus Hyatt points on American flights will be removed.

Here’s what you need to know about these new offerings.

No more reciprocal points earnings

Let’s start with the major negative part of this announcement. Right now, AAdvantage elite members receive 1 mile for every dollar spent on qualifying Hyatt purchases. Additionally, World of Hyatt elite members receive 1 point for every dollar spent on eligible American flights.

This perk is ending Dec. 31, 2024.

As someone with AAdvantage Platinum Pro and Hyatt Globalist status, this is a real bummer. Many of my Hyatt stays are booked with points, but I did earn nearly 6,000 bonus American miles for a combination of work and personal stays with Hyatt properties this year. I also earned just over 1,000 bonus Hyatt points for a handful of American flights in 2024.

But do the new benefits offer enough value to offset this devaluation?

New Hyatt benefits for AAdvantage members

You’ll soon have new options for snagging free night awards for properties like the Grand Hyatt Vail. HYATT

Starting next year, American AAdvantage members will see a handful of new options as they earn more Loyalty Points in a qualification year.

Beginning Jan. 2, 2025, you’ll get the ability to redeem AAdvantage miles for Hyatt awards at the following tiers:

40,000 Loyalty Points: Redeem 25,000 miles for a Category 1-4 free night award
125,000 Loyalty Points: Redeem 65,000 miles for a Category 1-7 free night award

TPG pegs AAdvantage miles at 1.6 cents apiece in our October 2024 valuations, so that means you’re using $400 worth of miles for the Category 1-4 award and $1,088 worth of miles for the Category 1-7 award. That’s a significant outlay of rewards, so you’ll want to make sure the paid rates are high enough to justify this redemption.

Additionally, starting March 1, 2025, you’ll have four new Hyatt-related perks as part of AAdvantage’s Loyalty Point Rewards, which are unlocked at specific thresholds during the year:

Hyatt Discoverist status: This will be a new benefit at 100,000 Loyalty Points.
Hyatt Explorist status: This will be a new option at both 175,000 and 250,000 Loyalty Points.
Category 1-4 free night: This will be a new option at 400,000, 550,000 and 750,000 Loyalty Points.
Category 1-7 free night: This will be a new option at 1 million, 3 million and 5 million Loyalty Points.

The first is straightforward, as it’s provided automatically when you reach 100,000 Loyalty Points in a qualification year. While it’s better than nothing, World of Hyatt Discoverist is the program’s entry-level tier of status, and it’s also given automatically to those with the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

The others are a bit more complicated, as you’ll need to forgo other Loyalty Point Rewards in favor of Explorist or the free night award option(s).

You can view the current slate of Loyalty Choice Rewards at this link, but here are some of the notable choices at the 175,000 and 250,000 Loyalty Point thresholds:

175,000 (choose one): two systemwide upgrades, 20,000 bonus miles (or 25,000 if you have an AAdvantage credit card), six Admirals Club one-day passes, two gifts of AAdvantage Gold status
250,000 (choose two): two systemwide upgrades, 20,000 bonus miles (or 30,000 if you have an AAdvantage card), six Admirals Club one-day passes, an Admirals Club membership (which requires both choices), two gifts of AAdvantage Gold status

Is Hyatt Explorist worth selecting over these benefits? Only you can decide, but given how valuable the upgrades or Admirals Club membership can be, mid-tier hotel status may not be the best option.

There’s a similar tradeoff for the Category 1-4 free night. Reaching 400,000, 550,000 and 750,000 Loyalty Points gets you two choices at each threshold — including another systemwide upgrade, another 25,000 bonus miles, an Admirals Club membership (two choices) or the gift of AAdvantage Platinum status. Category 4 properties top out at 18,000 points, which means this free night is worth just over $300 based on TPG’s October 2024 valuations — though it could be higher when revenue rates are high.

Finally, for those super qualifiers, opting for a Category 1-7 free night at 1, 3 and 5 million Loyalty Points means missing the following:

1 million Loyalty Points (select one): four systemwide upgrades, gift of AAdvantage Platinum Pro, up to 100,000 miles back on award redemptions
3 million Loyalty Points (select one): six systemwide upgrades, gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum, up to 300,000 miles back on award redemptions
5 million Loyalty Points (select one): 10 systemwide upgrades, gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum, up to 500,000 miles back on award redemptions

Under the right circumstances, a Category 1-7 property could be worth several hundred dollars — but it’s up to you to decide if that’s more valuable than these benefits.

New AAdvantage benefits for Hyatt members

American Airlines domestic first — New Hyatt benefits could allow you to score first-class upgrades on American flights next year. ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

There’s a similar slate of additions for Hyatt elites as well, though again, these come at the expense of earning 1 point per dollar spent on American flights.

First, as part of Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards program, there will be four new AAdvantage benefits available starting Jan. 1, 2025:

Preferred seat coupons: Members can choose two of these coupons at both 20 nights/35,000 base points and 30 nights/50,000 base points.
Main Cabin Extra seat coupons: Members can choose two of these coupons at both 40 nights/65,000 base points and 50 nights/80,000 base points.
AAdvantage Gold status: Members can choose this at either 70, 80 or 90 qualifying nights.
AAdvantage Platinum status: Members can choose this starting at 100 nights.

Once again, it’s up to you to decide if this is worth it. Twenty nights also includes the option of 2,000 bonus points on your next Hyatt Place or Hyatt House stay (worth $34 based on our valuations) or a pair of club access awards. On the other hand, the price of preferred seats on American varies wildly — some are as little as $13, while select seats on long-haul flights can set you back more than $100.

It’s a similar story for Main Cabin Extra. At 40 nights, you can opt for 5,000 bonus points (worth $85) or a Suite Upgrade Award, and at 50 nights, you can choose another 5,000 points or a pair of Suite Upgrade Awards. I’m a big fan of the upgrades since they allow you to confirm a suite at the time of booking for eligible stays of up to seven nights. However, Main Cabin Extra seats can also be quite pricey, in some cases surpassing $150.

Finally, opting for AAdvantage Gold or AAdvantage Platinum status once you start hitting milestones beyond Globalist status means forgoing additional suite upgrades or 10,000 bonus points at each tier. Again, only you can decide if it’s worth it.

Beyond these new milestone options, Explorist and Globalist members will soon have a new option to redeem Hyatt points and enjoy American status for a day — effectively a short-time status match. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, here are the new options that will take effect:

5,000 Hyatt points: Enjoy AAdvantage Gold status for a day.
8,000 Hyatt points: Enjoy AAdvantage Platinum status for a day.
12,000 Hyatt points: Enjoy AAdvantage Platinum Pro status for a day (only available to Globalists).

This will confer all the perks of the respective status — including complimentary upgrades, free checked bags and even bonus miles on paid tickets (as high as 80% for AAdvantage Platinum Pro). They will also extend to companions on the same reservation subject to the published restrictions. As a result, you’d be best off pursuing these redemptions on high-cost tickets to maximize the elite mileage bonus, on those with the highest chance of a complimentary upgrade and when you have multiple travelers who’ll be checking bags.

However, these redemptions are also the standard award rates for Category 1, 2 and 3 properties, respectively, which can be much more valuable.

Our take

It’s frustrating to lose the ability to earn Hyatt points on American flights and American miles on Hyatt stays, and, unfortunately, the new benefits may not offset this loss for members. Many of the new perks require you to select them over other benefits, so there’s effectively a cost associated with them. This is different from the current iteration of the partnership, where the bonus miles or points were a net addition.

If you’re currently a loyal American flyer and Hyatt guest — especially with significant spending across the two programs — your flights and stays in 2025 may be notably less rewarding.

That said, the new redemption options are somewhat intriguing. It’s true that you’ll need a decent number of American miles to pick up a Category 1-4 or Category 1-7 free night award, but if the paid rates are through the roof, this could be a decent option. Additionally, on the right trip, using Hyatt points to unlock the perks of American status for a day could help you avoid checked bag fees and travel more comfortably.

Just be sure to weigh what you’re giving up by redeeming your miles (or points) in this fashion.

Bottom line

American and Hyatt have announced some significant changes to their partnership for 2025, including the removal of reciprocal earning privileges and the addition of new Loyalty Point Rewards and Milestone Rewards options. Unfortunately, many of the new perks require you to pick them in lieu of other (potentially more valuable) benefits, so this could be viewed as an overall devaluation for some members.

Hyatt elite members will still be able to enjoy bonus points on American flights through the end of the year, while the same holds true for American elite members earning bonus miles on paid Hyatt stays. However, starting Jan. 1, 2025, you’ll have an entirely new slate of perks to analyze and see if any make sense for your specific situation.

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