World of Hyatt offers an array of benefits to members but the top perks are reserved for top-tier Globalists including free breakfast and complimentary suite upgrades at check-in along with confirmed suite upgrade awards. But one of the perks of the perks you can start earning as a Hyatt Milestone Award at 40 nights is the Club Access Award.
This award is a bit confusing for many Globalists. After all, a key benefit of Globalist status is guaranteed club access at participating Hyatt hotels on every stay. So how can you use Club Access Awards? Luckily, as part of its 2024 updates, World of Hyatt made some enhancements that make these awards more useful for Globalist members.
In this post, we’ll go into what the Club Access Award is and how you can optimize your use of these awards whether you’re a Globalist or not.
In this post:
What Are Hyatt Club Access Awards?
Hyatt Club Access Awards are part of the Milestone Rewards program. This is separate from the elite qualification tiers and offers additional perks to World of Hyatt members as they reach specific thresholds each calendar year.
Each club access award can be used for up to seven (7) consecutive nights at a hotel’s club lounge. They are valid on eligible paid rates (including Hyatt Privé rates), free night awards, and Points + Cash bookings.
To apply an award to your stay, contact Hyatt in advance since they cannot (yet) be redeemed through your online World of Hyatt account. I usually do this by emailing My Hyatt Concierge (a 60-night Milestone Reward) or DMing @HyattConcierge on X (formerly Twitter). You can also call World of Hyatt if you prefer.
How Do You Earn Club Access Awards?
You’ll have the chance to earn Club Access Awards as your Milestone Award twice per year.
- After earning 20 qualifying nights or 35,000 base points
- After earning 30 qualifying nights or 50,000 base points
You’ll have the option to select 2 Club Access Awards at both 20 and 30 nights meaning you can earn up to 4 of these awards every year.
At both the 20 and 30 night thresholds, you’ll have the option of choosing between 2 Club Access Awards or the following alternatives:
- A $2K Next Stay Award: earn 2,000 bonus World of Hyatt points on your next stay at a Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Caption by Hyatt, or UrCove hotel (within 180 days).
- $25 FIND Experience Credit: $25 off on booking a FIND Experience. FIND Experience Credits are transferable.
Given the benefits of the Club Access Awards, they’re probably now the most valuable award you can select at both of these thresholds assuming you have a way of utilizing them and unlocking at least some value.
What Are the Benefits of a Hyatt Club Access Award?
World of Hyatt Club Access Awards can be applied to bookings of up to seven days and give 2 registered guests access to a hotel’s club lounge during their stay.
These awards can be applied on various booking types, including eligible paid rates, Hyatt Privé rates, free night awards, and Points + Cash bookings, but not on bookings made with free night certificates or non-eligible paid rates.
Club Access Awards are valid through the year they are earned plus an additional 14 months. In other words, an award earned in January 2024 and December 2024 will both remain valid until February 2026. Stays must occur before the expiration date.
In a major change, these awards are now transferable. If you earn a Club Access Award, you can use them yourself or transfer them to a friend or family member.
Validity and Expiration of Club Lounge Access Awards
World of Hyatt Club Lounge Access Awards are valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which they were earned and an additional 14 months thereafter. They must be redeemed prior to their expiration date, lest they be forfeited. You can track these awards through the “My Awards” section of your World of Hyatt account.
Participating Hotels and Restrictions
Keep in mind that Club Lounge Access Awards are only redeemable at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts with a club lounge. They can’t be used at Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Miraval, Destination by Hyatt Residences, Vacation Ownership Properties hotels and resorts since those properties don’t have club lounges, or any other property that lacks a club lounge.
Club lounge access is subject to availability and space limitations, and awards cannot be redeemed when making a reservation at a hotel or resort that has not yet opened.
That makes this a pretty limited award in terms of the footprint of properties it can be used at but that doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptional properties that you can redeem the benefit at, especially internationally.
How Did Club Access Awards Work Before 2024?
As discussed above, the Club Access Awards are part of World of Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards program.
Before 2024, members automatically got a set of 2 Club Access Awards after staying 20 elite qualifying nights or earning 35,000 base points in a year. You earned another set of 2 Club Access Awards at 30 qualifying nights or 50,000 base points in a year.
Milestone Rewards are earned independently of elite status so this held even if you already had Globalist status with automatic access to lounges, you’d be credited 4 club lounge access awards every year in the process of requalifying. Prior to 2024, you also could not gift these awards, meaning finding a way to maximize these awards was quite difficult.
Now, you have the option to gift these awards and you can choose different Milestone Rewards at thresholds you’d previously get Club Access Awards.
Essentially, there were two scenarios where these awards could come in handy:
- If you were traveling with a group and booked multiple rooms, you could use a club lounge access award to secure lounge access for the second room. This would allow your friends or family to enjoy access to the lounge as well.
- If you didn’t requalify for Globalist status but had club lounge access awards in your account that were valid past your status expiration date, you could secure club access for yourself using these awards.
Of course, these were pretty niche uses. Of all of World of Hyatt’s Milestone Awards, this was probably the least useful to the average Globalist with many of them gathering dust in World of Hyatt accounts…
The icing on the cake was that club access awards were one of the few World of Hyatt benefits that cannot be transferred to others traveling without the member who earned them so even redeeming points or free night certificates for friends or family wasn’t a use-case for these awards, any guest you booked a stay for like this would inherit your Globalist benefits for their stay including club access as a Guest of Honor.
In my case, Club awards were the only World of Hyatt benefit that I regularly allowed to expire without use.
Full Terms & Conditions of World of Hyatt Club Access Awards
The full terms & conditions of the Club Access Award as published in the World of Hyatt terms are below:
Club Lounge Access Awards are valid for the remainder of the Calendar Year in which they were earned, plus an additional fourteen (14) months thereafter. These awards are valid in connection with reservations with a checkout date on or before the expiration of the award. Awards not redeemed prior to the expiration date of the award will be forfeited. Club Lounge Access Awards can be tracked through the “My Awards” section of the Member’s account. A Member must redeem Club Lounge Access Awards prior to check-in for the underlying reservation.
Club Lounge Access Awards are redeemable only at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts that have a Club lounge and are not valid at Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Miraval, Destination by Hyatt Residences, or Hyatt Vacation Club hotels and resorts. Club Lounge Access Awards are valid on nights for which the Member has paid an Eligible Rate or has redeemed points for a standard-room Free Night Award, Suite Free Night Award, or a Points + Cash Award, up to a maximum of seven (7) consecutive nights. Not valid in connection with any Free Night Award other than those identified above, including, without limitation, Hyatt-branded Credit Card premium and anniversary Free Night Awards, Brand Explorer Free Night Awards, Category 1-4 Free Night Awards (defined below), Category 1-7 Free Night Awards (defined below), Ultimate Free Night Awards (also defined below), or any other promotional Free Night Award. Breakfast will not be provided to a Member at participating hotels or resorts without an accessible Club lounge. Club lounge access is subject to availability and space limitations. Club Lounge Access Awards are not redeemable when making a reservation at a hotel or resort that has not yet opened. (Members making such a reservation will need to contact Hyatt after the applicable hotel or resort has opened (but before check-in for the underlying reservation) in order to determine whether they may redeem a Club Lounge Access Award at that hotel or resort.)
Bottom Line
The World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards program offers valuable perks such as suite upgrade awards, bonus points, and free night certificates. While Club Access Awards may cause confusion for Globalist members who already have guaranteed club access, there are a few niche use cases where they might come in useful.
Using your Club Access Awards when booking multiple rooms or planning future stays without requalifying for Globalist status can help you get value from these usually overlooked awards. While this is not nearly as useful as the Globalist breakfast benefit, Globalist Complimentary Suite Upgrades, and Suite Upgrade Awards as milestone rewards, it’s another way a World of Hyatt membership can elevate your travel experience.
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