Hyatt club lounge access award: Can you use it for someone else?
The World of Hyatt loyalty program offers its members Milestone Rewards starting at 20 nights or 35,000 base points in a calendar year. One of the perks you can earn through the World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards program is club lounge access awards.
Here’s what you need to know about these awards, including whether you can use club lounge access awards for someone else.
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World of Hyatt club lounge access awards
You earn Hyatt club lounge access awards as Milestone Rewards. In particular, you’ll earn two club lounge access awards after staying 20 qualifying nights or earning 35,000 base points in a year. You’ll also earn two more club lounge access awards after staying 30 qualifying nights or earning 50,000 base points in a year.
Once you earn a club lounge access award, it is valid for the calendar year you earned it, plus an additional 14 months. You can track your awards and their expiration dates through the Awards section (also called My Awards in some places) of your account.
You can only redeem club lounge access awards for reservations with a checkout date on or before the award’s expiration date. But remember, you can only redeem a club lounge access award before checking in for a stay. Club lounge access awards are valid on stays of seven consecutive nights or less.
Only stays at participating Hyatt properties with a club lounge qualify for club lounge access award redemptions, and access is always subject to availability and space limitations. Not every Hyatt brand participates in this option, even if it has properties with club lounges.
The following World of Hyatt brands do not accept these awards:
- Caption by Hyatt
- Hyatt Place
- Hyatt House
- Hyatt Ziva
- Hyatt Zilara
- Miraval
- Destination by Hyatt Residences
- Hyatt Vacation Club hotels and resorts
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To use a club lounge access award at a participating property, you must pay an eligible rate or redeem points for a standard room free night award, a suite free night award or a points and cash award. You can’t use club lounge access awards with any other free night awards, including free night awards from the World of Hyatt Credit Card or the Hyatt Brand Explorer promotion, and you can’t redeem them for stays at hotels or resorts that have not yet opened.
Keep in mind, too, that you won’t get complimentary breakfast in another venue if you use a club lounge access award and the lounge isn’t accessible. So, you’ll want to ensure the lounge will be open before you use a club lounge access award for a stay.
Related: The best Hyatt beach hotels in the US
Using club lounge access awards for someone else
If you don’t have World of Hyatt Globalist status — which offers club lounge access as a perk — club lounge access awards can be a great way to snag lounge access on a particular stay. As such, these awards can be valuable to World of Hyatt loyalists who stay enough nights in a calendar year to earn these awards but not enough nights to earn Globalist status.
Unfortunately, World of Hyatt Globalist members usually won’t have much use for the club lounge access awards they earn each year as Milestone Rewards since they already get club lounge access as an elite perk. Because of this, Globalist members may wonder whether they can use their club lounge access awards to give friends or family club lounge access.
The World of Hyatt terms specifically address gifting awards in Appendix B, section II.a.13. In particular, the terms note:
Members may request that certain awards be issued to another person. Free Night Awards, certain Room Upgrade Awards, and Points + Cash Awards are currently eligible to be gifted to another person, as permitted under this provision. Club Lounge Access Awards (defined below), Complimentary Suite Upgrade Awards (defined below), and non-stay awards (such as Dining, Spa and More Awards) are currently not eligible for gifting (and are therefore non-transferrable).
So, while you can’t gift your club lounge access awards to another person, there are still several ways to share your World of Hyatt perks with other travelers.
Related: How much value does World of Hyatt status provide when you book directly?
How to share World of Hyatt perks with other travelers
If you are traveling with others, you may want to book multiple rooms per night at the same hotel or resort. After all, World of Hyatt members can earn points on up to three rooms per night within the same hotel or resort.
Based on World of Hyatt’s terms, only the member’s room will receive World of Hyatt benefits. However, you could apply club lounge access awards to other rooms in your reservation if you want to treat your travel companions to club-level access when traveling together.
World of Hyatt Globalist members can also book Guest of Honor awards for other travelers. In particular, when a Globalist member redeems World of Hyatt points to gift a free night award to someone else, the traveler gets Globalist perks on the stay. These perks include club lounge access (if available) and space-available room upgrades (up to standard suites) at check-in.
Related: 7 airline and hotel loyalty programs that let you give the gift of elite status
Bottom line
Club lounge access awards are valuable to World of Hyatt loyalists who don’t already get lounge access through top-tier Globalist status. You’ll earn these awards as Milestone Rewards each year when you pass the 20 qualifying nights or 35,000 base points threshold and the 30 qualifying nights or 50,000 base points threshold. So, lower-level World of Hyatt elite members can unlock club lounge access a few times each year thanks to these awards.
However, since these awards can’t be gifted to other travelers, Hyatt Globalist members may find very little use in having them. After all, Globalist members get lounge access as an elite perk when staying at Hyatt properties with a lounge.
The primary time Globalist members can use club lounge access awards is when booking multiple rooms on one reservation at a property with a club lounge. But unless you travel with family or friends to a Hyatt property with a lounge, you may not have any need to book more than one room.
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