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World of Hyatt and American Airlines have a long-standing partnership dating back to 2019. However, the two companies overhauled the partnership in 2024. Gone are the days of earning Hyatt points on American Airlines flights and AAdvantage miles on Hyatt stays. In their place are new ways to unlock elite status, seat perks, or even free hotel nights.
Here's how the Hyatt and American Airlines relationship works — and how to make the most of it.
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AAdvantage Members Can Choose Hyatt Benefits Through Loyalty Point Rewards
As part of American Airlines Loyalty Point Rewards, AAdvantage members unlock perks at specific Loyalty Point milestones. Among the options are several World of Hyatt benefits:
- 100,000 Loyalty Points: Automatically unlock Hyatt Discoverist elite status
- 175,000 and 250,000 Loyalty Points: Choice of Hyatt Explorist elite status
- 400,000, 550,000, and 750,000 Loyalty Points: Choose a Category 1–4 Free Night Award
- 1, 3, and 5 million Loyalty Points: Choose a Category 1–7 Free Night Award
More information on all the options available to members at every threshold can be found here.
In addition, the partnership lets you redeem American Airlines miles for World of Hyatt benefits once you hit certain thresholds:
- 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
Related: Best Category 1–4 Hotels to Redeem Your World of Hyatt Free Night Awards
World of Hyatt Members Can Choose AAdvantage Benefits Through Milestone Rewards
Hyatt Milestone Rewards allow members to select AAdvantage perks as they reach qualifying night thresholds:
- 20 qualifying nights: Choose two Preferred Seat coupons
- 30 qualifying nights: Choose two Preferred Seat coupons
- 40 qualifying nights: Choose two Main Cabin Extra seat coupons
- 50 qualifying nights: Choose two Main Cabin Extra seat coupons
- 70, 80, or 90 qualifying nights: Choose AAdvantage Gold status for a full membership year
- 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, or 150 qualifying nights: Choose AAdvantage Platinum status for a full membership year
You can see all of the milestones and their respective rewards for members here.
Depending on how often you fly with American Airlines, these rewards may or may not be valuable. Some, like the ability to enjoy Gold or Platinum status for a full membership year, can be especially useful for frequent travelers.
In addition to Milestone Rewards, Hyatt Explorist and Globalist members can redeem World of Hyatt points to earn AAdvantage status for a day. Here are the options:
- AAdvantage Gold status for a day (5,000 World of Hyatt points): Complimentary upgrades when available, one free checked bag, priority check-in, a 40% mileage bonus, and more
- AAdvantage Platinum status for a day (8,000 World of Hyatt points): Complimentary upgrades, two free checked bags, priority check-in, a 60% mileage bonus, and more
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro status for a day (12,000 World of Hyatt points): Complimentary upgrades, three free checked bags, priority check-in, an 80% mileage bonus, and more
Is There Value in the Hyatt and American Partnership?
There's plenty of value to be found in this partnership. That said, not all the benefits will be equally useful to every traveler. Some rewards will feel more valuable depending on how often you fly, where you stay, and how you spend.
Earning Hyatt benefits via AAdvantage
Getting World of Hyatt Discoverist status after reaching 100,000 Loyalty Points with American Airlines sounds nice. However, this status is already easy to get by holding The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees).
In addition to Discoverist status, this card also offers Category 1–4 Free Night Award each cardholder anniversary, the ability to earn higher status through spending, and points redeemable for free nights. For many travelers, that makes earning Discoverist via Loyalty Points less compelling.
- Earn up to 5 free nights. Earn 3 free nights after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, 2 free nights after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. Free nights can be redeemed at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort worldwide.
- Enjoy complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open.
- Get 1 free night each year after your Cardmember anniversary at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort
- Receive 5 tier qualifying night credits towards status after account opening, and each year after that for as long as your account is open
- Earn an extra free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel if you spend $15,000 in a calendar year
- Earn 2 qualifying night credits towards tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card
- Earn up to 9 points total for Hyatt stays - 4 Bonus Points per $1 spent on qualified purchases at Hyatt hotels & up to 5 Base Points per $1 from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member
- Earn 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships
- Member FDIC
- Up to 9X points total per $1 spent at Hyatt - 4X points per $1 when you use your card at Hyatt hotels & 5X points per $1 you can earn as a World of Hyatt member
- 2X points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airlines tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships
- 1X point per $1 everywhere else
Similarly, it's hard to justify selecting Hyatt Explorist status as your one reward upon reaching 175,000 Loyalty Points. Explorist is Hyatt’s mid-tier status and doesn’t offer many concrete benefits. Choosing that option at this level means passing up on much more valuable perks like Systemwide Upgrades or 20,000 bonus AAdvantage miles.
The Category 1–4 Free Night Award at 400,000 Loyalty Points faces the same issue. It's hard to recommend when other options at that tier include Admirals Club membership, 25,000 bonus miles, or Systemwide Upgrades. However, it's nice to have the choice if you already have Admirals Club access, more AAdvantage miles than you know what to do with, and only book premium cabins.
Earning AAdvantage benefits via Hyatt
The AAdvantage status-for-a-day options are more interesting. While 5,000 World of Hyatt points for Gold status is not a stellar deal, the perk includes free checked bags and seat selection, which could save you real money on the right kind of trip.
However, obtaining Gold status with American as part of Hyatt's Milestone Rewards is a much better value proposition. Depending on the time of the year you reach this milestone, you could enjoy being Gold for the year in which you selected the reward, and it wouldn't expire until February two years later.
Bottom Line
It's great to see airlines and hotels — including American Airlines and World of Hyatt — offering partnerships that deliver added value to their respective members.
However, the revised American-Hyatt partnership falls flat for many travelers. The cost to get low-tier or mid-tier status is fairly exorbitant, and the other rewards — like free seat coupons — don't really spark joy. The clearest sweet spot could be status for a day, which grants free checked bags, seat selection, and upgrade opportunities.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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