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One of the unique features of the World of Hyatt program is the Guest of Honor benefit. During Guest of Honor stays, the staying guest enjoys all of the on-site perks typically afforded to top-tier Globalist members.
Here's all you need to know about the Guest of Honor perk, including how to earn it, use it, or otherwise gift it if you're feeling generous.
Page Contents
- What Is a Guest of Honor Award?
- What Benefits Do You Get as a Guest of Honor?
- How to Earn Hyatt Guest of Honor Awards
- How to Use Your Hyatt Guest of Honor Awards
- Gifting Guest of Honor Awards to Other Members
- Earning Elite Night Credits on Guest of Honor Awards
- How to Maximize a Hyatt Guest of Honor Award
- Bottom Line
What Is a Guest of Honor Award?
Guest of Honor Awards are one of the many perks offered to Hyatt members via the Hyatt Milestone Rewards program. They are single-use awards that can be applied to a member's reservation — yours or someone else's. And regardless of their status, help them enjoy the perks of being a Globalist for the duration of their stay.
In the past, Hyatt Globalist members could book an unlimited number of Guest of Honor stays for other members. But that changed in 2024, when the Guest of Honor benefit became a single-use Hyatt Milestone Reward as part of a broader World of Hyatt program revamp.
What Benefits Do You Get as a Guest of Honor?
Any member on a reservation that has had a Guest of Honor applied to it will enjoy a series of on-property perks for a stay of up to seven nights, just like a Globalist would, including:
- Free breakfast or club access for all registered guests (up to two adults and two children).
- Room upgrade upon check-in if available.
- Waived resort fees on some rates and on award stays.
- Free parking on award stays.
- Late check-out until 4 pm — when available.
- Premium internet at no cost.
- Complimentary bottled water.
While some of these perks aren't particularly exceptional (I'm looking at you, bottled water), others can help the Guest of Honor recipient save money and enjoy their stay — such as having resort fees waived, free parking on point stays, or enjoying complimentary breakfast for up to four people every day.
Related: Hyatt Club Access Awards: Your Guide to Earning, Using, and Gifting These Valuable Perks
How to Earn Hyatt Guest of Honor Awards
As part of Hyatt's Milestone Rewards, World of Hyatt members begin earning Guest of Honor Awards upon reaching 40 elite night credits as follows:
- 40 nights or 65,000 base points: 1 award
- 60 nights or 100,000 base points: 2 awards (total of 3)
- 70 nights: 1 award (total of 4)
- 80 nights: 1 award (total of 5)
- 90 nights: 1 award (total of 6)
- 110 nights: 1 award (total of 7)
- 120 nights: 1 award (total of 8)
- 130 nights: 1 award (total of 9)
- 140 nights: 1 award (total of 10)
As you can see, super-frequent stayers can earn up to 10 Guest of Honor Awards by earning 140 elite night credits in a year. While members will only earn a total of three Guest of Honor Awards by the time they qualify for Globalist each year (at 60 nights or 100,000 base points), each additional 10 elite night credits will provide another Guest of Honor Award.
Track your Hyatt Guest of Honor balance and get email alerts before your certificates expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account and then linking your World of Hyatt account to AwardWallet.
Bonus Guest of Honor Awards for Lifetime Globalists
Lifetime Globalist members are surely quite familiar with the Guest of Honor perk. Therefore, Hyatt treats these ultra-loyal members a bit differently. In addition to the Guest of Honor Awards earned through Milestone Rewards, Lifetime Globalists will receive five bonus Guest of Honor Awards every March.
Enjoy Globalist perks before earning Globalist status
Savvy readers may have noticed that World of Hyatt members get a Guest of Honor Award before reaching Hyatt Globalist elite status. That's not a mistake. Instead, it's an intentional aspect of the program.
Travelers who stay 40 nights or earn at least 65,000 base points each calendar year but don't quite reach Globalist status can get a taste of what being a Globalist gets you during a stay. The best part is that, whether you use this award on your own stay or gift it to someone else, it applies to stays of up to seven nights.
That means, for example, that non-Globalists on a Guest of Honor stay can enjoy free breakfast at high-end hotels for up to two adults and two children staying in the same room.
How to Use Your Hyatt Guest of Honor Awards
Previously, Hyatt Globalists could only make Guest of Honor bookings when redeeming their own World of Hyatt points. As of 2024, Guest of Honor Awards can be applied to both eligible paid rates and award bookings alike — or a mix of both through Hyatt Pay My Way. And this applies to both bookings that you make yourself or for someone else (more on this later).
This makes Guest of Honor Awards much more valuable for some travelers. Say you don't have enough World of Hyatt points (or Chase Ultimate Rewards points you can transfer in) for a seven-night stay at a luxury property where Globalist perks would really matter. Now, you can book a paid stay and apply a Guest of Honor Award to that stay.
Or perhaps you have a friend or family member going on a honeymoon. Using a Guest of Honor Award, they can book their own stay using cash or points, and you can enhance it by applying a Guest of Honor Award to that stay.
Related: Sweet Spots for World of Hyatt Award Redemptions
Steps to apply a Guest of Honor Award
If you (or the person you gifted the award to) have an available Guest of Honor award, you'll see the option to use it when making a hotel reservation. Simply click the empty box next to it in the top left of your screen.
When choosing your rate on the next page, you won't find any mention of the Guest of Honor benefit. However, you'll see it on the final page before confirming your payment.
Plus, you'll see a mention of using this award on the confirmation page after confirming your reservation.
Even though Globalists will see the ability to redeem Guest of Honor awards on their own stays now, there is no benefit for doing so. Redeeming a Guest of Honor Award on your own stay only provides benefits if you aren't a Globalist.
For Globalist members, the only benefit from these awards lies in sharing the perks of the program with another member who doesn't have Globalist status.
Gifting Guest of Honor Awards to Other Members
Previously, the only way to grant Globalist benefits to another member was for Hyatt Globalists to make Guest of Honor bookings using their own points. However, the transition to single-use Guest of Honor Awards provided a new benefit: Transferability.
World of Hyatt members can transfer almost any award — including Guest of Honor Awards — to another member. That means you can transfer an award to another member for them to use at some future time; they don't need to have their travel plans locked down at the time you're feeling generous.
Note that awards can only be transferred once. That means the recipient won't be able to transfer the award back to you if they're unable to use it. So, be careful before transferring awards to someone else.
To gift an award from the Hyatt app, navigate to your ‘Account', where you'll see all awards listed with their respective expiry dates.
Tap on the award you want to share, then tap on ‘Gift'.
You'll then need to provide the recipient's last name and membership number — yes, they must be a member in order to receive any Hyatt awards.
The award should show in the recipient's account immediately, and they will also receive an email confirming that their award was shared with them, to get them hyped up about their stay. You also receive email confirmation that the award transfer was successful.
Earning Elite Night Credits on Guest of Honor Awards
To encourage World of Hyatt elites to share their Guest of Honor Awards, members earn one elite night credit each time a Guest of Honor Award is used by another member — whether they're on a one-day or seven-day stay.
Interestingly, that means you can use Guest of Honor Awards to potentially earn more Milestone Rewards — and more Guest of Honor Awards. The one Guest of Honor Award earned at 40 elite night credits or 65,000 base points may not move the needle much. However, frequent stayers will earn a total of six Guest of Honor Awards by the time they reach 90 elite night credits. Redeeming all of those awards could really boost you toward the lucrative 100-night Milestone Rewards.
Keep in mind that the elite night credit will only post to your account once the stay is completed. So, make sure that you factor that timing into your plans for elite status credit.
How to Maximize a Hyatt Guest of Honor Award
Because these Guest of Honor Awards can be applied to stays of up to seven nights, and they confer all of the benefits a Globalist would enjoy while staying at Hyatt properties, there is some serious value to be unlocked here.
They can be put to excellent use at high-end properties where you would otherwise have to pay those pesky resort fees, or where you know the breakfast spread would be phenomenal.
Longer stays yield even better value, as each day multiplies the savings each time you tap into those benefits. If you're traveling as a group, remember that you can register up to two adults and two children per room. Benefits like daily free breakfast just keep adding up.
If the stay is booked using points, an often neglected benefit is that Globalists get comped parking on award stays, provided a third party does not manage the parking. Being a Guest of Honor entitles you to this perk as well, potentially saving you some serious cash to put back into your vacation.
Does it always make sense to apply one of these Guest of Honor awards to a reservation? No, not always. Some properties don't have suites, so no chance of being upgraded. Other hotels offer breakfast to all of their guests, so it would be a waste of an upgrade.
If you're staying at properties that charge no resort fees, it would make little sense to use up an award. At the end of the day, it may still make sense to you, just as long as you know the only difference might be bottled water and premium Wi-Fi.
Bottom Line
World of Hyatt members can earn single-use Guest of Honor Awards through the Hyatt Milestone Rewards program. By using it, they can share the perks of being a Globalist with friends and family, or enjoy themselves if they're not yet Globalists. The Guest of Honor Awards can be applied to paid or point reservations, and when shared with others, it can help you earn even more qualifying nights toward your own status.
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