Suite Upgrade Awards Online

One of the absolute best perks of working your way towards Hyatt Globalist is earning Suite Upgrade Awards. These valuable perks allow a Hyatt member to confirm a suite upgrade any time a standard suite is available. Previously, these were only usable via a phone call, twitter, or email. As of this week, you can use Hyatt Suite Upgrade Awards online! Thanks to our friend, Spencer, at PointsWire (and Straight to the Points) for noticing this change. Now, let's get to all the details.

RELATED: If you're considering spending to Globalist status, the best option is the World of Hyatt Business card.

What are Suite Upgrade Awards?

Suite Upgrade Awards are one the best milestone rewards in the World of Hyatt program. A Hyatt member earns suite upgrade awards at these elite qualifying night levels*:

• 50 elite nights – 2 suite upgrade awards
• 60 elite nights – 2 suite upgrade awards
• 70 elite nights – 1 suite upgrade award (or 10,000 points)
• 80 elite nights – 1 suite upgrade award (or 10,000 points)
• 90 elite nights – 1 suite upgrade award (or 10,000 points)
• 100 elite nights – 1 suite upgrade award (or 10,000 points)

_{^{*Note, you can also earn these awards at corresponding levels of base points earned, but most award travelers do not focus on base points earned.}}

Once earned, a member can apply a suite upgrade award to a reservation booked with cash or points. Sadly, stays that include a free night certificate are generally not eligible. Each suite upgrade award is good for up to 7 nights on a reservation and is good for any standard suite. As long as a standard suite is available, you can apply a Suite Upgrade Award.

Using Awards Online

On a rolling basis, select Hyatt properties now allow you to use your Suite Upgrade Awards in the Hyatt mobile app. For now, this only appears at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue and was included in a mobile app update released on November 8. However, PointsWire confirmed with a representative from Hyatt that this is rolling out on an on-going basis and we should see additional properties soon.

Why is this such a big deal? Prior to this week, you had to email, tweet or call World of Hyatt after you confirmed a reservation and request a suite upgrade. Depending on response times, this process could take a few hours to a few days. In the interim, there was is always a chance that the suite availability with points would disappear, thus causing your Suite Upgrade Award to not be usable. Now, you can instant book directly into a standard suite at the time of booking. This is a major positive for anyone holding these powerful Suite Upgrade Awards.

Suite Upgrade Awards Online: ToP Thoughts

Anytime there is an IT update that is user-friendly, it is great news. When this user-friendly update is related to World of Hyatt, it's the bee's knees! Let's hope widespread access to using Suite Upgrade Awards online rolls out rapidly.

Do you use Hyatt Suite Upgrade Awards? Have you found other properties where this works? Please let us know your data points in our Facebook group.