Hyatt Mattress Run: Part 2 | How We Earned Hyatt Globalist Elite Status for Two Years
At the end of 2020, we wrote about the possibility of doing a Hyatt mattress run. The allure of earning Hyatt Globalist status for two years (through February 2023) and earning points in a hotel program we hadn’t participated in yet had us contemplating all of the possibilities! With a stacking of a few promotions, like a 50% reduction in elite qualifying nights required, the doubling of elite night credits for each stay, and the improved World of Hyatt Chase credit card offer, we could easily earn our way to Hyatt Globalist faster than ever before.
Ultimately, the path to Hyatt’s top elite status for two years and a healthy amount of Hyatt reward points was simply too enticing for us to pass up!
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Hyatt Globalist Mattress Run Overview
We started reading and hearing about the opportunity to do a mattress run and get Hyatt Globalist elite status through February 2023 (that’s two years!) at the end of last year. When the promotions were extended and the mattress run seemed simply too good to pass up, we wrote a piece on how we could get Hyatt Globalist for two years. Check it out for more detail on the promotions and requirements that we took advantage of.
To summarize, here are the milestones to getting Hyatt Globalist elite status.
Promotions and Signups:
Hyatt Globalist status requirements of 60 elite qualifying nights was reduced to only 30 nights.
Sign up for the World of Hyatt rewards program
Apply for the World of Hyatt credit card
Before Dec 31, 2020 and receive 10 elite qualifying nights (after Dec 31, 2020 and receive 5 elite qualifying nights)
Earn two elite qualifying nights for every $5,000 spent
Sign up bonus: 50,000 Hyatt points, tiered at 25,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 (within the first three months) and an additional 25,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 more ($6,000 total) in the first six months.
Bonus Journeys (no longer available): Register by Jan 15, 2021 and valid between October 1, 2020 and Feb 28, 2021. Earn double elite nights (base elite nights for the check-out year & bonus elite nights credited for 2021), meaning any check-out date for 2021 up to Feb 28th will earn double elite nights. On top of that, you’ll earn triple points for hotel stays and Hyatt credit card holders will earn quadruple points at select properties.
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What’s a Mattress Run?
The basic concept of a mattress run is to book a qualifying hotel stay(s) that triggers a promotion in which you earn reward points or elite status with the hotel's rewards program.
However, depending on who you ask the execution can vary greatly. On one side of the spectrum, you have people who book a hotel room with no intention of actually sleeping in the room. On the other side, you have people who take full advantage of the room and stay for the duration of the booking (e.g. stay-cation, vacation abroad).
As you can probably figure out, we’re the latter and choose to make an adventure of every mattress run we undertake!
For more details on what a mattress run is and other travel hacking terms, check out our travel hacking glossary.
Other Mattress Runs We’ve Done
We started dipping our toes in the world of travel hacking around the time we met in 2007/2008.
“The possibilities of travel hacking seemed too good to be true but we quickly realized that traveling for ‘free’ was all very real and very possible.”
The landscape for travel hacking has changed a lot in the last 15 or so years but we’ve adapted our methods and adventures along the way.
Best Rate Guarantees
Not exactly a mattress run, but a hotel hack that we enjoyed to the fullest was BRGs (best rate guarantee). There are still many BRGs out there, however Wyndham had one of the best BRG policies that’s sadly no longer around. Essentially, if you could find a better price for a Wyndham property on a non-Wyndham booking site (think Hotels.com) then they would give you the night for free. That’s right, completely free!
We were able to get free nights for our full vacations in both Florida, United States, Ontario, Canada and Quebec, Canada.
If you’re wondering how to travel internationally, or simply vacation nearby and not spend a fortune on airfare or hotels, then we’d like to welcome you to the world of ‘travel hacking’. See what credit cards we carry, and how we take full advantage of the points and miles we’ve earned.
SPG (now part of Marriott)
Our first official mattress run was with SPG, which has since been acquired by Marriott.
To do that mattress run we asked SPG to match our Hilton elite status and they obliged by giving us a challenge. We could match our then mid-tier Hilton status by completing a handful of nights at SPG properties, or we could upgrade to SPG Platinum elite status by going the distance and staying a total of 18 nights.
We accepted their challenge and it was a grand adventure! Our 18 nights were split between Brussels, Belgium, Istanbul, Turkey, and Cairo, Egypt.
Luckily, when SPG was bought by Marriott our Platinum elite status was carried over and we’ve maintained our Platinum status with Marriott over the years.
Hilton
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a 41 night stay Hilton mattress run in Queretaro, Mexico.
“We extended our Diamond elite status for an additional year and completed the stay by earning more Hilton reward points than we paid!”
The adventure wasn’t just that we did 41 nights in Queretaro, Mexico, but that we did it all by single night stays cycling between four different Hilton category one hotels.
Deciding to do a Hyatt Mattress Run… During COVID-19
We’re very cautious when it comes to COVID-19. We don’t eat out, we always wear a mask in public spaces (sometimes two!), we maintain at least six feet of social distancing, we sanitize our hands regularly while outside of the home, we’re careful of what we touch, and before touching anything when returning home we thoroughly wash our hands.
“So, when we were contemplating a mattress run that required us to fly and stay in a hotel room it wasn’t a decision we took lightly. ”
First, it’s a tricky situation to be in. The main reason the Hyatt Mattress run was so obtainable was because of COVID-19. But then, COVID-19 was the exact reason we considered not doing the mattress run. So it was a decision that needed to be made carefully.
Air Filtration
When assessing the increased chances of exposure to COVID-19 we took into consideration that the air on a plane is circulated frequently through a filtration system (HEPA) with a large percent of the air coming in being fresh (World Health Organization).
Sanitizing Kits
We travel with a ‘COVID-19’ kit, which includes wipes, sanitizing gel or spray, and masks.
Personal Precautions
We can also control our own space on an airplane by wiping down everything in our row, from the tray tables to the seatbelt buckles and the armrests to the window. We choose to wear two masks while on a plane, and while indoors and on the plane we don’t remove our masks for any reason. Additionally, we sit window and middle seat to avoid close contact with people walking in the aisle.
“It’s not 100% prevention, but we take every precaution we can.”
In our opinion, we have more control and less exposure risk on a plane than we do in a grocery store. We could very well be wrong, but we doubt that grocery stores are sanitizing the entire store and all of the products top to bottom every night.
The Hotel Room
Once in the hotel, we can take our time to wipe down and sanitize every surface. Then, while it means no cleaning service for the duration of our stay, no one enters our room until we’ve checked out.
“With these precautions in mind we decided to go for it and do the Hyatt Mattress run and get Globalist status for two years (through February 2023)!”
Note: Please exercise caution and your best judgment on whether or not doing a mattress run (or traveling in general) is worth it to you during COVID-19. We’re not advocating for people to do or not do it, we’re simply sharing our experience.
Our tool box is full of resources! From travel hacking to house sitting, digital nomad jobs to privacy and security, financially independent retire early (FI/RE) to entertainment, plus travel hacking (credit cards, miles, points, and rewards), and much much more…
Planning Our Hyatt Mattress Run
In our first article about Hyatt mattress running we discussed that after all of the promotions and getting the World of Hyatt credit card we’d need to stay nine nights to get Globalist status for two years.
However, after sitting on the idea for a while we decided that we’d be able to meet the spend requirement on the Hyatt credit card to get an additional two elite qualifying nights. Therefore, we only needed to book seven nights at a Hyatt property to complete the mattress run!
Planning the Mattress Run Logistics
Now on to the logistics and planning!
Choosing the Hyatt Property
There were several variables that we considered when looking for a property to stay at for the required seven nights.
Low cost per night
Walking distance to a grocery store
Low cost airfare
Close to an airport
We took every one of these into consideration and didn’t actually choose the lowest priced hotel. We ended up choosing the Hyatt Place Denver Tech Center for the following reasons:
Southwest had tickets for about 5,000 miles roundtrip from San Diego (SAN) to Denver (DEN).
At about $67 a night it wasn’t as cheap as an option we considered in Aguascalientes, Mexico, but it was within $10 per night of the least expensive US properties (taking into consideration resort fees… yes we mean you Las Vegas!).
It was a short 10 minute walk to a Kroger grocery store, making meals simple and inexpensive.
It was a mile walk to a light rail (RTD) station that went to the Denver Airport (DEN).
Only One of Us Could Go
We both enjoy the adventure and of course each other’s company but sadly, only one of us could do the mattress run this time. It’s a shame too, because we have the Southwest Companion Pass which lets us fly on Southwest 2-for-1, meaning it wouldn’t have cost us anymore to do the Hyatt mattress run together.
However, we were in the middle of a house sit in Carlsbad, California when we decided to take advantage of this opportunity. One of us had to stay back and care for the home and Bailey the Golden Retriever. It wasn’t a burden by any means (an adorable dog and a house three blocks from the beach!), but we were both itching to travel.
Ultimately, it made the most sense for Shannon to make the trip since the World of Hyatt credit card was in her name and once travel was allowed again in the corporate world, Shannon would be the one traveling more frequently.
So, Shannon won the coin toss this time!
Our Hyatt Mattress Run Experience
The Flight and COVID-19 Precautions
In any public place we proceed with caution. The moment Shannon stepped out of the car and walked up to the airport terminal she was double masked, went out of her way to social distance herself, and was keenly aware of every surface she and her belongings touched.
The experience at the San Diego Airport (SAN) was different and much better this time (compared to our flight from SAN to PDX in March 2020).
The airport had plexi-glass barriers between employees and travelers at desks and TSA check points.
Our bag wasn’t taken for additional security checks and everything wasn’t pulled out piece by piece until they were wiping and testing the seams of the bag.
There was sanitizer stocked and strategically placed throughout the airport.
Southwest enforced not only wearing a mask, but didn’t allow valve masks or bandana type masks. They even provided free disposable masks if you needed one.
Shannon took her COVID-19 precautions a step further and kept her two masks on at all times, opting not to eat or drink anything for the duration of her travel (from the San Diego airport terminal to the Denver Hyatt Place hotel room). She was also very glad to have a row to herself on the roundtrip flight.
The one thing that took discipline and planning was social distancing. Unfortunately, this isn’t something everyone does but realize that sometimes it’s as simple as just forgetting!
Uber During COVID-19
Once in Denver, Colorado it was well past sunset and weighing the pros and cons of taking late night public transportation and the time it would add to her travel, we both agreed it was wise to take an Uber.
Her driver was extremely kind, had a plexi-glass shield between the backseat and the front of the car, and wore his mask appropriately. The ride added $38 to our Hyatt Globalist mattress run, but it was worth the safety precautions and the time saved!
Staying at a Hotel During COVID-19: Hyatt Place Denver Tech Center
Check-in
Shannon was welcomed into the lobby of the Hyatt Place Denver Tech Center with a giant bottle of hand sanitizer for guests. Sadly, that’s the best type of welcome you can get these days.
Check-in was simple and both Shannon and the front desk person were protected by a plexi-glass barrier. Contactless payment was very much appreciated and made the process pretty simple!
Disinfecting the Hotel Room
Once in her room Shannon began a meticulous 20 minute disinfection process.
Hyatt was kind enough to leave a few alcohol wipes in the room, but they simply weren’t sufficient for more than a wiping of the remote and a couple light switches. We don’t doubt that the room had been sanitized before arrival, but unfortunately there’s simply no way to be 100% certain that it was done thoroughly or that the person doing it didn’t have COVID-19.
Once settled in and the microwave that the front desk attendant was happy to have sent up arrived, Shannon ate a quick bite and called it a night.
The rest of the stay was thankfully routine.
Room Cleaning
We don’t have anyone clean our hotel room under normal circumstances, so requesting no room service for the duration of the stay was typical protocol for us.
WiFi / Internet Speed
The internet connection was strong enough for Shannon to take her work video calls throughout the day and stream Netflix in the evening. We suspect the hotel wasn’t anywhere near capacity, so we’re not sure if this would still be the case during normal travel times.
Of course, Shannon used a VPN when accessing the internet to keep the connection encrypted and secure.
Breakfast
Sadly, breakfast did suffer because of COVID-19. Guests went from hot breakfast buffet options to mostly high sugar high carb to-go options (banana, sweet muffin, granola bar, oats, and cereal). Thankfully though, there was a grocery store within 10 minutes walking distance.
If you’re reading this Hyatt Place, hardboiled eggs and a breakfast sandwich option would be much appreciated!
Checkout
The staff were kind and helpful, and checkout was just as contactless as check-in, if not more so since you don’t even give someone your room keys. Instead you drop your key(s) into a sanitizing bucket and your paper sleeve into a (hopefully) recycle bucket.
Denver Public Transportation
Rather than an Uber back to the airport, Shannon opted to take the train. It was a 90 minute journey and turned out to be in light snow and 20 degree weather, but nothing we can’t handle!
Unfortunately, because of the snow she walked a bit more cautiously (i.e. slower) and she got to see the train leave the station as she attempted to purchase a ticket.
“However, she soon realized it probably wouldn’t have mattered because the ticket machines weren’t accepting cash or credit?!”
We still don’t know what option was left to actually purchase a ticket, but thankfully a bus driver came to the rescue!
Not only did she sell Shannon a ticket to the airport (we carry around emergency cash that we almost never need but saves our butts in moments like this), but she also invited her on the bus and explained that her bus route that would get her to the airport faster than waiting for 30 minutes in the freezing cold for the next train.
Shannon was so grateful that she made a point to thank the driver before departing the bus. Comically, this led to her missing the connecting airport train by a mere 15 seconds! However, it was only a 15 minute wait for the next train and she had a chance to thaw out in the warmth of the heaters before arriving to the airport!
Quick tip for the Denver Airport (DEN)
Every time we’ve flown out of the Denver Airport the South TSA Security entrance has been full with long wait times. However, when we try the North TSA Security entrance, there are, if not shorter lines, no lines at all.
If you don’t want to walk to the North TSA entrance (you’ll likely enter the terminal closer the the South TSA entrance), you can always ask an employee standing at the entrance to the TSA lines if the North side is a shorter wait.
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Getting Hyatt Globalist Status
With the seven night stay under our belts, the promotions applied and the World of Hyatt credit card in hand, we were well on our way to Hyatt Globalist until 2023!
We needed to spend additional money on the World of Hyatt credit card (above the original amount we spent to earn the signup bonus points) to earn two more elite qualifying nights. This might seem like a tall order if you’re aware of our yearly budget over the last two years (2020 Budget and Lifestyle: Living on $7,000 a Year During COVID-19). However, as consultants we pay our state and federal taxes quarterly.
“There’s a small fee to pay taxes with a credit card, but in this case the benefits outweighed the cost. ”
Once we paid our taxes with our World of Hyatt credit card it was simply a matter of waiting for all of our elite nights to post.
The nights earned from Shannon’s seven night hotel stay in Denver posted right away and the nights from the credit card posted in less than a month.
The stacked promotions we leveraged expired at the end of February, but by then we’d not only completed our mattress run, but had officially earned Hyatt Globalist!
Final Thoughts
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and the world is seeing hope as COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out.
One of the reasons we decided to undertake the Hyatt mattress run wasn’t simply for the adventure, but also because of our optimistic belief that WE WILL travel again.
So watch out, whether it’s six months or a year, we’ll be back exploring the world! And now, we’ll be able to do it in the comfort of Hyatt hotels with the points and status we’ve earned.
