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When I fired up the AA app this morning I found a new promotion available in the promotion tab. I’m Hyatt Globalist, and a few days ago a trial status became available for AA elites to try out Hyatt Explorist status. Now, AA accounts have been targeted for a trial AA elite status period for those who keep Hyatt status. It looks like Globalists have been targeted first, but keep an eye out as I have a feeling more will be targeted.
I started the year with Hyatt Explorist Status and no status with American. I don’t chase elite status with any airline, I choose the cheapest fares, and even purchase Spirit Elite status because the benefits off a couple flights outweighed the cost of the status. I will literally fly anything in the Continental US and only value business class on international travel, and the occasional transcontinental flight of 5+ hours or more…and usually not even then.
I wound up landing Hyatt Globalist status because of the lucrative Bilt Rewards promo earlier in the year whereby any Bilt Rewards member could get 3 months of Hyatt explorist with an opportunity to keep Globalist through 2/25 if they stayed 20 nights in 90 days. I fulfilled that challenge, and it has ended up netting my AA Platinum Pro as well because of the AA/Hyatt parnership.
If you’re unaware of this partnership, make sure you link your accounts. You’ll earn AA miles when you stay at Hyatt properties ( in addition to World of Hyatt points ), and Hyatt points when you fly AA ( in addition to AAdavantage miles ).
Let’s take a look at this promotion for trial AA status.
AAdvantage Instant Status pass for Hyatt Elites
- Register by October 12, 2023
- Get Status for 4 months
- Keep status for another 4 months by fulfilling the following requirements in 120 days
- Gold – 13,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum – 25,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro – 42,000 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum – 67,000 Loyalty Points
The secret Loyalty Point weapon – AAdvantage Hotels
Aadvantage Hotels earns you AA Loyalty Points on bookings and they can be absolutely massive. In addition to the base rate, AA Elites and AA Credit Card holders earn even more
- Capped at 15k LP
- 5x bonus for AA credit card holders
- 5x bonus for AA Elites
- If you do a “check out” boost – those will only earn you AA miles, not Loyalty Points ( not worth it imo ).
Since I’ve been given a trial AA status, and I keep a Barclay Aviator Red Business Card, I’ll get a 10x boost on any hotel booking. This could be advantageous in the next 4 months if I’m looking to stay at a hotel that isn’t associated with any brands I have status with since I’d not only earn AA miles, but AA Loyalty Points that could secure status.
This is just a quick example, but for about $600 I could earn 13,600 AA mile and 13,600 Loyalty Points with a 4 night stay. Let’s say those AA miles are worth 1.5c – I’d be getting about $200 back in the form of AA miles, and securing Gold status for another 4 months. I won’t be doing this, but that’s about $400 net for an additional 4 months of Gold status.
Overall
I went ahead and registered. There is the possibility I will be use the Aadvantage Hotels trick on an upcoming trip to pick up a few extra AA miles, and who knows, maybe I hit Gold. Otherwise, I’ll have the status for 4 months and lose it. Something gained, nothing lost. Amazingly, I’ve done this in the past, and they just keep targeting me. That was my concern last year, when the same thing happened, and lo and behold, I’m targeted again – ruling out being precluded from the promo for past participation.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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