American and Hyatt Launch Reciprocal Benefits for Elite Loyalty Members

Elite members of American’s AAdvantage and Hyatt’s World of Hyatt loyalty programs will soon be able to earn reciprocal benefits. In a partnership announced last week, elite members of the AAdvantage program will soon be able to earn miles when booking Hyatt hotels while World of Hyatt members will earn points when booking on American.

Challenges, like giving opposing loyalty members a fast track to elite status, are also on the radar. An Executive Platinum member on American, for example, will soon get a shortcut to earning Globalist status on Hyatt.

For a while it seemed that partnerships like this were going the way of the dodo. Crossover Rewards, the reciprocal program famously employed by Delta and Starwood, went pear-shaped in 2018 when the Marriott and Starwood loyalty programs fully merged, and American’s relationship with Hilton has always been at arm’s length. In today’s economy where frequent travelers are used to their loyalty programs eroding, a promotion that flatly adds benefits to both sides of a relationship is a breath of fresh air.

Is it wrong to feel suspicious?

— Grant Martin, Business of Loyalty Editor

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Skift Business of Loyalty Editor Grant Martin [gm@skift.com] curates the Skift Business of Loyalty newsletter. Skift emails the newsletter every Monday.