Hyatt Dropped One Airline Partner and Signed Another Within Hours

Hyatt told members on Wednesday that it will not continue its loyalty relationship with American Airlines. Hours later, it announced a long-term partnership with Delta Air Lines that will let the two programs feed each other.

When the Delta collaboration launches in the coming months, eligible World of Hyatt elite members will earn World of Hyatt points on qualifying Delta flight purchases, and Delta SkyMiles Medallion members will earn miles on qualifying stays at participating Hyatt hotels. Hyatt has not yet published the detail that matters most to frequent guests: enrollment rules, eligibility tiers, and how many points or miles a stay or a fare will actually produce. Those specifics are due in the months ahead, along with a set of invitation-style experiences tied to both programs.

The swap lands hardest on travelers at the top of the Hyatt portfolio. World of Hyatt is the redemption currency for Park Hyatt, Alila, Miraval and The Unbound Collection, where award nights at properties like Park Hyatt Tokyo and Alila Villas Uluwatu are among the harder-earned redemptions in the industry. An American Airlines earning path disappearing changes the math for anyone who had been routing flight spend to build toward one.

Hyatt has been busy with the program this year. It restructured the World of Hyatt award chart in May, and said on its July earnings call that membership had reached 69 million, up 17% year over year.

The deal also fits a pattern. IHG signed a loyalty partnership with Air India last week, and Marriott is pushing its program into corporate booking tools through a deal with Spotnana. Hotel groups have concluded that a loyalty program confined to hotel stays is worth less than one that follows the guest to the airport, and they are buying their way into the rest of the trip.