There are plenty of ways to earn hotel status besides spending 30, 50, 60 or more nights in a hotel. For instance,

• Amex Platinum members get to opt into Hilton Gold status, which helps you avoid the room over the HVAC and gets you breakfast or a food and beverage credit. It also comes with the option for Marriott Gold, which gets you 2 p.m. checkout at most hotels.

• Hotel credit cards broadly will usually confer some sort of status. Hilton’s premium card comes with top tier Diamond, but of course Diamond doesn’t come with much. They don’t guarantee upgrades to unsold suites, and don’t even promise late check-out. Marriott’s premium card comes with mid-tier Platinum, that gets you lounge access or continental breakfast, should help avoid the worst rooms, and does guarantee late checkout at most hotels.

• GHA Discovery, the program that dozens of small independent chains are part of, actually lets you earn top tier status after just 3 nights… if those three nights are spent with different brands in their portfolio.

• Airline status can come with hotel status! American Airlines ConciergeKey members get Hyatt Globalist. United Golds and higher get Marriott Gold. Similarly, Air Canada 50K elites and higher get Marriott Gold. Singapore Airlines status can get both Marriott and Shangri-La status.

• Sketchy outfits sell hotel status.

Grand Hyatt Washington D.C.

I’m more interested in the classic ‘mattress run’, though. Mileage runs are (were) flying solely for the sake of racking up the miles. Mattress runs are checking into hotels just for the sake of earning hotel status. This can make sense when you’re very close to a status level and need a push to get over the top.

Someone spending 59 nights with Hyatt – with plans to do the same or more the following year – might easily make another night’s stay just to earn Globalist status, a free night certificate, and receive access to a dedicated Hyatt concierge.

• This can take a bit of time. You usually need to go to the hotel and check-in. (It often doesn’t matter whether or not you spend the night, even if technically you’re supposed to, and even if you’ve booked a multi-night stay.)

• And you may not be anywhere near a cheap hotel. Isn’t it a shame that there are super cheap hotels in some parts of the world, people can earn elite status with $50 hotel nights and you’re stuck somewhere high cost where you’re looking at $400?

Check-in at the Hyatt Regency Amsterdam

There are solutions to this! One reader shared that with their currently-planned travel they’re on pace to hit 100 nights. Hyatt awards extra benefits every 10 nights, so they’d be disappointed to get stuck at 99. There’s a cheap Hyatt they were going to check in at and not stay even though they were traveling on business. The hotel was inconvenient and not very good, so they preferred to stay elsewhere.

However just as they were about to drive over to the property, they got a text. The hotel is oversold and are they sure they really want to check-in, or maybe they just want the elite credit for checking in?

How did they know? Other than, perhaps, this reader has done it with this property before. The bed would never have been slept in. Maybe that was noted!

I call the number, speak to [redacted] and he says “Ah yes, we are at capacity tonight so I am calling some guests to confirm they are coming”. And I said – well hey, perhaps we can do a deal – I don’t check in, you check me in remotely, and I don’t have to do the drive from up here. He said sure… just checkout in the app to get your folio…

This isn’t exactly kosher, and I do wonder how this would look on their books to Hyatt… not this one stay, but the hotel actually running at over 100% capacity. Sure, someone could check in for a few hours, check out, and the hotel turns over that same room and rents it again. But if they’re doing it too often they might stand out. One hotel in China created a lot of problems selling elite status.

Back when I was Starwood-focused (in addition to Hyatt), I chatted up the overnight manager at an Aloft in a small town. It was my 100th night. She offered that any time I needed extra cheap nights she’d be happy to check me in and out remotely. They were happy for the extra revenue.

Aloft and Element Dallas Love Field

Thirteen years ago Radisson’s Club Carlson ran the ‘Big Night Giveaway’ and I earned 100,000 points on just two one-night stays. It was really generous and a big money-loser for them. My award booking partner Steve Belkin found the cheapest Radisson, found their slowest and cheapest night during the promo period, and worked out a deal with the franchise property – he’d give them a spreadsheet, they’d pick up 100 room nights, and didn’t need to bring in housekeeping…

And of course when Hyatt and MGM were partners, you could book cheap midweek stays at – say – Excalibur and check in using the MGM mobile app. You didn’t even need to set foot in Las Vegas to generate inexpensive Hyatt elite nights.

When in Vegas these days, plenty of people stop by the Rio and check-in on a cheap weeknight. It’s a great value for Globalists who don’t pay the resort fee. Some may come back for free breakfast, but few actually want to sleep at that hotel. Sadly you do need to physically enter that hotel to generate elite night credit with Hyatt. The phantom check-in play simply doesn’t work with Hyatt in Vegas any longer.