My 20-night Hyatt Globalist mattress run (Shanghai, Busan)

Hi everyone, Jason here.

Hyatt Globalist normally takes 60 nights a year.

Then a Fast Track showed up: 20 nights in 90 days.

I couldn't resist.

The catch?

Twenty nights aren't free either.

So I tried to do it as cheaply as possible, with what people call a mattress run (booking nights mostly for the status credit).

It started in Mississauga, went through Mexico City and Shanghai, and ended in Busan.

The result: night 20 ended in Busan on September 16, Globalist posted the next day, and I paid $852.75 (CAD) cash for 12 nights (the other eight were points and certificates).

At a glance

All amounts are in CAD, taxes included.

What is the Fast Track?

On July 15, 2026, Aeroplan and Hyatt announced their partnership.

If you have Aeroplan Elite Status or a premium Aeroplan credit card, you can register for a 90-day challenge that gets you World of Hyatt status faster.

• 20 nights within 90 days of registering gets you Globalist
• Award nights and free night certificates count
• Registration closes December 31, 2026

It works the other way too: Explorist and Globalist members get their own Aeroplan Elite Status challenge, coming later this fall.

I came in through a different door

I didn't register through Aeroplan, though.

There's a hotel chain in Vietnam called Wink Hotels.

I stayed at the one in Da Nang once and signed up for their program.

Last December, Wink joined Hyatt as part of the Unscripted by Hyatt brand.

Wink Rewards itself ended on May 31 this year, and Hyatt sent its members a targeted offer.

Same deal: 20 nights in 90 days.

• A 90-day Discoverist trial once you register
• Four nights in 90 days keeps Discoverist, 10 gets you Explorist, 20 gets you Globalist
• Status is good through February 29, 2028
• Registration closed June 30, 2026, and you can only do it once every three years

I registered on June 30, the very last day.

Which meant all 20 nights had to be done by the end of September.

(Also: while one Fast Track is running, you can't sign up for another.)

Who knew one sign-up button in Da Nang would pay off like this.

Night 1: Mississauga (July 19)

My first night was at Hyatt Place Toronto/Mississauga Centre.

I'd heard that paying with an Aeroplan card earns both Aeroplan points and Hyatt points, so I tested it at a cheap Hyatt close to home.

Yes, I slept at a hotel near my own home.

For content 🥲

It came to $139.36 for the night ($116.35 room plus taxes).

Short answer: both showed up.

The bonuses line up exactly with 1 Hyatt point and 0.5 Aeroplan points per dollar on the $139.36 I paid (my own guess at the formula).

That's on top of the Aeroplan points the card earns anyway (mine is the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite).

One thing to know: it's NOT real time.

The bonuses only post after the charge shows up on your Aeroplan card statement.

Mine took five weeks.

That's only because the charge posted a day or two after my statement closed, so it had to wait for the next one.

If posts like this help you, please add your name to the members waitlist.

It helps me keep making them.

Nights 2 to 3: Mexico City

While I was in Mexico City, I used two Category 1 to 4 free night certificates at Andaz Mexico City Condesa.

• One was a gift from a friend (credit to my buddy Rohin)
• One came from converting 25,000 Aeroplan points

The hotel was going for over $500 (CAD) a night at the time, so I'd call that a win.

I was sharing with a friend, so I didn't take many photos.

And as a Discoverist, no breakfast either.

Personally, I found the location a bit awkward.

The Le Méridien and the Hilton I stayed at earlier on that trip were more convenient (reviews of both coming later).

1 / 6

A stopover in Tokyo

This is where the mattress run started for real.

I was heading to Korea to file my residence card paperwork, and I had Aeroplan eUpgrade credits about to expire.

A flight to Tokyo Haneda happened to have eUpgrade space, so I booked it on the spot, then booked a flight onward to Shanghai.

1 / 11

Canadians can currently visit China visa-free (30 days, through December 31, 2026), so I figured I'd go while I could.

Japan wasn't high on my list, but the weak yen makes shopping there really good.

I'm a tennis addict, and tennis rackets in Japan are CHEAP.

So I picked one up at WINDSOR RACKETSHOP in Shibuya.

A brand-new Babolat Pure Aero 98 came to $265 (CAD) after the tax refund 😂

Free strings too (they'd have strung it for free as well, but I didn't have time).

1 / 2

I stayed one night at ibis Styles Tokyo Ginza East for 17,000 yen (about $148).

Not a Hyatt, so it doesn't count toward the 20.

But it was cheap for Tokyo, and I was chasing Accor Platinum, so the timing worked out.

I honestly didn't expect much, and it was surprisingly nice for an ibis.

1 / 18

Review coming.

Nights 4 to 10: Shanghai Hongqiao, and a reality check

Looking around Shanghai, I found a really cheap Hyatt: Hyatt Place Shanghai New Hongqiao.

$44 plus tax a night, 245 CNY all in (about $50.50).

So I booked two weeks and flew in.

Wow, was it far 😂

It didn't look far on the map.

It's about 25 minutes by taxi further west from Hongqiao Airport, which barely counts as Shanghai.

At least taxis are cheap.

I work remotely anyway, it was somewhere new, and there was an outlet mall nearby, so I rolled with it (spoiler: that outlet mall was it).

By day three or four, the reality check hit.

What am I even doing here?

Luckily I'd booked it as two seven-night stays, so I cancelled the second one right away.

Nights 11 to 14: Shanghai Tianshan Plaza

Next I booked four nights somewhere closer to the city: Hyatt Place Shanghai Tianshan Plaza.

Side note: after night 10 at Hongqiao, I'd already moved up to Explorist.

From this stay on, my points bonus posted at 20%.

The in-between tiers kick in right away, before you finish all 20 nights.

It's not close to People's Square or the Bund either, but the neighbourhood is great, there's tons of food, and the subway station is right there.

Really convenient.

It averaged 436 CNY (about $90) a night.

With breakfast included it would have been fine.

Without it, it stung a little.

But honestly, I couldn't have stayed at New Hongqiao one more night 😂

Review coming for this one too.

That brought me to 14 nights.

Side quest: four non-Hyatt nights

After checking out of Tianshan Plaza, I had four nights before Busan, so I used them to try other chains for content.

None of these count toward the 20.

Conrad Shanghai (one night)

The rate came through someone I know and it's way below the normal price, so I'm leaving it out.

1 / 2

Pullman Shanghai Central (one night)

Google Maps sometimes still calls it Pullman Shanghai Skyway.

Just before this, I'd earned Accor Platinum at Mercure Shanghai Xuhui Caohejing, so I went to see what Platinum is like.

I used a free night from ALL PLUS China, Accor's China-only subscription, and got into the Executive Lounge.

You can only sign up for it through WeChat, so I'll write it up properly later.

1 / 7

Hi Inn (海友), two nights

607.64 CNY (about $125).

I went for the HuaZhu account.

As a foreigner, you need one stay before the account is properly verified, and until then you can't even buy their paid membership.

So I picked the cheapest option.

It was the WORST 😂

It even cost more than the Hyatt Places, probably for the location (it's right by the Bund).

Their higher-tier brands, Intercity and Crystal Orange, were great though.

1 / 3

Reviews of these coming too.

Nights 15 to 20: finishing in Busan

I was heading to Busan next anyway, and it turned out Busan had a brand-new Category 1 Hyatt: Hyatt Place Busan Yeonsan.

Checking availability, I found six days in a row at 3,000 points a night.

Category 1 now has five price levels from 3,000 to 9,000 points.

You see 4,500 and 6,000 a lot, but 3,000 is pretty rare.

Lucky me.

One thing I love about Hyatt: award nights count toward Fast Tracks and promos like this.

So I decided to finish the last six nights in Busan and booked them for 18,000 points, September 10 to 16.

The 3,000-point nights opened up one day at a time, so I booked most of them as separate one-night stays.

Six folios, one night each.

In the middle, I took a trip up to Ansan, near Seoul, to file my residence card application (that post is in Korean) and kept the room the whole time.

That's a mattress run for you 😂

The hotel turned out to be way better than I expected.

Being brand new helps, but the location was decent too: right by a subway station, four stops from Seomyeon on Line 1.

Review coming.

1 / 4

The day after my last checkout, September 17, it was official.

The math

I converted the yuan at the Bank of Canada rate on each check-in date.

Your actual card charge can differ a little because of foreign exchange fees.

Spread over 20 nights, the cash works out to $42.64 a night.

Points I got back

It wasn't all spending.

I used 18,000 Hyatt points and got 11,233 back.

The promo was Hyatt's summer promotion (the 2K Bonus Offer): once registered, 2,000 points for every two nights starting with your second stay, up to 8,000 points.

It covered stays from July 1 to September 7, and award nights counted.

I hit the cap: 2,000 at the Andaz and 6,000 at Hongqiao.

Doing the Busan part during the promo would have been even better.

A 3,000-point room with 2,000 points back every two nights (up to the 8,000 cap).

A little bit of a shame.

Final Thoughts

Twenty nights is a LOT easier than 60.

But I still don't think it's worth going out of your way just to chase a status.

My week in Hongqiao proved that 😂

If your travel plans already line up with a reasonable Hyatt, though, go for it.

Same if you can work remotely from somewhere like Hyatt Place Busan Yeonsan at 3,000 points a night.

Just don't wait too long on that one.

I have a feeling it's moving up to Category 2 very soon.

Coming up

• Park Hyatt Busan, where I'm staying soon with Globalist status
• What Globalist benefits are actually like in practice
• Hotel reviews: Andaz Mexico City, Le Méridien, Hilton, ibis Styles Tokyo, Shanghai Tianshan Plaza, Pullman Shanghai Central, and Busan Yeonsan

Doing a Fast Track right now?

Let me know in the comments where you're filling your nights 🙏

The Fast Track terms are as of when I registered and can change. Check the official page before you register.