In early 2024, Marriott and MGM launched a close partnership, with reciprocal opportunities to earn and redeem points, and take advantage of elite perks. The elite perks offered with this partnership have just been updated for 2025, so let’s cover all the details of the partnership.
In this post:
MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy collaboration basics
Marriott and MGM are in an exclusive long-term strategic licensing agreement, branded as MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy. This encompasses 17 properties and over 40,000 guest rooms across the United States, in Las Vegas and beyond.
Of the 17 MGM properties that are part of the MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, five properties are directly affiliated with Marriott collection brands:
- Bellagio Resort & Casino belongs to Luxury Collection
- ARIA Resort & Casino belongs to Autograph Collection
- Park MGM belongs to Tribute Portfolio
- The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas belongs to Autograph Collection
- The Delano Las Vegas has been rebranded as the W Las Vegas
On top of that, seven MGM resorts in Las Vegas belong to MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy:
- Vdara Hotel & Spa
- MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
- The Signature at MGM Grand
- Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
- New York-New York Hotel & Casino
- Luxor Hotel and Casino
- Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Lastly, five other MGM properties in the United States belong to MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy:
- Borgata Atlantic City, New Jersey
- Beau Rivage Biloxi, Mississippi
- MGM Grand Detroit, Michigan
- MGM National Harbor, Maryland
- MGM Springfield, Massachusetts
These properties are all bookable through Marriott channels. As I’ll explain in more detail below, you need to book directly through Marriott in order to earn and redeem points at these properties.
Marriott Bonvoy & MGM Rewards reciprocal elite perks
A key part of this agreement involves offering reciprocal benefits to the more than 200 million members of Marriott Bonvoy and more than 40 million members of MGM Rewards. This includes reciprocal elite recognition, reciprocal points earning and redemption opportunities, plus points transfers between programs.
Let me note that for Marriott Bonvoy members, you’re only able to earn or redeem points, or take advantage of elite benefits, if you book directly through Marriott. So booking through MGM directly would mean you’re not eligible for any perks or points. This is a major restriction that’s quite disappointing, since in many cases you’ll find cheaper rates directly with MGM.
Let’s start by looking at what elite members in Marriott Bonvoy can expect, from the lowest elite tier, to the highest.
Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite members receive the following at MGM properties:
- 10% Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points on qualifying charges
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite members receive the following at MGM properties:
- 25% Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points on qualifying charges
- Welcome gift of 500 Marriott Bonvoy® points per stay
Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite members receive the following at MGM properties:
- 50% Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points on qualifying charges
- Welcome gift of 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points per stay or $20 food & beverage credit per night of stay (the credit is $30 at the W Las Vegas)
- Enhanced room upgrades, based upon availability
- Complimentary 2PM late checkout, subject to availability
- Priority check-in
Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite members receive the following at MGM properties:
- 75% Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points on qualifying charges
- Welcome gift of 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points per stay or $20 food & beverage credit per night of stay (the credit is $30 at the W Las Vegas)
- Enhanced room upgrades, based upon availability
- Complimentary 2PM late checkout, subject to availability
- Priority check-in
- Discounts to select shows at MGM Resorts Destinations, subject to availability
Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite members receive the following at MGM properties:
- 75% Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points on qualifying charges
- Welcome gift of 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points per stay or $20 food & beverage credit per night of stay (the credit is $30 at the W Las Vegas)
- Enhanced room upgrades, based upon availability
- Waived resort fee
- One suite upgrade at a Las Vegas Hotel per year, up to three-night stay
- Complimentary 1PM early check-in and 4PM late checkout, subject to availability
- Complimentary self-parking
- Expedited valet and taxi service
- Priority access on check-in, dining, shows, entertainment venues, pool cabanas, spa, and salon services
- VIP check-in lounge access at W Las Vegas
- VIP line access to select nightclubs in Las Vegas
- Guaranteed hotel reservations within 24 hours
- Fine dining priority reservations
- Dedicated lines at participating restaurants, buffet, cashiers cage
- 15% retail discounts at participating shops
- Discounts to select shows at MGM Resorts Destinations, subject to availability
Those who are MGM Rewards members are also able to link accounts to receive exclusive benefits at Marriott Bonvoy properties:
- MGM Rewards Pearl members receive Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite
- MGM Rewards Gold members receive Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite
- MGM Rewards Platinum members receive Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite
- MGM Rewards Noir members receive Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite
Booking MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy properties
How does booking MGM properties through Marriott work in practice? The good news is that the standard rate you’ll find on Marriott’s website matches the standard rate you’ll usually find on MGM’s website. The bad news is that MGM almost always has special discounted rates for its own members, offering up to 15% off. Those are just bookable on MGM’s website, and not on Marriott’s website.
In other words, as a savvy consumer, you’ll almost always be paying a premium for booking through Marriott rather than through MGM.
When it comes to redeeming Marriott Bonvoy® points at MGM properties, definitely manage your expectations. Keep in mind that Marriott doesn’t waive resort or destination fees on free night awards, and that makes up a significant portion of room rates in Las Vegas.
The redemption value isn’t a set amount per point compared to the cash rate, as there is some variability. However, one thing is consistent — the value isn’t very good. It seems that most redemptions are in the range of 0.5-0.7 cents per point, so that’s not exactly a very enticing redemption.
My take on the Marriott & MGM partnership
For roughly a decade, World of Hyatt and MGM Rewards had a loyalty collaboration, but that was discontinued ahead of the Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards partnership launching.
Clearly MGM dumped Hyatt in favor of Marriott. I assume MGM and Hyatt had a 10-year partnership, and MGM decided that Marriott was a better fit. While World of Hyatt is more rewarding than Marriott Bonvoy (in many ways), there’s no denying that Marriott Bonvoy has a lot more distribution power.
I’d say there are both pros and cons to this partnership, in comparison to the one that previously existed with Hyatt. On the plus side:
- It’s cool that additional MGM properties in Las Vegas have outright joined Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio, which offers more perks to travelers; this is better than just a loyalty collaboration
- Marriott Bonvoy does have a much bigger membership base than World of Hyatt, so a lot more people will likely benefit from this
- It’s cool that MGM properties outside of Las Vegas are also participating in this partnership, while the Hyatt and MGM collaboration was limited to Las Vegas
Unfortunately the execution of this partnership is sort of underwhelming, in comparison to the previous Hyatt partnership:
- Stays at MGM properties only qualify for Marriott Bonvoy if they’re booked directly through Marriott; rates are almost always lower through MGM, so you can expect that you’re essentially paying a premium to get your Marriott Bonvoy perks
- There’s no tier matching from Marriott Bonvoy to MGM Rewards, but rather you just directly get select perks; this also means that you don’t get waived resort fees, unless you’re an Ambassador Elite
So the benefits of this are way worse than with World of Hyatt, but it’s still better than nothing.
Bottom line
Marriott and MGM have a partnership, whereby 17 different MGM properties are bookable through Marriott channels, and five properties have even been integrated into existing Marriott brands, including Luxury Collection, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, and W.
The elite perks for this partnership have been slightly updated for 2025, though not a lot has actually changed. While I don’t love the need to book directly with Marriott, I do like how several properties have directly joined Marriott brands.
What do you make of the Marriott & MGM collaboration?
They still refuse to match Marriott platinum or higher to MGM gold under these new partnership “enhancements”. I’m a Bonvoy LTT and I still can’t even get free parking and resort fee waived unlike back in the days I got all these benefits as a Hyatt globalist.
What is the difference between the properties that joined existing Marriott collections (such as Aria to Autograph) vs those joining MGM Collection?
I visit Vegas once a year for a conference, and thanks to free night credits and business travel in 2024, I've reached Platinum status with Bonvoy. The $20 F&B credit at this level would have been sufficient when Aria had its all-day buffet, but it's now insignificant with the change to the food court. I'll be in Vegas again later this year for another conference, and I'll see how the Platinum benefits play out.
Unless you have to stay at an MGM property, I'd probably opt for The Westin, just off the strip, or one of the non-casino properties.
I don't have to stay at a MGM property. It's more convenience than anything else. Conference being held at the Bellagio. Planning to stay at the Vdara which is a manageable walk to and from. And the rates fall into the threshold that my company allows without having to provide a justification.
Besides the soft stuff that’s impossible to measure (“priority reservations” or “expedited valet”) and the waived resort fee, this is basically standard elite status benefits. The big exception is a F&B credit over breakfast.
The waived resort fees is interesting because the franchise and license agreements that Marriott has in the public domain envision waived resort fees for certain Bonvoy tiers but Marriott has never implemented.
I would be mad if I was...
Besides the soft stuff that’s impossible to measure (“priority reservations” or “expedited valet”) and the waived resort fee, this is basically standard elite status benefits. The big exception is a F&B credit over breakfast.
The waived resort fees is interesting because the franchise and license agreements that Marriott has in the public domain envision waived resort fees for certain Bonvoy tiers but Marriott has never implemented.
I would be mad if I was the owner of a non-MGM property in the Las Vegas area because these benefits could undercut their property. Remember, there were lawsuits and quiet exits when some properties after the Marriott-Starwood merger claimed Marriott was violating their duty to existing properties in the same market.