A couple of weeks back Hyatt & MGM announced a huge new partnership which goes live today. Through this partnership Hyatt Gold Passport members can earn and redeem Gold Passport points at 12 participating MGM properties in Las Vegas, while M life members can earn tier credits for stays at Hyatt properties.
I think this infographic explains it best. Here’s what’s in it for Gold Passport members:
And here’s what’s in it for M life members:
This partnership is essentially the equivalent of the “codesharing” we see in the airline industry, which is awesome. And it’s funny because Gold Passport is going from having a tiny footprint in Vegas, to one of the biggest.
In terms of redeeming Gold Passport points, the MGM properties in Las Vegas will fall into the following categories:
- Category 2 (8,000 points/night): Excalibur
- Category 3 (12,000 points/night): Luxor
- Category 4 (15,000 points/night): Monte Carlo, New York New York
- Category 5 (18,000 points/night): MGM Grand, Signature at MGM Grand, Vdara, Mirage
- Category 6 (22,000 points/night): Aria, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, THEhotel at Mandalay Bay
So bookings for MGM properties in Las Vegas can now be made on hyatt.com, for both revenue stays and award stays.
Now we just have to wait for August, when reciprocal elite benefits will kick in.
Awesome job, Hyatt and MGM!
Any idea if/when the partnership will expand to include the Beau Rivage in Biloxi? My mother-in-law LOVES that place, and I’ve been trying to get her more into the points & miles game (especially now that my father-in-law is retired).
@ Nick E — I could be wrong, but I think the partnership as of now is only intended to be for Las Vegas properties. Though maybe if it goes especially well they’ll expand it to other properties in the future. Don’t think it’s in the works yet, though.
Yeah, I was a little disappointed when I saw that it only applied to Vegas for now, but I got my hopes up when I saw Mississippi mentioned on the infographic above!
excellent … just got Hyatt Platinum status for free =)
Given that the Vegas properties are generally pretty cheap, I would think this would not be a great value to redeem Hyatt points for free Vegas rooms, but I like everything else about the program.
I have a four night stay at Vdara starting tomorrow, glad I’ll get some points out of it!
Okay time for a bit of a reality check here. MGM’s “M-Life” program is *BY FAR* the worst loyalty program I’ve ever seen in any industry. So people are actually going to pay 8,000 Hyatt points to stay at Excalibur where rooms are $27/night? Keep in mind that you will still have to pay the $15/night resort fee as MGM charges resort fees on comped stays and to elites. So my Hyatt diamond status will match to Platinum at M-Life (the highest tier that’s not invite only and normally requires $200,000.00 in spend or slot play) – what will that get me? Turn-down service, priority taxi, buffet, and valet lines, and priority access to make reservations to spend money in their (ridiculously overpriced) spas and restaurants. I will get a 30% earning bonus on redeemable points so 1.3 points per dollar spent – then I can redeem them for “M-Life Moments”. Great – once I have elite status I can use those points for cool things like “choose the fountain songs at Bellagio.” Great, right? Read the fine print – “maximum 2 songs, one per day, from approved catalog. Must be between 1pm and 5pm. Blackout dates apply. based on availability. $2,000.00 in points must be redeemed” note the $2,000.00 in points doesn’t mean you spent $2000 to earn them, they have a revenue based redemption chart like Southwest Airlines. My advice is be very wary of MGM. They also try to trick their customers as much as possible by hiding things in fine print.
Are we going to have to do a status match type of deal with Mlife (email proof of status) or is it just supposed to be automatic?
@ Bgriff — Agreed, I’m more excited about the ability to earn points/elite stay credit than the ability to redeem points.
@ Totallyrewarded — I see it differently. I don’t really want to redeem points at this property, I want to earn points. As you say, with rates of $27/night, this is becoming the mattress run capital of the world!
And agree the benefits of M life aren’t great, but certainly they’re better than nothing, which is the alternative.
@ Brian — I assume it will have to be requested. That being said, I think it’ll be an easy process. If I had to guess, I’d say there will be an online form where you just enter both your Gold Passport and M life number, and then on the back end they verify everything.
@Lucky – No the alternative in Vegas isn’t nothing – its Total Rewards which is the best loyalty program I’ve ever seen in any industry by far. As a mid-level (Diamond) elite I get lounge access even when not staying at the property, pool access even when not staying at the property, priority lines for Cashier, Loyalty program, buffet, taxi, valet, all other restaurants (like the Gordon Ramsay restaurants), guaranteed comped rooms without using points or instruments of any kind, fantastic upgrades to suites on said comped rooms, personal concierge service from my assigned host, tons of food comps at high-end restaurants some with Michelin stars, resort fees waived on my stays, comped access to night clubs, complimentary airport transfers at about 45 resorts in the US/Canada, early check-in/late checkout, free show tickets every month without using any points, and myriad other freebies like cruises, dining, and entertainment…
@ Totallyrewarded — Let me clarify. I’m saying a partnership is better than no partnership, and for an infrequent visitor to Las Vegas it’s not realistic to get status in one of the Las Vegas centric loyalty programs, in my opinion. Total Rewards sounds like a great program, though.
@Totallyrewarded – Can you earn points in a major hotel chain through Total Rewards? That’s what Lucky means when he says the alternative is nothing. This IS a miles/points blog, after all.
@Lucky – point taken. its a good way to mattress run for Hyatt. I just wanted to warn people about MGM’s program so they don’t get ripped off / disappointed as I did. I achieved status with MGM last year and really feel cheated by them.
On another note for an “infrequent visitor to Las Vegas” its worth noting that I got my Diamond Status through total rewards via a program called “Diamond in a Day” where I literally started one night and received my Diamond card the next morning. This program makes it very realistic to get status in the Total Rewards which while very “vegas heavy” does have dozens of resorts outside Vegas where your status is recognized and points can be earned/redeemed.
I do apologize if I came off the wrong way with my comments though.
@Lucky, by booking the hotel thru Hyatt.com, using a Hyatt credit card, would you earn 3x per dollar then + bonus Hyatt points for elite status? Logically, I would say yes.
I want to point out that Las Vegas hotels are *generally* cheap, but hotel pricing is utterly arbitrary. While certain conventions are going on, the Bellagio can be $695 and up, and even mid-tier hotels like the Monte Carlo can be $250. In those cases, redemption might be a good choice.
Hmm- maybe I should edit to clarify that I know what the word “arbitrary” is and I used it incorrectly. Hotel prices varying dramatically based on demand isn’t arbitrary at all, but it IS inconsistent, which is my point.
I got status-matched to M life Platinum due to my Royal Caribbean Diamond Plus status. I wonder if it would trip up the system if I linked my Hyatt no-status account to my M life Platinum account to get the stays credited to Hyatt. Since these are such new partnerships, I fear confusion in the database.