Hyatt, MGM announce huge new partnership. Seth Miller, The Wandering Aramean
Today is a major day in the world of hotel loyalty and Las Vegas. In short, 12 properties – all part of the MGM portfolio – have essentially become Hyatt affiliates for the purposes of earning and redeeming points. Las Vegas is historically one of the last markets where earning hotel loyalty credit for stays at the more popular hotels is somewhere between difficult and impossible. Starting on 20 June 2013 guests at any of the 12 MGM hotels in Las Vegas, including Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay and The Mirage, will be eligible to earn Hyatt Gold Passport points and stay credits. Later this summer there will also be reciprocity between the MGM M life program and the Gold Passport program, with elite status matching between the two.
Seth goes on to provide a few more details, like that Hyatt Passport members will earn a base of 5 pts per dollar spent (up to $5000 per stay*) with the top tiers receiving bonuses and, the best part, that earning of MLife points will be ADDITIVE to the deal.
For someone like me, who makes 2 to 3 trips to Las Vegas each year, has status with both programs, and who already frequents MLife properties when in town, this deal is a win/win. If you're not a member of either program and go to Vegas you might want to consider it.
The only downside to MLife properties is the $25/day resort fee that's added on but, if you are a member of MLife the promotional rates you receive are so low as to make the rate with the fee competitive with the same special offers you receive from other properties in town anyway. Adding the value of Hyatt Passport rewards to this makes the decision where to stay a no-brainer.
Not only is the MLife program tied to many of the best places to stay on the Strip, but it's also a much better bargain than the Total Rewards program offered up by Caesars, and the quality of the hotels are frequently going to be better.
With all of the devaluations that have been occurring in the travel industry of late it's nice to see two entities coming together and creating a value-add.
*Note: I'm pretty sure casino (gambling) expenditures do not earn Hyatt points. I could see some serious legal issues there.
