This post is designed to lay out clearly the main benefits for Hyatt Gold Passport members joining MGM Resorts M life loyalty program. Hyatt Gold Passport elite members can get a complimentary status match to an M life upper elite tier. This post does not cover M life gaming benefits and points at MGM Resorts.
Hyatt Gold Passport and 12 MGM Resorts in Las Vegas created a partnership to combine benefits and points earning for dual members in each loyalty program, effective June 20, 2013. Hyatt Gold Passport elite members can status match to M life elite tiers. You must be a member of both Hyatt Gold Passport and M life to receive these benefits.
- Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member = M life Platinum.
- Hyatt Gold Passport *Platinum member = M life Gold.
- Hyatt Gold Passport general member = M life Sapphire.
M life membership year runs October 1 – September 30. My M life card I picked up two weeks ago at the Mandalay Bay M life desk is stamped Sep 2014.
M life Sapphire is basic M life membership open to anyone at MGM Resorts. There is also M life Pearl which is a higher tier than Sapphire, but below M life Gold for benefits.
Anyone who is a Hyatt Visa card member has automatic Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum membership as long as you remain a card member. Free nights earned with Hyatt Visa card enrollment and anniversary free night may be used at MGM Resorts in Las Vegas, however, no Hyatt suite upgrades may be applied.
Important Note: Hyatt Gold Passport elite member benefits do not apply to stays at MGM Resorts. No free breakfast for Diamonds.
M life members get the short end of the deal here since Hyatt Gold Passport only confers a status match to Gold Passport Platinum, low level elite, for M life Gold, Platinum and Noir members.
MGM Resorts Hyatt M life partnership webpage.
Hyatt Gold Passport M life webpage shows the M life status match chart.
Getting your M life elite card
There are 12 MGM Resorts in Las Vegas participating in the Hyatt Gold Passport and MGM Resort M life partnership.
- Bellagio® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 6)
- Aria™ (Hyatt Gold passport award category 6)
- Mandalay Bay® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 6)
- THEhotel® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 6)
- Vdara™ (Hyatt Gold passport award category 5)
- MGM Grand® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 5)
- The Signature at MGM Grand® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 5)
- The Mirage® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 5)
- Monte Carlo™ (Hyatt Gold passport award category 4)
- New York New York™ (Hyatt Gold passport award category 4)
- Luxor® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 3)
- Excalibur® (Hyatt Gold passport award category 2)
The MGM Resorts M life webpages state this partnership will expand to include other MGM Resorts in the future.
Hyatt Gold Passport members can obtain the M life card at the participating MGM Resorts. Have your ID and Hyatt elite card with you and request your M life elite tier card at the M life Players Club desks in each casino.
Earning Hyatt Gold Passport and M life points
Hyatt Gold Passport members earn 5 points/$1 for eligible paid stays at any of the 12 participating MGM Resorts. Eligible paid stays are those reservations booked directly with MGM Resorts or Hyatt channels. Checking rates through MGM channels tends to offer lower hotel rates and more room category options.
Incidental spend for dining, entertainment and spa at MGM Resorts, up to $5,000 per stay, is eligible for earning points as long as the charges are made to the MGM Resorts hotel room. This means you have to be a guest at one of the hotels to get points on incidental spend. You might want to book a $40 Excalibur room just for points earning if you plan to be spending big on a show and dinner at one of the MGM Resorts while staying somewhere else in Las Vegas. Your M life card tracks your spending at all 12 Las Vegas resorts so you can be a guest at one hotel and still earn points for spending at any of the other 11 resorts.
Hyatt Gold Passport members earn 25 M life tier credits/$1 for stays at MGM Resorts. Points are earned in both Hyatt Gold Passport and M life for stays at the 12 Las Vegas MGM Resorts. M life elite bonuses only apply to gaming spend. There is no M life elite tier credits bonus for hotel and incidental spend.
Hyatt Gold Passport members earn 8 M life tier credits/$1 for stays at Hyatt brand hotels worldwide. I have not read any reports yet on how this is working and I have not stayed at a Hyatt since the partnership began June 20.
Key Points
- Earn 5 Hyatt points/$1 on hotel spend at MGM Resorts in Las Vegas, plus Hyatt elite tier bonuses.
- Earn 5 Hyatt points/$1 on incidental spend at MGM Resorts in Las Vegas, plus Hyatt elite tier bonuses for dining, entertainment and spa. Limit of $5,000 per stay eligible to earn Hyatt points.
- Hyatt-M life members earn 25 M life tier credits/$1 for MGM Resorts spend. There are no M life elite tier bonus credits for hotel and incidental spend, only for gaming spend.
- Hyatt-M life members earn 8 M life tier credits/$1 for stays at Hyatt brand hotels.
- MGM Resorts do not count as Hyatt Hotels for the 3 points/$1 earn rate when paying with Hyatt Visa. MGM Resorts earn Hyatt Visa card points at rate of 1 point/$1.
M life Tier Benefits (MGM Resorts link)
M life Hotel benefits differ between Sapphire, Gold and Platinum.
M life is primarily a gaming loyalty program. The hotel benefits are not the typical benefits an elite member expects in a regular hotel loyalty program. The thing to remember about the MGM Resorts is the hotels are massive and there can be several thousand guests in the hotel with you. Bypassing the crowds in lines is one of the major benefits of this M life loyalty relationship when traveling to Las Vegas. Out of 40 million visitors to Las Vegas, there are 5 million convention visitors. During a convention when there are set times for events, my experience has been the lines are massive when 5,000 people are trying to prepare and get to the same event at one time. Salon priority can pay off big at one of those times.
- Room discounts or Comps (M life Sapphire, Gold and Platinum)
- Room Upgrade (M life Gold and Platinum)
- Priority Check-in line and Priority early check-in/check-out. (M life Gold and Platinum)
- Turn down service. (M life Platinum)
- Priority access to pool cabanas and bungalows. (M life Platinum)
- Spa/Salon priority reservations. (M life Platinum)
Shopping
Participating retail shops in the MGM Resorts offer a discount for Gold and Platinum elite M life members.
- 10% discount (M life Gold)
- 15% discount (M life Platinum)
My wife Kelley decided she wanted to buy several stuffed animals at the Shark Reef store in Mandalay Bay for her first grade classroom lessons. That 15% discount was appreciated.
Dining
- Buffet and coffee shop line pass (M life Gold and Platinum)
- Fine Dining Priority Reservation (M life Gold and Platinum)
As someone who has spent over an hour in line on several occasions waiting for a buffet table in Las Vegas and sometimes I have waited two hours for a table in a fine dining restaurant, I have to say this is a valuable M life benefit for the frequent Las Vegas traveler.
The upscale MGM Resorts sometimes are filled with thousands of guests and everything is crowded at peak times for meals. Passing the lines is a major perk.
Entertainment
Las Vegas calls itself the entertainment capital of the world. There are plenty of shows and ways to spend your money at the MGM Resorts besides gaming.
Sometimes just getting into the door of a nightclub can be a challenge and your M life card might open doors your appearance alone will not open.
- Pre-sale ticket access to concerts/fights (all M life members)
- Special access to Nightclubs and Pool Day Clubs for you and a guest. (M life Gold and Platinum members)
Clubs charge high entrance fees. This can be a major bonus if that kind of entertainment is in your plans.
Transportation
Perhaps the greatest feature of M life Platinum membership conferred to current Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members is transportation with priority access to valet car service and taxis. This is a major time savings when you go out at peak times to find twenty of more people waiting for their cars or a long taxi line of guests waiting to depart the hotel.
I know my car arrived before twenty other guests awaiting valet service on my recent stay in Las Vegas. Priority taxi and valet service is a major benefit when staying at a hotel resort with more than 1,000 other guests.
Paint it Black – the Noir experience
Two weeks have passed since the Las Vegas MGM Grand celebration for the Hyatt Gold Passport and MGM Resorts M life launch event. My three days in Las Vegas allowed me to sample the M life benefits for an elite tier member by receiving an early match to M life with an invitational only Noir card.
Holding a M life Noir card is supposedly a big deal at MGM Resorts, but I did not let my head swell around the card. The 107F heat at midnight was swelling my head enough.
I have analyzed the M life elite tier benefits chart and the fine print of the agreements published on MGM and Hyatt websites. I have to mention for blogger disclosure that I received the M life Noir top tier elite card by attending the Hyatt Gold Passport-M life launch event.
Getting the Noir card does not skew my analysis. Many of the best benefits I experienced and other benefits listed in the charts are also available to M life Gold or Platinum members.
M life Noir members get a complimentary limousine ride to and from the airport. I generally drive to Las Vegas like 57% of visitors annually so that benefit did not play out for me.
Room Upgrade? What Upgrade?
M life benefits, even at the Gold level, offer some advantages for the Las Vegas traveler. Though, my initial impression is the concept of room upgrades based on card status is not going to play out for guests who do not gamble. M life is primarily a gaming rewards system and MGM tracks your gambling pattern through the M life card. Gambling is probably the best route to regular hotel room upgrades. Time and anecdotal experience will tell us more as this relationship develops over the next year.
My paid stay at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay earned $175 in points with Hyatt Gold Passport (5 points / $1 + 30% Diamond elite bonus and M life tier credits (25 points/$1). Points posted in both my Hyatt and M life accounts. One of the best features of this partnership is the ability to earn simultaneously in both Hyatt Gold Passport and MGM M life.
Two complimentary nights at MGM Grand were included as part of the launch event. No points for free stays in this partnership, although incidental spend does earn points in both Hyatt and M life.
My thought is all those tips for bell service and valet parking and so many other interactions guests have should be master billed to the hotel room for points.
Can I do that in the future?
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