After the stay at New York-New York Hotel & Casino for two days, it was time to move across the walkway for a one-night stay at Excalibur. Both of these hotels are part of MLife, MGM’s loyalty program, and they’re literally connected by a long walkway. These hotels are located on the south side of The Strip, and very close to the airport. A taxi to/from was only $15 in each direction.

Why so focused on MLife? For Hyatt stay credits, of course. By switching hotels, I got three nights and two stays credited to my Gold Passport account, which is Hyatt’s loyalty program. A few months ago, Hyatt announced a partnership with MGM with reciprocal benefits between MLife and Gold Passport. I recently got the Chase Hyatt Visa, which comes with Platinum status just for having the card. And because of this partnership, I found myself as a mid-tier Gold with MLife, which gave me priority checkin/checkout, bonus points for staying in the rooms, and a bonus for gambling in the casinos.

That’s all great, but what was even better was the cost of the hotel rooms. Why? Hyatt hotels are a bit on the pricey side, which is good, as it reflects the quality of their hotels overall. I am chasing Hyatt Diamond status, which requires 25 stays or 50 nights in a year. And for not a lot of money thanks to this MGM partnership, I got 2 stays and 3 nights as a nice little nudge toward that goal.

In reality, all the Gold level with MLife got me was early checkin, but that saved me $20 and empowered me to check out of New York-New York at 11am and directly go into a room at Excalibur. Without this status, I would’ve had to either wait until 3pm, or pay $20 to check in early, pending availability. As soon as I pulled out my Gold card, the staff was happy to check me in and put me in a nice dated room at the end of a long Shining-esque hall on the 11th floor.

Anyway, these hotel partnerships are certainly interesting. Caesar’s just announced reciprocal benefits with Marriott, too, which could be useful for stay credits and upgraded status if you’re a Marriott member looking to stay in Vegas.

Bottom line

I’ll hopefully have a lot more paid Hyatt stays this year. It sure was nice to stroll into a hotel in Vegas and get into the priority line right away. If you’re at all interested in Vegas, I highly recommend the Chase Hyatt credit card as easy back door to MGM Gold status, and getting relatively cheap stay credits on a room you’ll be booking anyway. Or if you have status in one program or the other, by all means link them up! Here’s the whole list of MLife status benefits, just as an FYI. They’re great if you’re into slot machines, video poker, or good old-fashioned roulette. Good luck and have fun in Vegas!

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