Las Vegas is great for Hyatt Gold Passport Members

Screenshot 2014-03-04 19.16.12

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.

mlife
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!

* If you liked this post, consider signing up to receive free blog posts in an RSS reader and you’ll never miss an update!

Announcing Points Hub—points, miles, and travel rewards community. Join for just $9/month or $99/year.

BEST Current Credit Card Deals

  • Capital One Venture X Rewards—Earn 75,000 Venture miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening, plus a $300 annual statement credit for travel booked through Capital One
  • Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card—Earn 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months and 3X bonus points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year
  • Amex Blue Business Plus—Earn 15,00 Membership Rewards points once you spend after you spend $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months of Card Membership and 2X bonus points on up to $50,000 in spending per year with NO annual fee

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

About Harlan

Just a dude living in Memphis, traveling, and working toward financial independence.

More articles by Harlan »

Pingbacks

Leave a Reply