Fresh on the heels of Hyatt and MGM announcing an end to their long-standing partnership in September, Marriott and MGM have announced an exclusive partnership with the creation of the MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy that is set to launch this coming October.
The newly branded MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy will include 17 MGM resorts and allow Marriott Bonvoy members to earn and redeem Bonvoy points at more than 40,000 rooms in Las Vegas and other cities across the United States through Marriott.com and the Marriott Bonvoy mobile app, according to a news release. All properties included in the partnership are expected to be available for bookings by the end of the year.
This new partnership with Marriott should work much the same as MGM's previous one with Hyatt. You'll be able to earn and redeem both Marriott and MGM points for stays at properties with either hotel chain, and you should have the ability to earn MGM Rewards points on your Marriott stays as well.
“We’ve seen first-hand the strong demand from Marriott International customers through our existing relationship at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and this new agreement will enable us to further optimize our overall profitability,” Bill Hornbuckle, President and Chief Executive Officer, of MGM Resorts said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to now scale the relationship and offer Marriott Bonvoy members greater distribution access to our award-winning resorts – as well as exclusive event and entertainment opportunities – in Las Vegas and across the U.S.”
What Properties Will Be Bookable Through the New MGM Collection?
If you're planning a trip to Las Vegas after October, it should be easy to find a property that is part of the new MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy.
Here are the 17 properties that are now a part of the collection – allowing you to earn or redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for stays at the following properties.
- Bellagio Resort & Casino (will join the Marriott Luxury Collection)
- Aria Resort & Casino (will join the Marriott Autograph Collection)
- Park MGM (will join the Marriott Tribute Portfolio)
- The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (this is an existing partnership and it will continue its affiliation with Marriott's Autograph Collection)
- Vdara Hotel & Spa
- MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
- NoMad Las Vegas
- The Signature at MGM Grand
- Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
- New York-New York Hotel & Casino
- Luxor Hotel and Casino
- Excalibur Hotel & Casino
- Borgata (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
- Beau Rivage (Biloxi, Mississippi)
- MGM Grand Detroit (Detroit, Michigan)
- MGM National Harbor (Oxon Hill, Maryland)
- MGM Springfield (Springfield, Massachusetts)
Notably, it doesn't appear that Delano Las Vegas will be a part of this new partnership between Marriott and MGM with reciprocal benefits – a property that was available through MGM's previous partnership with Hyatt.
It's unclear why the Delano isn't included. Thrifty Traveler has reached out to MGM for comment.
How Will Elite Status Matching Between Marriott and MGM Work?
Previously, with the partnership between Hyatt and MGM, you were able to match certain levels of Hyatt Elite status to a corresponding level of status with MGM. Notably, if you had either Explorist or Globalist status with Hyatt, that translated to MGM Gold Status.
It was a huge boon for Hyatt Elites as MGM Gold status provides waived resort fees for stays at any of the MGM properties in Las Vegas – a savings of anywhere from $30 to $50 a night.
So what will status matching look like with Marriott Bonvoy and MGM's rewards program? We simply don't know yet. In a news release, MGM and Marriott said, “More information about linking loyalty accounts, new experiences, and other loyalty program benefits will be provided to members of both programs in the coming months.”
But if Marriott and MGM allow you to match Marriott Bonvoy Gold to MGM Rewards Gold, that will be a big win for travelers. Marriott Bonvoy Gold status is one of the easier hotel statuses to earn as you'll get it just for holding cards like *amex platinum*, the *bonvoy bevy*, and even the *bonvoy business*.
You'll also get automatic Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status just for holding the *bonvoy brilliant*.
Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points Through BetMGM
Perhaps the most interesting part of this new tie-up with Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards is a new agreement allowing Marriott Bonvoy members to earn Bonvoy points on certain BetMGM transactions, and to participate in exclusive games, experiences, and offers on the BetMGM platform.
BetMGM is MGM's online gaming and sports betting platform, and as a part of this partnership, BetMGM Rewards members will have the opportunity to exchange BetMGM Rewards points for Marriott Bonvoy points.
Not much else is known about this new partnership – including what BetMGM transactions will be eligible for earning Bonvoy points, but both Marriott and MGM say that more information about the collaboration will be available this fall.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be able to offer Marriott Bonvoy Members and our players another suite of incredible perks only found on BetMGM,” Adam Greenblatt, BetMGM, Chief Executive Officer said in a statement. “Our new agreement with Marriott International will create a truly robust rewards program that connects our players and Marriott guests to the full BetMGM omnichannel experience.”
While much of the rest of this new Marriott and MGM partnership appears to mimic what was previously available through Hyatt, this is an interesting wrinkle and something MGM didn't make available to World of Hyatt Elite members in the past.
Bottom Line
Marriott and MGM have announced a new partnership that will officially launch in October.
The new agreement will bring 17 different properties into the new MGM Collection with Marriot Bonvoy and allow Marriott Bonvoy members to earn and redeem points at more than 40,000 rooms in Las Vegas and other cities across the U.S. through Marriott's booking channels.
More information about status matching, and how the integration with BetMGM – MGM's online gaming and sports betting platform – will work should be available later this fall.
Couple of things. Firstly you state that “This new partnership with Marriott should work much the same as MGM’s previous one with Hyatt.” Yet we don’t have any details on how earning elite night credit will work or how reciprocal status will work. As much as I’d like it I doubt you’ll be able to match over like you could from hyatt. On MGM’s website they state “Members of MGM Rewards… will be eligible to link accounts with Marriott Bonvoy and receive select member benefits.” Select benefits, knowing how much Marriott hates it when their members get value or do anything remotely resembling “gaming” I’m not holding my breath. Also I suspect some mgm properties will only give 1/2 elite night credit.
MGM has 3 levels plus Noir which is invitation only. Marriott has 4 levels plus an invitation only level. My prediction- based on their past matching and how easy it is to get Marriott status is that Marriott Gold will get MGM Silver. Marriott Platinum = MGM Gold, Marriott Titanium = MGM Platinum. Just a guess. Ref MGM website for their current matching.