We have seen the development of casino and hotel loyalty program partnerships over the years. We’ve just received news of possibly the largest hotel / casino partnership announcement that has the potential to benefit both sides quite substantially. If you are a Marriott Bonvoy member, you’re likely to be most excited by this news and partnership, which will fully finalize this fall.

Marriott Bonvoy Announces new Casino Partnership with MGM Rewards

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Marriott has announced today a new partnership between Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Resorts that should see both partners being able to substantially benefit from the partnership.

For those that regularly visit Las Vegas, United States of America, this has the potential to be a very exciting hotel partnership announcement.

Having previously stayed at the Aria Sky Suites, The Cosmopolitan at Las Vegas and having dined at Joël Robuchon at The MGM Grand, I’m quite excited to report on this partnership.

The Marriott Bonvoy & MGM Rewards Partnership Announcement:

Marriott International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAR) and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) announced today an exclusive long-term strategic licensing agreement and the creation of MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, which will launch in October 2023, and encompass 17 of MGM’s resorts, representing more than 40,000 rooms in Las Vegas and other cities across the U.S.

Starting in October 2023, several MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy resorts will be available for booking on Marriott’s booking platforms, including Marriott.com and the Marriott Bonvoy mobile app, with all properties expected to be available by the end of the year. These resorts will continue to be available on MGM Resorts’ channels, including MGMRewards.com and the MGM Resorts mobile app.

Per the press release, “This historic, long-term agreement brings together two of the most trusted and iconic brands in hospitality and entertainment,” said Bill Hornbuckle, President and Chief Executive Officer, MGM Resorts. “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. 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.”

The press release continues by stating: “We are excited to make MGM Resorts’ incredible properties available on Marriott channels, allowing our members to enjoy Marriott Bonvoy benefits when they stay at MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy resorts,” said Anthony Capuano, President and Chief Executive Officer, Marriott International. “We look forward to increasing our global rooms distribution by 2.4 percent as we grow our presence on the Las Vegas Strip and in other compelling destinations across the U.S.”

The agreement between MGM Resorts and Marriott will also benefit members of both companies’ loyalty programs. Members of MGM Rewards, MGM Resorts’ acclaimed loyalty platform with more than 40 million members globally, will be eligible to link accounts with Marriott Bonvoy and receive select member benefits. Members of Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott’s award-winning loyalty platform with over 180 million members globally, will be able to earn and redeem points for stays at all MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy properties.

The Hotels Being Added to the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio:

The partnership has announced seventeen hotels being added to the Marriott Bonvoy program. The list is pretty robust and encompasses all that you might expect from MGM Hotels and Resorts in Las Vegas.

Hotels Directly Affiliated to the Marriott Hotels Brand:

This includes the addition of four properties being affiliated with existing Marriott brands:

• Bellagio Resort & Casino will join The Luxury Collection,
• ARIA Resort & Casino will join Autograph Collection,
• Park MGM will become part of Tribute Portfolio,
• The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will continue its affiliation with Autograph Collection.

Hotels Directly Affiliated to the Marriott Bonvoy brand via MGM Collection:

Seventeen MGM Resorts will join the MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy:

Eight MGM resorts in Las Vegas will join MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy:

• Vdara Hotel & Spa,
• MGM Grand Hotel & Casino,
• NoMad Las Vegas,
• The Signature at MGM Grand,
• Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino,
• New York-New York Hotel & Casino,
• Luxor Hotel and Casino,
• Excalibur Hotel & Casino.

Five MGM Resorts in other U.S. locations will also join MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy:

• Borgata (Atlantic City, New Jersey),
• Beau Rivage (Biloxi, Mississippi),
• MGM Grand Detroit (Michigan),
• MGM National Harbor (Maryland),
• MGM Springfield (Massachusetts).

Reciprocal Elite Benefits Promised:

Few Firm Details Announced

The new partnership promises Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards members new levels of reciprocal experiences; although the press release is light on details and levels of what we can exactly expect from this partnership.

Marriott and MGM Give Loyalty Members Access to a New and Inspiring Level of Experiences
From the press release, travellers visit Las Vegas for everything from food and wine to sports, music, gaming, and more. Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards will unlock significant benefits and experiences for members of both programs. Marriott Bonvoy members will enjoy benefits at MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy resorts and MGM Rewards members will receive certain benefits at Marriott Bonvoy’s global portfolio of more than 8,500 properties, while members of both programs will also be able to exchange MGM Rewards points for Marriott Bonvoy points and vice versa. Marriott Bonvoy Moments, the program providing members access to unparalleled experiences that fuel personal passions, will be enhanced by MGM’s unmatched culinary, entertainment and sports offerings. 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.

Reciprocal Benefits for Casino Spend Announced:

BetMGM and Marriott Bonvoy Further Enhance Member Benefits
Marriott International has also entered into a loyalty marketing agreement with BetMGM, MGM Resorts International’s online gaming and sports betting joint venture, for Marriott Bonvoy to become BetMGM’s exclusive hospitality loyalty program partner in the U.S. and Canada. Under this agreement, Marriott and BetMGM will collaborate to provide Marriott Bonvoy members opportunities to earn Marriott Bonvoy points on certain BetMGM transactions, and participate in exclusive games, experiences, and offers on the BetMGM platform. In addition, BetMGM Rewards members will have the opportunity to exchange BetMGM Rewards points into Marriott Bonvoy points. More information about the collaboration will be available this fall.

All of this is set to go live in the fall for many hotels, followed by the remaining hotels by the end of the year.

What do I think about this partnership?

This announcement of this partnership has tremendous potential for the occasional visitor to Las Vegas; particularly on weeknights when hotel rooms aren’t at full capacity in Las Vegas.

With the Bellagio, The Aria Hotel, The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and the Park MGM becoming full Marriott Bonvoy properties, we will likely see a full extension of elite benefits being offered at these properties.

This means you will likely see a limited breakfast benefit of some sort at these locations, along with a partial route to upgrades from Marriott Bonvoy Elite members. There is the possibility that there will be some exclusions given the restrictive terms we’ve seen around the Cosmopolitan Hotels participation in the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Given the number of Marriott Bonvoy elites travelling to this area, the possibility of upgrades isn’t likely to move the needle on getting upgraded to the presidential suite. It’s reasonable to expect that there are in the hundreds of elite members staying at these locations; especially on a Friday and Saturday night.

Where I see the main advantage to this partnership, is the ability to earn on hotel and potentially dining spend inside the Marriott Bonvoy program, and the ability to earn elite qualifying nights towards the Marriott Bonvoy Elite program; all of which lead to Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Elite status or Marriott Bonvoy status qualification in a calendar year.

Given that there are few hard details announced with this press release, we will have to wait on the further details of this partnership, along with announcements related to elite levels.

My Thoughts on the new Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards Partnership.

Marriott Hotels has announced a Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards hotel partnership.

Once finalized, this will see four MGM Rewards Resorts share affiliation in the Marriott Bonvoy marketing program as Autograph Collection, Luxury Collection and Tribute Portfolio hotels and resorts. We can expect to see some form Marriott Bonvoy Elite Benefits at these hotels.

We will also see the creation of the MGM Collection, which will see Marriott Bonvoy announce reciprocal benefits with eight other MGM Hotels and Resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.

We will have to wait and see for many of the fine print details on this partnership. However, this has the potential to be an excellent partnership for those that visit the Las Vegas Strip for leisure purposes and want to stay in a casino property.

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Will this Marriott Bonvoy / MGM Rewards partnership be useful to your travel plans ?

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