‘MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy’ – what you need to know about the new casino partnership

Last July MGM Resorts International and Marriott International announced the launch of ‘MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy’.

It covers 16 US hotels, mainly in Las Vegas, with a slightly ludicrous 40,000 rooms between them.

A cyber hack at MGM delayed the roll out of the programme, but the final hotels were added to the partnership last week. All 16 can now be booked, for cash or points, via marriott.com.

The partnership replaced an earlier MGM / World of Hyatt deal. This was a blow to many US members of World of Hyatt who used very cheap midweek Las Vegas stays to rack up their World of Hyatt status nights!

13 hotels have joined the new ‘MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy’ brand:

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

The following three hotels have joined other Marriott Bonvoy brands:

• Bellagio Resort & Casino has joined The Luxury Collection (top image above)
• ARIA Resort & Casino has joined Autograph Collection (second image above)
• Park MGM has joined Tribute Portfolio

In addition:

• The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will remain with Autograph Collection – this MGM hotel was already linked to Marriott and was excluded from the Hyatt deal

Whilst only 17 hotels are involved, the sheer scale of them meant that the deal increased Marriott’s global room count by 2.4%.

What benefits will Bonvoy members get at MGM Collection resorts?

You can see the list of benefits on this special section of the Marriott Bonvoy website.

Remember that you will need to book via Marriott Bonvoy to receive these benefits, as well as points and elite night credit.

However, MGM continues to sell rooms directly via its own website so you should check pricing across both. You may find that special deals make the MGM route cheaper if you are prepared to sacrifice Bonvoy benefits.

As a totally random example, a room at Bellagio on 1st April is $253 all-in, or $295 with a $75 F&B credit. This is MGM Rewards member pricing. The cheapest rate bookable via Marriott is $327.

Be careful to check that any quote you see includes ‘resort fees’. In Las Vegas, especially midweek, the ‘resort fee’ can be higher than the room rate. Marriott does not waive resort fees for Bonvoy members. When these hotels were partners with Hyatt, the resort fee waiver for Globalist members often meant you could pick up rooms off-peak for $20 per night in some of the grottier properties.

This is what you get (click to enlarge):

It’s worth noting that many of better benefits are only available to 31st December 2024. These include:

• 2pm late check-out on request for Platinum and Titanium

• waived resort fee, one guaranteed suite upgrade, 1am check-in (24 hours notice required!) and 4pm check-out if available, free self-parking, priority access to dining and check-in, fast track valet and taxi lines, VIP nightclub access, priority pool cabana reservations, priority show ticketing,15% off hotel store purchases for Ambassador

If you have Ambassador status with Marriott Bonvoy and are heading to Las Vegas this year (admittedly a very small subset of our readers) then you might as well take advantage of the transitional benefits above whilst you still can.

I’m slightly surprised that MGM is going to the effort of setting up these Ambassador benefits, for what is a relatively small group of people (100 nights per year and $23,000+ of annual spend) for just 10 months.

How will the Marriott / MGM status match work?

When the partnership was announced there were hints at a partial status match.

What has happened is that there is nothing available for Marriott Bonvoy members.

If you have status in MGM Rewards, which again is unlikely given our UK readership, you can get:

• MGM Rewards Gold matched to Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite
• MGM Rewards Platinum matched to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite
• MGM Rewards NOIR matched to Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite

Instructions on how to match are on the MGM Resorts website here.

Conclusion

This is an interesting deal for Marriott, and a bit of a blow for Hyatt.

Booking for cash?

To be honest, there isn’t necessarily much in this for non-Ambassador members of Marriott Bonvoy if there are cheaper deals available via MGM directly. You may end up doing the maths on whether the price premium for booking via Marriott justifies the Bonvoy points, elite night credit and any potential upgrade opportunities.

Of course, if the Marriott pricing matches the MGM pricing then it’s a no-brainer to book via marriott.com.

Booking for points?

The high ‘resort fees’ – which tend to be higher as a % of the cash rate in Las Vegas than elsewhere – means that reward nights may not always be the bargain you initially think. Make you sure see how much will be added on for your ‘free’ night before you redeem. Obviously, if the maths works, it’s good to have the opportunity to redeem at well-known properties such as Bellagio.

You can find out more on this special page of the Marriott website.

---

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)