MGM Hotels & Resorts has recently changed its partnership from Hyatt to Marriott and previously announced that details about the new cooperation would follow, yet nothing has been forthcoming.

The old Hyatt liaison ran out on September 31st and the new partnership with Marriott is supposed to start “early October” but ever since MGM revealed the change in partners, no further details came up.

For now, it appears that guests staying at MGM can’t obtain any stay credit anymore, be it with World of Hyatt, as that partnership expired three days ago, or Marriott Bonvoy, which hasn’t been finalized and implemented yet.

Of course, MGM having to deal with the ransomware attack could have a lot to do with the communication and implementation of these new loyalty liaisons, and in all fairness to MGM/Marriott, “early October” is a rather broad definition that would give them at least another week to put something on the table.

Marriott already has a longstanding partnership with The Cosmopolitan, which was recently purchased by MGM as well.

Now customers of both hospitality companies can soon benefit from each other’s loyalty schemes. So far, the specificity of these reciprocal benefits hasn’t been laid out since July.

You can access the last official press release here, seeing exactly what the two companies have come up with to date.

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 unrivaled resorts, representing more than 40,000 rooms in Las Vegas and other cities across the U.S.

Beginning in October, several MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy resorts will be available for booking on Marriott’s robust digital 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.

“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.”

“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.

Familiar Brands on a New Stage

Of the 17 MGM resorts that will join MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, four properties will also be affiliated with existing Marriott collection brands: Bellagio Resort & Casino will join The Luxury Collection, ARIA Resort & Casino will join Autograph Collection, Park MGM will become part of Tribute Portfolio, and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will continue its affiliation with Autograph Collection.

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, and 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), and MGM Springfield (Massachusetts).

Marriott and MGM Give Loyalty Members Access to a New and Inspiring Level of Experiences

Travelers 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.

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.

Adam Greenblatt, BetMGM, Chief Executive Officer said, “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. 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.”

According to this press release, members will benefit from a similar status match mechanism between MGM Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy as it has been in place with World of Hyatt.

Specific benefits and the ability to earn stay credits/points at MGM Resorts with Marriott Bonvoy haven’t been announced yet.

The Marriott website hasn’t been updated with more news either, it only says:

Marriott International and MGM Resorts are delighted to welcome the MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy – where fabulous entertainment meets our world class travel program to offer unrivaled experiences.

Beginning in fall 2023, members can earn and redeem their points at more places in Las Vegas – on the Strip and beyond. Stay tuned for details!

This “beginning in fall 2023” is definitely a new verbiage that wasn’t there before.

We will continue to monitor the development of this and see how Bonvoy members will be treated at MGM and vice versa.

I’m surprised there have been no updates whatsoever in the past three months, irrespective of the ransomware attack on MGM that has paralyzed the company for the past month.

Conclusion

MGM Hotels and Resorts and Marriott announced their new partnership in July, which was supposed to be active from early October 2023. It will include a reciprocal loyalty program and on-property benefits and possibly identical or at least similar points/stay earning benefits as we’ve previously seen with Hyatt.

Las Vegas is already a large Marriott City. They have a lot of properties in the city, mainly catering to the convention crowd, business travelers, and timeshares (yes, those still exist).

The details about this partnership are still vague, we’ll stay on it and update once both companies have released additional information about how loyalty members can tie their accounts and apply for benefits. It could take some time before these things come online. At the moment, not even my MGM Rewards app is properly functional thanks to the hackers.

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