Maximize Value with Mlife Partners: Hyatt, Southwest, Royal Caribbean, Avis
Related: If you’re interested in other casino loyalty program news and info join us at ZorkFest this May in Las Vegas! Click here for full details and registration information.
I recently booked a cruise through Amex Cruise Privileges Program and thought I’d done pretty well for myself with a $300 on board credit, double points and a few other perks. A few weeks later I received an email from Royal Caribbean that the Mlife on board benefits were changing. I had known there was a partnership but thought the benefits were minimal so I wasn’t too excited about it. Well, it turns out that if you have Gold Status or better, the benefits can be pretty lucrative. This got me thinking about what other Mlife partnership opportunities are available to capitalize on.
Mlife Rewards is an interesting program. Many gamblers prefer Total Rewards to Mlife because they feel Total Rewards is more generous. Personally, I’m an Mlife girl because I like their casinos better and they have now taken over the Borgata, which is MY casino. With that being said, Mlife is also popular with Hyatt enthusiasts as there is a partnership between Hyatt and MGM. For instructions on how to link accounts and receive reciprocal status, see this post or go to Mlife’s/Hyatt page.
Hyatt Elite Credits and Points
This one is great because if you have elite status in either program you get reciprocal benefits in the other, you can see what status you would match to in the chart below from the World of Hyatt site. Each Mlife stay can earn 5 World of Hyatt Base Points for every eligible dollar spent. You also earn Qualifying Night and Base Point credit toward World of Hyatt elite status for eligible nights stayed at participating Mlife Rewards destinations. We’re due for an updated post on this topic but in the meantime, you can check out this post Shawn wrote about mattress running for top tier Hyatt status.
Royal Caribbean/Celebrity Cruise Lines
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines offer some great benefits based on your Mlife Tier. Gold members and above receive an on-board credit in addition to welcome amenities and priority check in. Platinum and Noir Members receive a free cruise each year! In the past the free cruise has been 5 nights or $750 off the price of any cruise. Also, the on board credit is per guest according to the RCL representative I spoke with. This means a couple with Platinum Status can get an extra $400 of on board credit! (A couple with gold status would get $250.)
Southwest Rapid Rewards
You can get 600 Rapid Rewards Points for each stay at an MGM resort. To qualify for the points you’ll need to add both your Mlife and your Rapid Rewards number to the booking before you check out. For more details you can check out this explanatory post. This benefit has been around for a long time but YMMV because there are some recent data points that suggest it may no longer be combined with earning Hyatt points. My advice would be to request your points retroactively once your Hyatt Points are credited for recent stays. You can request points up to 6 months after your stay.
Avis Car Rental
Anytime you rent a car with Avis, you can earn 500 World of Hyatt Points. All you need to do is book through this site. I would certainly do a quick search to make sure you’re getting the best rate, but this is a good option for people who rent cars often or need to top off your Hyatt account.
Bonus: Limited Time Credit at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar
Earlier this week we wrote about a new offer where MLife members will receive a $100 resort credit when they stay 2 nights at Baha Mar. (Click here for Grand Hyatt Baha Mar Review: Part 1.) The offer is for a limited time and includes stays between April 5th 2018 and July 5th 2018. Click here for offer page.
Conclusion
I am Mlife Gold Status and was thrilled to receive an extra $125 on board credit simply for calling Royal Caribbean and adding my Mlife information. It always pays to do a little research on loyalty programs before booking and remember to check your emails for valuable offers. Some very lucky people are Mlife Platinum through 2019 because of the old Hyatt Match structure, so they’ll do even better when booking a cruise. I don’t know how useful the other benefits will be, but I will certainly look to take full advantage of them during my trip and let you guys know.
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Onboard credit: do both partners need to have MLife status for this to work or does only one person need to have it for each guest to get it?
“The Onboard Credit is limited to one per qualifying M life Rewards member per sailing. Benefits must be requested at the time of the initial booking and at least ten (10) days prior to the cruise’s departure date. Onboard credits are not redeemable for cash and are non-transferable. All unused onboard credit will expire at 10:00 P.M. on the final night of the cruise.”
Have you stayed at botgata since the merger. I haven’t heard much about how points are posting and I have an upcoming stay I was hoping to credit to hyatt
Yes, my Borgata stays have not been crediting to Hyatt. I was in a rush to leave this last weekend so I didn’t confirm, but when I asked about it the front desk agent looked at me like I had ten heads, So I’m thinking it’s still the case that it’s not a Hyatt partner
Bethany, Do you think Hyatt will ever do the matches again? I am Diamond at Hilton and Lifetime Plat at Marriott.
We also love to cruise. We found out last year that MSC will do a status match with airlines and hotels. If you and your husband are tops in some program, you will be matched to that for MSC. Top MSC gives you laundry, internet, and free specialty dinners. MSC is a bit different. We found their specialty restaurants to be better than any other ship, pretty inexpensive if bought in packages, and kinda strange drink packages.
Hard to say. I hope Hyatt does some sort of promo this year. It would be nice to see a fast track or something.
Thanks for the info! I’ve never done an MSC cruise