MGM Waives Resort Fees For Gold Members & Up
We had been hearing rumors of a new rewards program from MGM. We talked about it on our MtM Vegas show over the past few weeks and the time is finally here. Caesar Rewards whoops I mean MGM Rewards has launched. Don’t worry you’ll get that joke in a minute, and trust me it slays 😁. I talked about MGM’s really ugly devaluation for tier credits earning a few days ago and the changes make a little more sense now. They have added a ton of new perks with the launch of the MGM Rewards program. That is why they felt the need to make earning status more difficult no doubt. Is it a net positive or negative? I think that depends on how you earn status but I’ll discuss that in a bit. Let’s take a look at the new program details. The headline is that MGM waives resort fees for Gold members on up.
These changes kick off 2/1/22
RELATED: M life “Thanks You For Your Loyalty” With A Massive Devaluation
MGM Waives Resort Fees & Other New Program Perks
The M life program is gone and MGM Rewards is here! If you are having deja vu it is because Caesars Entertainment did the same thing rebranding from Total Rewards to Caesars Rewards a few years ago. The similarities don’t stop there either. The new MGM Rewards program is a direct rip off of the Caesars Rewards program. Here are the details:
Pearl Status
- Tier credits needed reduced from 25,000 to 20,000
- Complimentary tickets to MGM Rewards concerts for Pearl+
- MGM Rewards Points and Slot Dollars will not expire for Pearl members due to account inactivity.
Gold Status
- Tier credits required remains at 75,000+
- Waived resort fees for Gold+
- Exclusive tier appreciation events and experiences Gold+
- New Tier Advancement Celebration Dinners and access to exclusive tier appreciation events recognize members who reach Gold or above tiers based on 2022 gaming and non-gaming spend.
Platinum Status
- Tier credits required remains at 200,000+
- Tier achievement travel credit to Las Vegas for Platinum+
- Advanced suite upgrades for Platinum+
- 4 p.m. late check-out (based on availability)
Limited Time Promotions To Coincide With MGM Rewards Program Launch
- Extended earning window: To celebrate MGM Rewards’ launch, Tier Credits earned by members from January 1- January 31 will count toward both 2022 and 2023 Tier Status earning.
- Tier Credit multiplier promotion: As a welcome to MGM Rewards, all members are invited to take advantage of a limited-time 2x multiplier on Tier Credits earned at the Company’s Las Vegas resorts February 1 – April 30, 2022 (at the applicable earning rates). Tier Credits may be earned on all gaming play as well as spend on hotel accommodations, dining and spa services.
My Initial Thoughts
Waived resort fees for elites, free show tickets and celebration dinners…boy does that sound familiar or what? This program is pretty much Caesar Rewards but with much higher earning requirements for the same perks. You can get all of those perks at a mere 15,000 tier credits in the Caesars Rewards program but it requires 75,000 or 200,000 tier credits to get similar perks in the MGM Rewards program. And this is after they slashed on property earning for tier credits from 25 points to 4 points per dollar.
I will say that it is nice to see some meaningful benefits added to Pearl and Gold status. Those were pretty much worthless before in my opinion. I get Gold status every year from my World of Hyatt status match but it never really offered me any value. That changes this year for sure. This is all assuming matches get the same perks though.
It is a shame that MGM felt the need to gut tier credit earning levels to coincide with these changes. That puts many of the best perks well out of reach of people that have been earning the same status in years past.
Is it an overall net positive? I would say no for many gamblers since it is more difficult to earn status now. Offering people new perks that are now just out of reach is kind of like rubbing salt in the wound. I am guessing MGM is counting on people pouring more money into gaming to earn status to make up for what they lost from property charges. It is a huge win for status matchers though.
Potential Silver Lining For Status Matches – MGM Waives Resort Fees!
The question of many miles and points fanatics, or Hyatt loyalists, is how will this look for people that do status matches? If you are a Hyatt Explorist or higher you can match to MGM Rewards Gold level without spending a dollar on gambling or at MGM Resorts properties. It is similar to how the Wyndham and Caesars Rewards partnership works.
Will matched Gold members get all of the same perks such as free show tickets, waived resort fees and celebration dinners like they do with Caesars? After a few years Caesars Rewards added new restrictions to things like Laurel Lounge access etc. Will MGM Rewards do something similar for these new perks? Only time will tell. My guess is all members will be treated the same at the start and they may adjust in the future outside of maybe the celebration dinners. That would be a big win for status matchers. Something that was pretty useless would now become pretty valuable. The resort fees being waived is a huge win alone.
MGM Rewards – Final Thoughts
MGM Rewards is officially here and there are a lot of changes coming your way. Whether or not these are a net positive or negative depends on how you earn status. If you earned it solely through gambling then this is probably a net positive, although slot earning changes are yet to be fully determined. If you got a chunk of your tier credits from on property charges then this is a net negative since you probably won’t earn enough to get these new perks. Status match people on the other hand come out smelling like roses, assuming they get all the same perks as if they actually earned it.
As with most things, whether or not you like the MGM Rewards new program details depends on what angle you are coming from. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
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There’s always a catch when big corporations make rewards program changes.
To evaluate MGM Rewards, I made the following comparison… 2021 wagers, as reported on win loss statement, “coin-in.” Total tier credits earned on that wagering. Calculate the rate of tier credits per dollar wagered.
Visited February 10, 2022. Same calculation. Tier Credits per dollar wagered. And the MGM Rewards earning rate is approximately one-fourth what the MLife earning rate was.
My situation, I earned Mlife Platinum 2020 and 2021… all on play/gaming. No spend. If I make same visits, spend same on 2022 gaming as i did 2021… I not only will not achieve Platinum again, I won’t achieve Gold.
MGM announced nice new benefits for Gold and Platinum members, such as tier achievement dinners, travel reimbursement, resort fee waiver – and then made it very difficult to achieve Gold and Platinum.
Why spend money at MGM? Get the credit card, or play a little,, to retain Pearl status, gamble elsewhere where appreciated… and if you have any points left at MGM, visit for nice meals, shows, etc.
If I earn Platinum status prior to Feb 1, 2022 (tier credit earning window extending to Jan 31), will I get the $200 dining and $600 travel credit for use after Feb 1, 2022?
I am not sure how the system would handle it.
No. The rules state that the dining and travel benefits are awarded for making Gold and/Platinum after MGM Rewards starts in February 2022. Those who earned that status prior to Jan 31, 2022 don’t get the rewards… unless they earn the status again in 2022 year
Edit.. if you earn all of the necessary tier credits between Jan 1 and Jan 31, 2022, yes, you should get those benefits. Because tier credits earned in January 2022 count towards 2021 earning for 2022 status AND 2022 earning for 2023 status.
Does MGM status match from Caesars Rewards? I’m considering applying for a Wyndam Business credit card, status matching to Caesars Diamond and then status matching to MGM Gold. Will this work? I read somewhere that if you physically go into an MGM property, they will match your Caesar’s status, but I wanted to verify before I try it. Thanks
They have always done it in Atlantic City at Borgota. They were running it during 2021 to do it in Vegas. I think that ends later this month (if not extended) and it isn’t normally an option in Vegas.
OMG, what’s the point of status matching if it doesn’t confer the benefits of the status?
Programs will usually keep the best stuff for people that actually earned it. I don’t mind that really and can understand why.
Sounds to me like the program may be at risk of going more toward a “milestones” approach to getting some of the “status” freebies.
Yup – similar to Caesars’ approach
I’m guessing Hyatt will move down to Pearl+
I could see that happening in the future for sure.
Some more details can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cb5gV8T6477pL4it2HA7TatK_30ipMmI/view?usp=drivesdk
Note that status matched people will not get the travel voucher or the anniversary dinner credit.
Good stuff – thanks for sharing.