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Hyatt and MGM Resort International announced a loyalty program partnership that launches on June 20, 2013 – which allows Hyatt Gold Passport members to earn points and stay credits when staying at 12 MGM properties in Las Vegas and MGM’s Mlife members to earn tier credits when staying at all Hyatt properties worldwide. MGM Grand Detroit, Beau Rivage, and Gold Strike Tunica are slated to join the program at a later date.
Hyatt Gold Passport members are eligible to receive reciprocal tier status with MGM’s Mlife program and MGM Mlife members will receive tier match with Hyatt’s program – this benefit will begin sometime in August.
Hyatt Gold Passport members may earn points (5 points per USD) for all eligible hotel stay spend, but the incidental spend that can earn points is capped at $5,000. Mlife members may earn eight tier credits for all eligible Hyatt spend worldwide.
To be eligible, a person must be a member of both Hyatt Gold Passport and MGM’s Mlife to earn Hyatt points for MGM stays. Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum members will receive Gold and Diamond members Platinum Mlife status on MGM’s program.
The matching status that Mlife members can receive on Hyatt Gold passport is capped at Platinum for Mlife Gold, Platinum and NOIR members.
Jeff Zidell, senior vice president, Hyatt Gold Passport, told Loyalty 360 that Hyatt Gold Passport members had expressed their desires for a wider selection of locations to earn and burn Hyatt Gold Passport points, including a particular interest in The Las Vegas Strip.
“This unique relationship allows both Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and MGM Resorts International to expand the benefits of their loyalty programs -- Hyatt Gold Passport and M life,” Zidell said. “We have worked together to make the relationship as simple as possible for Hyatt Gold Passport members, including using the current Hyatt Gold Passport award chart for free night redemption and the existing booking channels that our guests are already familiar with – Hyatt.com and Worldwide Reservation Centers.”
Zidell said the biggest challenge Hyatt is looking to solve through this partnership and loyalty program offering is to increase the value of Hyatt Gold Passport membership and make it easier for members to travel to The Las Vegas Strip for both business and leisure.
“MGM Resorts International has nearly half of the hotel rooms on The Las Vegas Strip, and the 12 participating MGM Resorts destinations are iconic,” Zidell said. “The new relationship is a great fit and enhances membership in both loyalty programs.”
Zidell explained how Hyatt defines loyalty/customer engagement and how they measure it.
“We track a number of things to benchmark the success of the Hyatt Gold Passport program, and we believe that the relationship with MGM Resorts International will help us improve our performance on those key metrics,” he said. “These metrics include Net Promoter Score, Customer Acquisition, Customer Retention, and the overall percentage of room nights driven by the loyalty program. We know that Hyatt Gold Passport is one of the factors that influences the decision making of our guests, and we are grateful that we have a significant amount of loyalty among members.”
Lance Evans, Executive Director of Partnership Marketing, MGM Resorts International, told Loyalty 360 that his company's desire to enhance the value of Mlife for its members prompted the relationship with Hyatt.
"By expanding the reach of Mlife to even more properties throughout the world, we expect our members to increase the frequency of their engagement with our program," Evans said.
Evans said one challenge has been "keeping Mlife top-of-mind beyond trips to our resorts in Las Vegas, Detroit, and Mississippi."
The relationship with Hyatt continues to expand MGM Resorts International's reach, Evans explained.
"It also offers the opportunity to enjoy the outstanding benefits of being an elite member in Hyatt Gold Passport based on their earned tier with Mlife through our tier alignment program," he said. "This new relationship provides even more ways for Mlife members to engage with our program."
Member engagement is a key metric in the success of Mlife, Evans explained.
"Every time a member earns Tier Credits through a hotel stay, spa treatment, or dining experience, members are illustrating the value they see in Mlife through this engagement in the program," he said. "We also can evaluate what is most important to them based on the type and frequency of engagement."