MGM Rewards Loyalty Club Rolls Out New Perks
There’s nothing quite like slow news day to inspire us to write about tweaks to the MGM Rewards loyalty club program.
It’s not as interesting as the potential of MGM Resorts bailing on its planned Japan resort while being a reported $2.8 billion over budget before groundbreaking, but that’s not Vegas-related, so who cares?
MGM Rewards has introduced new benefits “including the debut of Milestone Rewards to unlock more perks in between tiers, expanded tier match benefits with Marriott Bonvoy, enhanced benefits through Royal Caribbean, the launch of an eGift card, and coming soon, an iconic credit card.” We were bored with the whole thing until we got to the “iconic credit card” part, then we laughed so hard, we nearly developed diverticulitis, whatever that might be.
Here’s the news release with all the information we’re going to summarize in a marginally more compelling way in the paragraphs to come.
First up: “Marriott Bonvoy Tier Matching Enhancements.”
Marriott Bonvoy is the loyalty program of Marriott International. Tier matching is cool because you get to leapfrog over the other suckers who are earing tiers the regular way.
MGM Rewards Pearl members get Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status. MGM Rewards Gold Members get Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status. MGM Rewards Platinum members get Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status. MGM Rewards Noir members tier match into Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite.
Sure, your eyes may be glazing over, but Marriott fans are doing a different kind of glazing right now.
Part two: “Elevated Access to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises.”
According to MGM Resorts, “MGM Rewards Platinum and Noir members will receive greater access to benefits for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, including upgraded stateroom types, a larger variety of exciting itineraries and longer vacation options redeemable through their Annual Cruise Benefit.”
It’s worth noting MGM Resorts news releases use the all caps form of “NOIR,” as if every time they refer to this tier someone hits them with a jolt from a Taser.
Another Royal Caribbean perk, “The Annual Cruise Benefit is now available for MGM Rewards Gold members. All MGM Rewards members will receive a new Onboard FreePlay benefit, based on MGM Rewards Tier Status, on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises voyages when sailing on an MGM Rewards loyalty offer, certificate offer or group cruise.”
Basically, for gambling at an MGM Resorts casino, you get a cruise. Gold tier members get up to five nights on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises. That means you need to get 75,000 Tier Credits within a calendar year. You can earn MGM Rewards Tier Credits by spending money on things like hotel stays, dining, spa services, entertainment and shopping, as well as gambling, of course.
Third stuff: “Milestone Rewards.”
According to MGM, “Members can now earn new Milestone Rewards available between Tier Status achievements. The addition of Rollover Tier Credits allows members to accelerate their status climb by earning up to 25,000 Tier Credits that can be carried over into the 2026 Tier Credit earning year by achieving both of the following milestones: Earn 50,000 Tier Credits in 2025 and carry over 7,500 Rollover Tier Credits into 2026. Earn 125,000 Tier Credits in 2025 and carry over an additional 17,500 Rollover Tier Credits into 2026.”
Honestly, if you’re still reading this story, we’re so sorry. We’ve already invested 10 minutes in copying and pasting from MGM’s news release, so we have to power through.
Diminishing returns, as they say.
“Members will receive premium added perks when achieving each status, such as: Gold, $100 Tier Celebration Credit at MGM Resorts allowing members their choice of hotel, dining, spa, or entertainment experiences and more; Platinum, $200 Tier Celebration Credit at MGM Resorts and up to $600 air travel credit to fly to Las Vegas; Noir, $500 Tier Celebration Credit at MGM Resorts and up to $1,200 air travel credit to fly to Las Vegas.”
There was something about Beau Rivage and Borgata, but seriously, who cares?
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino is in Biloxi, Mississippi, the Mississippi of Mississippi.
Borgata is in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Mississippi of the east coast.
Fourth thing we are having difficulty caring about: “eGift Card.”
Our heart goes out to the people at MGM Resorts who do this crap all day, every day. We hope they find time to do things that matter, like touching grass or distributing treats to shelter dogs.
Anyway, MGM Resorts has a new MGM Rewards eGift Card that “offers easy, online access to gift experiences at MGM Resorts’ 20 iconic destinations.”
They aren’t just gifts, they’re “gift experiences.” Has our cutting and pasting of news releases taught you nothing?
That’s it, pretty much.
MGM Resorts is having a tough go of it, big picture. The company’s stock is at a 52-week low.
Times are about to get even more interesting because visitation is down in Las Vegas, along with gambling revenue. The company’s digital efforts, BetMGM, have been a money-sucking fail.
Complicating things further is MGM Resorts doesn’t actually own anything anymore. They operate casinos, but REITs (real estate investment trusts, mostly Vici Properties) own the land, buildings and physical assets of their resorts. MGM Resorts is the tenant and rents climb whether business levels do or not.
Could an “iconic credit card” turn things around for MGM Resorts, we asked, rhetorically? Will rumored leadership changes at MGM Resorts happen in response to lackluster results for stockholders?
Why are big casino companies spending so much time massaging their loyalty programs? Because they have to keep going back to the same well of customers to try and extract more from them because younger people aren’t all that interested in casinos, they’re looking for experiences rather than sitting in front of a slot machine pushing buttons.
Don’t shoot the messenger.
MGM Resorts teases more changes to MGM Rewards this year, calling the recent program enhancements the first phase of 2025.
You can taste the goodness of the MGM Rewards biscuit at the official site.
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