Celebrity and MGM?????

[Aloha 1]

I emailed everything as suggested to Rewards back in March. After 2 months I finally gave up and went to the nearest MGM property , the MGM Grand in Detroit. I had to sign up for a new number as my old Players Club card was now obsolete. Surprise, they upgraded me to Platinum! Card has no expiration date on it, just the word Platinum. Now waiting for my on line account to update to the new status.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Aloha 1

[NutsAboutGolf]

On 5/26/2022 at 6:05 PM, miched said:

Is that for new members only at Caesar’s?    Last year we tried and they said new members only.  
 

thanks 

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

Caesars doesn't have an ongoing match MGM program with CET/Caesars but occasionally may offer a short term promo where they match other statuses, sometimes new sometimes existing.

 

What Caesars does have is a partnership with the Wyndham, if you get Wyndham status then Caesars will match you.

[Aloha 1]

Well, Platinum may be short lived. The upgrade posted to my Rewards account this morning but only as Gold. Yet I still have a Platinum card issued by MGM Grand Detroit. Wonder what I can get away with?

[mfs2k]

17 hours ago, Aloha 1 said:

Well, Platinum may be short lived. The upgrade posted to my Rewards account this morning but only as Gold. Yet I still have a Platinum card issued by MGM Grand Detroit. Wonder what I can get away with?

They probably ran out of the Gold Cards. And they all expire on the same date. 

[miched]

18 hours ago, Aloha 1 said:

Well, Platinum may be short lived. The upgrade posted to my Rewards account this morning but only as Gold. Yet I still have a Platinum card issued by MGM Grand Detroit. Wonder what I can get away with?

There really isn’t much difference between Gold and Platinum benefits.    If you look at the foot notes there are qualifications for some benefits in Platinum.  Many of the benefits don’t apply because they have to be earned thru play, the same applies to the Total Rewards for Caesar’s.  We weren’t allowed to go into the lounge at Flamingo because our level of play wasn’t  high enough. 
 

Biggest benefit is the parking and waver of resort fees and that is included in Gold 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Aloha 1]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

They probably ran out of the Gold Cards. And they all expire on the same date. 

No, they specifically said I matched to platinum at the rewards desk.

[mfs2k]

5 hours ago, Aloha 1 said:

No, they specifically said I matched to platinum at the rewards desk.

 

I understand but either the rewards desk was wrong, or the person who downgraded you to Gold on their website and their records is wrong.

[phoenix_dream]

8 hours ago, Aloha 1 said:

No, they specifically said I matched to platinum at the rewards desk.

You got someone who wasn't aware of the revised rules. We did as well. Not much at all in the way of extra benefits at Platinum unless it's earned by play, but nice to have.

[GITC]

I'll relay our experience with this status match although this thread is a little dated.

 

We were in Vegas for New Year's this last year, returned in February, and just got home from a stay last month.

 

We matched our Celebrity Elite status to MGM Rewards and, right, wrong, or indifferent, the lady matched both of us to MGM Platinum. We were expecting Gold. Irrespective of the mistake, Platinum doesn't do much for you that's different than Gold in terms of free parking and waived resort fees (I just can't stand resort fees...😠) but you can flash the card to use the VIP lounge at hotels, get priority access to some restaurants and clubs, and taxi lines etc. Unlike a previous poster, our online status still shows as Platinum.

 

What I really don't like about this status match is that, being based on Celebrity Cruises history which will NEVER diminish, MGM expires your status every year and you need to re-up. That should never have to be the case as long as Celebrity and MGM have a partnership.

[phoenix_dream]

20 hours ago, GITC said:

I'll relay our experience with this status match although this thread is a little dated.

 

We were in Vegas for New Year's this last year, returned in February, and just got home from a stay last month.

 

We matched our Celebrity Elite status to MGM Rewards and, right, wrong, or indifferent, the lady matched both of us to MGM Platinum. We were expecting Gold. Irrespective of the mistake, Platinum doesn't do much for you that's different than Gold in terms of free parking and waived resort fees (I just can't stand resort fees...😠) but you can flash the card to use the VIP lounge at hotels, get priority access to some restaurants and clubs, and taxi lines etc. Unlike a previous poster, our online status still shows as Platinum.

 

What I really don't like about this status match is that, being based on Celebrity Cruises history which will NEVER diminish, MGM expires your status every year and you need to re-up. That should never have to be the case as long as Celebrity and MGM have a partnership.

I agree about having to recertification each year. Stupid.  It's nor like you lose a Celebrity level once you achieve it

[RichYak]

20 hours ago, GITC said:

What I really don't like about this status match is that, being based on Celebrity Cruises history which will NEVER diminish, MGM expires your status every year and you need to re-up. That should never have to be the case as long as Celebrity and MGM have a partnership.

You only need to match from Celebrity to MGM Gold once.

 

MGM also has a partnership with Hyatt. Status between them can be matched online and each program has different expiration dates. So match your MGM Gold to Hyatt Discoverist now. On February 1 when you lose MGM status, you can match back to Gold from Hyatt online. Then on March 1 when Hyatt expires, match back from MGM Gold to Hyatt Discoverist. 

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

[GITC]

7 hours ago, RichYak said:

You only need to match from Celebrity to MGM Gold once.

 

MGM also has a partnership with Hyatt. Status between them can be matched online and each program has different expiration dates. So match your MGM Gold to Hyatt Discoverist now. On February 1 when you lose MGM status, you can match back to Gold from Hyatt online. Then on March 1 when Hyatt expires, match back from MGM Gold to Hyatt Discoverist. 

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I think what you're saying is that you can avoid having to re-up with MGM by using the work around, right? Technically, you otherwise have to.

 

And do you mean Hyatt Explorist instead of Discoverist? I matched to Explorist from Gold. Discoverist is the match from Pearl.

 

I'm the only one in my household with a Hyatt account that I've had for decades. I doubt that it's worth it to sign my wife up for one just for the sake of this status match. We'll just plod along to the MGM Rewards desk as appropriate although, as I mentioned, there should be no need to do so given that Celebrity status never goes away.

[NutsAboutGolf]

29 minutes ago, GITC said:

I think what you're saying is that you can avoid having to re-up with MGM by using the work around, right? Technically, you otherwise have to.

 

And do you mean Hyatt Explorist instead of Discoverist? I matched to Explorist from Gold. Discoverist is the match from Pearl.

 

I'm the only one in my household with a Hyatt account that I've had for decades. I doubt that it's worth it to sign my wife up for one just for the sake of this status match. We'll just plod along to the MGM Rewards desk as appropriate although, as I mentioned, there should be no need to do so given that Celebrity status never goes away.

It used to be easier pre pandemic as mgms stratus ended sept 30 and hyatts was I believe Jan 31st

[RichYak]

12 hours ago, GITC said:

And do you mean Hyatt Explorist instead of Discoverist? I matched to Explorist from Gold. Discoverist is the match from Pearl.

Yes, thanks for correcting me. Everywhere I wrote Discoverist should have been Explorist.

 

12 hours ago, GITC said:

I'm the only one in my household with a Hyatt account that I've had for decades. I doubt that it's worth it to sign my wife up for one just for the sake of this status match. We'll just plod along to the MGM Rewards desk as appropriate although, as I mentioned, there should be no need to do so given that Celebrity status never goes away.

Suit yourself. My wife doesn't even know she has a Hyatt account. Logging into her account twice a year and clicking a link is easier for me than dragging her to the MGM Rewards desk annually.

[NMTraveller]

Suppose that I get MGM to match my Hyatt status.

 

Will Celebrity then match my MGM status?  Or does the status match just go one way?

[mahdnc]

On 12/4/2022 at 12:07 PM, RichYak said:

You only need to match from Celebrity to MGM Gold once.

 

MGM also has a partnership with Hyatt. Status between them can be matched online and each program has different expiration dates. So match your MGM Gold to Hyatt Discoverist now. On February 1 when you lose MGM status, you can match back to Gold from Hyatt online. Then on March 1 when Hyatt expires, match back from MGM Gold to Hyatt Discoverist. 

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

As you know, MGM and Hyatt are not renewing their partnership which is set to expire at the end of Sep.  It is being replaced with an interesting newly announced MGM - Marriott partnership.  Fortunately, that works better for my wife and me.

[NutsAboutGolf]

20 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

As you know, MGM and Hyatt are not renewing their partnership which is set to expire at the end of Sep.  It is being replaced with an interesting newly announced MGM - Marriott partnership.  Fortunately, that works better for my wife and me.

 

Of the big 3 hotel chains, Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott/Bonvoy, I find Bonvoy the least guest friendly. 

1) Free breakfast requires status and it takes far more nights to receive the free breakfast benefit

2) Point redemptions, I routinely find Marriot has the worse redemptions although Hilton isn't too far behind.  Hyatt is almost always the best

3) Resort fees, Bonvoy still charges them on award stays; Hyatt and Hilton do not

[markeb]

14 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Of the big 3 hotel chains, Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott/Bonvoy, I find Bonvoy the least guest friendly. 

1) Free breakfast requires status and it takes far more nights to receive the free breakfast benefit

2) Point redemptions, I routinely find Marriot has the worse redemptions although Hilton isn't too far behind.  Hyatt is almost always the best

3) Resort fees, Bonvoy still charges them on award stays; Hyatt and Hilton do not

 

I have lifetime Titanium with Bonvoy (was only offered at the time Marriot Rewards and Starwood were combined) so I don't have any current experience with Hyatt or Hilton. I think I get Hilton status through AMEX if I activate it. The point redemptions have certainly increased in the past year; I'm assuming the same is true for Hilton and Hyatt, and you generally can't 1:1 compare.

 

If this agreement matches top tier to top tier (apparently details on that to follow), I'll be a happy camper, even though we don't go to Vegas often!

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 hours ago, markeb said:

 

I have lifetime Titanium with Bonvoy (was only offered at the time Marriot Rewards and Starwood were combined) so I don't have any current experience with Hyatt or Hilton. I think I get Hilton status through AMEX if I activate it. The point redemptions have certainly increased in the past year; I'm assuming the same is true for Hilton and Hyatt, and you generally can't 1:1 compare.

 

If this agreement matches top tier to top tier (apparently details on that to follow), I'll be a happy camper, even though we don't go to Vegas often!

 

You hit the jackpot with the lifetime Starwood merger, congrats

 

With point redemptions, while they'll almost always increase year after year due to inflation, Hyatt has had the most favorable redemptions of not just the big three but all major loyalty programs.  To oversimplify it, its about spend to earn points and how many points it takes to redeem.  The non-apples to apples are the categories of hotels in a specific location.  For example, when a city only has a high end Hyatt property and low end Marriott property of course redemption values will varies.  This is all over travel sties, points/miles sites, etc.  I will add Hilton has an unique redemption benefit where when you book with points you get the 5th night free but for long stays we prefer airbnbs

[mahdnc]

19 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I will add Hilton has an unique redemption benefit where when you book with points you get the 5th night free but for long stays we prefer airbnbs

 

The 5th award night is also free with Marriott.

[NutsAboutGolf]

14 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

The 5th award night is also free with Marriott.

 

Thanks as I didn't know as we don't typically stay in reg hotels that long.  Looks like other chains including IHG as have the benefit