Upgrades to MGM Rewards Program Increase Player Benefits

^{MGM Rewards is giving players a little bit more than they offered before. (Image: Piotr Swat / SOPA)}

MGM Rewards have beefed up their member appeal with what they are calling “new industry-leading benefits,” including the ability to get a head start on the following year’s tier-credit churn. 

Casino rewards programs, especially in Las Vegas, are always a hotly debated subject. MGM have generally led the way among customers, despite a post-Covid nerf to tier credits and benefits that were not well received. 

However, they have now perhaps recognised they went a little too far and have upped their offerings - 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, and the launch of an eGift card. They have also said a new ‘iconic’ credit card will be ‘coming soon’ as well. 

"We are elevating our rewards program and creating more ways than ever to earn and enjoy benefits across the world and at sea," MGM Resorts VP of Loyalty Marketing Anil Mansukhani said. 

"MGM Rewards' next evolution of enhancements unlocks new benefits for members at every tier. We listened to feedback from our members and wanted to recognize and reward guests' advancements throughout every level which is our central focus in delivering a best-in-class loyalty experience."BQ

Let’s then take a look at what’s changing in a little more detail. 

Tier-Credit Rollover for Milestone Rewards

Perhaps the most eye-catching new benefit for players is the new Milestone Rewards, which essentially give players a head start on the following year’s tier credits. 

The way that it currently works is that you achieve your tier through your points during the year, and then you retain that tier and its benefits until the end of the next year. 

Those tier points reset back to zero at the start of the year, though, and you must achieve it again to retain your level. 

However, under the new Milestone Rewards, players will be allowed to “roll over” tier credits into 2026’s earning winning if they hit certain milestones in 2025. Those milestones are: 

• 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

So, for example, if you achieve the 75,000 tier credits you need to get Gold level in 2025, your points will no longer reset to zero in 2026 – they reset at 7,500, making it easier to maintain your level. 

However, and most cleverly, the incentive is also there to shoot for the next level. If you were aiming for Gold but only got to 50,000 points, you would also be given the 7,500 head start in 2026, making it easier for you to achieve Gold next time around. 

It also keeps you in the MGM casinos after you achieve your desired level. 

For example, last year I knew Gold was within my reach, but I had no chance of getting the 200,000 points needed for Platinum. The result of that was me spreading out my play into other rewards programs after I hit gold as there was no longer any benefit to my subsequent play at MGM. 

Under the new system, though, I would be incentivised to keep my gambling at MGM as if I could get to 125,000, I’d earn a 17,500 head start on the following year’s tier point churn. For gambler’s, especially mid-tier ones, that is a significant incentive. 

Mariott Bonvoy Tier Matching

Everyone loves a tier match. It feels like cheating the system a little by getting benefits at a property without spending any money there. 

It’s not cheating the system, though, it’s just marketing. In Las Vegas, it’s generally a way for properties to try and poach another casino’s players – something of a ‘try before you buy’ offer to players who can prove they have a record of putting money across the table in casinos. 

That is just really Las Vegas, though, where it’s a bit of a wild west saloon showdown between casinos fighting over players. Not all tier matches are like that. 

MGM and Mariott Bonvoy first announced their partnership in the summer of 2024, and this one was more about mutual benefit. It was customer sharing, not customer stealing. 

The tier matching offer is as follows: 

• MGM Rewards Pearl members now earn Marriott Bonvoy tier matching benefits, enjoying Silver Elite status.
• MGM Rewards Gold Members will now enjoy Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status.
• MGM Rewards Platinum members continue to enjoy their tier match benefit into Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status.
• MGM Rewards NOIR members continue to enjoy the ultimate in exclusive perks, and tier match into Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite, Marriott's most prestigious tier status.
• These elevated tier match benefits, collectively, provide more MGM Rewards members with additional access to perks at over 10,000 Marriott Bonvoy global destinations, such as priority late checkout, room upgrades, welcome gifts and more.  Previously linked accounts will reflect the new tier status match automatically.   

For a full list of what that will get you, take a look at the Marriot Bonvoy member-benefits page. For a quick reference, though, Gold Elite status will get you a 25% bonus on points earned, guaranteed late checkout, and enhanced room upgrades subject to availability. 

Gold-Level Cruise Benefits 

Another major upgrade from MGM Rewards for mid-tier players is the extension of the cruise benefit to Gold level players. 

MGM have had a partnership with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity for a while, but it was reserved for the upper-tier players who achieved either Platinum or Noir level. It’s something that Gold level players can now enjoy too though. 

If you are Gold level, you now get the Annual Cruise Benefit too, which will be up to five nights on an Ocean View Stateroom. That means it will be a lower deck room and with just a window rather than a balcony, but it’s better than the interior cabin (without a window at all) that many other reward programs offer.

Meanwhile, Platinum and Noir level members will have their offer enhanced to seven nights in a balcony stateroom and ten nights in a junior suite respectively. 

Even better, all MGM Rewards members of all levels 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.

According to the infographic released by MGM Rewards, the cruise benefit can be ‘traded in’ for monetary value as well. For Gold members that trade-in value is ‘up to $750,’ for platinum it’s $1,500, and for Noir it’s $3,000. 

The new MGM Rewards Program certainly seems like it’s good for players according to their matrix. (Image: screenshot from MGM Resorts)

A good tip here is probably to go to a host office in an MGM casino to ask them about that trade-in and how to redeem it. 

MGM eGift Cards Make It Easier

This is one that I am a little surprised has taken so long to come in all honesty. There have been times when I have been searching for gifts for my casino-obsessed partner, assumed MGM would have some kind of gift voucher I could get, and then been perplexed that there was no such thing. 

Well, there is now. Sadly, it can’t be used for FreePlay, which would be nice, but it can be used in all participating retail locations, restaurants, bars and spas at MGM Resorts' properties. MGM Rewards eGift Cards can also be applied toward room nights for hotel stays, so it’s a potentially a nice way to pay towards an upgrade to a special room, even if you are initially booked on a comp. 

There was a soft launch where MGM Rewards Members received an exclusive offer for eGift Card purchases, although these appear to have been just a 5% reduction in price on purchases of $300 or more. 

New MGM Credit Card Coming Soon

According to MGM, this spate of new benefits represents just the “first phase” of an improved rewards program, and a new credit card is to follow in, what is presumably, phase two. 

There already is an MGM credit card with benefits, for example, such as immediate granting of Pearl Tier and use of priority lines at check-in. However, as per the MGM press release, the “new credit card will unlock an enhanced level of rewards and travel perks and allow members to earn points and Tier Credits faster than ever before.”

We will certainly keep our eye on that, and most intriguing of all will be whether or not it is available to international customers. 

Currently, the MGM credit card is not, and it is a source of annoyance to international travellers to Las Vegas, who already can’t visit as often as domestic US gamblers, that they are denied a relatively easy way to earn points that is granted to others. 

Other Perks and Positive Changes

MGM have also upgraded a few other bits and bobs, meaning mid and high-level gamblers get a little more for their status. They are as follows: 

• 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 + up to $600 air travel credit to fly to Las Vegas, Beau Rivage, or Borgata
• NOIR: $500 Tier Celebration Credit at MGM Resorts + up to $1200 air travel credit to fly to Las Vegas, Beau Rivage, or Borgata

As I mentioned at the start, casino rewards clubs are a subject that always creates debates among gamblers. That has increased in recent years too, with Las Vegas accused of ‘nickel and diming’ customers more and more. 

MGM Rewards were at the forefront of that to some extent with their rebrand from MGM Life, which was seen by many as a smokescreen for a crash in benefits. 

There is no doubt that it punished many players and made it impossible to maintain their previous reward tier, but it was just a redrawing of the borders and one that was perhaps necessary in truth. Mid-level gamblers were previously enjoying the benefits of high-rolling ones, which was great for the player but probably bad for the industry. 

It did perhaps go a little too far then, though, and this feels like a necessary rebalancing. It gives mid-level casino players a taste of what could await them higher up as both reward and incentive, and that feels just about right.