Last week a party was held to honor the success of a partnership announced last month between Chicago, Illinois-based Hyatt Hotels and MGM Resorts International that effectively merges the two companies' customer loyalty programs.
MGM's rewards program is known as M Life, whereas Hyatt maintains the Gold Passport loyalty program.
Partnership allows guests to use points toward properties in either network
Under the terms of the partnership, Hyatt customers can use their rewards points towards stays at MGM properties on the Las Vegas Strip like Aria and Bellagio, and can also accrue and spend points on non-gambling entertainments and retail within the casino resorts, such as dining and shopping.
Similarly, those MGM customers who belong to M Life can redeem their points at Hyatt's vast network of hotels. Hyatt maintains a variety of hotel properties under its handful of brands, including Hyatt Regency, Park Hyatt, and Grand Hyatt.
"I hate using the term ‘win-win,’ but this partnership truly is a benefit for customers of both companies," remarked Jeff Zidell, who is Hyatt’s senior vice president of loyalty marketing.
"I think we’re just beginning to see the tip of it," Zidell said.
Access to MGM's world-famous resorts presents only upside to Hyatt, which has no hotels on the Strip. Zidell remarked that Hyatt only decided to enter into the loyalty partnership with MGM Resorts after conducting market research with existing members of the Gold Passport program, a system with three tiers, Gold, Diamond, and Platinum, who responded favorable to the possibility of using their points toward gambling-based vacations.
"Las Vegas has always been an important location for our customers," he said.
Success of partnership could bode well for similar alliances
Many are wondering if the success of this pairing will inspire similar partnerships in the future, with big name Nevada casinos like Caesars standing to benefit mightily from such loyalty deals.
Some speculate that the airlines, well-versed in cultivating and rewarding frequent customers, may also get involved in such agreements in the near-term future due to the natural crossover potential. MGM currently enjoys an agreement with Southwest Airlines.
Casino and airline customers are quite accustomed to, and readily sign up for, customer rewards programs that allow companies to track things such as how frequent - and also how profitable - a customer they are. Hotel loyalty programs are also experiencing a surge in popularity. Therefore, merging such programs generally has proven to be a successful formula as it appeals to customers who want to take advantage of a broader array of rewards with fewer signups required, with the added upside to companies of the addition of a large, perk-hungry customer base.
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