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Reminder: It is now time to match your Hyatt elite status back to MGM Gold status if you have not already done so.
Status match basics
As a reminder, those with Hyatt Explorist or Hyatt Globalist status can match to MGM Rewards Gold status.
Link your accounts to match status here
You can find the full MGM Rewards Gold status benefits here. MGM Rewards Gold doesn’t necessarily look like much on paper, but it can be worthwhile to have for a few reasons:
Free parking. You get both free self-parking and free valet parking at MGM casinos. Now that Las Vegas strip properties have started charging for parking, this is a valuable benefit to have if you’ll be renting a car. The valet lines can get kind of ridiculous at popular times, but at those times you can just use self-parking. I also recall some resorts having dedicated “Gold and Platinum” parking areas near the front of the parking garages. Update 2022: You now only get free parking at participating MGM Rewards destinations.- Waived resort fee when you book direct. This can easily add up to hundreds of dollars in savings over a multi-night stay.
- Better room rates. This benefit isn’t spelled out in the program terms, but I often find that the rates I see when logged in to my MGM account are much better than what I can find elsewhere.
- Dedicated check-in area at most properties. This can be yuge on a busy day. See this photo from Mandalay Bay a couple of years ago.
The normal check in line goes out of frame to the right and wraps around and around. The Gold check in area is where you can maybe make out an employees way down at the far end of the counter on the left. As you can see, there is no line at all down there. This can easily save you an hour. Frustratingly, my preferred property (Delano) does not have this for Gold members, but I’ve stayed at Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Luxor, and checked in once at Excalibur (cheap Hyatt mattress run) and they all have an elite member check in line that’s rarely much of a line.
You also get to skip the line at buffets and maybe you can save something at the gift shop or something like that. The three benefits above are the ones that mean the most to me.
Status match-go-round
Of course, the other benefit of MGM Gold status is that it matches to Hyatt Explorist status. Hyatt’s elite year runs on a different calendar, with qualification based on stays from January to December and elite status resetting on March 1st. MGM’s status year resets on February 1st.
This means that if you are a Hyatt Explorist today, you can match to MGM Gold status right now and that MGM Gold status is good until January 31, 2024. If you are not going to re-qualify for Hyatt Explorist based on your stay activity this year, you definitely want to do this match right now. That’s because on March 1st, when your Hyatt status reverts to “none” (or Discoverist), you can at that point match your MGM Gold status to Hyatt Explorist status that will be good until March 2024. At least, that’s the way it has worked for the past several years. Things could always change, but that’s why I’d recommend positioning yourself to take advantage of this while you can.
Hyatt Explorist status isn’t incredibly useful, especially because matching from MGM Gold will no longer get you any club access awards (you’ll need to stay 20 nights to get two of those and then 30 nights to get two more).
However, as an Explorist you will get a few more points on paid stays. More importantly for me, Hyatt Explorist members get a guaranteed 2pm late checkout (which I find that most Hyatt hotels honor without question, though there are times when I’ve had to push back to get it). I often find myself needing a late check out for one reason or another, so having a guaranteed late checkout is sometimes really important to me.
Bottom line
Hopping on – or staying on – the status match go round now makes sense, whether that’s to get/maintain MGM M life status and/or Hyatt Explorist status.
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I’m set up to get Hyatt Explorist status on April 17 through the Bilt Rewards match, and I’ve got a trip planned to Vegas in mid May. Will I be able to share match to MGM rewards Gold prior to my trip through that explorist status that I have for 90 days?
No. I had that in the post about the Bilt match. The temporary Explorist will not match to MGM Gold (those who had recently done Hyatt trials confirmed that was true in practice).
One person said that if you go to Vegas you may be able to match to gold at the MGM Rewards desk after the first night of your stay. I *guess* they were suggesting that maybe you could go to the MGM desk and show them the Explorist status on your phone (which doesn’t indicate that it’s temporary) and then maybe they’d match you to MGM Gold at the desk? If that works, you could bring your Gold card to checkout and get the resort fees waived, but I’ve seen one report of that so I am not at all confident that it works.
If you complete the 10 nights, then you get full Explorist status and then you can match to MGM Gold.
I was just in Vegas last weekend, and was able to match my temporary Explorist (from Bilt) to MGM Gold at the Park MGM desk. I am fairly new to this game and didn’t even realize this match was a possibility until after I checked out at the end of a two night stay…and just happened to run across a FM post. I showed the Explorist status on my phone, and they swiftly and graciously matched me to Gold and reimbursed all of my resort fees. (Excellent customer service at the rewards desk, by the way).
So my question is…can I use MGM Gold to rematch to Hyatt Explorist sometime after this temporary status expires? Can I stay on the merry-go-round if I time everything correctly? Or do I have to earn it through stays after this? Thanks so much for all the valuable info!
Lucky you, congratulations, I think you should be able to
For anyone searching for your password for MGM Rewards and not finding it, try M Life. That’s where I found mine. Think that’s the old name.
got 2 years of explorist….with match.
How do you match back from MGM Gold to Hyatt explorist? My globalist ends today.
Today’s my last day as Hyatt Globalist, but it matched to MGM Gold. We’ll see how long that lasts.
Waived resort fee when you book direct. This can easily add up to hundreds of dollars in savings over a multi-night stay.
Nick-correct me if I’m wrong but if you book directly with MGM (with their Gold status) to get the resort fees waived, then you can’t get stay night and point credits with WOH. It’s one or the other. I one previous stay I booked through WOH to get the credits but had to pay the resort fees, as expected. Seem like you have to decide what’s more important or valuable.
any other ways to get MGM status? i am trying to submit in order to get a “free” Holland America Cruise and currently only have Caesars Diamond status (& free Carnival cruise offer) to submit.
Saw a success report at Miles Talk (or in the Miles Talk Facebook group I think) of someone matching from Caesars Diamond to MGM Gold at Excalibur in Las Vegas. Note that was likely a property-specific thing because that has seemed to have ended elsewhere (I’m betting the employee or maybe employees at Excalibur just missed the memo).
I think one can use MGM gold to match either Carnival cruise or Holland cruise.
Caesar can only match to Carnival.
Is that correct?
If I match from MGM Gold to Hyatt Explorist, do I still need to hit 60 days for Globalist or will I only need 30 days?
You will need 60 Elite Qualifying Nights. There is no “head start” by status matching to Explorist.
Stookey is correct. To be clear, that’s basically a universal truth: if you get Marriott Gold status from the Amex Platinum card, that doesn’t reduce your path to Platinum; if you get Hilton Gold from the Surpass card, that doesn’t reduce your path to Diamond; if you get United Silver status from Marriott Titanium status, that doesn’t reduce your path to higher United status. Status that you get as a perk like that doesn’t give you credit for the nights necessary to earn status. You need elite qualifying nights (or flights, etc, depending on which program we’re discussing).
I don’t have a hyatt account yet. once I do, can I match my MGM rewards GOLD to Globalist ?
Explorist Match.
Great info. Please update this in late 2022 so we can prepare our stays and status matches in 2023. I am Globalist now til Feb ’23. So does a stay at an MGM property get your Hyatt points/stay credits to help one regain status with Hyatt (for early 2023)?
Yes, they should. Read on in the comments immediately below yours for more.
Thanks. Confirming as need points for overseas travel.
So is there a way to book MGM properties and get the resort fee waived but also get Hyatt elite credit for the stay?
In the past, my experience has always been that I just had to make sure my Hyatt membership information was also attached to the stay at the desk. It was a simple check at check-in and check-out to make sure I’d get Hyatt elite credit and I did (when booking directly through MGM), but it sounds like maybe things have changed during the pandemic. I haven’t been to Vegas in a couple of years now and haven’t kept up with the latest since the waiving of resort fees went into effect a couple of days ago.
Ahh. Ok, I didn’t know it was recent. I guess I’m wondering what might happen if, say, a person did not want to stop at the front desk. Maybe the person is a computer nerd who loves apps. Maybe the person is actually a few miles away. Maybe the person is actually quite a few miles away . . . Just sayin. Some pretty low rates at Excalibur without the resort fee.
Yeah, I wouldn’t count on that. In the past, I always checked at the desk at both check-in and check-out. Quite a few times the check-in person told me yes the accounts were connected and it was good to go and then the check-out person told me that the check-in person had to manually do something that they didn’t do for me to get Hyatt credit. It didn’t sound like something that would work that way. That said, your cost to try is low. I just probably wouldn’t shout about the results of it if it works out.
I don’t think I’d try it then. I’m too cheap even to risk the $29. But the dropping of resorts fees and ability to get Hyatt elite credit makes this a really viable option for anyone that can get to Vegas for the right promotion. At the rates they charge, it’s even better than some of the strategies that involve finding category 1 hotels to book using points.
I’m imagining the conversation with my P2 though– “no I am really just going there to check into a hotel, not for gambling.”
Thank you
My Hyatt Explorist status is valid until through the end of this month, Feb 29. Should I match my Mlife Gold status now to extend the Hyatt Explorist status or do I have to wait until it expires? Thank you!
I don’t think you need to wait — if you match now, you should be good to go with Hyatt for 2020.
I have an upcoming stay at Bellagio in March. Booked via Hyatt, it was a mistake rate. I’m Hyatt Discoverist which is matched to MLife Pearl.
Can I keep the reservation under my Hyatt number but still get MLife Pearl benefits? The only one I really care about is free self-parking.
Thanks. Just took your advice. My MLife Gold expired. I am planning a trip to Atlantic City next week. Glad to have Gold back.