MGM Top Tier Elites Being Given Complimentary Hyatt Diamond Status

Last month Hyatt mistakenly offered lifetime Diamond status to, it seems, Diamond members of the program who didn’t already have a Hyatt Visa (if they applied for, were approved, and for as long as they kept the card).

That offer is being honored for those who were targeted and applied before being informed it was a mistake. (Those who applied using the offer, but who weren’t targeted for it, aren’t being given lifetime Diamond.)

Now another group is being given Diamond: MGM M Life Noir members.

Hyatt and MGM introduced reciprocal points-earning and status recognition over the summer.

Hyatt’s top tier members were given MGM M Life Platinum status, which is second from the top tier — the exclusive Noir status which, as I understand it, is generally given to gamblers with a theoretical loss of $250,000 or more in a calendar year.

The top Hyatt level that MGM members were being given was also second from the top… but that’s only Platinum status, the same level you get for taking a co-brand Chase credit card (under normal circumstances). That surprised me — that an MGM big fish dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling losses would only get free internet, while a Hyatt Diamond would get MGM’s Platinum tier and get to skip the taxi queues.

Well, it turns out that what I thought was odd was thought by the programs odd as well, and they seem to have done something about it — because it appears as though MGM’s Noir members are being invited to Hyatt Diamond status after all.

It’s a fairly small group that shouldn’t materially affect availability of benefits for existing Hyatt Diamonds, so this shouldn’t raise concerns — but it’s interesting to see emails going out from MGM about this, contrary to the announced details of the program.


About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. I may not like “competing” with status matched Noirs, but given the criteria for qualification, Hyatt – or for that matter, ANY program, should turn cartwheels to attract these whales.

  2. I don’t really think it’s any competition. The number of whales is extremely limited. And a lot of those wouldn’t stay at Hyatt! That said, I completely agree with jfhscott. ANY program should bend over backwards for these, I can hardly blame them.

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