If you happened to miss my Travel Tuesday entry this week, I’m currently in Las Vegas on a what I’ll call a “change of scenery but stay safe” trip. As you might expect, it’s been an interesting experience as the city attempts to bring guests back and revitalize the Strip after months of closures. It seems that part of these comeback plans includes sweetening player’s club offerings. Case in point: MGM’s is now allowing those with status at competitor casino chains to match said status within the Mlife program.
During my initial status-matching adventure earlier this year, I was a little disappointed to read that Mlife no longer matched Caesars (at least not at properties in Las Vegas). However, that recently changed, with several MGM properties now offering Gold status — which is the third tier up — to those with Caesars Diamond status or equivalents from other competitors. Currently, this offer is slated to last through the end of this year. What’s more, since MGM has extended expiration dates, my status will be in place until 2022 even if I do nothing.
In my experience, the process of getting matched is pretty simple. While strolling through The Mirage, I decided to hit up the Mlife desk and inquire about the offer. Sure enough, the team member said he just needed my Caesars Rewards card, current Mlife card, and an I.D. While I already had an Mlife account to upgrade, new players can sign-up and be matched as well. Within minutes, my Gold card was printed and my status updated in my MGM Resorts app shortly after. By the way, backing up a bit, I noticed that the Caesars Rewards card I brought to town with me still showed a 2020 expiration, so I made sure to stop by one of the self-service kiosks available at certain Caesars properties where I could print off an updated Diamond card before heading to MGM.
As cool as it is to carry around an Mlife Gold card, the truth is that it doesn’t necessarily come with a lot of perks that will benefit low-level gamblers like myself. While it does boast potential discounts on hotel rooms, it’s nothing as clear-cut as the “waived resort fees” perk of Caesars Diamond. There’s also nothing approaching the awesomeness of the $100 Celebration Dinner that Caesars offers nor even the promise of free show tickets (not that those would be very useful right now).
That said, the priority check-in line that your Gold status affords you could come in handy — if, for some reason, a digital key or self-service kiosk option is not available. Plus, once Valet parking returns to the Strip, you can use your Gold status to get that for free as well. Additionally, if you do intend on doing some gambling, you’ll earn 20% bonus points when playing slots.
Sadly, if you’re someone looking to status match from a non-casino and you haven’t already done so, one major path is currently closed. If you’ll recall, the way I was able to parlay my Hilton Gold status (obtained thanks to my American Express Platinum card) into Caesars Diamond was to first match to Wyndham. The problem is that, according to a notice on what was their status matching portal, this option is not available for the time being. Hopefully this is a temporary change and the program will return in the future — but, in the meantime, you may need to find another way to launch yourself into the world of status matching.
Overall, while I certainly didn’t need the upgrade to Mlife Gold status, it’s nice of MGM to once again offer this possibility. Do I feel like even more of a fraud than I already did carrying around Caesars Diamond status? For sure — but the perks are pretty undeniable. To that point, while Mlife’s program isn’t as attractive as Caesars’ in my opinion, perhaps it will prove its worth on future visits after things have (hopefully) returned to something a little closer to normal. In any case, if you happen to be in Vegas in the coming months and hold status elsewhere, it may be worth stopping by an Mlife desk to see what status matching you can achieve.