The partnership between Hyatt and M Life has been getting a lot of well deserved attention on the blogs of late. I think it’s a pretty good deal, and really enjoyed learning more about the benefits based on the real experiences of Scott over at Hack My Trip. But what about those of us that aren’t Hyatt players? Personally, my attendance at September’s Frequent Traveler University event in Tampa will be the first time in 13 years that I’ve set foot in a Hyatt hotel. It’s not that I’m on some vendetta or enjoy being the resident contrarian, I think Hyatt Gold Passport is a terrific program. It’s simply that my travels tend to include as many visits to places like Huntington, WV and Peoria, IL as New York, NY and Washington, DC. Programs with properties in the smaller towns and hamlets of America are more likely to provide me with more benefits.
While I have no immediate plans to visit Las Vegas, MrsMJ and I have talked about visiting as it’s a place that we’ve never been together. There’s good news for us because we’ll get M Life benefits too. How so? Royal Caribbean and M Life have entered into a partnership offering reciprocal benefits between M Life and Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society. Let’s take a quick look at the benefits available to me as a Diamond Plus member of Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program.
As a Diamond Plus, I receive the benefits equivalent to M Life Platinum status. Indications on Cruise Critic are that getting these benefits can be a trick, but I have reached out to M Life for a little guidance. Look for an upcoming post on that. In addition, I receive occasional offers on Las Vegas hotel stays like the following.
In summary, you don’t necessarily have to be a Hyatt player to enjoy enhanced benefits on your visits to Las Vegas. Royal Caribbean and M Life have entered into a partnership that offers reciprocal benefits between the two programs that can be beneficial. Coming soon – the logistics of actually getting the benefits applied.
-MJ, July 27, 2013
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Hi,
Thanks so much for the info, I am cruising with Royal Caribbean in two weeks, what do I need to do to get the benefits(I am Platinum with Hyatt)?
Hi Stacey. You’re first going to have to arrange your M Life status based on your Hyatt status. Then you can work out the M Life benefits on RCL. Since I went the other way, RCL to M Life, I do not have personal experience getting M Life status based on Hyatt. I’m doing a little research now, but I believe the Hyatt to M Life status match does not start until later in August. Will find the reference for that.
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thanks marshall! =)
hi marshall!!! thanks for such a wonderful post! it’s so nice to see another frequent cruiser in the cc churning hobby! i am diamond and very close to D+. i am so excited they’ve partnered up with m-life. i have two questions: 1) since i am diamond, i am gold with m-life. i am aiming to become D+ in about 2.5 years so provided the m-life program doesn’t change, will i get platinum with m-life when i become D+? or will i be stuck with gold m-life since that is the status they gave to me now? i don’t plan… Read more »
Regarding #1, I don’t see any reason why you’d be stuck at the lower level. As for #2, running that down. Will have more info in a post this week.
Hey Margo. That card has some decent benefits on its own, Platinum status, and 2 free nights after spending 1K in the first 3 months. If that is of value to you, I would go ahead and get it. If you don’t get it now, I wouldn’t wait long. I don’t know how long it takes for your Platinum status to hit…and then there are some calls to make to get the M Life benefits applied from there.
I have a RC cruise scheduled for October. Would there be any advantage to getting the Hyatt card now? Thanks!
Hey Stuart. Sorry for the slow reply. Not so much status, but certainly some benefits of status.
Edited: I also see I missed part of your question regrading past passenger discounts. I don’t think those apply in the same way since you are not actually granted status by RCL, but need to check further. You do get an “on board booking bonus” which might mean on board spending credit for your next cruise. I’m still researching some of this.
Please excuse my confusion, but, as someone who has not previously cruised on Royal Caribbean and currently does not have status with Hyatt, does this mean that if I acquire the Hyatt credit card, I will not only have status with Hyatt but will also get mid tier status with Royal Caribbean, qualifying me for past passenger cruise fare discounts (when offered).? (Las Vegas doesn’t interest me).
[…] That’s because, as MJ On Travel reminds me, M Life has launched a partnership with Royal Caribbean cruise lines as well. […]
[…] on Travel shares that M life now has a partnership with Royal Caribbean, which helps out all of us with Hyatt matches. Apparently the status match is one way, from Royal […]
I see that Royal Caribbean plans to offer complimentary cruises to “qualifying” Platinum and NOIR cardholders (whatever “qualifying” means) but is there any news on a reciprocal status match? In other words, does my Hyatt Diamond status, which gets me M life Platinum status, now also make another jump to get me status with Royal Caribbean? Or is it just a list of benefits for M life members without offering them actual Crown & Anchor status?
Scott, As best as I can tell, it just gets you the benefits and not a status match. I have read that the M Life Platinum free cruise benefit is only available to those who achieved that status on gaming/non gaming spend, and not through an affiliate relationship which probably covers “qualifying.” Here’s a link to a relevant thread on Cruise Critic. I’m reaching out to M Life and RCL for further clarification on the overall relationship because like all things cruise line, there seems to be conflicting information out there on the status match vs reciprocal benefit question. Should… Read more »