I’ve posted a bit on the partnership between Royal Caribbean and MGM M Life. The majority of those have been about Royal elites getting M Life status, but I’ve certainly posted about going the other way as well – M Life to Royal Caribbean.
A reader wrote today to ask if I’d tried getting M Life benefits applied to a Royal Caribbean cruise lately? I haven’t because I earned my M Life via my Royal Caribbean status. Early on some readers reported difficulty getting benefits applied to their cruise if they received their M Life status via a matching program like Hyatt’s match to M Life. However, when I checked into it, the terms restricting benefits applied to the free cruise offered to M Life big spenders. After some fits and starts, some readers were able to obtain the onboard benefits like drink chits, and a specialty restaurant dinner for cruises they were paying for.
The reader checked in with Royal Caribbean and they pointed him to the terms and conditions of the offer which have unfortunately been updated to specifically exclude any benefits for those who obtained their M Life status via a status match program. Specifically, the terms and conditions now state “Guests that earned tier through 3rd party relationships are not eligible to receive onboard benefits.” You can review the terms and conditions here. I’m glad some were able to take advantage of this while it was available. Of course, if you’re an M Life spender anyway….and I know some of you are, don’t forget to take advantage of this offer.
-MJ, April 9, 2014
I recently used the Hyatt match to obtain Platinum status with Mlife. During a recent trip to Vegas it provided a lot of perks including not having to wait in lines at clubs or for a taxi. After my trip I also contacted Royal Caribbean about my upcoming cruise. I asked about status match and was asked whether my status was from match or from gambling spend. I told the representative that it could be either due to a recent trip to Vegas. The representative stated that she would need to contact the Mlife casino to find out. I’m currently waiting to hear back but I’m guessing my spend wasn’t enough.
Sorry to see this come to pass, but it was bound to happen eventually. I was able to use my benefits twice (both on short cruises). Loved getting the free drinks in casino bar, but didn’t gamble nearly enough to justify it.
When I tried to get the benefits applied in January they denied me. Then I called back and talked to someone else who also denied. I escalated quoting the T&C, which back then only excluded the free cruise benefit for third-party plats and finally got approval. Guess the writing was on the wall.
That’s a shame, I was able to take advantage of this last year on a Mediterranean cruise. The free drinks and specialty dinner were awesome. C’est la vie!
Thanks for posting this. I would never have known about the new T&C’s otherwise, though I would have liked to take advantage of the benefits.