MGM Resorts launches M Life rewards program, will track nongaming spending

By Amanda Finnegan

Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 | 3:35 p.m.

MGM Resorts International launched its M Life rewards program Tuesday, allowing members to not only accumulate rewards on gambling, but also their total resort stay.

The program can be used at 15 of MGM Resorts’ properties, including Aria, Bellagio, Vdara, MGM Grand, Signature at MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, THE Hotel, Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Luxor and Excalibur.

Currently, the M Life program is only tracking customer spending on the casino floor, but will begin tracking nongaming spending later this year.

The M Life card has four different tier levels with benefits such as hotel offers, pre-sale ticket access, priority reservations at restaurants and room upgrades.

The program also features a service that MGM Resorts is calling Express Comps, which it says enables guests to comp themselves with their points at restaurants and entertainment venues.

Customers will receive rewards two ways — through personalized offers and in the form of comps that members can select from a menu.

The rewards are also more personalized, the company said. For example, if a guest attends a Madonna concert, he or she might receive an offer for an upcoming Lady Gaga show. A concertgoer attending a Trace Atkins show could receive an offer for the Country Music Awards.

MGM Resorts first announced its M Life program at a shareholders' meeting in June when the company changed its name from MGM Mirage.

The company is the latest to cash in on the all-inclusive membership card in Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment’s Total Rewards program has been tracking nongaming spending for more than a year.

Among other benefits, members can rack up M Life Moments, which include a chance to direct the Bellagio fountains, a cameo in a Cirque du Soleil show and a lesson with one of the resort’s celebrity chefs — all if they spend enough.