A trip to Las Vegas. All business travelers have to do it at some point.
Some love it. Some hate it.
It could be a training event, sales conference or a trade show. Whatever it is, you want to make sure you can earn some points while you are grinding it out in Vegas. Or you may want to use your points for your stay. Either way, we have you covered.
The first thing you will notice is that the major hotel brands such as Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, and Starwood don’t have a strong presence along the Las Vegas Strip. Luckily, the casino companies have partnered with major hotel brands to offer the ability to earn and use points at their properties.
Here are your options for earning and using points on the Las Vegas Strip:
Hyatt: Earning/Redeeming World of Hyatt Points in Las Vegas
By partnering with the M Life program, the rewards program of MGM Resorts International, Hyatt has the most extension collection of Hotels on the strip to earn and use points.
When staying on a qualifying night at a participating M life Rewards destination, World of Hyatt members may earn points and credit towards elite status in the Program, as well as points for eligible incidental spend.
Please note: To receive credit or points during a stay, the Member must be staying at a participating M life Rewards destination as the registered guest and must be both a World of Hyatt Program member and a member of the M life Rewards program. Membership in the Program and M life Rewards are each complimentary.
To join, simply visit www.mlife.com and click “JOIN NOW” at the top right corner. Once you are a member of both Hyatt Gold Passport and M life, make sure to opt-in for reciprocal status.
The hotel stay must be booked either through MGM or Hyatt direct – booking through any of the OTA’s will not allow you to earn or use points. World of Hyatt members will earn five (5) Base Points for each U.S. dollar spent at the MGM property for up to 3 rooms per night. M life member can also choose to earn M life points when staying at Hyatt properties.
The following table illustrates the reciprocal M life Rewards membership tier offered to World of Hyatt Members:
Category 6: 25,000 points/night:
Category 5: 20,000 points/night:
Category 4: 15,000 points/night:
Category 4: 12,000 points/night:
Marriott: Earning/Redeeming Marriott Rewards Points in Las Vegas
Marriott does not have a partnership with a Casino company, but they do have one option on the strip.
The Cosmopolitan is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection portfolio, so Marriott Rewards members can earn and redeem points here just like they would at any other Marriott property around the world. This is good news for earning points. Unfortunately, it is a Category 9 property, requiring 45,000 points per night, so not great for redeeming points.
Category 9: 45,000 Marriott points
Starwood: Earning/Redeeming SPG Points in Las Vegas
Starwood used to have a nice partnership with Caesars Entertainment, but that was dissolved in January 2017. This partnership included Bally’s, Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Nobu, Paris, Planet Hollywood, The Quad, and Rio. So these properties are now off the table for earning and redeeming points. Bummer.
Westin Las Vegas Hotel, Casino & Spa:
The closest point earning option for SPG members is the Westin Las Vegas Hotel, Casino & Spa.
While the property is not actually on the strip, it is just a block or so away so all strip activities are still very easily accessible.
Category 5: 12,000 – 16,000 Starpoints
IHG: Earning/Redeeming IHG Rewards Points in Las Vegas
IHG has a partnership with The Sands Casino Sands Rewards program.
The Venetian and Palazzo offer some of the largest standard rooms on the Strip participate in the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) program as an “alliance” resort. The rooms are great and this would be a nice way to earn IHG points if you are staying at one of these properties, but at 60,000 IHG points per night, it is not a very good use for IHG point redemptions – except for possibly a New Year’s Eve stay when rates are really high.
60,000 IHG points/night.
Hilton: Earning/Redeeming Hilton Honors Points in Las Vegas
Hilton does not have a partnership with a Casino company, but they do have a couple of options on the strip.
Tropicana (DoubleTree):
The Tropicana Las Vegas was recently rebranded as a part of the Doubletree collection. It is located toward the southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard with renovated rooms that have a bit of a “Miami Beach” vibe to them.
26,000-40,000 Hilton Honors points for a free night.
Elara by Hilton Grand Vacations:
Located just off the Strip next to Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, this Hilton property is right at the center of the action and features a range of accommodations from studios to spacious four-bedroom suites. Point redemptions can be a horrible value during peak periods such as NCAA Basketball Tournament and New Years Eve.
52,000-136,000 Hilton Honors Points for a free night.
Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo:
One of the most iconic properties on the Las Vegas Strip. The Flamingo is a mid-range hotel on the busiest intersection of the Strip with solid entertainment, good food and a bunch of pink flamingos. Point redemptions can be a horrible value during peak periods such as NCAA Basketball Tournament and New Years Eve. You will want to earn Honors points here, but not use them.
52,000-128,000 Hilton Honors Points for a free night.
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