Lead time for Mlife discount room offers
 

Anyone have a sense how far in advance Mlife offers room discounts (and, potentially, property credits) for Mlife, say, Platinums? I have been enjoying these discounts and can see them through end of year (2014), but nothing in January (yet?)

The special offers are usually seasonal/quarterly, so may need to wait a few weeks for the 1Q 2015 offers to get loaded.

+1 - They usually post the next season's offers a week or so into the previous. I was booking a trip last May (maybe June?) and didn't get the offers until March or so, IIRC.

How do you go about getting the comp'd tickets for Shark Reef or Secret Garden? Do you just go to the attraction entrance? And what's the limit on # of guests besides the Plat/Noir member? Thanks!

At the Shark Reef, go to the Invited Guest or Will Call ticket window at the entrance. At Secret Garden, just go up to any of the ticket booths at the entrance. Show your Plat/Noir card and ID and say that you are interested in getting comp'd admission.

As a Plat, I believe you are officially able to get three tickets (you + 2 others). However at Shark Reef I showed up once with my wife plus another couple and politely asked if it would be possible to get 4 tickets. The guy said no problem and printed them out. FWIW, Shark Reef was not busy at all that day.

Anyone have any info on what is going to happen next week. I matched Diamond GP to mLife platinum last November. I earned enough mLife points for Gold next year so I assume that on 10/1 I will drop to Gold. This year I am GP Platinum (Hoping to be Diamond before my Next trip in December). Once I become Diamond, can I re-match to mLife Platinum? I suppose since I will already be mLife gold I shouldn't do anything until Hyatt Diamond hits.

If you went to M Life platinum in November, you should not drop on 10/1. You'll have your earned M Life status for a minimum of 1 year.

My understanding is mLife resets everybody on 10/1, I guess we will find out shortly.

This is true for those who actually earned their status via mlife tier credits, as it works the same way as most frequent flier/traveler programs. I find it much less likely that it works this way for a status match.

In any case, it'd be great to hear back from ellinj about what actually happens.

This thread just reminded me to check what my status was today, too bad the mllfe.com site is down.

Finally got logged in. Down to gold which is what I earned via play and spend. I am not going to try and do anything until I reach my hyatt diamond, hopefully I can match to platinum again.

Perhaps a glitch which is common with mLife, but I was short 35,000 credits to maintain Platinum for this "new" year. I logged on and while tier credits are 0, the site still shows me as Platinum. I know I was short as credits were all earned via stays and table play after last October's sweep in 2013. Curious if MGM possibly "gifted" the extra credits and if anyone else is in this camp? I'm assuming the system is slow and not fully updated...

EDIT 10/2 9:25pm - called mLife and indeed dropped down as well - have an upcoming reservation next week so it's possible that the site has not "refreshed" itself.

The site is down way too often. But my understanding based on my experience is consistent with what has been reported here - that status determined as of September 30 starts to apply on October 1. I assume this is the same for people who matched, that said, I also assume if someone matched closer to September 30 that their expiration date on their card refers to September, 2015 rather than September, 2014. Can anyone report on that?

According to ellinj, pragmatically it is not the same. But even theoretically, why should it be the same? Presumably every person who is HGP Diamond on 9/30 is also a HGP Diamond on 10/1.

mlife status determined on any day applies immediately...

The matching is another reason it makes no sense to me that MLife changed to end of September as the determination point. Any idea why they did that?

Agreed on immediate application. I remember one time a couple of years ago the pit boss surprised me with a new card once I qualified for a new tier during a session (not a long one) at a table. These days the points seem to take longer to post.

Priority Taxi Line and Comp Limo tips
 

Question for Plats and Noirs - do you tip the valet when using the Priority Taxi line, and if so how much?
And for Noirs - how much tip is reasonable for the complimentary limo service to/from the airport?

Thanks in advance!

I don't regularly tip unless they go out of their way to do something, help with bags, etc. Then usually $2-$5 depending on how much they helped, how much I've won that day, or even what denomination of bills I have on me.

If all they're doing is waving up a cab and pointing me to it, I don't see much of a point.

FWIW, I used to be a bellman/doorman/valet at a luxury hotel and never expected a tip for just waving a car up out of the taxi pool.

If I tip, it is usually $2 - $3 and based on the same factors (although sometimes I do tip when they just wave one up if the line is really long).

Not a Noir but as for the limos, I have been fluctuating between $10 and $20 depending in part on the casino (i.e. MGM is much closer to the airport than some of the others - I am including other casino companies, especially when traffic is involved). There's also a lot more opportunity to charm me or piss me off with limo drivers and of course my pre-existing state of mind comes into it as well.

We get comp'd limo service to/from airport as Platnium. We usually tip the drive between $20 - $25. We stay at the MGM.

Limo service is a Noir benefit only

https://www.mlife.com/pages/tier_ben...las_vegas.html

Or if you book certain rooms/suites. Or if your host decides to set it up for you. :)

true there are a lot of ways to earn a free ride from the airport but I was specifically replying to the statement that

Limo ride is guaranteed for noir, but the level of play required to get limo service is nowhere near the level of play required to get noir.

I am platinum and I always get limo service (not just to/from the airport), suites, and room charges up to about $1000 or $2000 taken care of, as well as any show or event tickets that I'm interested in.

Having said that, I suspect that I am nowhere near the level of play required for noir. I know people who put in about 10x the play per trip that I do (5x the play per year -- I go a lot) and are platinum. MGM is secretive about the noir requirements but I suspect that unless you are a real whale (7 figures per trip) there is a loss requirement in there as well.

If the taxi guy puts bags in the car or if I skip a REALLY long line I will usually tip him a couple of dollars. Getting the dirty looks from all the people who have been waiting in line for 20 minutes is the best platinum perk! $2 well spent, especially if they think that I only skipped the line because I "bribed" the guy :D

As for the limo driver, I think that $10 is reasonable -- $20 if you had him go out of his way (ie, an extra stop)

I tip $5 every time. It's by far the best perk of Plat to me, so I don't mind tipping for it especially as I'm sure they get lots of crap for it from people in line.

It is included in all of our offers. We are Platnium. We were Noir before it became by invitation only. We average around 1 million tier points per year.

Oddly, when I logged into mLife on my phone, it showed the Noir target as 1 million tier points. This was last year - they may have masked it since then.

Initially with the mLife rollout, Noir started as an opaque, invite-only level. It was briefly changed to 1 million tier points for a few months, then changed back to being opaque again. You can see discussion on this issue earlier in this thread. Also, note that at the time of rollout, having 1 million tier points was not independently sufficient for Noir (I had personal experience on that), and that appears to be true again now based on posts both in this thread and on other forums.

They have masked it. I was over 2M TC before they reset and I'm still Platinum. I know someone in the 8-10M TC range who is still Platinum.

I have heard a rumor (and got it verified by m-life customer service on facebook) that you need a minimum of 2M TC before you even get considered for noir. At that point I am not sure what they base it on. I suspect that it is some formula that combines average trip theo (or maybe ADT) and loss, and the requirements are very high.

Noir itself isn't worth all that much. Most of the good benefits are included in platinum anyway, and, if you are playing a lot, you will get all the additional noir benefts (eg, limo service) from your host anyway. The extra 10% boost to slot points / express comps / HGS pts is really the only thing you are missing out on by being platinum.

I have been waiting and waiting for the Mlife website to allow me to book an offer at Vdara for January (30% room discount + $150 credit). But, when I look through T&C at end, just before clicking to book, I see that the language hasn't changed -- offer only good through 29 December. Any guidance here? It's always a bear to verify on arrival the offer (resort credit, not room rate), and a screen shot of this language is not likely to help come January.

Unfortunately, you have to wait until the next offer comes out.

The only worthwhile benefit of Noir is the line passing at restaurants. My friend would do this at every restaurant.. CPK @ Mirage, Noodles @ Bellagio, etc. etc.

If you have a good rating then status doesn't matter when it comes to limo transfer, suites, and resort credit. It shouldn't be hard to get back-end comps on top if you put in good play too.

You get that with platinum too. You skip lines at taxi stands and restaurants.

You also get into a lot of things free that you would normall have to pay for. This isn't really advertised anywhere though -- you need to ask.

For example, a gold or higher card will get you and a guest into Moorea for free (I go there a lot). That is normally a $50 cover for guys on weekends, so it's saving you up to $100 of cover charges per day.

If you'd rather look at aquatic life than mostly-naked women, I believe that platinum and higher is good for entry for you and a guest into the shark reef. I think it also gets you into the dolphin habitat, but I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure about the art gallery (I don't think so), but it wouldn't hurt to ask. You also skip the line at a lot of nightclubs (including all the ones run by light group). Then of course there is the free cruise, and the free UFC fight club membership if you're into that.

And, you can get tier matched at Hyatt.

I think I've posted in this thread about my experiences with Platinum, but as recently as this spring, Plat was good for 3-4 free tickets to:
- Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay
- Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat as Mirage
- Art Gallery at Bellagio

As well as skip the line to taxi lines and restaurants and entry to pools/beaches at hotels where you aren't staying.

Oh nice; I wasn't sure about the Art Gallery.

You also get free entry to some non-hotel-owned pools (like Moorea). Due to the partnership with Light Group, you also get "VIP Entry" into their nightclubs and pools, although I think that this just means that you don't have to wait in line (you don't get the cover waived or anything) and I'm not sure how many of the people who are working the doors at the clubs and pools are aware of this.

A host with some pull can pretty much get you into whatever you want, though.

Plats only get to cut the lines at the buffets and cafes while Noirs get to cut any line.

Another benefit of Noir is free VIP access to the nightclubs (ex. Hakkasan, Hyde, etc.). You don't pay cover like you do with Plat (?).

Honestly I rarely eat at those places so I'm not completely sure, but the only place that I ever have to wait in line is Starbucks (I wish I had line-cutting there). The only place that I've ever seen a line that you could cut with Noir but not with Plat was VIP ticketing when they have a major event at MGM. That can really be a mess, especially when they have two events the same weekend.

Noir and Platinum seem to have the same benefits at nightclubs, at least according to what's published on the MGM website. When I wanted to go to Hakkasan, my host set me up and my whole group (10 people) skipped the line and walked right in, so it's kind of irrelevant. Anyone who has Noir is a much bigger player than I am, so if I can get it from my host, they can get it from theirs, and probably a complimentary table with bottle service too.

That is really the thing about the Noir benefits -- for most of them, it's just something that your host would get you anway (even if you are not Noir)

More Plat and Noir line-cutting: Some sportsbooks have a platinum and noir only line. This is really useful when you want to make some football bets at 9:40am.

I have not had a problem cutting nightclub lines, but Plats are supposedly free at the on site Light run clubs. In my experience, they do not honor it without badgering except 1Oak, where I have never had a problem.

Where do they have platinum and noir only lines in the sportsbook? I know they do not at MGM unless it changed recently, which is why I usually end up watching games in CET casinos (they have special lines set up based on status and sometimes betting amount).

Sportsbook at Mandalay Bay had a Plat/Noir line. Was quite nice when we ended up there the day of the Kentucky Derby.

I think at nightclubs, you can get in without cover if nothing special is going on. But if they have a famous DJ that they are selling tickets for, you won't get in with just the card. A call from your host will probably do the trick though.

At Mandalay Bay they have a special Plat/Noir window. Everyone ignores the sign and uses it, but, when it's busy, there will be guy in a suit at the front of the line directing traffic to free windows (which really speeds things up). If you just walk up to him and flash your card he will put you next up (similar to how things work at the taxi stand).

At MGM I know that they have a special window for $10k+ bets, but nothing for Noir/Plat.

I have not been to all the other m-life properties' sportsbooks, so I don't know if they have special lines/windows anywhere else, or if it's just Mandalay Bay.