When It Comes To Comps, Play Where You Want To Stay

We're always here to help. Just send us your questions (or tips) from the box to the right. One of the questions we receive most often is how to ensure that you receive a hotel freebie at the resort you desire. The simple answer is to play where you want to stay, but it's not quite that easy.

If you want to receive comps and discounts at specific casinos, it's important that you stay, play and eat there. That's easier said then done when you're in Vegas. There's such an awesome variety of casinos that we must roam! This writer will play anywhere, but save the bulk of the gambling money for where he wants to stay or receive the best comps. If I want free rooms at Planet Hollywood, I'll play $25 blackjack there. But, if friends want to play elsewhere, I'll just play lower limits at that casino to save my bankroll.

When your goal is to earn comps for The Cosmopolitan or Treasure Island, it's simple since all of your spending at those casinos is tracked and you don't have a choice of casinos under the same parent company.�Companies like MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, however, make up much of the Vegas Strip. But, each property is not the same. Each company has tiers of their properties and, in the case of MGM Grand, tiers within their own hotel with SkyLofts & The Signature.

The chains consider your home casino in their players club rewards algorithm. If you stay and spend most of your money at one property within a chain, you're more likely to see priority for your room comps go there. The caveat being that you're spending enough money to meet requirements. For example, if you're playing $100 and spreading that $100 equally across five different Caesars properties, you won't likely see comps coming in for Caesars Palace. However, spend that $100 at Caesars Palace and you'll likely see more offers for that property. (Note: $100 is just an example.)

The location of your play won't effect any general players club points you accumulate but, when you dig deeper into the players club algorithms, you'll see offers to properties where you spend the most money. If you're not seeing offers for specific properties, it may be because you're simply not spending enough money to qualify.

Players clubs are cutting their benefits and not doling out the goods like they did years ago. If you feel that your play at a specific casino is worthy of special offers and comps, call or ask a host when on-site. If nothing else, they can explain why you're not receiving the good stuff that we all want.

(PHOTO: Anthony V. on Foursquare)

Comments (4)

Return to » When It Comes To Comps, Play Where You Want To Stay

I play across Caesars properties and my comps seem tied to my level of play rather than which hotel is played in. I haven't tried playing exclusively at Caesars Palace to test the algorithm, but I can say I haven't put money on a table in IP in at least four years and still am offered free nights there just like I am at Flamingo, Bally's, Harrah's and, occasionally, Rio. When you do the math on the discounts I'm offered at Paris, Planet Hollywood and Caesars, I expect I would save more money booking at Caesars than I would booking at IP. However, it doesn't matter what the discount, free saves more money than a discount.

Play where you want to stay is partially correct, but only with the correct bankroll. You're not going to score a free room at the Venetian putting $200 through the slots, but you might downtown.

I played $450 at the M Resort to get a free dinner buffet and ever since they've sent me free room offers every month.

(Before anybody points out that spending $450 doesn't equal a "free" buffet, it was an offer after getting 450 points that day, $1=1 point. My gambling budget that trip was $300/day so as long I won back half of what I was gambling, I would be getting the buffet for free. In the end, I actually came out ahead $150 or so, but I played $450.)

Right, money goes different distances at each casino.

I read in the Sun the other day that over 60% of Strip revenue was NON-GAMING. What that means to me is that if we're gonna get comped for anything, it ought to be for all the dough we drop on OTHER stuff. Most hotels have loyalty programs, you get some kind of goodies for staying with them consistently. Why should Vegas be any different? And that's before the gaming, the boozing, eating, even the entertainment that we take in in these facilities....

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