The end of the year is quickly approaching, and like a lot of other things that reset in January, many casino loyalty programs work on a calendar year cycle and start over when the year changes as well.
Before I dive into these tips, it’s helpful to remember that you shouldn’t gamble solely for status or comps. But as I’ve noted, if you are going to gamble, and can take advantage of the play you’re going to do to get those things, it’s fine to make sure you maximize your benefits, as it’s one of the ways you get paid back for your play over time.
With that in mind, here are some end of year things to double check before the year concludes.
Did You Make or Renew Your Tier?
Higher volume players will particularly need to check this one out each year, and many follow it, but the way a casino tier often times works is once you earn it, you keep it for the rest of that year, and a full year beyond that. However, in that full year, you need to renew the tier if you want to keep it for the year that follows that one.
Tier credits reset to 0 at the beginning of a new cycle, and you have to earn however many tier credits are required to get back up there.
One thing you can keep an eye out if you’re a bit short is that many casinos do some sort of a tier multiplier near the end of their tier cycle, especially during the holidays. Caesars Rewards often runs at least one 5x promotion near the end of the year holidays, if not more, just to cite one example.
Did You Use Your Tier Perks?
If you’re a higher tier player, you sometimes qualify for concrete perks. Caesars Rewards offers a Celebration Dinner for players who earn Diamond, for instance, but it’s a use it or lose it feature of the program.
That has specific cash value to it so make sure you review your rewards opportunities for anything you might have forgotten to utilize, and use it if it makes sense to do so.
When Do Your Comp Dollars Expire?
One aspect many players get confused is the idea of tier credits vs. comp dollars. Tier credits are a scorecard and resets on a calendar cycle. Comp dollars are the actual points you can spend and have value within the casino’s walls. They expire based on the program rules.
Oftentimes six or 12 months of no activity can cause them to disappear (one notable exception is MGM Rewards Points do not expire for players at the Pearl level or higher). But it’s good to know how long they will remain active so you can either use them or play to extend their expiration date.
For those who don’t like this aspect, most rewards programs have an activity aspect that causes people to have to keep spending or use them within a certain window of time, basically to minimize the cost of having to maintain these buckets that will eventually have to be awarded in some form, whether in terms of food, experiences, etc.
