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It’s generally known by casino players that comps are generated based on previous play, so if you’ve never played at a casino the first round’s on you, as it were. But sometimes, your comps from one location can be used to gain you some leverage to get some upfront comps at another location.
In today’s post I’ll cite some examples of how this can be done, to help players better understand what opportunities might be out there.
Casino Comps to Cruises, Part 1
Many casinos are now partnered with cruise lines to give out free cruise vouchers to players of at least a certain level. The higher your level of play at the local casino, the better the choices of itineraries made available to you for taking a cruise.
These vouchers are made available whether or not you’ve ever taken a cruise before, or whether you’ve taken one on a certain cruise line. In that way you can get your foot in the door to get a complimentary (minus port taxes and fees) cruise to establish a play history with a cruise line.
Casino Comps to Cruises, Part 2
If you have a voucher from a casino as mentioned above, or if you have decent comps from a land-based casino, there’s also URComped, which can look at your existing cruise or casino offers and translate that into discounted or complimentary cruises on a variety of cruise lines. Read my previous write-up on URComped.
If you have free cruises from one cruise line brand but wish to try another, they can help you get initial access to new cruise lines, who will then send you offers based on your play for that first cruise.
URComped at times works with some land based casinos in a similar situation, but for the most part their focus nowadays is cruises.
Local Casino Offers to Vegas, Part 1
Some casino companies have properties throughout the country, and based on your play in one market they’ll extend an offer to another. MGM and Caesars, for instance, both do this; you can get invited to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Biloxi or Lake Tahoe, among possibilities, based on your level of play in another market.
As such, you don’t have to start from scratch and earn your comps in those markets if you already have play in another market – they know something about your gambling and can use that to make an educated guess about what you’ll do in another one.
Local Casino Offers to Vegas, Part 2
In other instances, some casinos partner with other brands to extend offers in markets where they don’t participate. For instance, Foxwoods has in the past partnered with Caesars, and Ocean in Atlantic City has partnered with Wynn.
These arrangements can make available properties that wouldn’t otherwise be available without a separate visit and play without an offer.
Offer Matching Opportunities
While many players are familiar with tier matching, less may be familiar with offer matching. Usually this is something most often reserved for bigger players, but if you have good enough offers built up at your local casinos or (more often) competitors to a casino you wish to visit, you can contact them, share your offers with them, and they may be open to matching that for a first visit.
Based on what they know of their competitors’ offer structure, they can take an educated guess at what kind of player you are, and expect you’ll likely come in at a similar player level. (This is not unlike what URComped does with cruises and land based casinos, in fact.)
For instance, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has been known to extend this to some (but not all) new players who qualify, as long as they can show offers from higher-end properties in Las Vegas.
Have you had an offer matched or realized as an upfront, first time offer? Share your experiences in the comments!
