I booked a FHR stay at Wynn for a family trip (4 rooms, 2 nights). Although the experience was satisfactory, I was rather disappointed that the FHR program affected my comps at the casino.

At the end of the trip, every member of my family had earned comps for their play (enough for a meal, some snacks, etc.) except for me. They initially told me I had not played at the casino -- despite my diligence in presenting my player's card -- and took 20 minutes of research to discover that my FHR booking was the culprit. Apparently, people who book under FHR are considered to have "already been comped" by the casino with the FHR benefits.

Of course, it is illogical to gamble in order to earn comps. But it's ironic that I was the only one to receive nothing for my table play, when I had been responsible for bringing my whole extended family to the Wynn. I always thought that FHR was a benefit for choosing the hotel, not playing at the casino.

Woah - hadn't heard this before - anyone know if this is just Wynn/Encore or true with MGM or CET props too?

You sir are 100% correct. I had no idea. I booked under the second link you have shown. I just double checked another reservation I made for SLS as well through link #2. The hotel Was half the price under the second link. Thanks for the heads up. So it seems that if I pay twice the rate I get the AMEX perks. Not a good deal at all. The lower price wins out. Many years ago I jist called it in. This was my first via the website and I was pretty sure I saw mention of FHR regarding other properties I checked on that second link.
SLS by the way is worth it at a low price but dont pay 250.00 a night for this place. No way

Thanks
Robert

I also found out that the latter one for general use, is a 'pre paid' rate. I booked at a Fairmont recently which clearly said that I could cancel within 72 hours. I noticed however that the total amount was charged to my AMEX card at the time of booking and when I called AMEX, found out that ALL bookings at that site ARE prep-paid HOWEVER refundable as per the stated cancellation policy. I also found out that these are reservations through a third party and NOT AMEX. There were NO issues when I did cancel and the money was fully refunded..

who did you talk to who told you this? I have around 20 wynn/encore stays under FHR and this has never been the case for me.
what you your play like? when you says some snacks/a meal i'm guessing it was rather low? what did you play vs your family? if they played slots and you played table games that could certainly be the difference. wynn is very stingy in general until your bets get pretty high on the table games. if you were playing table minimums I wouldn't doubt the pit bosses took your card but didn't even enter a rating.

perhaps this was an excuse rather than saying your play wasn't enough.

Thanks Geoff, your questions are really useful. I talked to the manager at the VIP desk (don't remember the exact name of the desk), and also at the Red Card counter.

Our family isn't a huge gambling family. We mostly played at the blackjack tables. I'd say their average bets were the table minimums ($25) and my brother and I were generally $30-$50. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much, even asking the pit bosses if it was "worth it" when he was asking for our cards. Twice, pit bosses said that it was absolutely worth it to always present the card. We probably played 16 hours over the weekend. We also hit the slots a few times, always using my card.

So the play wasn't huge by Wynn standards, but it was still enough to net an average of $30 in comps for each of my family members playing minimum bets. It's a minuscule reward that is about the value of a single hand. I just figured I'd get more because I was consistently betting bigger. My brother left early and never found out the value of his comps.

I would suspect if you're a big roller, your play will exceed the threshold of the FHR benefits. But because FHR is funded out of the casino comp budget, my guess is that FHR may eliminate or reduce any comps that you have earned. Geoff, if your play is much larger than mine, perhaps that offset doesn't exist or is too small to even consider. What kinds of comps are you getting and what is your play like?

I always check (at least) the price on the hotel's site before booking through FHR. If the FHR rate is within reason (it's often lower, and I've only one time had it be more than $10/night higher), I book through FHR for the value of the benefits and the upgrade potential.

My own personal record was getting upgraded to the 2,060 square foot E suite at THEHotel at Mandalay Bay, with a rack rate of $1,060, for an $89 reservation on Christmas Eve. It'll take me a lot of bad FHR deals to amortize away that experience. :cool:

In 2015; table averages below $100 have barely any value. (especially at non-carnival games, such as blackjack) At Wynncore, I'd say you need to be around a $500/average. It's not worth giving your card, if your (table) bets are so low. Run the theo numbers on those averages; and you'll see what I mean.

Wow! I recently got a huge suite at Mandalay Bay under FHR. Full dining room, living room, bedroom, office, large bathroom with steam shower. It was nice.. too bad I was on business....

FHR reservations at MGM properties are usually pre-paid, so they won't comp the room charge if your play qualifies. Instead, they will comp any F&B/show bill that you charge to the room (after the $100 F&B credit).

Hmm.. I've got a stay at the Bellagio - 3 nights upcoming this weekend via FHR - only 1 night deposit+tax was charged at booking.

Either way, will ask about comps and FHR at check out and report back.

Encore FHR problems...
 

I had a conference at the Encore about 2 weeks ago. I booked my room through FHR because it was a better deal once all the benefits were considered. This time up there, I booked a Tower room because I was hoping for a "space available" upgrade.

My flight is only 45 minutes to Vegas, so before I left for the airport I checked the FHR website and saw that Parlor Suites were available for purchase.

When I checked in I was given the standard "sorry, no upgrades available". I asked why I would be able to purchase the room, but not be upgraded. Got the same song and dance as the girl at the desk called inventory management twice. I took the keys to my regular Tower room and decided to call my travel rep at Amex.

He was very nice and called the hotel to try and arrange an upgrade. They gave him the same response. Then, he made a dummy booking to see that a Parlor Suite was available. This is when he got really frustrated (with Encore). He told me that he was going to get management involved because this was not acceptable.

An hour later he called me on my cell phone and told me that my suite would be ready the next day.

The changing of rooms didn't go very smoothly and it was very disappointing to have a non-smoking room (on a non smoking floor) that had a terrible stench of cigarette smoke. Also, there was a huge glass ashtray on the desk when I got there. I called down to the front desk and they confirmed I was in a non smoking room and said that they would send someone up to "spray the room". I was tired of arguing with them by this point.

After the stay I got their online survey. Was completely honest with my response. I then received their canned letter of apology and an offer of a 1 category upgrade on my next stay. I replied and asked if this was in addition to the upgrade I receive with Amex or if they were offering me something that I was already entitled too.

Long story short, they confirmed that on my next stay they would give me a 2 category upgrade (space available). So, I'll give them a try one more time and hope for a Salon Suite.

I really want to do the FHR for the Bellagio. It is listed as an "$100 property credit during your stay". I wanted to use this credit to their restaurant Picasso and was told when I told the FHR agent that I could use the credit for any restaurant besides Picasso. I feel this should not be the case. If it is a property credit I should be able to use it on any in the Bellagio premises.

Any insights? Has anyone been able to use the credit for Picasso?
Thanks in advance!

Not possible. There's a list of participating restaurants where you can use the $100 credit at and Picasso isn't one of then.

Just be grateful that Bellagio is still offering $100 property credit since most Virtuoso/FHR properties shifted over to $100 spa credit.

Emphasis mine.

The casino wants you to present a players card so they can track your play. They will also give you comps, but that is not the primary reason they want to know who you are and what you are playing. Try betting black chips at a Vegas double deck table and note the high level of insistence on the part of the pit boss when he/she asks for your card. They want the info so they can properly kick you out if you actually have a brain and have spent more than 10 minutes learning about the game before playing. It's not for your benefit.

Also, as Baccarat King noted, table min bets of $25 will not earn much in the way of comps at Wynncore regardless. By my rough calcs, I'd say that 16 hours of such play is roughly equivalent to the $30 of comps your family members each received. That said, it is a bit cheap for Wynncore to not even give out the $30 in comps since you were on a FHR reservation. Just go down the street to Caesars or Bellagio next time for your gambling.