Gig103

My wife and I have been going to Vegas 3x or 4x a year since 2009. We were gold once, now regularly Pearl and her price-per-pull on the slots has increased. Yet, we aren't getting complimentary offers like we used to.

I understand how the Tier Points are accrued, so I am not asking why we aren't gold anymore.. But has MLife changed, or has the economy recovered enough that we are no longer as desirable patrons to get free rooms?

Low Roller

I've noticed the same. We started going around 2009 when the economy was in the toilet and things were practically free. Even as a lowly pearl, the offers were great for several years, but they don't seem as generous recently. My guess is that the economy is good now so they don't have to give away as much to lure people to town.

Or, they may have just looked at how often we visit and realized that we're now addicted and will go regardless of what it costs

Silver Fox

I don't know the inner workings of the casinos but definitely the offers/comps have been getting worse. It is not as though they have upped their game either.

michelle227

Much discussion to be had in various forums about this...the reality is that the current generation tends to be more about clubs than gambling. The comped rooms were, as I understand it, far more about theoretical loss. But with fewer people actually gambling, the executives are turning their focus elsewhere...

It was not that long ago that, even just as primarily a poker player, I had almost two weeks comped across three stays in less than a two week period. Nowadays, I actually see WORSE offers on my account (Caesars, not MLife) than the general public could get just stumbling across the site...

I recently booked Mlife for a trip and did see a nice upgrade offer that was too good to refuse, but that has been it. Matters are not helped by the fact that mid-June has EDC going on in addition to the various poker series that start up next week and run through mid-July...

Chuck60

My wife and I visit Vegas 3 times annually (since 2007), and the MLife offers have indeed dwindled in scope (rooms, free play, resort credits, etc) even for Platinum tier, indeed. I'd suggest that those in the top three player tier levels attain a host that they can converse and get along with..and don't be shy about asking them for reasonably earned comps; it's their job and this has greatly aided our Vegas trip experiences.

MLife offers have progressively dwindled , particularly the last two years (Platinum Level, no less). Vegas visitation and visitor spending have increased significantly during that 2-year span..supply and demand at work here. And, the bean counters/ admin. attempt to wring out every last nickel from patrons (resort fees, parking fees, CNF fees, alcohol portions whacked..you name it). Vegas is still enjoyable..but certainly not what it once was from the comp standpoint.

If gambling levels justify it, I'd suggest acquisition of a casino host. We have an excellent one and it has made a significant difference..a key thing is to simply ask for perks when gambling levels are adequate to warrant it.

izzik

Maybe it was just me but when I stopped by the casino host office at Aria, one host evaluated my play and said that I could get comp offers if I gambled twice as much.
That was kind of funny, since I was staying there on a 3-night comp offer from the website.

bgriff

I agree that for mid-range players it seems like totally free hotel room offers in Vegas are less common than they once were, but it does seem like there is more of a discount-across-the-board methodology.

So for example a few years back I might have gotten an offer for 1 free night at Mandalay, and any additional nights would be at retail rate. Now, the offer says there is the possibility of 1 free night, but usually there are only a handful of eligible days on the calendar. But if I want to book 3 nights, all 3 are usually significantly discounted from the retail rates, so for a 3-night stay I think I probably still come out ahead vs. the old way of doing things. (It is odd, though, that even at cheap properties like Excalibur, free nights are still extremely rare, even though my account often shows $20ish/night rates at the lower-end properties. You would think at that point it would be worth the customer goodwill to just go ahead and offer "free" nights, especially since they still take in a solid amount of money with the resort fee.)

Not sure if it is the case for slot players, but for table game players, Mlife has also gone back to the old "ask what they can do for comps at check-out" approach where they will evaluate your play and take some amount off your bill, vs. the "Express Comps" approach they had used for a while where you had a running account with a $ amount in it. In my personal experience the "ask at check-out" approach has always yielded a much higher $ value than the Express Comps system did (perhaps in part because some people don't know to ask for it and so it costs the casino less).

gengar

That isn't quite right - mLife did end Express Comps for table games players, but Express Comps was nothing more than a subset of primary comps earned. Every table games player still has a running account; it's the primary comps bucket. So nothing has changed except for the elimination of the Express Comps subset. And in the past, of course your primary comps were always far greater than the Express Comps, since Express Comps was just a tiny subset of the greater primary comps.

bgriff

During the period of time when Express Comps were around I had asked at check-out for "primary comps" as you put it, and was told by the agent that it was just the $ amount in Express Comps. But maybe I had a bad agent. I also had a friend around the same time who mentioned she still successfully got the usual "primary comps" treatment. In any case, the Express Comps concept seemed to be less beneficial for me, so personally I'm glad it's not around (or at least has been significantly de-emphasized) any more.

gengar

Did you not talk to your host about it? A host would have used your primary comps that whole time. A random FD agent is just about the last person I'd trust about anything. In any case, it's not like you lost out permanently because it just means your primary comps weren't drawn from at the time, so no loss in the end.

I'll just add that - in theory - Express Comps was a great idea. Giving table games players easy access to comps and reducing host workload is a win-win at that interaction level. The problem was the implementation; since mLife still wanted hosts to have control over most of the comps, they only allowed a tiny fraction of comps to go into Express Comps - which made it totally useless for the vast majority of players. So it's no surprise they ended the system. Cosmo's Identity has a much better implementation of points for players.

bgriff

I don't play enough to have a host. (Or at least I don't think I do.) But both before and after the brief "Express Comps" era, I've had no problem asking about it at check-out, at which point the agent calls the casino's Mlife desk and the Mlife agents tell the front desk agent what to provide. I've also sometimes stopped by the Mlife desk myself and they apply it to my room, but unless I have a lot of extra time the morning of checkout it's easier not to have to make 2 stops.