Wirelessly posted (FlyerTalk.com/wap is fun : Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.8))

a lot of hard work went in to establishing this forum. now its in our hands to make it thrive. my idea for this thread is to brainstorm ideas for threads and topics of discussion. I have not taken advantage of the gaming loyalty programs to near their fullest. as such, I am keen to see threads detailing the basic outlines of each major loyalty program - their strenghts, weaknesses, player opportunities, andhouse benefits.

what do you want to see in this new forum?

Much like Aunt Josie who only flies once/year on an award ticket from her brother, I'd like to see an assessment of what type of play is necessary to make it worth my while to participate in the various programs.

I typically only play low-level blackjack, pai gow poker, hold-em, and some 9/6 or maybe 9/5 Deuces Wild. At most Vegas casinos, it's not worth my effort to even get a card if I can even find a place to play, but at some non-Vegas casinos I can get a reasonable comp with 2-3 hours of play (except for hold-em, where the card is really only good for calling ahead to reserve a seat).

I can play with getting the comp programs together for Atlantic City. I work here, it shouldn't be that hard. I can also handle anything expected of a concierge for Atlantic City. Maybe if there's interest for that despite that it's not comp-related I'll start a thread for such.

With all due respect, good luck with that Nick. At least here in ACY, they will never come out and tell you that "X bet for Y time yields Z in comps." They don't want you knowing, in order to keep you playing.

As with most things on FlyerTalk, I assume it would he is looking for anecdotal evidence from other FTers. With another datapoints, I imagine we'd get a good idea of what's involved.

At least for me, I have no idea about the world of gaming loyalty programs. Hearing a few stories might make me believe that this is actually worthwhile (though I doubt it!)

I don't doubt it, but it is worth saying that the house will never come out and tell you.

Great post by the OP (no ^, just ).

Short answer:
Make the discussion truly international, to reflect your forum's members.

Long answer:
As long as it doesn't cannibalise regional travel forums, I'd like to see a FT rollcall of programs joined or used.

For example, Crown Towers won (again, not for the first time) an award as one of the top three hotels in Australia. Comps or player program offers for Crown would be interesting - in Australia and Macau.

I've yet to find an interesting loyalty program in this country.

Bottom line is I am very happy to see this forum - but it's the information sharing that will prove its success or failure.

On the basis of the thin ice re. TB and new forums, I think it's imperative to share useful info or let the forum die.

Let's work on the former.

And United will never tell you what you need to spend each year to become Global Services.... that said, speculation abounds in the United forum.

Care to give us an idea of what spend you think is required to be high roller in the eyes of the casinos? I'm curious.

I'm really happy to see this forum created. Very interested in trying to crack the formulas behind the rates at which play accrues points. Even though casinos are unlikely to reveal this info directly I think we as eductaed FlyerTalkers can crack the codes the more good information we exchange!

Point taken re: GS - ^

What spend do I think...I can tell you that where I am, we have an unpublished top tier not unlike UA that reportedly takes $100-150K play/year.

Tables take much more play to get the house's attention than do slots. Poker play is great for building up comps, and will result in status from the comp points, not because casino hosts go after poker players.

I have heard from players in my place who have gone to the riverboats around the US that sustained play of $100/hand gets them RFB. Those properties have an understandably lower threshold due to the smaller volume of big players.

I'd say I'd like to see an emphasis on the loyalty programs, since this is the most opaque factor out there.

But, overall I'd like to see

(a) Loyalty Program details worldwide, as well as the regional differences in Loyalty Programs from region to region (i.e. Harrah's Total Rewards operates a bit differently with respect to benefits in the Nevada, Tunica and Atlantic City markets). Also, differences between casino marketing offers and outright earned comp offers.

(b) Details on the casino hotel amenities (dining, spa, shopping)

(c) Relating gaming specifics (i.e. tables, video poker, slots, poker) to the specific perks (and loyalty programs) available

(d) Interesting facts about the casino properties (the people, the properties, and the history)

Yep, I'd have to agree there, but some programs are still more transparent than others. And, even the transparent programs have some rather opaque areas. But, that's what makes it fun, right?

And, remember, things like not visiting for a while, or variations in play have a lot more to do with casino marketing than airline programs.

Basically, IMHO, the "high roller" category is out of reach of the discussion of this forum. And, you're unlikely to get very many details, as those folks tend to not want to publicize their play. [we are talking folks who can easily spread from $1,000 to $10,000++ per hand]

With that being said, I do NOT consider a $100 (black chip) player to be a high roller. Now, that doesn't mean that $100 players won't be treated well at certain properties, but it's not "high-roller" material in 2008.

Now, RFB (all room/suite, food and beverage comp'ed by a property) is probably a more realistic level to talk about. With regard to RFB (and the lower lever, LFB, which would be the same, but not include all the gourmet restaurants in a property) --- a typical strip casino property (like Venetian/Palazzo) would have an expectation of a $250/average bet at Blackjack or Baccarat ($350 at Craps) with around 4+ hours of solid play per day for their lowest level RFB guests.

A recent description from a Bellagio RFB player, was a $450/average bet with 2+ hours of BJ per day, 3+ hours of roulette per day, and 2-3 hours a day of video poker on $5 ($25 per spin) and $10 ($50 per spin) machines. For this action, the player was receiving limo, penthouse suite, food & beverage, and around $1000 in promo (show up money) chips.

Of course, it is a bit YMMV, but this should give one some idea of the action required for pretty decent casino packages. But, the above are by no means considered whales, and are quite far from the biggest players at those properties.

The Greater Atlantic City Concierge Association has done a local knowledge quiz for the past two years, with prizes and donations to a scholarship fund. I helped draft both quizzes. This is something I can do for AC's buildings.

Glad to see this forum finally got started, and I hope there's enough continuing interest to keep it active.

I'd be glad to help out with questions about two of the three larger casinos here in Ontario, as we try to get to them reasonably often. Haven't been to Casino Windsor since it was renovated and went to the Total Rewards scheme from their own players club, so that part of my info is obviously not recent. But for those heading to the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort (and its older sibling, the "temporary" but still open Casino Niagara), or Casino Rama in Orillia, Ontario, we regularly visit both, have their players cards, and get some comps on hotel rooms and restaurants.

We're definately not "whales" (you'll usually find me at a $25 blackjack table and the Mrs. burning up the 25 or 50 cent slots), so I'd classify us as "large minnows" as we play for many hours each trip, which is usually an overnighter. But we do enjoy our gaming and we'll try to help out if we can on here.

Thanks to BK for getting this forum going, and others for chiming in to get it passed.

Only suggestion, right off the top: I wish FT had found a more appropriate area to put this forum (ie., under the Las Vegas forum where more visitors to FT might notice it), but I'll get used to finding it where it is now, after I passed it by a couple of days already.

bj-21.

Las Vegas is a geographic forum, while Gaming Loyalty is (in theory anyway) supposed to have global representation.

Agreed - more visibility would be good. Maybe we can get a sticky announcing this forum at the top of the Las Vegas forum? I'll check with the mods...