My sister, Starr, has beaten me to this subject. (See her post in the “Comments,” down further on the left side of this Web page.) I have mentioned earlier that we had a family reunion in New Orleans between Christmas and New Year’s but I haven’t given many details. Too busy catching up after being gone for almost two weeks.   But now I do have the time to tell you more about this visit.   I worked through my long-time host at Harrah’s in Las Vegas to plan this free 7 Star Trip although we did most of our Harrah’s play in Laughlin last year. We have done the majority of our play in Brad’s name in the past in order to keep 7 Star status, but enough in my name to keep at the Diamond level.   Our Vegas host made the initial room reservation, but put us in touch with a host at Harrah’s New Orleans for subsequent service. This was the first time we had been in New Orleans since Harrah’s had built their own hotel, conveniently joined to the casino by an under-the-street tunnel. We had one suite, with a pullout bed in the couch in the living room, plus an adjoining room for a second bedroom. A third room nearby completed our needs to sleep nine – all comped for 3 nights.

It was a wonderful place to be during the holidays, with the beautiful Fulton Street Holiday Festival right out the door of the hotel.

 Kaitlynn and Zachary at the Fulton Street Holiday Festival.

All of the food for the nine, plus sometimes for four more family members who lived locally, was comped. This was covered by the 7 Star $500 celebration meal credit, the extra $500 credit you get on your annual 7 Star free trip, coupons both of us had received in multiple mailings from Harrah’s, with the balance paid using Reward Credits. Shopping in the gift shop for family members was also comped using Reward Credits.

$500 Celebration Jazz Brunch at Ruth Chris's Steakhouse.

7 Star players (and to a somewhat lesser degree - Diamonds) have many perks in New Orleans: a free carriage ride through the French quarter (worth $190, which is what we paid – with Reward Credits – when we needed a second carriage for our gang); 2 complimentary tickets per 7 Star or Diamond player for the Imax theater and Aquarium. (You can also get comped riverboat tickets and Haunted History tours but we didn’t have time for those activities.) If we needed more tickets than our comped ones, we could get more, at a reduced price at the players club, by using Reward Credits.

Brad and I enjoying a carriage ride through the French Quarter with our grandchildren.

Son-in-law Steve with his daughter, Kaitlynn, at the Aquarium.

Highlight of our visit was a visit to Mardi Gras World – the one thing we couldn’t get comped, but was really worth the admission price. (And there are discount coupons you can find on the Internet.) First there was a free ferry trip across the river. Then a free shuttle was waiting to take us to the Mardi Gras World complex, where we were taken on a fascinating tour through a huge warehouse full of former parade floats and props, some being reworked for the upcoming Mardi Gras festivities. The tour price includes a film telling about this booming business that is busy the year around. But the most interesting part includes plenty of free time to try on Mardi Gras costumes and take pictures with your own cameras – no commercial photographers bugging you!

 The Three Sisters - 70, 65, and 60

 Yes, that's Angela and Steve!

It was a wonderful – and frugal – reunion but I know many of you will have questions about it, the main one being “How do you make playing at Harrah’s a positive play?” So, if you hold off on your questions, I will write about this subject another day soon!

(PS -If you can't see the photos right away, check again the next day.  Sometimes it takes a few hours for them to show up.  If you don't see them after 24 hours,  please send me a private e-mail - queenofcomps@cox.net  - and tell me what browser you are using.)

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I get a lot of e-mails from players suggesting I speak to casino executives and see if I can get them to change things that they don’t like – the downgrading of video poker paytables, the cut in comps, the decline in customer service. I am flattered that they think, albeit mistakenly, I have that much influence – and in the past on occasion I have gone to bat for some player and helped right a wrong they suffered. But it was always a “little” thing. 

Today the problems casino customers are having are the result of mammoth casino problems brought about by the world economic meltdown. It is no longer as effective as it used to be for a customer to write to a casino executive about some complaint. He has much bigger things to worry about than the unhappiness of one player. 

If you are unhappy with the deep cuts at Harrah’s properties – and the gambling forums are full of the awful details of this “surgery” – you might find a recent article from the Wall Street Journal enlightening. I think many of us feel that casinos have a “license to steal” so they would never run out of money. “Harrah’s Changes Its Game” describes a company that is in desperate straits. 

I soak up as much information as I can about the casino side of gambling because that helps me figure out how I can be more successful on the player side. I realize that moaning and groaning about the cuts wastes my time. I find it is a better use of my time to constantly evaluate the situation.   Sometimes that means changing games, or changing casinos. It means always being flexible, not bemoaning what I used to be able to do but looking for new opportunities.

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