Great Race for Rewards 2012?

They should have combined properties based on mileage alone. (Ak-Chin-Rincon? Vegas-Laughlin? How about AC-Chester? How about NOLA-Biloxi?)

They should have made each property have equal weight - no 3's, 2's, and those ridiculous 1's.

If they had to have blackout dates, they should not have held the promotion at all.

Sorry, I have been reading another board that is a lot more critical than this one.

- bcc

Siwst853, I'm hoping you just found a typo. I believe they should have counted the LV region as 3 points instead of 2. That would still make the total for the theoretical trip at 4 points, which would still not be enough to get to the first tier of Reward Points.

Good eye. In the other theoretical trips, anything that hits the LV region is worth 3 points, so I don't think they have broken down the checkpoints by casino. They just need to do a better job proofreading.

I can only hope that is the case but my goodness this is a HUGE promo. You would think someone would proof things.
I also wonder why they are putting the two destinations together instead of just using one for ex: Harrah's Ak-Chin and Harrah's Rincon (2 CheckPoints). It sure makes things more confusing. As Tonycc says a simple AND/OR would have clarified or even made one example with just Laughlin or just one LV casino. GRRRRR

As to the other comments people have regarding the changes from last year, ID, etc:

Yes, I agree this is a bit more complicated than last year, and yes, that does make things a bit more painful. If I do what I did last year, I would only get 9 points, and $250, instead of $450. But....

-The ID request and swiping at every location makes sense. I remember last year there was a bit of talk about mailing cards to fellow board members, giving them to friends, etc. So people were earning prizes for not really going to the destinations.

-Same with earning 25 tier points. Again, they want to make sure someone is not only at the casino, but they spent time (and money!) there. If you were to take your friends card with you, would you want to spend the time and money playing on a card other than your own?

-Swiping at every location also keeps people from "backing in" to the promotion. I didn't know about last year's race until AFTER my trip to Vegas. But since I opted in later, my Vegas trip counted as a destination. This year, the same situation would NOT get me the 3 checkpoints.

-From a marketing standpoint, I can see why they give different destinations different values. Vegas is their big money maker, so of course they want to lure people there. St. Louis is already sold, so there is no reason to lure people there. Isn't this the ultimate point of the promotion? To get people to go properties they normally wouldn't go to? To get people in the door?


I know, I know. I sound like a CET apologist. Trust me, I'm not a fan; I'm probably going to do very little gambling at CET properties my next trip. I'm really just a guy looking at it from their marketing/value position. Last year it was way too easy to get rewarded, so they tightened it up. Is anyone surprised that CET puckered up a bit? But I think it was also (apparently) a very successful promotion, so this is better than not doing it again. And it's a hell of a lot better than the "gameboard" they did this spring.

Yeah, I wish it was easier, I wish I could just walk in a casino, pull one slot handle, and walk out, but I can't. I'll have to spend a bit of time gambling (oh darn!), and check my point totals before I walk out. But really....I'll do that for $750, $500, or $250 to spend on shows, a good steak dinner, beer at the pool... Heck, I'll get $100 for going to Vegas, Southern Indiana, and Hammond, which I do all the time. A roadtrip for an additional $400? Worst case, I spend $400 driving and gambling to earn $400. I'd look at that as setting aside $400 to spend on myself while on vacation.

Thank you for your analysis, Darren. I agree with most of it.

While I'm here, I'd like to apologize for the screwing our CZR fans west of the Rockies took. Last year you could max out the promo without going east of Phoenix. That's not true this year; indeed, there's only 6 points available in that region.

Yeah, I just caught that too when I re-read it. I left out Hammond Indiana, which I go to whenever I visit Chicago. Look for an edit soon.

Darren I do enjoy CET they are very good to me and thanks for your good summary. I think last years promo was so lax I was surprised they did another one this year. I do agree with most of the rules id, 25 pts,etc . I can also see why they give different values or pts. for different casinos. I don't mind the new rules but....

Why oh why can't they make it simple. As much as I like CET the marketing department (or what ever you call it) stinks. They should have been promoting the heck out of this months ago. Most folks plan their vacation 6 months or more in advance. If they would even have sent out e mails to the TR member list they could have had much free advertising. They seem like they want the younger hip crowd and then they don't post this on FB or any other social site.

The worst thing to me is they don't make the rules clear, or answer questions. I think they get more bad PR from this than anything else.

I apologize if I am seem cranky.I just see so many chances for them to get good PR (such as this promo)and they don't think ahead .Why something so simple as posting on the Harrahs web site or answering questions is so difficult is beyond me

I am still a little confused. If I want to get the two points for the Chicago area, do you have to visit Hammond and Joliet and get 25 tier credits at each or just at one? Same as Tunica. Visit all three or just one to get the 3 points. The word "and" in it is confusing.

I don't know why they put those scenarios in in the first place. I think they wanted to make it clear that playing at multiple casinos doesn't increase your checkpoint number - that any and all count as one venue. But that's not exactly how it comes across.

The sad part is that last year was so much fun - we didn't swipe anyone else's card, or have anyone swipe ours. We played the game legitimately, and had a great time - and got lots of comps, much of which we still have. This year the whole thing is much harder to like.... especially after that Escape to Total Rewards contest.

Remember "Ginger Curtis?" She used to "sign" every offer we got. And yes, she is a real person; I saw her in the lobby once with her name tag on. Very classy lady. I have a feeling that Ginger has moved on and some clown (literally) is running offers and promotions now.

- bcc

You only have to visit one casino in a region to get the points. Be sure to earn all 25 TCs in a single casino in a single day.