Q:
Is it better to cash in our cashback dollars at the end of each trip or to let them build up over time at the casino? We know that if we don't return in 18 months, our player's account will go dead and we'll lose our cashback money.
A:
Contributing expert Jean Scott answers:
At some casinos, it’s even less than 18 months. For example, some casinos cancel all your points after 12 months. Others wipe the slate clean on December 31. Plus there’s always the possibility that the casino will close or be sold and you’ll be given a limited time to cash in your points -- and you may not make it back before the deadline. In fact, some even take away potential benefits, such as comps, right after you go home from a single trip.
So, put it all together and there’s simply no reason I can think of why you would want to ever leave cashback in a slot club account beyond your current trip. The casino locks up your money the nanosecond you lose it. You should follow the casino’s lead and lock up your winnings (which include cashback) in a timely manner.
There’s a widespread myth that you’ll get more comps if you have a big cashback balance. Comps are earned when you actually put money through the machine, and whether you have zero in your cashback account because you cashed it in or a large balance has no influence on comping decisions.
Jean is author of best-seller The Frugal Gambler, now in its second edition.
Update 10 June 2005
This is an extract taken from this week’s
Frugal Fridays, by Jean Scott:
After I wrote and submitted this answer, the Coast properties came out with a June promo that pays you $50 in a Visa shopping card for $40 worth of cashback points - and you can redeem old points for this as well as currently earned ones in June!!! Murphy’s Law is alive and well in casino matters. Guess who just cashed in a bunch of stored-up Coast points in March?
Although I’ve now been told that these promotions do pop up now and then, we’ve belonged to casino slot clubs for 20 years and this is the first one we’ve ever come across where we wished we hadn’t cashed in our points so often. It’s still usually wiser to keep your slot club account cleaned out, especially if you don’t live near the casino and/or aren’t able to get to it at short notice. If the casino is one where you play frequently and if you make an effort to keep very alert for slot club news and changes, you might be safe in letting your points accumulate just in case a juicy promotion comes up where you can take advantage of a lot of stored points.
No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.
