In a word, yes.
The way we see it, free offers are yours to dispose of as you see fit, which include but aren’t limited to staying there yourself, giving the room to someone else, or even booking it and leaving it empty. Read the fine print of the offer, of course, so you’ll know if you’re running afoul of any of the particular casino’s rules, regulations, or policies. But in general, a comp’s a comp and it’s your decision how to use it.
From our experience in this department (we’ve been the recipient of other people’s free room offers several times), it’s worked out differently each time. So there a few things you’ll need to keep in mind.
Unless the offer specifies that the person whose name is on the comp (the "host") is the only one who can take advantage of the offer, when you make the reservation, chat up the agent and inquire as to the best way to reserve -- in other words, how you can expedite the process at the front desk.
One time, only the person whose name was on the offer could stay in the room. This meant only that the "host" had to check in, give a credit card for incidentals, and receive the room keys. The host then just handed over the keys to us and no one was the wiser. It’s a good idea to agree beforehand either not to run up any incidental charges (phone calls, on-demand movies, snacks from the wet bar) or to guarantee that you’ll reimburse your host if you do.
Two other times, both the name on the comp and the person actually staying in the room could appear on the reservation.
The first of those times, the host had to be there to check in; this was no different from the first example above, but with our name on the room as well, it gave us a cushion of security in case anything happened (for example, we had to show ID in conjunction with staying in the room).
The second time, it wasn’t necessary for the host to be there to check us in; with our name on the room, we just walked up to the front desk, gave our name and the confirmation code, and in we went.
The last time we did this, our hosts went through their casino host, who booked us a room, in our name alone, for a few nights using our hosts’ comp account. This wasn’t a free-room offer; this was a comp for us extended as a favor by the casino host for a favored player. In this case, ours was the only name on the room reservation and we did the checking in, at the VIP check-in desk.
So, your experience should be the same as, or at least similar to, one of these four examples, which should help you to navigate whatever system you find yourself in. And if anyone in QoDland has any other experiences in the same vein to share, please send 'em in. And thank you for your support.
