Question of the Day - 14 July 2020

I couldn't believe it when I called Station Casinos and found out that all of my points will expire at the end of February if my players card isn't used.  I didn't create this virus and this pandemic.  So I need to choose between travelling to LV to keep it active or just let the points expire.  One thing I have done is almost eliminate all usage of their Mastercard.

Robert Davis, that's what friends are for. If only to keep the points active, anyone can play your card, even if they accidentally put the wrong card in a machine...wink..wink..and play a bit. Now, that won't help with your daily average play metric, but if you are just not wanting the points to expire, it can accidently happen..wink. 

For the Caesars card, it should also be noted that their credit card makes you Platinum at a minimum. I have both MGM and Caesars and the player card is my primary reason for having them - I'll never be less than Pearl or Platinum. 

Last year, I stayed at Red Rock for quite a few nights and had a many meals at its restaurants.  I earned enough points to where I reached President status (the second highest tier) on my Boarding Pass card.  Because the vast majority of points were not from gambling, I received no offers other than a modest discount on rooms.  My black President Boarding Pass card is little more than a line pass with the Stations restaurants.  I suspect many casinos would treat credit card earned status points in the same manner.

Robert-
Because of this policy I don't let my Station points build up, I try to use most of them on each trip to Las Vegas. You never know what may happen that will keep you from getting back to the casino again to keep them from expiring. There are online "friends" that you can mail your players card to and they will insert your card into a machine and play so your card shows activity. Most of the time redeeming points requires a photo id so you probably won't have a problem doing this, and you're going to lose your points anyway if they expire. The LVA forums have many trustworthy regulars. So check out one of the player forums and find someone that lives in Vegas (or will be visiting there soon) that will use your player's card for a couple of spins. Send a few dollars along with your player's card, they're doing you a favor and they can get a drink for good luck. There's no need for them to mail the card back to you since you can easily get another one the next time you're there.

Not only do you get platinum status, after having 10,000 in charges you get a VIP Access Card. Yea! no more standing in long lines. BYW platinum status gives you free parking. Not that this is important now, but it saved me a lot of money in the past.

When my wife and I left GVR after one afternoon and night we cashed out all the points. We've quit using the stations card completely. We aren't planning to go back, at least not in the short term (2020). It just plain wasn't fun.

When I last checked, neither the Caesars card nor the Mlife card at annual fees.

And while there are perks for joining, they’re only for the first year - unless you have a high point or a high transaction amount. 

Also, any perks that you fail to use that year, are lost.

Caesars has something called "Say and Play".  You can go to sayandplay.com for more information.  You earn rewards points for taking surveys and most surveys are fairly short.  Even if you don't qualify for the survey they give you 5 points and your expiration date for use of your rewards points is extended 6 months from the date you did the survey.  If you don't qualify for a survey you're trying to complete, they will tell you and note that 5 points will be added to your account.  But you won't get the points if you don't finish or wait for them to disqualify you.  They're quick about adding the points to your accounand extending your expiration date.  This does not apply to tier points, only reward points.  They will send you surveys almost every day.  I just fill one out every now and then to make sure my points expiration keeps getting extended.  Saves the trouble of having to keep track and worry about needing to visit a casino to keep points alive during COVID-19.

Station's points expiration is 6 months for locals and bottom 2 tiers, but longer (13 months of inactivity) for Platinum and above as well as for those with out of state address on file. 

Just got a clarification email from Station Casinos that use of their cobranded Mastercard DOES extend point expiration.