Question of the Day - 13 January 2022

[Editor's Note: Natch, we handed this one off to Jean Scott, the Queen of Comps herself, who recently celebrated her 83rd birthday. It allows this editor to tell his favorite Jean Scott comp story. Jean, Brad, and the editor went to try dinner at the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars when it reopened after the last major renovation around 10 years ago. At the time, dinner cost $49.99. Jean handed the paper comp for $150 to the cashier. After the transaction for $149.97, she turned to the editor and said, "Damn! I hate to waste three cents on a comp." Take it, Jean.] 

My frugal nature never liked to waste comps; I treated them like cash, trying to get the best value out of them and maximize them to the fullest.  So down through the years, I faced these questions many times. And as always with casino matters, the answer requires a lot of “depends.”  

The easiest way to use comps to pay for a meal is by redeeming players club points at the POS system (point of sale). Your bill comes to $212? The cashier takes your club card when you're ready to settle up and extracts exactly $212 worth of points from your account. No waste, no problem.   

However, sometimes you have to get a paper comp from the club. You’d like to stop by the desk and get the comp before you go to the restaurant, but you don’t know how much you'll be eating. Now, if this club system provides for your unused points to be returned to your account, you don’t have a problem: just ask for a much larger amount than you know you will need and the remainder won't be wasted.  

But in my experience, especially back when the players club systems were simpler, there was no return of points to an account. I can’t remember how many times, after being brought the bill to the table at the end of the meal, I left Brad there as a “hostage,” lingering over coffee, while I walked, often long distances, to the players club desk and stood in a long line to get a comp for the exact amount we owed.

Nowadays, the complex players club systems and handy kiosks have made these procedures more player-friendly. However, the problem remains when, like in this question, the comp comes through a host.

 “We’d like to take two friends to dinner at the coffee shop tonight.”  

Many times, our host asked, “How much do you need?”  

And now the question is tossed right back into your lap. I don’t have as much varied casino experience now as when we lived in Vegas, but it seems that it was usually a use-it-or-lose-it situation. In fact, I've had servers suggest we order some to-go items. “You might as well, since the unused balance from the comp is going to disappear anyway.”

Of course, frugal diners would look at the expected tip amount and think how nice it would be to use the comp balance to pay it.

But experienced casino diners, even the most frugal of us, know that this is usually a futile hope. In probably 99.9% of situations, comps can’t be used to cover tips.

Perhaps, when added amounts on the bill might be considered similar to tips, a comp might cover them. So with vague labels like “service charge,” you might not be out of line to ask if these could be covered by the comp. Sometimes my long-time refrain, “Just ask!” still works miracles.