I received an offer from a Vegas casino for a 7-day NCL cruise. The offer stated that I had to take a room for two nights to get the cruise.
I called to sign up for the offer. I told the lady I spoke with that I’d take the room if I had to, but we were local, didn’t need the room, and probably wouldn’t stay there. But if it was required . . .
She told me I’d regret it if I actually failed to use the room. Housekeeping would check to see if I was actually using the room, and if I wasn’t, I’d both be charged for the room this time and not receive any future offers from this casino. If I checked out early because of an “emergency,” it would trigger the same response from the casino.
Oh really?
From here, my mind went two ways at once.
First, I doubted that this really was the policy. The casino could certainly require a room to be taken. They could demand a certain amount of play to activate the offer and/or qualify for similar events in the future. But penalizing players for declared emergencies (whether actual or not) seemed extreme. If I called up the front desk and said my daughter was in a traffic accident in Kansas and I had to leave immediately so I wouldn’t be staying the second night, are they really going to charge me extra and forbid me from getting future offers?
To be sure, it’s simple to make up such an emergency on the spot, and players sometimes do, but will a casino actually assume that all of these emergencies are fake and punish everybody? That both seems unlikely (some emergencies are legit — and very serious) and a very harsh way for a casino to operate.
Even though I was skeptical, what do I do about it? Do I make a big scene with my host or somebody else? Will making a big stink help me or hurt me in the long run? If I’m close to being unwelcome at the casino, might this be enough to get me booted?
My second thought, happening at approximately the same time as the first one, was to assume that the policy was in effect as stated. Given it’s true, how do I “beat the system?” That is, how do I give them what they want without actually physically staying in the room?
I decided Bonnie’s and my first step would be to try to refuse housekeeping services. This shouldn’t be a problem. Casinos are understaffed all over, including housekeeping. Many casinos offer you some sort of a bonus if you don’t use housekeeping. If we don’t get housekeeping services, they can’t check to see if we’re there.
Assuming we can do this, now it was simple. We could “use” the bed and the bathroom, change the thermostat from the default setting, and skootch around some of the furniture. When housekeeping arrived after our second night there, they could note that the room had obviously been occupied. All the boxes could be checked. They’re happy and we’re happy.
If, when we got there, they told us that we had to use housekeeping, I’d come up with some sort of Plan B. But I figured this was so unlikely there was no reason to stress about it beforehand.
I decided to take the second approach and just beat the system quietly. Sort of what smart players do all the time in casinos.
We were in the room for 15 minutes, left, and have received offers subsequently. We didn’t look at it as a hassle. We looked at it as doing what we had to do in order to get the cruise.
Was this a silly game? Of course. Sometimes silly games are required. Did we think the casino policy was shortsighted? That too, but this casino didn’t ask for our opinion and probably doesn’t care what we think about it.
Several years ago, I got an offer from a “locals” casino for a free slot tournament. No big deal, but the offer included three free nights! As I was coming to Las Vegas – from the East Coast – that week anyway, I accepted the offer.
Well, Nature intervened. All flights from BWI were cancelled for three days! due to a major snowstorm. This storm made all of the national news programs for several days. You would have to have been living in a cave to not know about it.
I called the casino and explained that I could still make it for the tournament (the airport confirmed that all flights would be available the next day) but I would not be able to check into the hotel the day before the tournament began.
Not acceptable, I was told. If I couldn’t make it the first night, the whole deal was off!
I felt this was unreasonable, due to the circumstances, which were obviously beyond my control. My not being present the night *before* the tournament would not affect in any way my ability to play in the tournament. Still the answer was “no!”
Luckily, I had local friends to stay with for the two nights I would have stayed at the casino hotel. Otherwise, I would have had to scramble to make last-minute reservations elsewhere.
Sometimes the restrictions and requirements that casinos impose are ridiculously rigid. Exceptions should be made for legitimate problems that arise.
Llew has the right idea. Why not call a couple trusted friends and offer one to use the room?
How would that friend check into the room with the guy that has the offer not there?
Loosely/tangentially related, was an incident at the LV Hilton something like 18 years ago. Bev and I had booked in on a shopping gift card promo on a Sunday for which LVH was offering a generous $ value and transporting guests over to Neiman Marcus to shop before standard opening hours. The event coincided with the opening weekend of their seasonal “First Call” sales (which truly offer some exceptional deals).
The event details offered a room in conjunction with the promo, and may have stated that a room reservation was required to be eligible for the gift card, but there were no other stated restrictions. We were attending an event at another casino Saturday night, so reserved the LVH event with a room reservation for 3 nights, beginning that Sunday.
We eagerly checked out from our room Sun am and arrived at LVH at 9a for registration, card pick up, and the shopping trip. I advanced through the registration line and got to the desk, where I was told my name had been flagged and I needed to speak to the event manager. After a 30 min wait, with nowhere to sit, someone finally approached and said that I was being refused participation in the shopping trip itself because I had no recorded play. After recording sufficient play, I’d be given the promised shopping card.
I complained bitterly, saying that if my late arrival was a problem, that should have been sorted out when I called to reserve. It fell on deaf ears, but as I persevered, I was ultimately directed to a :”suit” (Player Svcs VP). He said he failed to understand why I had such a problem; I’d get the gift card eventually.
Talk about someone who’s totally divorced from the concept behind a promo; he clearly thinks you give players “crap”, players are happy. I explain that in flying across the country for the promotion, there’s a real kick if a promotion has some memorable aspect to it, especially if it has added practical value as well.
I explained that while it may be “fluff”, being given admission to the store before-hours and treated to hors d’ouvres and cocktails would be memorable. Plus, the store would be freshly stocked for the sale advent, meaning that Bev’s sizes (which tend to be understocked) would be plentiful. Next to that, just getting the gift card falls pretty flat.
The VP actually was a bit contemplative after taking that in, but stood firm (I think the shopping event had pretty much run its course by this point, in any case).
That was the apex of our LVH relationship. Of course, paytable cuts and sharp theo reductions not too long thereafter would have nailed the coffin shut in any case.
No offense but I don’t know why ANY casino would have anything to do with either of you.
A few years back before Boyd linked it’s players club completely, each location hat its own benefits and offers for the players and it was not well supervised. I became aware of it because somebody told me he’s constantly switching hotels and taking advantage of the free rooms. With 4 or 5 Boyd operated casinos/hotels it’s almost a free stay for almost half of the month. So I take it if too many people were taking advantage of it then the hotel management became aware of it. Finally they changed that together with the super bad complete change of its players club so there were not more 3 rooms here and there for everybody who had the Emerald level or Sapphire.
I think wherever there are offers that are too good to be true then there are hustlers taking advantate of it until the casinos have to stop it. If you get 20 dollars free play plus 50 dollars dining along with 3 hotel rooms at all locations at the same time then it’s only logical that people start checking in at several hotels at the same time. but you can only sleep in 1 bed at a time.
I am absolutely not surprised when a casino therefore offers the free hotel along with whatever else on top of it only to patrons that are actually staying at the hotel. No business operation is handing out free stuff without intention. Sometimes its probably better not to accept offers including free hotel rooms in order to fly under the radar. Empty rooms and unused hotel rooms are usually an indicator that somebody has been taking advantages of something….
From Switzerland
Boris
Folks have reported ‘using’ these systems for years. Not the one as Bob described regarding the cruise as the prize, rather usually some Free Play was the come-on.
How it works, according to those who used it. Several offers come in, so reserve the stay at two or more, physically check in to the hotel, go to the casino, use the Free Play, leave after Free Play is over, move on to the next place, check in, use up the Free Play, move on, rinse, repeat. Some report ‘messing up’ the room to look as if they had occupied it, some didn’t bother. Some report not bothering to check out. Some used the extra room for friends/family, did the key transfer after checking in. Can’t recall if any reported doing so affected future offers. Perhaps if the friend/family member used the primary person’s players card…
Me, I’m too lazy to do all the jumping around, checking in and out, etc. Plus it just isn’t how I roll.
I always wondered why casinos [apparently] weren’t concerned [or maybe not aware] about this practice, but then the last time I heard of someone doing it was a few years ago.
I’ve done this for years with a couple properties that required a stay to participate in a tournament. I’ve done the “mess up the bed” move several times. I have also have been lazy, checked in and never even saw the room. I have to believe the housekeepers would be happy to find an undisturbed room and wouldn’t dime you out. Sounds like you need a housekeeper interview on GWAE!
14 years ago I got a free room offer. I won’t mention the hotel chain, but let’s just say they love locals. I had hardly unpacked and played very little coin-in when I got a phone call that said I needed to go back to Los Angeles, and do so quickly, my mother was in trouble. I explained the situation to whoever would listen, and drove back to Los Angeles. They charged me for the room, but Mom died anyway.
You would have been putting coin in anyway at the casino so not sure why the host even bothered to mention this. I guess Bob was trying to be a nice guy by declining the room but in this case it backfired. In the travel miles and points game they even have a term for this, “mattress running”.
To whom do I speak about the four minutes of my life I wasted reading this drivel ?
I thought most casinos tracked the name of the registered guest and when they entered and left the room via the room’s card reader for security purposes. If you were only there for 15 minutes, they should have known you were rigging a stay. Obviously I realize the room was “modified” to appear occupied. But for a big promotion, I’m surprised the room’s card reader activity wasn’t verified by the property.
A hotel that already is short on housekeeping staff is suddenly going to start using their limited staffing resources to make sure people are actually going in an out of the room… yeah, right.
I find it odd that someone like Bob whose profession consists of finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in entertainment devices in order to enrich himself should be surprised when the entertainment providers strike back and put in place a counter measure designed to require him to merely uphold his end of the bargain by spending time at the hotel/casino.
It’s a two way street. Why does he think they should or would do nothing to limit their losses incurred by Bob’s lack of “action?”
I remember those days, Boris. I used to get an offer every summer for 3 free nights in July and 3 free nights in August.
We used to have BARGE [1] at Binions Downtown. It’s a week long and always ends on the first Saturday in August. When the week included some days in July and a few in August, Boyd’s offer was doubly good! would stay the first 3 nights at Main Street Station, then schlep my stuff to the Fremont for the next three. The offer included weekends, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday were at the Fremont. Most of the Barge tournaments that I played were on those three days, so it was very convenient.
I always gave MSS and Fremont lots of vp play – double bonus at MSS and my favorite, Pickem, at Fremont. Sadly, all of the Pickem games at Fremont are now short pay. ☹️
Haven’t been to MSS in a few years, so I don’t know what the vp situation is there.
Stopped playing at Boyd altogether after they butchered their players club for vp players. But the room offers had stopped before that.
[1] BARGE stand for Big August Rec Gambling Excursion, a gathering of 150-200 poker players from all over. It’s been happening since 1994 and has spawned similar (if smaller) get togethers in Atlantic City, Connecticut and Maryland. It’s the most fun you can have playing serious poker.
“There are no strangers at BARGE, just friends you haven’t met yet.”
My friend gets multiple offers all the time. He just walks over and checks in and doesn’t even go up to the room. The offers keep coming.
Depending on where you got the room, you may have paid more than the advertised price for the cruise. Some of these NCL 7-day cruises are going for less than $400.
Bob Gaynor —- I was not surprised at all that a casino was taking counter-measures. As you say, I’ve been doing this for a long time. (More than 35 years, if you include blackjack promotions I played before video poker. Only 28 years if you don’t)
What surprised me was the ineptness and ineffectiveness of this particular counter-measure. I suspect that the person taking the reservation was winging it and not following instructions exactly. Casino marketing executives have usually been around the block as well, with a sense of what works and what doesn’t)
But I’ll likely never know for sure.