Its been well documented on here about Boyds new bconnected system implemented a few years ago and tinkered with since. We have been one of the diehards to stick with them, but I think it might be time to move on. No weekend comps, no shopping sprees this summer, and the accumulated points are becoming pathetic. I realize comps everywhere are becoming tougher to come by. Wondering where to venture to, caveat being we aren't strip people, although I suppose we might be convinced if its the best thing going. We are open to downtown, SP, Silverton, new Rio, Palms, Stations or any others. Just wondering....Thanks
What do you play? What is your coin-in? What do you value most? i.e. travel perks, cash back, earned comps, etc.
VP, Slots, occasionally tables (craps & BJ)........Coin-in...guessing $5000 to $10000 on any given trip.......perks & comps
You might want to look at CET. You get 7 properties in a row on the strip. Getting comped rooms isn’t difficult and they have properties all over the US plus Canada. A lot of casinos in Vegas are pretty much on their own and you have to game in just one or two places to get comps.
Some thoughts: South Point has the most generous program for VP comps. .3% and they offer some really good games, including NSUD (99.73%) at most bartops. Downtown will offer your best variety of properties. Club One (The D/Circa/Golden Gate) offers some solid room comps, generous F&B and FSP, as well as earned comp dollars. Love VUE Bar at The D for good drinks and progressive BP. Plaza runs good VP tables and their Luxe rooms are pretty nice, but they can be kind of stingy with offers. Four Queens runs some good VP and their comp system is pretty solid, but their rooms are just okay. New Rio has a pretty good player's club for slots, but not attractive for vp. They also have newly renovated rooms and will offer match. Unfortunately none of these programs are really going to have the travel perks (cruises, flight reimbursement, F&B perks tied to tier, etc.) that the larger national programs like CET and MGM do. If you're looking for these perks, my suggestion would be to hit up a CET property during a tier credit multiplier event.
travel perks are a non issue for us........might have to check out the South Point, we have hung out there before and enjoyed it but never really focused on it....we like going downtown too, so evaluate those places also......understand the thinking with CET but as I stated we really arent strip people and the VP tables are not good.......appreciate both your inputs....now we have something to ponder......Thanks again
I think the most important issue is what you have locally? If you have nothing local then that doesnt matter but if anything local with vegas properties I'd look at them. Like you, we have been loyal to Boyd and probably will continue to do so as long as they continue to offer free rooms. We dont play enough to get higher than Sapphire so doubt we would do any better anywhere else. We are giving MGM a couple of days next trip just because we havent stayed on the strip in years. This will be their chance to entice us to stay more often but I highly doubt that will happen.
I agree with all the folks that said Rio. Only catch is that the slot area can be a little smoky. As for SP and Silverton, they're nice to you when you lose, but will yank comps when you win. As for CET: I know people razz on CET but as long as they keep giving me comps like they do, I have little reason to book elsewhere. And they have plenty of cheap properties if you are strictly looking for a place to sleep (while going elsewhere).
When I'm looking at loyally programs, I usually look at properties that also have local casinos in and around my hometown. It's an advantage, since you can continue to earn comps between Vegas trips and you can keep your account active so you don't lose points when they're about to expire and you can't make it to Vegas. I have a local Boyd property (Blue Chip-Indiana), so it's easy to maintain Sapphire and get comp rooms, etc, in Vegas as well as locally. I also hate how Boyd has reduced comps, but most of the casino have done the same. For me, free rooms are the most important followed by some food credit/freeplay. Boyd's local comps are still pretty good, even at my play level so I continue to stay with them. I also have 3 local CET properties (Harrah's-Joliet, Grand Victoria-Elgin, and Horseshoe -Hammond) so I give them enough play to maintain Platinum and sometimes I'm able to hit Diamond. I've been giving the Hard Rock-N Indiana some play in hopes of getting some Vegas comps, but I'm getting more local comps from them with only a few Vegas offers, every now and then. I don't have any MGM properties nearby, but I'm able to get bumped up to Pearl by having the MGM Mastercard and MGM has been sending better Vegas offers, than being Platinum with Caesars.
I also was a Boyd loyalist for years. Stopped playing at their properties years ago. I play almost all VP. I really enjoy 4queens and get 3 nights comped there along with free play. Their cash back/point earning is very generous for VP. I have more stored up food comps than I can spend as the points build up pretty fast at 4queens. South tower rooms are nice and have a fridge. I seem to average about $8,000 coin in a day there. I also play some at D but not so much at golden gate anymore since they took out the progressive on the 8/5 bonus poker. I use the Las Vegas Advisor coupon at D to get $100 free play after playing $10,000 within 24 hours of turning in the coupon. Will end up using the golden gate version of the LVA coupon this year as well even though no more progressive on the 8/5 bp. This group has been pretty generous with room, food and free play offers IMO. I typically average around $5,000 a day coin in if I play at D but recently put in a $10,000 day at vue bar at D which resulted in even better offers. I am now getting 3 nights at D any day of the week or a couple nights at circa not imcluding weekends in addition to $175 in free play and $100 in food. That was compared to 2 nights at D and no nights at circa but the free play and food comps were still more than fair for my play. Points dont build up as fast compared to 4queens but can’t complain due to generous up front food comp and free play. Rooms at D are more than adequate. Golden gate rooms are small and i stopped staying at golden gate once i started getting free room at D. i love southpoint. Played there on a few different occassions years ago without staying there and did not generate any offers. Contacted a host who was recommended by someone on this site and got room charges waived at end of trip. Booked through her on subsequent trips for comped room. Started getting mailers offering 2 nights and after the host left, just booked the mailer offers which now include some resort credits and free play. Place is very comfortable for me … tons of vp, great food choices at reasonable prices, friendly/helpful staff, etc. I still get two free nights every month even after a winning trip but i notice the free play/resort credits go down on the next mailer after a winning trip. Points build up pretty fast due to the 0.3% rate. They run some nice promos some points like walmart gift cards, etc. There are no levels in their player club so there is no boyding people with 0 points for their play if they are new to the club. I average somewhere around $10,000 a day coin in at SP which includes wife playing on my card if she makes the trip with me. And I have never been charged early check in fee there contrary to what I just read boyd is doing to people. Forgot to mention great graveyard specials in their cafe. I also started playing Az Charley Decatur a few back after leaving boyd. I like the place as its simple and has a nice cafe. Band on Friday night. Cant recall my coin in on my first day playing there but think it was around $5,000. That generated offer of two nights comped with no blackout dates. People have varying opinions on the rooms but they are fine for me .. Meadows rooms better than Klondike and if memory is correct, Klondike rooms dont have a safe or at least they didnt more than a year ago. Meadows room has a safe. After a few trips of putting around $2,500 coin in a day on vp, they knocked me down to one comped night. Did $4,000 coin in on one night my last trip and back up to two comped nights again. Its a good place to stay as they dont seem to sell out too often and i was able to stay there during busy weekends when other places blacked out free rooms for my level. They have a nice point multipler for vp and slots on saturday and sundays. I tend to play there just on the weekends and the points build up fast. With the cafe being reasonably priced, your points go a long way there. They also give me $10 food per stay which covers breakfast. i was playing at stations properties while i was still playing boyd years ago but pretty much left stations after they cut their comp earning from 0.3% to 0.05%. Have stayed at Red Rock and green valley within last couple years with the family as the pools are nice, etc but doubt i will be staying at either property again with the family as they even prefer southpoint over red rock and green valley now. Hope that helps and feel free to message me if you have any questions.
