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Mlife--Comps confusion--difference between last two trips

Discussion in 'Comps' started by vegas_or_bust, Sep 10, 2012.

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  1. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    Here is the scenario: Trip 1 to Aria in December. First time my wife and I played slots with a players card. We were not booked on an Mlife offer, as we booked our plane and hotel on a package deal throught Southwest. We didn't play all that much. At the end of our stay, and prior to checking out, I asked the player's club personnel if we had played enough to get something comped. I was informed that since we already paid for our room up front through Southwest.com, they couldn't comp our room. However, they agreed to take off $118 off our bill (food/beverage). I was mildly surpised, and I considered that a fair deal.

    Trip 2 to Mirage over LDW. We booked an offer for one free night and signficantly reduced price the other 3 nights, along with $50 in free play and 2 buffets. We gambled 10 times more than Trip 1 (all slots and VP), and we used our player's cards at all times. I approached the Mlife desk prior to checking out to see if we played enough to get the other nights comped. I was informed that we did not, but we did have $20 in express comps we could apply to our bill. I found this very odd, since we had gambled 10 times more than our previous trip, and earned roughly 20% of the comps.

    Questions:

    (1) Does the fact that we booked an offer for a free night and freeplay have something to do with the variance in comps between the two trips? Did we have to "earn" the free night and the free play during our most recent trip in order to be eligible for additional comps?

    (2) My wife plays a lot of the dreaded "specialty" slots. Even though they don't accrue Mlife points near as fast, is her actual "coin-in" discounted as well. For example, if she had $5,000 coin-in on a speciality slot, and $5,000 coin-in on a regular slot, she would have the same theoretical loss (assuming payout for machines is the same). Will her coin-in be given the proper weight for future offers (i.e. will we receive shitty offers just because she played speciality slots and didn't earn as many points?) I guess what I am asking is whether "coin-in" or "points earned" is more important in determining future offers?

    Thanks!
     
  2. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    It is pretty much impossible to evaluate the play to see it really was 10 times the previous time. Did you track the points you earned for each trip? Express comps from each trip? They are good measurements.

    Did you use any express comps while there? Or was $20 your total earnings for that trip, and the trip before?

    Possible your card was not working. Did you do all play on one account, or spread across two accounts?

    Still, even with EQUAL play, the comps you get from a host/players desk can vary widely depending on the current mgmt mood, capability of the person doing the comp, etc.
     
  3. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    I certainly am making an educated guess when I say "10 times" the play; however, I base it off the time spent playing and total dollars lost. We averaged around 5 hours of play per day (our accounts are linked, so 10 hours total) for four straight days. We went from barely into the Pearl category to well into the Gold category over the course of 4 days. I was just curious why we got over $100 taken off our F&B bill last time, and nothing this time.
     
  4. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    When they took off $100 last time, did it come out of your Express Comps? Did you check your balance before leaving, and before going the next time?

    Also, when they give you freebies upfront, you sort of have to work them off before getting more goodies (free night, free play, free buffets).

    Again, how many points did you earn each trip?
    Express comps?
     
  5. Nittany1

    Nittany1 VIP Whale

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    As Nostress said,hard to evaluate"ten times".
    I will venture a guess or two.
    First,when you receive a comped room your initial play goes to cover the room comp.
    Since you were there Labor Day weekend they may have calculated the room at $200+ per night or higher.

    Second,specialty slots receive fewer points than standard reel slots.
    VP is unfortunately rewarded at an even lower rate.

    So you may have actually received more comps than last time. The combination covering your room on a holiday weekend and playing primarily specialty slots makes it seem like less.
     
  6. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    It says we only earned $25 in Express Comps this trip, which seems extremely low to me.

    I am not sure how to determine how many points we earned each trip, as that information is not displayed on my M-life account.

    How many points does it take to earn a free room at a mid-level MGM property (i.e. MGM or Mirage)? I know this depends on a lot of factors....just ballpark?
     
  7. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    This makes some sense, as they comped the Saturday night, which I am sure was the most expensive over LDW.
     
  8. JillyFromPhilly

    JillyFromPhilly Tourist

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    I would agree that since you booked through a third party last time and that this time you went in on an offer that gave you a comped room + 3 nights discounted - and during a holiday weekend - that likely the room comp & discount came out of your "primary" comps, which would account for where a big chunk of your comp went this time. Also, it's been reported a lot on here lately that MGM has been tightening comps, so that could account for some of it as well.
     
  9. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    Only earning $25 in Express Comps is pretty low, especially if you gambled an estimated ten times more.

    But in all this I think it is just that you had a comp up front: if they give you any comps up front those count as a negative balance at the start of your trip for comps earned on that trip, and you have to work your way back to positive before you can earn any additional comps.

    It sounds like they gave you something like $500 worth of comps up front, so for this trip your starting comp balance would have been -$500 and so to get any additional comps you would first have to earn $500 worth of comps just to get back to even, so to speak, before you start earning additional comps.
     
  10. mike_m235

    mike_m235 Tourist

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    Saturday was absolutely the most expensive day over labor day at every hotel I looked at. My Friday room comp was $300, Saturday $500.
     
  11. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    $25 in express comps is not much. How much did you earn before this trip?

    Either your play is not what you thought it was, or they did not track all your play.

    You can figure out how many points and ECs you earn each trip on the website. But, only if you write down the number before and after each trip.

    For example, if on trip one, you earned 1,340 points and on trip two the total points now show 2,450, you just subtract to get the second trip number of 1,110.

    How many total points do you have after two trips?
     
  12. y2mulder

    y2mulder Low-Roller

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    (1) Zero to do with anything. That would actually take some communication between VIP and the players club.....and I PROMISE MGM isnt going that far.

    (2) Bingo.

    I am sure your offers will be based on your "actual theo" (coin in), but as I have stated 5,000 times....why the FUCK would you want to play somewhere that jerks you around like that. These threads just keep showing why MGM is out of their mind.
     
  13. Naturaleight

    Naturaleight MIA

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    You said you went to the mLife desk. Did you speak to a host? Most time they can be of more help than a players club rep.
     
  14. mike_m235

    mike_m235 Tourist

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    Your bitterness blinds you. #1 is absolutely true -- it doesn't take communication. It's right in the computer. I've seen it happen exactly the same way. If you're in on a comp, they are going to want you to play through it before they give you anything else. If you paid for your own room, they will give you comps for other stuff pretty quickly for your play.
     
  15. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    I did not speak to a host, just someone at the player's club desk. This was only our second trip where we played a significant amount on our player's club cards.
     
  16. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    We like to play at MGM-Mirage because the hotels/casinos are much more luxurious and have many more ameneties. I realize that CET gives better comps, as I routinely get offers for free rooms at all their properties (except Caesars). For us, however, we would rather pay a little bit and stay at the Aria, MGM, Mandalay, Mirage rather than get a free room at Flamingo or Paris. I realize not everyone thinks like this, but we do. We only go to Vegas 2 or 3 times a year, so we want the upscale room, the amazing pool, the nice workout facilities and spas, and the big and exciting sportsbooks. CET hotels unfortunately do not provide those (IMHO of course).
     
  17. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    In most cases, these numbers have exactly the same importance. The actual number will be different, but the value to the casino is exactly the same.

    In others, they do not. Speciality machines and VP in particular.


    As to your situation, I am going to assume they overcomped you way too much the first time. Since you are unwilling to share some of your numbers, folks here can not help you.
     
  18. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    The Mlife website is down (shocker), so I can't log on to check my numbers. Regardless, I don't recall seeing a "points" tally on the Mlife website anyways. It provides your tier credits, but not a running tally of "points" earned. Accordingly, I am not sure how to find out how many points I earned last trip.
     
  19. y2mulder

    y2mulder Low-Roller

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    Fair enough comment, but every 16 hours now we get a thread about "I played my ass off with Mlife and got nothing out of it".

    So, I guess I am seeing clearer than most.
     
  20. mike_m235

    mike_m235 Tourist

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    People with a complaint are much more likely to be heard than those who are happy.
     
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