MyVegas I don't mean to pound on this topic, but....

This awards really blow. Not only have they eliminated the 2 people awards, but everything is almost Monday through Friday. It's a free game, no biggie, but it's just frustrating.

 

Then stop playing....

 

On my last trip, I basically just cashed in four buffets (the extra is from a long ago chip purchase). I was there Thursday through Saturday, so I went with Thursday dinner, Friday brunch, Friday dinner, Saturday brunch, and then cashed in rewards credits through CET for Saturday night. In one way, I ate completely for free all weekend (except tips). On the other hand, (a) my meals were kind of dictated to me because each buffet was only valid during limited time frames; and (b) the food was mediocre at best, since it's not like there are Bellagio and Aria buffets available anymore.

 

I agree, the food is terrible, and such small portions.

 

I've been playing since almost the beginning and have seen the decline of the rewards but I still see a bit of value. Rooms, buffets, drinks, shows, and FreePlay, pretty much cashed in for a little bit of everything (about $4,000 worth). It's a bit of a struggle to find 4 good MLife rewards to use each trip, but I still don't feel like MyVegas is fully tapped yet.

 

I booked 3 nights at The Mirage for 60 a night including a Friday through the app. Saved me hundreds of dollars. I still have 2 rewards left for my upcoming trip. I think I'll probably do a show and a buffet. That's probably 300-400 bucks I'll save. Actually that's 300-400 bucks I'll probably blow at the casino.

 

To be honest, I do not understand why they give away as much as they do.

People that may not gamble.
People that will out of their way to get a few bucks off a buffet.

All in all, not their target market.

Marginal marketing sense to me. Then again, nobody asked me.

ALERT - This does not apply to everyone that plays. No slams, please.

 

I see both of these buffets still listed? Anyway, I agree that the value isn't there any longer, but I have to admit that I didn't think MGM would continue to do this since our first trip in 2013. So even though there's very limited selection, I'll just keep getting the stuff until it's over. After all, it's completely free.

 

Yeah, I meant that you now have to stay at an MGM resort in order to cash those in, whereas originally you didn't. Apologies for lack of clarity.

 

I will be the first to say that I miss the old MyVegas from when it first started. Room rewards were for suites not basic rooms, no resort fees on rooms, free buffets, free dining with no requirement to spend $150 to get $75 off, just a flat $150 off. My wife and I took a trip to Vegas and stayed 3 nights at the Mirage on a 1 bedroom suite and had a buffet each day plus one big dining credit at Tender. All in all we didn't spend a dime on food or room and it was amazing. I have never spent a dime on MyVegas so I got probably $1,500 on that trip alone in value. I guess they thought people would gamble, and I did, but I doubt I made enough theo to cover what they gave me. And I no many people who would take all the perks of MyVegas and never gamble a dime nor spend a dime on the game. Clearly that business model could not continue.

 

For the most part I think it is their target market: most of the people who play the play money slots online are generally fans of slots and most of those are going to be gamblers. There are probably a few that still play MyVegas just to earn rewards, but those are probably going to be very few.

It was different when MyVegas originally launched: back then it was pretty much unlimited everything - you could earn as many points in a day as you could and buy as many rewards as you wanted. The problem they experienced was Las Vegas locals were playing the game like crazy to earn the free buffets and dining rewards... so thats why it got toned down so much to only a limited number of rewards you could buy in a 30 day period and a limit to how many points a day you can earn.

As for the why: its just to get people in to their properties to spend money on other things. A good rule of thumb is for goods, services and food the cost is usually only 25-30% of the retail price... so effectively most of these MyVegas rewards are really just 2-for-1 coupons - yes, some people do dine alone, but they are by far a vast vast minority, so really most of it is just going to work out to be a 2-for-1 "coupon"

 

Remember who their partners are here: MGM who is focused on growing profits through cost cuts and Stations who is trying to go public and will be cost sensitive too. The idea is to get more names in their databases and they are going to do the bare minimum to accomplish it. I still don't recall seeing numbers that shows how much extra revenue a reward redemption brings in. For me, its gotten me in the door but I haven't spent or gambled a ton because of them. What they offered initially was over the top. With the way they intend to tighten comps, those same offerings would be downright insulting to actual gamblers in mLife. For me, the game would be more valuable if they started to do national redemptions for things like Starbucks and iTunes.

 

It certainly is a slog now. For my next trip I'm redeeming a show ticket, a night at the Mirage, and the NYNY piano reward. I will probably ding Wolfgang Puck for something too, and maybe the monorail. I bought the Foundation Room reward but not sure I'll use it. No big loss if I don't. Beyond the Aria $50 free play next trip, not really sure what I'll bother to gun for. I wish they'd do more free cocktail rewards. That would be enough for me and can't be too painful for MGM.

 

I have played MyVegas almost from the beginning, and have gotten many fantastic rewards even as recently as my trip in Sept. But for my upcoming trip in March, I am not sure how many, if any rewards I will redeem, partially due to the way that redemption is handled . The time during which the rewards are refreshed are so varied and over so many hours, that time-wise it seems that you getting very diminishing returns if you value your time at all. When you have to tie up any time at all to try to get a 2 for 1 buffet at Palace Station, for example, where the dinner buffet is only $8.99 to begin with, how much time of your time is $4.50 worth? Many of these rewards have coupons available for them in the ACG or LVA books and no time sink for the discounts. I'll still play from time to time for fun because to me, at this point, the fun is the greatest value.

 

My thoughts as well - just lay out a few $ for a coupon book and save the time and inconvenience. I am kinda stuck with 60,000 and no trip planned until fall, Don't see a lot on there that turns me on. Also don't want to change a dinner spot for another one just because there is a 241 entree. rooms are already comped so don't need that either

 

I am sitting on over 500,000 LPs at the moment and I have no idea what I will spend them on, other than possibly a free helicopter flight over the Strip. I cashed in a few LPs for some stuff at Borgata, but it's gotten really hard to get much use out of the game. Maybe I will go to S&R's Secret Garden again.

 

I've got about 5m, but haven't been to Vegas for 2 years now, so they're worth much less than they were.

Think I'll do the Red Rock bowling, and get my parents the VIP Love tickets if they ever come back.

Might do the 500k tasting experience, and go see Michael Jackson on the same night.

 

First, you might be surprised how many game players really do buy chips, or become more interested in slots through playing.

But if you look at the erosion of the rewards, a big part of what MLIFE is doing is making sure any players have "skin in the game" as it were. Most people, even cheap ones, don't like switching hotels, so not only does the hotel night not include resort fee, but there could be a couple paid nights attached. The free play rewards require stays. Most of the food is either BOGO or such a dollar amount that you are likely to spend more.

It started out as a giant advertising and player acquisition blitz. Get a bunch of people staying there (when room prices were still rock bottom anyway), promote your properties to them, get them joining the players' club, and see which ones are players. Since that initial ramp up the rewards have slowly eroded as they try to strike a balance between keeping rewards out there for paying players, and avoiding big giveaways to the cheapskates (like me!).

Still, the point of the bellyaching, like much bellyaching, is not to suggest these rewards are owed to any of us, simply that people always get annoyed at a declining deal. With MyVegas it is worse, because you earn LP with one set of reward goalposts, only to have them worsen before it is time to book your trip.

 

No way, since 2013 I've put exactly $0.00 into this game and have redeemed almost $2,000 worth of stuff. I love the freebies, although the awards have gone down the shitter.

 

For free I can't complain with my my father and a family friend going for 4 days with myvegas eating 2 buffets a day we will spend 55.00 a person each for food TOTAL. Huge saving playing that game and have ton of gold left over for next trip. As far as what's offered in the high coin range I think it's weak. Most of its weak but they can't give everything away haha. This game is helpful saving money on food though!

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But I must say last year I was able to book Friday sat Sunday 3 days of rooms at Excalibur. Now they don't even offer weekend comps on rooms. But whatever