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Total Rewards to MLife Transition

Discussion in 'Comps' started by jegbomb52, Jun 21, 2016.

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  1. jegbomb52

    jegbomb52 Low-Roller

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    Hey guys, I have posted before regarding making a transition from Caesars to MLife and i'm looking for someone who has possibly made the same transition. My biggest fear was leaving the comfortable up front room comps of Caesars to go to the "back end comp" rich MLife. So you know, i'm a table game player, somewhere between $50-$100 per hand.

    On my last trip I was able to get an upfront comp from Dean at NYNY with waived resort fees. It was a huge room with two queens, with a view of an air conditioner, I don't care so much for view as we play, swim, and dance our entire trip. When I say we spend 9 hours in the room total for a 3 day weekend i'm not kidding ;)

    Upon check out I learned that I accrued 63,000 tier credits over the weekend (Thurs Morning - Early Sunday morning), coming a little short of reaching Gold status with MLife. We charged everything to our room as asked and when we checked out it appears as though I had approximately $50 taken off my bill and deducted from my express comps (total charges exceeded $1500). I was unable to talk to anyone in detail about my play or charges when I checked out so I reached out upon my return home and have yet to hear anything. We also played briefly (2 hours) at PH while redeeming my Diamond dinner voucher (thanks Founders Club, as i'm only Platinum). Now that i'm finishing up my plans for my wife and i's July trip I have looked into Mlife properties and don't see a single comp available, while I have 3 nights comped at Caesars, and my wife does as well for a couple we are traveling with.

    My question for you all here, do I keep my nose to the grindstone and finish this transition? Or do I pull the plug and devote all my play back to Caesars? My end goal was to have comps at MBay and MGM as I feel like their superior properties for what we look for (Daylight, Wet, Hak, and Light), but if my play isn't going to warrant comps, or anymore than $50 back end, i'll just stay at Caesars and PH and work the Drais, Omnia nightlife scene.

    Thanks for your input guys, wasn't even sure what thread to put this in, feel free to move if need be.
     
  2. Nittany1

    Nittany1 VIP Whale

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    It may take weeks or months for any offers to catch up to your recent play.
    Probably worth contacting a host at both properties to see if they can do anything for you up front.

    MGM and MBay are the next level up in terms of resort level by MGM standards over NYNY.
     
  3. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    1. When was your trip? MLife doesn't move as fast on offers as the way CET's availbility calendar will. But you can always call any MLife property and see if you have any offers or what they are willing to do.

    2. If you had $1,450 in hotel charges remaining on your bill, that's ~36,000 TCs from hotel spend and 27,000 from gaming. That's the equivalent of $8,100 coin in on slots over 3 nights, or an average of $2,700 a night, which is not really a lot, speaking from a slot player's point of view. I'd expect that to be worth about about $70 a night in comps, including the room rate. I know you said you play tables, but the math is about the same. I'd estimate you'd need to bump either your time played or your avg bet by about 50% to get into front end comp land at MGM Grand. And that's likely going to get you upfront offers with some freeplay and resort credit, but probably no back-end.

    3. I'm not sure where you got the idea that MLife was back-end comp "rich". It's easier to get rooms comped upfront at CET, but that doesn't mean that MLife is more generous on the back end; they're not.

    4. If you want property-specific offers from MB and MGM that are better than the generic corporate MLife offers, you need to play there.

    5. At $50 a hand blackjack, you'll need to play all day to get much at MLife on an ongoing basis.

    6. If Dean is a host at NYNY, you need to talk to him to get an assessment of your play level and what you can expect. What did you tell him in order to get your room comped on this last trip?

    7. If your interest is mostly clubbing and pool parties, you may be better off sticking with CET. Once you get an MLife offer based on this last trip, you'll know better. If it stinks, and you still want to stay at MLife properties, then look for the best publicly available discount code you can find (like 20% off rooms plus maybe some resort credit), and gamble as little as you can stand.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2016
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  4. Jejas

    Jejas VIP Whale

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    Chuck answered all your questions very well. Nothing else to add.
    I just want to echo him on point 3: Mlife is NOT back-end comp "rich".

    You are a table game player, so it depends on what game you usually play.
    If you play BJ, don't expect much. If you mostly play three card poker, crazy four poker etc, you should get decent comp.

    If I understand correctly you negotiated an upfront/welcome offer from a host
    but according to Chuck's estimate you low-played them.
    I doubt this host will offer you anything in the future.
     
  5. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    I would also agree that MGM is not back end comp-rich (other than much higher levels of play).

    As to offers, call MGM and ask what they can do for you. Sometimes they can do a bit more than what shows online or via email.

    As to "3 nights" being comped at Caesars - I am assuming that is from an offer. Check the rate calendar for Caesars and all their casinos for rates - not offers.

    Keep in mind when playing both CET and Mlife that CET tracks daily play, and Mlife tracks your trip.

    If you spent close to $1,500 for F&B at NYNY, you may now have enough points to be at Gold (check online). BUT, as always, offers are tied to play, not tier.

    For whatever reason, NYNY always seemed to be tight on offers. MBay and Mirage were much more open to me.
     
  6. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    Yeah my estimate is just based on what OP said he had in TCs and what his hotel bill seemed to be. If it's accurate, that level of play is probably just barely about enough to cover a standard room at NYNY, but not enough at MGM Grand or MB, and definitely not enough to get anything covered back end. OP may have left some info out; I'm just going on what's in the post.

    Now that i look at it again, the only thing that doesn't quite add up is having $50 in Express Comps. That implies almost twice as much play as my estimate. $50 in ECs should require the equivalent of almost $15k in slot play, or $5k/night, which would be enough for room comps at MGM Grand.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2016
  7. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    My opinion is if:

    1) you're happy staying at NYNY
    2) you feel lucky and like playing there

    then you should consider staying with mLife.

    I got tired of mLife's "property-centric" view of the world, and couldn't see getting on the Aria or Bellagio comp list unless I paid to stay there first and "played my way" into the comp list., and I was "stuck" with MGM Grand and Mirage. I was Platinum at mLife with no hope of making (getting invited) to Noir.

    I was never "lucky" playing slots on the strip until I hit several hand pays in 2015, mostly at CET properties.

    The up-front comps I get being 7* at CET makes mLife pale by comparison.

    Just my .02
     
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  8. brownc424

    brownc424 Tourist

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    I'm thinking that he meant he earned 63,000 tier credits from his gaming, not his hotel stay. The numbers line up a lot better like that.
     
  9. sindustry

    sindustry VIP Whale

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    Over my past few trips at mlife properties, I feel mlife is currently heavy upfront and light on the backend. If you don't see offers on your account, you should contact a Host or VIP Services, as they can see your available offers, months in advance.
     
  10. grosx2

    grosx2 Have fun storming the castle!

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    But then he would have made gold when you factor in his resort spend. $1500 x 25 pts per dollar = 37,500 TCs.
     
  11. jegbomb52

    jegbomb52 Low-Roller

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    Wow you guys, I had no idea that rooms charges / etc... were tied to tier score. My mind is blow, there are times we spend quite a bit places and i'll pick up the tab. We had a $5300 charge to wet republic one time for a bachelor party and I had no idea I needed to tie that to Mlife.

    The back end comp idea came from people I talked to with MLife about making a transition to their property. I also was unaware that they are property specific, looking back we should have spent more time gambling at MGM or Mandalay.

    The Caesars offer was on a calendar rate. Thanks for the info.
     
  12. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    MLife generates two types of offers:

    Corporate Offers from the corporate marketing department that tend to come out on roughly a quarterly basis.

    Property-specific offers from each property's marketing dept that come out on a more irregular basis, and can be better than the corporate offers, if you have done a substantial portion of your overall play at that property(s).
     
  13. georgesken

    georgesken Low-Roller

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    A 5000$ room charge would give you instant gold status at mlife. (And 2 would make you platinum)
    (But no effect on future comps cause that is only tied to your gaming history)
     
  14. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    If you charge it to your room, it will be automatically applied to mlife. If you give them your card when paying, it "should" get applied.

    Side note - if you are spending that sort of money, you should also open a few NEW credit cards. There are tons of them that will give you from 25,000 to 75,000 miles with that sort of spend in the first few months. Just another way to get "freebies".
     
  15. Mick

    Mick Newbie

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    I'm phasing out of Total Rewards as well, mostly because the dining and room options are better at MLife properties, though only comped at a somewhat higher level of play. With MLife gold I get line passes for check in that I don't get with TR platinum (though platinum TR may be equal to MLife pearl so not a true comparison?).

    I also get free valet (and self) parking in Vegas with MLife, which is a plus since they now charge for it. I've also heard that MLife treats table players better (rating) than TR but haven't actually confirmed that. I play mostly roulette and craps. $100/spin at roulette (or having that much up on the craps table for a roll of the dice) for 4-6 hours over a three-day trip gets me a free room at whatever Vegas MLife property I'm staying at.

    Both companies also have a credit card that can add points to your account when you sign up, and according to your spend after that. Only a good idea if you're already using a credit card anyway. I believe each company is also associated with at least one cruise line, so you might want to choose with that in mind as well.

    If you're a slot player, it seems TR has a more opportunities for free entry into slot tournaments but I haven't done "apples to apples" on that either as I'm not a heavy slot player.

    Bottom line is I like the nicer rooms, casinos, restaurant, and entertainment options at MLife properties and that is my main reason for giving them more of my play. They may also be in better financial shape than CET, and have been doing a lot of upgrading to their properties in Vegas over the past couple of years.
     
  16. Champster1

    Champster1 VIP Whale

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    Stay with CET!
     
  17. Peachiekeehn

    Peachiekeehn High-Roller

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    Do you get points for charges at Wet Republic? I know a lot of clubs are independently owned and just lease the space from the casinos so they don't all grant points. I'm not an MGM person so I have no idea if it's the same with them.
     
  18. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    i see you mentioned M-Bay. My experience is that they treat you better there than NYNY - been to both a few times.
     
  19. ikerumba

    ikerumba Tourist

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    I am Platinum at Mlife. I mainly play at Aria and Mandalay Bay.
    My comps are always still 3 nights (including weekend), $125 Freeplay, $100 Food/Beverage.
    However, my last trip they would not comp resort fees. Also, my platinum card would not work for self-parking and they would not reimburse me when I charged it on my CC. I was at the exit with dozen cars behind me and the only way to exit was to charge my CC. 3 times to Mlife desk and issue wasn't resolved until I specifically demanded to speak to a supervisor to escalate the issue.
    Also, my $200 in express comps suddenly disappeared during the week and it took several calls to management to get it back.

    I rarely gamble at Caesars Properties. But I did sign up for Founders Card (paid $600 for two yr membership) to bump up to Diamond. So my last trip, I did get $100 celebration dinner voucher and two free tickets to Penn and Teller and also visited most of the spas. Day pass was free at Ballys, Paris, PH. $20 at Caesars. $10 at Linc. Good thing about these spas is they do have mini water bottles and canned OJ and I confess that I did stash a few in my gym bag to take back to hotel room.
     
  20. Mg9277

    Mg9277 Tourist

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    If you can charge it to your room, then you can get Mlife points for it. However I don't know specifically about wet republic.
     
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