Business Conference Trip Do's & Don'ts for Player's Club

Hey folks!

I have my first ever work trip to Vegas coming up next April, and I'd love to maximize player's club earnings (if possible, since it's a "free" trip) without inadvertently shooting myself in the foot.

I'll be staying at the MGM Grand, and I'm a Gold level MLife member. I also have the MLife Mastercard, and would like to book the room on that card to get the Points and Tier Credit multiplier...but I'm not sure if that will end up biting me in the end.

I'll be in Vegas from a Monday to a Saturday, with conference days being packed from approximately 8am-8pm Tuesday and Wednesday, 8am-10pm Thursday, and then 8am-1pm Friday that week.

This would essentially leave me with Monday afternoon/evening and Friday afternoon/evening as un-allocated time for gaming, with some other small windows sprinkled throughout the week, which would be significantly less gaming time than I'd allocate if this were a vacation trip (the bankroll will also likely be less as well).

Questions:
1. Do you think I'm safe to use my MLife Mastercard (which is linked to my MLife Player's card...which is how I get the 3x Points and Tier Credits on the purchase) to pay for the room without triggering gaming days for the entire stay?
2. Do you think I'm safe to add my MLife Player's card to the room, to get the 25x Tier Credits, without triggering gaming days for the entire stay?
3. Would I be best off to just forget the MLife Tier Credits and Points on this trip, and focus any gaming time on getting in with Cosmo (something I've been considering anyway)?

Any other recommendations or advice from others who have been in this situation? What did you learn? What would you change?

 

Mastercard: I would expect yes.
Players card to the room: I'd expect that to be a no. You could write someone at the hotel to confirm.

Safest thing to do with the room may be to credit it to their hotel partner if that is allowed (is that Hyatt?)

 

There's no gain without lost here. You don't want them to know you're on property to ding you on a gaming day, yet you want the TC's for the stay to credit to your account? Unfortunately, I don't think that's possible.

Depending on what you value more, it should help you decide what you want to do. Will the TC's help you hit Plat? If that's what you're hoping for, there's not much difference or gain from Gold to Plat. If you do, the gain from that will probably not compensate for the lowered gaming offers down the road for the no-play days. 25x TC's is a very attractive incentive, but is it worth it?

 

It appears that MLIFE does play averaging (theo/adt) based on a trip over multiple days. (some others use daily) The impact at MGM is the same if 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, etc.

What I have never heard is how long that trip can be and a 5-6 day stay could be counted as two trips.

I think it is safe to assume that any activity in the hotel may trigger a "visit" no matter what level of gambling.

And, as pointed out - not much gain just because you have more tier points. You have to decide if getting those are worth anything. Personally, I would use one of my other cards to get miles or cash back.

 

Using the credit card is probably safe.

Attaching your players club card directly to the room booking is iffy.

You're talking about 2.4 cents in total points and Express Comps per $3 coin-in if you use your players card.

Depends on how much coin-in you think you'll do and how many TCs you'd get. I think I'd probably keep my card in my pocket if you're not gonna be close to your historical (or recent) daily average over the course of the trip. And that's a lot of freakin' nights.

Tier barely means shit at MLife anymore and if you have the credit card you already have the most key benefit you can get from them (IMO) - 12 mos expiration on your points and ECs from being automatic Pearl, and with the credit card, you can push that date out any time you want.

It's not worth possibly getting a comp night and/or $50 in throw-ins shaved off your offers in exchange for less than that in points and ECs and a buncha TCs that have no value.

I think what I'd do is spend most of the bankroll at Cosmo on Monday OR Friday and then just dink around a little at MGM Grand the rest of the time. Not really an ideal/fun gambling trip, but you know that already.

 

never MLifed, but sounds like you got minimal play time and the Cosmo idea sounds simplest.
(especially if you've never been, and not concerned w ADT there, worth checking it out at least)
drag a work friend along, you might like it.

( a semi recent Five hundy by midnight added MLife to already hate listed CET and Boyd)
(8/4/2019 ep 702: MGM Resorts further devalues MLife, raises resort fees, hates you)

 

Okay - I should have asked this before.

What sort of offers are you getting these days?
How often do you go to Vegas (or any MGM casino)?

 

I'd focus my play on Cosmo. Have you played at Cosmo before? If not, play big on Monday night and keep an eye on your email the following days for a possible bounce back free play offer.

 

Clearly, the best choice is to make sure your card is tied to your reservation. You will be sure to charge all of your expense account meals to your room to maximize comps. You will then gamble your typical levels from 10 PM - 2 AM every night. This way, you will maximize your Vegas experience while getting the best future offers.

Crash for 2 days when you get back home.

 

Charging meals will get your points, but not boost comps. Comps are tied to actual play - other than the base perks you get at each level.

 

Without the information @nostresshere is referring to it’s hard to answer. If your offers are minimal to begin with, discounted rooms, paying resort fees, etc. it doesn’t really matter.

I think in general we are all way to concerned with blowing what we feel is our perceived value to the casinos. They are going to do to us what they will and there’s not much we can do about it.

 

Good question. Last trip I got my 4 nights comped at Aria with I think $50 free play and $75 (or maybe $100) resort credit. I almost always have 4 nights comped at the lower MLife resorts with FP/RC, but usually nothing over $100 for each. I do not get resort fees comped.

I go to Vegas at least once a year, sometimes I'm fortunate to get 2-3 trips in per year, but not necessarily consistently. For example, I went 3 times in 2017, 3 times in 2018, but only once so far in 2019.

The general consensus sounds like just don't risk it, not worth it. I'm Gold through 2020 already at this point, and @AyDee makes a good point that MLife is not going in a favorable direction.

Likely the best excuse I'll have to stay in Vegas, not burning a gaming offer, and put some good play in with Cosmo.

I dabbled at Cosmo back in 2018, played there twice when we stayed at Bellagio and got a freeplay bounce back which I used during that trip, then got another freeplay bounce back which I burned when I was back to Vegas in August 2018 (didn't give Cosmo any real play).