how do casinos calculate occupancy and offers?

I got an offer for free nights and freeplay. I called and asked for a res a month away and on a weeknight. I was told first that the casino host wasn't in and to ask the front desk. front desk said that offer isn't available that date. so next day I called the casino host and was told same thing.

I had gotten help before from another employee so I tried emailing him. I got a reply from the same casino host who had told me no before saying yes, she would book it. when I asked her to confirm that this was comped she said sorry no.

So I reminded her politely that my request that she was responding to was for that date and that offer (comped). She said it was available yesterday but you didn't respond and now it's not available.

Anyway, eventually she said I could try again weekly and maybe she could book it.

So do they have some sort of computer system that's constantly projecting occupancy? How is it that last week it wasn't available, then a few days later it was, then next day it wasn't? Is this just BS?

I'm quite sure that what we would spend playing would be more money that what they are getting from non-gambling guests who are paying for their rooms (which this place gets plenty of).

 

Not sure what you mean by "how do they calculate occupancy?" They look at the number of rooms they have for that night and compare it to the number they have booked. If they have a high number of bookings that night or there is an event in town, they know they can get more for the room, so they are less likely to comp it. I always check this calendar to see what's going on: https://www.vegasmeansbusiness.com/planning-tools/convention-calendar/

Based on your story though, my guess is it was never 'available'. The host probably realized that they weren't supposed to comp it and used that line to try and make you feel like they did everything they could. This wasn't Downtown Grand by chance, was it?

 

the appears to be one convention with 18,000 attendees during that period. not Grand - an off strip casino

 

I think it may be different from casino to casino, but what you're describing sounds like how V/P handles comped rooms. My understanding is that they set aside a certain number of rooms into the "comp" pool. For instance, if they have 1000 rooms, maybe they set aside 300 of them for comped guests. Once those 300 rooms are spoken for, the date is no longer available as a comp (even if it falls in your offer dates). There still may be some of those 700 other rooms that are still available for booking, however, they still won't let you book your offer. Sometimes, depending on the property/situation/your play, hosts can override this.

Again, this is my understanding of how Venetian/Palazzo handles their offers, but I'm sure they're not the only ones. It can be frustrating, but for a place like V/P I kind of understand it. With their convention center being a very popular location, they do a pretty brisk business there and typically have a pretty big pool of people who are willing to pay out of pocket (at inflated prices) for rooms since it's on the company's dime and convenient. I'm not sure what property you're referring to, but again the situation sounds like they handle their comps the same way, set aside a portion of the rooms for offers and when they're gone, they're gone. I also would consider booking a room just a month out in Vegas as pretty short notice. It's not driving into town that night short, but since a large % of visitors are flying into Vegas, most are booking flights and rooms far further in advance than a month.

 

Not to derail your thread, but does anyone know who can hook me up with access to the Box Fan Expo or the Tortilla Industry Annual Convention?

 

since we live in CA and drive there a month is pretty far out for us....but I understand there are people going there from all over.....still frustrating when you get an offer and can't use (esp on a week night)

 

Wow! There is a convention for companies that make box fans! How ‘bout dat!

As for the Tortilla convention, check out the exhibitors’ websites, sometimes they post a code number that can be used for a free registration.

But back to the topic, once we were in Atlantic City on a comp and wanted to stay an extra night. Two days prior we checked and the rate for the second night was around $50. We checked again just before checkout and it was shown as a comp, so it can go both ways.

 

Regardless of how it is calculated, I think they are screwing you over

 

yeah, it's kind of hard to understand.....I'm not a High Roller but apparently my level of play from last visit isn't the issue as the offer the sent was better in terms of free play than what I usually get from them. I don't think this woman is a true "casino host"

 

Hope you get something sorted soon.

 

thanks
if it's meant to be it will be

 

Yeah, I think it's mostly like this or some variation on it.

Conventions can also have blocks of rooms held off from public sale until certain deadlines. Once the deadline is past, unbooked rooms go back into inventory and you can see previously inflated prices drop and maybe more comp availability.

 

There must be a LARGE NUMBER of variables. No simple answer.

Your level of play.
Rooms already booked.
Rooms they think will book - concert or convention.
Current mood of the accounting types.
Current mood and direction of Marketing
Current status of host - can he push something through, or has he done too many and is pulling back
Competition
Recent corporate results

All of these can move around often. And with no notice.