Upcoming Vegas Trip: questions???

Greetings all. My wife and I will be leaving on our fourth trip to Vegas at the end of January. I wrote a trip report for our third trip, last June here: https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/general/2044-june-10-13-downtown-trip-report/

For this trip, we decided to stay downtown again. We enjoyed our stay at Golden Nugget last time, so I called the GN to see if I could receive any comp rooms or discounted rates. I was just offered the normal rate offered on their website. A day or two later, I received an offer from Binion's to stay at the Four Queens for three nights free. I went ahead and booked that deal.

My question to the forum is this: If I make charges to my room at Four Queens, can my play at Binion's (on a Binion's player's card, not 4 Queens card), be used when I checkout to potentially receive comps?

I understand Binion's and Four Queens are sister properties, but they do each have their own player's cards. Obviously, since Binion's hotel is closed, the room offer they sent me had to be at Four Queens. I would think that my play at Binion's, therefore, could be used at Four Queens if I were to charge a meal or something to my room. Thoughts?

Quote: StingMe

Greetings all. My wife and I will be leaving on our fourth trip to Vegas at the end of January. I wrote a trip report for our third trip, last June here: https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/general/2044-june-10-13-downtown-trip-report/

For this trip, we decided to stay downtown again. We enjoyed our stay at Golden Nugget last time, so I called the GN to see if I could receive any comp rooms or discounted rates. I was just offered the normal rate offered on their website. A day or two later, I received an offer from Binion's to stay at the Four Queens for three nights free. I went ahead and booked that deal.

My question to the forum is this: If I make charges to my room at Four Queens, can my play at Binion's (on a Binion's player's card, not 4 Queens card), be used when I checkout to potentially receive comps?

I understand Binion's and Four Queens are sister properties, but they do each have their own player's cards. Obviously, since Binion's hotel is closed, the room offer they sent me had to be at Four Queens. I would think that my play at Binion's, therefore, could be used at Four Queens if I were to charge a meal or something to my room. Thoughts?

Although MKL will undoubtedly come on and give you some fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants answer just to keep up the appearance that he's the know-all authority on everything Vegas, the right answer here is to just call and ask. Even if someone here has experience in it being one way or another when they were last there, policies change rapidly on those issues and you really need to find out what it is now before you go.

Quote: StingMe

I understand Binion's and Four Queens are sister properties, but they do each have their own player's cards. Obviously, since Binion's hotel is closed, the room offer they sent me had to be at Four Queens. I would think that my play at Binion's, therefore, could be used at Four Queens if I were to charge a meal or something to my room. Thoughts?

You probably don't want to play at Binion's, anyway. The video poker at Binions is pretty bad, and the VP at the Four Queens is pretty good. Slot returns aren't reported by property, but it's a pretty good bet that if the VP in a given casino is lousy, the slot returns will be, too. As far as table games go--the 4Q has a good variety, and so does Binion's. Rating policies are probably very similar, given the common ownership. The reason I say "probably" is that those policies, as in every casino, change almost daily.

There's not much point in talking to, say, a slot club boothling beforehand about whether you can transfer your comps--she'll give you what she THINKS is the right answer, and even if she's accurate, the policy could change while you're on the plane--or while you're asleep in your room. Since the only question is whether you can use Binion's points for food at the 4Q, once I got there, I would see what the Four Queens slot club said, then ask Binion's as well. The odds are good that you'll get two completely different answers :)

Bingo! Make it look like you know the issue, the property, and the policies.

Just give them a call. MKL might be the only person on the planet who expects to get a slot boothling on the other end of it. That's inexperience for you. It's not a very difficult question to answer.

Thanks for the advice guys. I didn't think there was enough controversy in this inquiry to facilitate yet another row between the two of you. But alas, I stand corrected.

Quote: StingMe

Thanks for the advice guys. I didn't think there was enough controversy in this inquiry to facilitate yet another row between the two of you. But alas, I stand corrected.

I don't care what Jerry says, and I'm not arguing with him. You can take his advice with whatever degree of skepticism you wish, but you should note that he considers downtown casinos--and their patrons--to be worthless, lowlife scum, and he says he never goes downtown. So he's working from a point of zero knowledge. His real goal in posting, of course, was not to answer your question in any meaningful way, but to provoke yet another stupid argument.

So unlike Jerry, I thought that I would give you an honest reply. If it turns out that points earned at Binion's can only be used there, that's not terrible, as you can use them at the coffee shop or at the steakhouse. But between the two properties, Hugo's Cellar is the nicest restaurant (albeit not cheap), so it would be better if you could transfer your points, and if not, there's no penalty in playing just at the 4Q, since the games are as good or better there.

I've also received quite generous offers from the 4Q for fairly modest play. I don't know if I would have received similar offers from Binion's if I had played very much there. My only reason to go to Binion's is to play in their excellent poker room, and to participate in their daily poker tournaments, which have reasonable buyins and a good structure.

I'm sure StingMe now can rest assured that all the rambling info transferred by MKL is gospel (oops! he might not like that word....) and makes a lot more sense than to ask someone at the property. You could ask the know-it-all how the meals are at the Spearment Rhino and he'd probably write a review!

When someone says that they don't walk anywhere in LV, my first reaction is to believe that they don't really go to LV very often, if ever.

In many cases it's a longer walk to the parking garage than it is to the neighboring casino. Of course, taking valet is a different story.

Quote: Keyser

When someone says that they don't walk anywhere in LV, my first reaction is to believe that they don't really go to LV very often, if ever.

In many cases it's a longer walk to the parking garage than it is to the neighboring casino. Of course, taking valet is a different story.

I've been reading that thread too (where Jerry says he rides a cab from casino to casino on the strip). This thread is about downtown casinos. I must say, that if someone were to tell me they took a cab from casino to casino downtown, I'd think they were foolish.

I really do appreciate both Jerry and MKL giving me their input. I just found it comical that before offering any information that might be useful to my question, Jerry to the opportunity to start responses in the thread by taking yet another jab at MKL.

But seriously, thanks to all for their input.

To mkl: I do like the Binion's cafe, and I think their cashback/comp program is really pretty good. You get $1 cash or $2 comp for every 40 points. $5 earns a point for slots and $8 earns a point for VP. I'm not familiar with Four Queen's program, but that return seems pretty generous as far as player's cards go at Binion's.

Honestly, I think our decision to play at either property will depend on whether or not we like the room.

JL / MKL soap opera aside....

Considering Binion's is giving you a room at Four Queens, I'd be shocked to learn that the comp points are not interchangable. Clearly, something is transferable to the point that they gave you the room, so why would they then make it unattractive to play at either location?

But it should not be too hard to get a slot host on the phone to verify it.

Quote: StingMe

Honestly, I think our decision to play at either property will depend on whether or not we like the room.

The rooms at 4 Queens were all remodeled not too long ago so they should still be in pretty good shape. That said, they are just your average downtown hotel room but with cleaner carpet and drapes and a flat screen tv. The North tower is older and the rooms are smaller, you'll hear more noise from the Fremont Street because it is closer, and there are less elevators available so there can be crowds at peak times. If any of those are a concern you might ask for a South Tower room.

VPFree is showing the same thing at 4 Queens for points: $8 in =1 pt, 40 points = $1 cash back.

I know Binion's didn't used to share the same system but that could have changed when they closed the hotel. The host office for the 4 Queens is right next to the lobby, and at Binion's it is on the East side of the property where the table games are. Either one should be able to tell you what they can and can not do.

Second the notion that you'd much rather stay in the South Tower. I usually request that, but one time they put me in the North Tower by mistake, and it was like being right on top of the FSE. Not a big deal, unless you have the urge to get to sleep before 1 A.M.