What should I have said to get comps?

This last trip we stayed at the Wynn. I booked through expedia.ca and basically got a hotel room for 4 nights at $99 per night with a $75 resort credit.

My wife and I arrived in Las Vegas in the morning and got to the Wynn by 11:30AM. We had a car and could have left the bags there, but we decided to try to check-in. When we did the front desk guy said no room was available and that checkin was 3PM, but if we wanted to upgrade for $25 per night we could check-in right away. I wanted to wait, but my wife didn't want to drag the bags back to the car and wait for the room. She also thought she'd get a nicer room. We bit. Big mistake. The room was exactly the same as our previous stays at the Wynn except it was on the 18th floor instead of the 9th and the view was not as obstructed.

While I was there I played blackjack for an average of 2 hours a day with an average bet of $32. I know because I asked the casino host and that's what she said I was rated at. That was generous since I never bet more than $30 for a hand although I did tip regularly.

We used Wi-Fi in the room and some phone calls which ate up our $75 resort credit. That left the $25 per night up-sell on our bill. It ended up being something around $115 once the taxes were added in.

I went to the casino host to see if I could get those charges comped just before checking out. I knew from this site that I was probably out of luck -- they want 4 hours a day at $50 average bet. Sure enough I was out of luck. The casino host said she couldn't do anything about the charges.

I have a couple questions. First should I have stuck to my guns and said no to the $25 per night up-sell? Would we have gotten it anyway?

Second should I have went to the front desk and got them to contact the casino host on my behalf given the nature of the charges?

Quote: helpmespock

I have a couple questions. First should I have stuck to my guns and said no to the $25 per night up-sell? Would we have gotten it anyway?

Second should I have went to the front desk and got them to contact the casino host on my behalf given the nature of the charges?

I would've not said yes to the upsell, but that's just me. As you said, the room was "higher" which in Vegas justifies more money a lot of times. Sometimes you may end up with the upgrade after saying no, but that's always a crap-shoot.

As for the 2nd question, you approached it properly - casino hosts only can remove charges before you check out. If you check out first, there's nothing they can do at that point since the books are 'closed' on your account. Even with my paltry play, I always ask, the worst anyone can say is no.

-B

If you book thru expedia the hotel may not be able to comp you ... so book directly with the hotel.
Leave your bags with the valet and check in later.

Quote: toastcmu

As for the 2nd question, you approached it properly - casino hosts only can remove charges before you check out. If you check out first, there's nothing they can do at that point since the books are 'closed' on your account. Even with my paltry play, I always ask, the worst anyone can say is no.

OK, now "who" is it that you approach (not a pit boss, right?) and "what" exactly do you ask him/her? Thanks.

It's been my experience that when you are given a resort credit, that you must earn comps over and above that credit in order to have any of your charges covered. You were given a $75 resort credit, so you were in the hole $75 in comps right off the bat.

BJ is worth 20% of your average bet per hour. Assuming you played for 8 hours (2 hours per day X 4 days) @ $32/bet, your earned comps were: 8 * $6.40 = $51.20. Not enough to even cover your resort credit.

Quote: FleaStiff

If you book thru expedia the hotel may not be able to comp you ... so book directly with the hotel.
Leave your bags with the valet and check in later.

I've done it both ways -- book directly through the hotel and through expedia. My previous trip I took advantage of a $99 room offer the Wynn sent me and booked directly. This last trip I called the promotions line with my player card number and asked if they could do anything for me and they said no. I then went to expedia and got the deal there.

It's funny. I'm not getting anymore offers through the Wynn, but my wife is now getting the $99 room offers. She just got some for the summer months.

This comps thing is hard to figure.

Quote: Melman

OK, now "who" is it that you approach (not a pit boss, right?) and "what" exactly do you ask him/her? Thanks.

The who is typically either a: your casino host (if you have one) or b: the players club desk. The only exception to this that I know of is Boyd properties downtown (Fremont, MSS, Cal) - my recent trip I asked the pit boss there, as they separate out their slot and table comps as "separate" entities I guess.

The what is pretty simple - "Based on my play, do I qualify for any comps?" If they ask for specifics, I usually ask if they can take any room charges off, as I know my play is not good enough for free rooms on the spot....

-B

Quote: scotty81

It's been my experience that when you are given a resort credit, that you must earn comps over and above that credit in order to have any of your charges covered. You were given a $75 resort credit, so you were in the hole $75 in comps right off the bat.

BJ is worth 20% of your average bet per hour. Assuming you played for 8 hours (2 hours per day X 4 days) @ $32/bet, your earned comps were: 8 * $6.40 = $51.20. Not enough to even cover your resort credit.

Ahhh...I did not know about resort credit putting me in the hole as far as comps were concerned. Thanks!

One follow-up for folks...because the room charges were up-sell charges are those kinds of charges more or less likely to be comped? I assume the cost to the hotel is negligible for that up-sell right? Or is it a case of hotel operations and casino being separated such that hotel operations won't want to give up the revenue? If the separation were true then both sides (hotel operations and the casino) would see it as real money since one would have to transfer to the other to cover those charges.

Would Wi-Fi charges fall into something similar?

I believe the up-sell charges would be considered the same as your original booking as far as comps are concerned. However, Wi-Fi is generally considered a "hard" cost, and thus not subject to comps.

Used to be that comps could be used toward both "soft" and "hard" costs. The soft comps were covered first, and then anything left over was used for "hard" costs.

"Soft" costs include room and on-property food, beverage & show charges.

"Hard" costs include Internet, Spa, Cabana and off-property (even if within the same chain) charges.

Harrah's is the exception, however the points are so pitiful that it really doesn't matter.

The rule of thumb seems to be that if you have a loss, and the comp balance to cover the charges, you can get "hard" costs comped up to an amount equal to 10% of your loss. I think there is some host discretion, but that's pretty much been my experience.

I had one recent stay where I had racked up over $2,500 in comp balance, and only about $1,500 in total hotel charges. Basically, I had earned about $1,000 more comps than I used. I had won about $5K, and when I went to check out they would not comp my $45 internet charge! "Corporate Policy" was the reason. However, I was told by my host that if I had lost on the trip, he probably could have picked up the internet charge.

Be aware of another nasty trick that the upscale properties are doing to players: Inflating the casino room rates to use up your comps, and then make you pay for the food.

Let's say you call up your host and he agrees to comp your room, but will look at your final play in order to determine if your food/beverage can be comped. OK. So far, so good. You look on the internet, and see that you can get a room at the hotel for maybe $99 weekdays and $199 weekends. So, you book three days and expect that you need to earn about $500 in comps to cover your room, and anything left over can be used for food.

You go to check out, and you find that your "casino" rate is $249 for a weekday and $499 for a weekend day. Turns out your host upgraded to you a higher floor with a view, and your casino rate (which is comped) is the maximum rack rate.

You played enough to earn $1,000 in comps, so you ate a few meals, have $300 in food charges and think you are totally covered. But, then you learn that your room charges are about $1,250 and you are in the hole. You have to pay the $300 for the food (which was probably only worth about $80). You complain to the host, but are told, "Hey. I went to all the trouble to get you into a nice room, and this is the thanks I get? I'm out on a limb anyway because I over comped you by $250. No way can I pick up the food"

This exact scenario happened to me. The mistake I made was not checking the room rate when I checked in. It only showed "comped" on the checkin form. You need to ask exactly what the room rate is so there are no surprises. Casino rates are no bargain anymore.

Quote: scotty81

you are in the hole.

This happen to me. I did not even ask for the upgrade and they put me on the top floor. I was invited to the MC for 4 COMPED nights including RF. I did not ask for any upgrades. When I checked out I ask my comp balance and was told I was in the negative. Four days of gaming and nothing there in comps. It was thier invitataion not mine. Just another trick to take from the customer.