A Beginner’s Guide to Navigating Las Vegas Casinos Without Status

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One of the highest value propositions in the points universe is the Las Vegas status merry-go-round. In short, it’s a way to leverage status in a single program and use status matches to end up with multiple top-level statuses. Your newly minted status will allow you to get free rooms at casino resorts and might even land you some free cruises.

But what if you have no way to get onto the ride?

My story is complicated because my wife Sharon has Caesars Rewards Diamond status, which she gets from her Wyndham Rewards Diamond status by having the Wyndham Rewards Business Earner card. This is the easiest way to get on the merry-go-round, which is described in detail in this post from MilesTalk.  But she wasn’t traveling with me on this trip to Vegas, so I had to take the saddest ride on the loyalty wagon while visiting multiple casinos.

The No-Status Merry-Go-Round

My no-status ride starts with Caesars Rewards. While my lack of status might have helped me score a discounted room, that’s about all I got from my Gold Status.

Fortunately, because I was staying at Nobu at a discounted rate, I didn’t have to wait in line to check in.

MGM Rewards

During my trip, my plan was to spend money at each casino to see how this would impact future discounts. And while I walked through several MGM casinos, I never felt like spending money at any of their properties.

Identity Rewards

The one program I wasn’t enrolled in before my trip was Identity Rewards, the loyalty program of The Cosmopolitan. When I registered, I received $5 of free play and double points. I didn’t gamble much but I did visit the next morning for breakfast at The Henry.

Now that Identity Rewards is merging with MGM Rewards, all of my spending at the hotel and casino will become MGM Rewards points.

Unity Rewards (Hard Rock)

I wasn’t aware I was enrolled in Unity Rewards, Hard Rock Casinos’ loyalty program, until I tried to sign up. That’s when I was told I already had an account, which was probably from one of my visits to Hard Rock Tampa. The best I could do was reprint my Star level card, which I used to earn points with my meal and for my gambling while waiting to see The Beatles Love at The Mirage.

What did I get?

During my trip, I didn’t receive anything for my entry-level status at these casinos. I wasn’t able to turn top-level status at one hotel into status at multiple properties.

Most of my problem is that I’ve enrolled in many of the casino programs over the past 20+ years, and the casinos keep good records of who gambles and visits their properties.

However, if you have never signed up for a casino loyalty program, many of them will give you perks for the first day or two, like free play or bonus points in the program. I’m curious to see if any program contacts me with offers for discounted rooms now that they know I visited their casinos and spent money, albeit a small amount, at each one besides Caesars since that’s where I stayed with a discounted rate.

The Vegas loyalty game is new to me, and I don’t pretend to be an expert. However, it seems that casinos are more willing to give a person like me better offers than frequent visitors who they know are likely to return regularly.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary