Atlantic City Caesars Total Rewards Rant

Just wanted to write about recent changes in Atlantic City casino policy which will greatly affect the financial future of the casinos involved. Most of our previous gambling was done within the walls of the Caesars' Total Rewards casinos which are Caesars, Ballys, Harrahs and Showboat. We go so often that even at a slow rate of gambling playing the minimum on penny slots, both my husband and I would reach the Diamond tier. Part of the rewards for reaching this tier was a free admittance to their Diamond lounges for food and drink. We aren't drinkers so really didn't benefit from what is probably the more expensive part of the offer.

Then we started playing and staying more and more at The Borgata after being upgraded to their Black Label tier. The Borgata's comp rooms cost $5 a night in taxes while the Total Rewards rooms $13. That $8 difference a night doesn't sound like much but adds up over the course of a year since we spend so many nights a month in AC. The Borgata offered us rooms during the summers while Total Rewards got stingier and stingier. For $10 of comp, we could either go to The Borgata buffet or their Amphora Lounge which was their version of a Diamond Lounge. Both the buffet and lounge at The Borgata have much better food than the 4 buffets and 4 lounges at Total Rewards. The slot machines also seemed looser and comp dollars accumulated faster at The Borgata. So this past year I settle for Platinum at Total Rewards while my husband still went Diamond.

We get a mailing yesterday that in less than a week, the Diamond lounges will start charging $10 of comp for each admission to their lounges in exchange for supposedly better food. The Diamond lounges were empty most weekdays before and will be now even emptier. How can you make a change like that with so little warning??? I have much more comp dollars than my husband and cannot even use them for the lounges because I am not Diamond! To add insult to injury, I can earn a free buffet at Ballys just playing an hour while Diamond players cannot!!! Whoever is determining these policies at Total Rewards needs to understand what brings consistent gamblers into their casinos and what doesn't. Oh and then there was the whole year my mailings were block so I got absolutely no offers or cashbacks, even though I was Diamond the year before, during and after!

As unfair as this change of policy is, it is a blessing because we can both finally give up the goal of either of us going Diamond anymore and new casinos are opening up that may share our action with The Borgata. The downside is, there will be an exodus to The Borgata, making their buffet and lounge lines very long this summer.