Great Gift Wrap Up at the Flamingo -- Report
I went to the GGWU at the Flamingo twice -- once on Saturday and again on Sunday. While I did most of my shopping on Saturday, I intentionally went back on Sunday just to see if the crowd was any different or if the "flow" was any different.
Again, you will find that GGWU is handled exceptionally well. There are plenty of attendants from Total Rewards who will quickly check your point balance and give you a print out with your points total and a large calculator with a large display and large keys to help you maximize the use of your points.
Nothing is priced under 3,000 points which will get you a $10 gift card for Shell gas or Starbucks. Most gift cards are $100 cards and require 30,000 points.
Apple does not have the new iPads there. However, I was told that if the older models are all sold out, there is a chance that the newer models will be at the Caesars even in December.
Customer service at the GGWU is outstanding expecially if you have a question for a big ticket item and that is because the "sales people" are actually district managers.
When I was asking questions about a 55-inch 3-D "smart TV" the district manager from LG who flew in from the Midwest was there to answer my questions. By the way the 3-D effects are amazing and these work with "plain" 3-D glasses and the days of buying expensive 3-D glasses are over. This TV comes with 20 pair of 3-D glasses and they only cost a couple of bucks each. And this TV is not "just shipped" to you. Installers bring it to your home and set it up -- all included.
And when I was checking out Dyson vacuums, the district manager from Salt Lake City happily spent a lot of time with me showing me the features. The regional manager told me that the "low end" Dyson model I was looking at actually was $100 lower than what it was selling for in stores (when you convert the price into "gas cards") and that is because a newer model has a higher price point.
Last year, when I purchased some autographed sports items as gifts, the owner of the company was there to talk to customers.
In fact, the GGWU is filled with regional managers and always has been. Caesars requires "regional managers" and top level execs to be there so that Caesars TR members get the right info and the best service.
I am glad that the regional manager for Garmin was there. I bought a new Garmin but I told the regional manager that the one I got three years ago "died" on me and he said that shouldn't have happened. He actually wanted info about what happened and he spent time showing me and several others the newest features of the newest models.
I was disappointed that many jewelry companies of the past were not there. No Tiffany, no Tourneau, no Michael Kors, no David Yurman.
There was no delay in checking out, but the "check out process" is a bit time consuming because there is so much double-checking and printing of receipts and shipping orders.
Free play is available for a minimum 15,000 points for $50 or 30,000 points for $100 which is the same points for a $100 gift card.
Be sure to swipe your card for the million dollar giveaway, with the announcement made on December 9th and the winner need not be present. Yes, the more "play" you have during the events at the Flamingo and at Caesars the more entries you will have in the million dollar drawing.
If for some reason you think you are missing points, or you are "shy" some points for a purchase, there are casino hosts in a "player assistance room" to talk to you. I was shy about 1,100 points for another $10 gas card but while my own host was in the "player assistance room" (she asked me to stop by to say hello) she made no effort to "round up my points" for the extra $10 gas card. Darn it. But two years ago I was short about 80 points and a host gave me the 80 points.
Here's an interesting GGWU piece of trivia: as of Sunday, the player with the most GGWU points had a little more than 55-MILLION. One of the things purchased by this player was the "hovercraft" which is on display. I didn't look at the hovercraft myself but I was told it was about 15-million points. The only reason why I didn't consider the hovercraft is that it is too large for my bathtub. Really, that was the only reason. If they had a hovercraft that fit my bathtub I would have been interested in it... and I probably could have afforded one, too.
It was fairly crowded on Saturday and on Friday I was told it was pretty empty. It was very busy on Sunday and I stopped by at about 4:30pm which was about 90-minutes before closing time.
I was told that the Caesars event will be in a larger ballroom and might actually have more items on display and bigger display areas. For example -- more rooms for the sports games like basketball hoops and swinging golf clubs.
