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The Great Gift Wrap Up site now shows points for 2014.
There are no products/prices listed yet.
Does anyone know how points are calculated for this?
I have not gone to any bonus days and my GGWU points are a little less then 1.6 times my actual Tier Credits earned (not counting any TC Bonus).
To the best of my knowledge you get one GGWU point for each "earned" tier point. "Bonus points" do not get you GGWU points.
So, for example, if you played and earned 2,500 tier points in one day you would get 5,000 Bonus tier points, but for the GGWU you would only get 2,500 GGWU points.
Just checked my report:
"You currently have 158504 Gift Points* in your account." At the same time I have a tier score of 270062 which includes the bonus tier points.
No, I'm not sure how they are calculated for the gifts. We always combine our GGWU points and convert them into free play. The last 2 years we were able to then convert the free play into cash. I think you get $50.00 free play for every 15,000 points.
Yes, free play should equal the conversion rate for Shell gas cards. We'll just have to wait and see what the conversion rates are. If I recall, you don't see the conversion rates for free play until you are actually at the event -- and I don't think they are posted online.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nash
Alan
This year I have tracked my points by day.
157,886 Tier Points (Earned)
210,000 Bonus Tier Points
-----------
367,886
245,310 Gift Points
I am thinking they might give different amounts for slots, VP and table play.
Aaron, I don't know. I was always under the impression that it was one GGWU point for each "earned tier point." If you have "extra" points -- that's great.
But you raised "table play" and frankly does anyone know how many points you actually get for table play?
It looks like the gift cards will cost more points this year.
The $100 Shell gift card is listed for 32,400 points
At least they have the Shell again, as it has saved me a lot of money this year.
I think that's a minimal increase. Wasn't it 30,000 last year? And with the Fuel Rewards Network discount it is still a great deal for me.
Yes, it was 30,000 last year. Pretty weak that they increased it. Takes the value of a GGWU point from 0.333 cents to 0.309 cents.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson
It's exactly an 8% reduction in value. Nickel and diming territory.
I agree it's probably still the best deal unless you want to buy freeplay (have they raised the price on that, too?)
It could have been Shell which raised the price.
There's a horrible situation here in the LA area with Shell stations. So many drivers are now getting discounts at Shell because of supermarket bonuses, the Shell stations seem to have raised their prices by ten-cents above the competition because the supermarket discounts are ten cents a gallon.
If you do not have the supermarket discounts you will get stuck paying more at Shell.
Also, there is a problem with the Fuel Rewards Network that Caesars is promoting: a lot of Shell stations don't honor it. There are no Shell stations around Rincon that honor the Fuel Rewards Network -- even the Shell station on the Rincon property does not honor it.
Whoa Nellie... there is something else that is alarming about the gift cards. In years past, a $10 Shell gas card was 1/10 the price of the $100 card. But not for the 2014 event. This year, the $10 gift card will be 3,400 points while the $100 card will be 32,400 points. There is a "premium" on the smaller cards.
Clearly this hurts smaller players. It also probably covers the cost of mailing a larger quantity of gift cards for those who wanted to purchase many for stocking stuffers and gifts.
There is a similar mark-up with the Home Depot gift cards. 3,300 points for a $10 card which is a premium over the 31,100 points for a $100 card.
The Home Depot thing is especially stupid because I know for a fact that companies get these at a substantial discount beyond face.
Though I imagine they must do the same with Shell, given their partnership and high volume of gift cards they purchase.
I just took another look at the GGWU site for 2014 and while the event is still several months away I am getting "nervous" about it.
We've talked about the "point inflation" for getting certain prizes such as the Shell gas cards.
What we shouldn't forget is that the event has gotten smaller, with fewer choices over the past few years, and frankly I am concerned that the choices will be even worse this year. Why do I feel that way? Well, it seems everything else is being "cut" so why not cut the GGWU event as well?
I realize that many "better" gift items might not show up on the website until the last couple of weeks -- and some won't show until the event actually starts -- but I am not very optimistic about what there will be this year.
In years past I enjoyed buying Tiffany and David Yurman jewelry but they've been gone for the last several years. And the Shell gas card point inflation doesn't make that alternative very appealing either.
One of the two events will be at Paris -- but that doesn't mean the event and gift selection will be any better.