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Here are the dates for the 2013 Great Gift Wrap Up:
Flamingo Las Vegas November 7-11 (Ya gotta love those dates: 11-7 till 11-11, blackjack anyone?)
Caesars Palace December 4-11 (12-4 till 12-11, playing the field at craps?)
This information is not yet available on the Caesars Great Gift Wrap Up website, but check it for updates:
www.greatgiftwrapup.com
The Great Gift Wrap Up website for 2013 is now live: www.greatgiftwrapup.com and I was able to check how many points I have as of March 1st.
Several Total Rewards Casinos are now sponsoring events for extra Great Gift Wrap Up points. At Harrah's Rincon this weekend, depending on your play you are awarded points for the events. Of course before you play in these promotions or make a casino trip for these promotions, be sure you will be able to attend the GGWU events:
November 7-11, 2013 at Flamingo Las Vegas
December 4-8, 2013 at Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Thanks for the dates. I just checked my points and am pleasantly suprised. I have only been to Nevada once this year. I went during the 84K GGWU bonus points event in Feb. The invite said that if you earn 7500 tier points you will get 112K points. I asked if that 7500 included the bonus points. (If I got 2500 points and got the 5000 bonus = 7500). The TR desk said that it had to be earned points only - not bonus.
I actually checked in on the last afternoon of the event and got 2700 points that day. It looks like they actually gave me the 112K points for the bonus event because it shows my total balance over 118K
-I earned around 1000 points (+ 1000 bonus) points the next three days which would add another 6K points to give me the 118K showing on my balance. Nice suprise.
I just took another look at the site and some gift items for the 2013 events are now listed on the site and these include watches, some electronics, and some jewelry and some other items. Gift cards don't appear yet, and I am curious to see what gift cards will be offered and what denominations and to see if there is any "point inflation" for redeeming gift cards?
It appears that the Illinois/Indiana casinos do not reward points for the GGWU. Also don't receive the same comps as elsewhere. I guess a 70% tax will do that. No wonder I still prefer the horses (and their meeger .05% cash back---and sometimes the GM will buy lunch.
Here are my tips for using your Great Gift Wrap Up points:
- Stay away from electronics. This is because electronics are constantly going obsolete, and therefore getting cheaper (or less valuable) as every day passes. Furthermore, the electronics on the Great Gift Wrap Up tend to be priced months in advance, meaning that the camera that was worth $600 when it was "priced" in points is very possibly only worth $450 by the time November/December rolls around. iPads are the one exception to this, but make sure that the iPad you are buying is not about to be replaced by a new model within weeks.
- Always do your research in advance, and pick items you think you probably want to buy. Then go to Google Shopping and figure out the best price you could actually purchase the item. Use this to figure out whether you are getting a good deal regarding the number of points you are paying.
- In 2012, the gift cards and the freeplay were the best value. Some people did not want freeplay because they actually wanted something tangible to show up at their door for the holidays, which is understandable. However, keep in mind that you are getting the most bang for your buck by buying gift cards and freeplay.
- You can transfer gift points to a friend! Or at least you could in 2012. Both people need to be there in person at the same time, but they definitely let you do it. This is a great way to prevent points from going unused, or to be able to afford something you want that you're just short of being able to buy. To transfer gift points, both people need to go up to the checkout area (with their TR cards and ID), and the transfer will be done without any fees.
Last year, I had about $1100 worth of gift points. I got an iPad with about half of that, and I took freeplay for the other half. I bought a $10 Shell gift card with the remainder.
I am curious about sharing or transferring gift points to a friend. Last year I went with my son, and I ended up buying something for him and he bought something for me so that we each could "max out" our gift points. For the most part I do buy the Shell gas cards... but my wife sends me with a shopping list as you might expect. I've been pretty good about using up every point possible. No one said anything about sharing or giving points.
And here's a tip: if you are "short" a few points, you can go to the "help desk" where they can add a few points to your total. Now, don't expect a thousand points to be added, but two years ago I needed 33 points to buy another gift card that was priced at 3100 points. At the "7stars check out" they told me to go play a video poker machine for a few hands. I told them "no way and where's a manager?" (By the way I had more than 450,000 points that year and I told them they had a nerve asking me to go play a few hands of video poker for 33 more gift points.) When I asked for the manager they told me about the "help desk," and there it was no problem to get the 33 points.
There have been a lot of additional items added to the Great Gift Wrap Up website. I still don't see anything in particular that I really want except for Shell gasoline gift cards. Though I am now curious about the free play option?
Alan, do you know which Wrap Up event you're attending?
Would like to say hello to you if we're at the same one.
Usually I go to the first one -- doing the holiday shopping early.