Seven Stars Annual Retreat Experiences?

[FABismonte]

For people who have earned Seven Stars through CET's total rewards last year, they have up to March 31, 2016 to use their Annual retreat. Given the fact that it is mid-February and it is "use it or lose it" I chose a flight to New Orleans for my wife and I. There is a Seven Stars budget of $1,200 and I contacted my host today after searching for flights within that budget.

I was fully expecting to not hear from him for a week or so and was concerned given that the Total Rewards website states that I should give 30 days notice for a flight booking. But to my surprise, a few hours later, I got my flight confirmation to New Orleans. As you can see below, I have a total of 8 cents left unused. Talk about getting my money's worth.



I recall seeing somewhere that CET hosts had a work around so that they did not need to use Passport travel for every booking and I think the fact that there was no overage allowed that in this case.

Going forward Seven Stars members have to use the retreat by January 31 which is bad as I am not excited about traveling to wintery locations (I already live in California, drive to Tahoe regularly, and Vegas is my home casino location).

My wife and I enjoy going to Harrah's New Orleans. Not only is that city fun, but the $500 folio is provided in 50,000 reward credits which is quite flexible. I was toying with visiting Ceasars Windsor in Canada but it is still a bit chilly for me, even in March. I was also thinking about Ak-Chin near Phoenix but it looks a bit isolated from the city and has no spa. Does anyone else have experience in using Seven Stars Retreats in locations other than New Orleans and if you have a $500 folio did you have any success using it for something other than food? I would like the option to apply it for a massage.

FAB

[JustaDiamind]

I went to Vegas for mine, and was able to use part of the $500 for tickets to see Elton John, since my host was nice enough to not comp them for me..

[Dan Druff]

Not sure about the workaround for hosts. I've never heard of that.

I agree that the new January 31 deadline sucks for these trips, because of the whole cold weather thing. I guess it's not terrible for people outside of California/Nevada, but it sucks for everyone out west, because aside from New Orleans, all other CET destinations are cold.

So basically if you don't earn/use your trip by November 1, you are committed to traveling to somewhere cold.

The 30 day thing is BS. They just say that to be on the safe side in case they are too busy to act quickly enough. There is no actual timeframe. You could go on a Seven Stars trip 3 days from now if you can get it booked on time.

[FABismonte]

Not sure about the workaround for hosts. I've never heard of that.

Hi Dan:

The "work around" I was thinking about was the hosts ability to book flights directly. I found this vague and somewhat contradictory reference in Seven Stars Insider regarding the Annual Retreat:




When I got the flight confirmation from my host, it seems to show he booked the flight through Orbitz for Business:



So my guess is that there is some way for hosts to book directly these flights which explains the quick turnaround.


FAB

[Alan Mendelson]

Is this the promotion that you can exchange for $500 of folio credits instead of taking the trip?

[Dan Druff]

Yes.

And $300 if you don't take the Diamond Aspirations.

I think it's RCs, not folio credits.

[Alan Mendelson]

Yes.

And $300 if you don't take the Diamond Aspirations.

I think it's RCs, not folio credits.

By any chance, can I take BOTH the $300 RCs for Diamond Aspirations and the $500 RCs for the Retreat and combine them so that I have $800 of RCs for one trip? I see an advantage here because in case I don't use all $800 of RCs the unused RCs would carry over for the next 6 months without any additional play.

[Dan Druff]

By any chance, can I take BOTH the $300 RCs for Diamond Aspirations and the $500 RCs for the Retreat and combine them so that I have $800 of RCs for one trip? I see an advantage here because in case I don't use all $800 of RCs the unused RCs would carry over for the next 6 months without any additional play.

Yes, I believe you can. But again, this is only for the 2016 benefits (which began 16 days ago).

[JustaDiamind]

well one new 'work around' is you can book your own Aspiration 2 flights and get reimbursed when you get to the property.. you just need to show a receipt for the flights..
but I would suggest you clear that with the property before you do it.. I was told you will get a voucher that you can take to the cage for cash .. I'll find out in march...

[Dan Druff]

well one new 'work around' is you can book your own Aspiration 2 flights and get reimbursed when you get to the property.. you just need to show a receipt for the flights..
but I would suggest you clear that with the property before you do it.. I was told you will get a voucher that you can take to the cage for cash .. I'll find out in march...

Why would you want to do that, when Passport will do it for you AND pay for it on the spot?

[JustaDiamind]

well lets see..
if your flights exceed the $750 allotment you can control how much extra you are paying by booking it yourself, last year I ended up having to cover an extra $100 for a trip because my host / passport took their time booking the flights and the day they did it the flights went up $50 ea, the day before and the day after it was cheaper..
plus you can get double points on your credit card for travel.. lol

Why would you want to do that, when Passport will do it for you AND pay for it on the spot?

[Luckylisa]

Why would you want to do that, when Passport will do it for you AND pay for it on the spot?

I'm just in the processs of booking my Diamond Aspiration 2 flights. I would prefer to book it myself and then be reimbursed for it.
I have a promo code that gives me a discount on the flight (for 2 people). Passport is not able to use the code.

Hosts can now book with Orbitz directly, without going through Passport.

[pkspins]

Why would you want to do that, when Passport will do it for you AND pay for it on the spot?

If you have a credit card affiliated with your airline you can get extra benefits for paying for your tickets with that card, such as extra frequent flier miles, or free checked bags for all or some of the tickets paid for with the card. If it is as easy as getting reimbursed from the cage when you get there, it would be worth it to me.

[lucky]

Hey Dan, what is that 300 rc for diamond aspiration 2. I made it past year on my way to 7 stars and I haven't used it yet. So if I chose to not take the trip, I get 300 Rc ? can I get that here in AC. Thanks

[Dan Druff]

Hey Dan, what is that 300 rc for diamond aspiration 2. I made it past year on my way to 7 stars and I haven't used it yet. So if I chose to not take the trip, I get 300 Rc ? can I get that here in AC. Thanks

This only applies to the Seven Stars and Diamond Aspirations trips for the period of February 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017 (and presumably the subsequent years).

If you never used your 2015 trip (which expires shortly), you are out of luck. You can't exchange those for anything.

If you're talking about your 2016 trip, you should contact your host and ask for the RC exchange instead.

[lucky]

Hey Dan, thanks for the reply. I have till June of this year to redeem my asp 2 trip right? I made aspiration 2 last year.

[FABismonte]

Hey Dan, thanks for the reply. I have till June of this year to redeem my asp 2 trip right? I made aspiration 2 last year.

Hi Lucky:

Obviously I am not Dan. But I agree that you have the end of June 2016 to use your Aspirations Level 2 flight benefits. I booked a flight to DC in April using mine to Baltimore.

FAB

[lucky]

Thanks fab....enjoy ur trip to dc

[Chimp]

Fab, how were you able to book to Baltimore? Aren't you required to stay (for at least two days) at a CET property? And since there is no hotel at the Baltimore casino it is not on the list of allowable destinations.
I have a brother in the DC area and wanted to do the same thing but wasn't able to.

[Count Room]

Fab, how were you able to book to Baltimore? Aren't you required to stay (for at least two days) at a CET property? And since there is no hotel at the Baltimore casino it is not on the list of allowable destinations.
I have a brother in the DC area and wanted to do the same thing but wasn't able to.

Off-topic for a second: Hi Chimp, glad to see you still posting here. Was recently starting to wonder if you left Alan's forum altogether.