The following is a list of "soft" benefits that a Seven Stars members gets in addition to the standard, published benefits. They all fall under the "customer service" category. That is, you have additional power in many situations at CET properties that you might not realize, simply being a Seven Stars cardholder.

Be aware that all CET employees are trained to accommodate reasonable requests by Seven Stars members. There are plenty of requests which would get a "no" to Diamond and below members, where the answer to you will be "yes"! Here are some I discovered on my own:

- Being "squeezed in" to full restaurants with no reservation. This one is hit-and-miss. If the restaurant is truly jammed, they won't get you in, even as a Seven Stars cardholder. However, it's always worth a shot, and sometimes you will be successful. I have called into "sold out" CET restaurants and was told that there were no tables left for the night (or for several hours). At that point, I would mention I'm a Seven Stars and if they could make an exception and find a way to get me in. I'd say I've been successful about 50% of the time with this.

- Exceptions to fees and surcharges. I have been 100% successful with removing small fees and surcharges by citing my Seven Stars status and simply saying, "I don't want to pay this." This includes takeout fees from CET restaurants, fees for room service to bring you plates/silverware when you don't otherwise order food, or pretty much any other "convenience fee" type thing that a property wants to tack on for something. Obviously you can't get out of taxes or hard charges for things you actually buy/order, but you can always use your Seven Stars status to dodge stupid and annoying fees.

- Exceptions to dumb policies. If you encounter a situation at a CET property where you run into a policy that you feel is nonsensical or stupid, there's a good chance you can get an exception made by simply asking them for it. For example, a pizza place at CET had a ridiculous policy that you couldn't buy a "whole pizza" without waiting for them to make a new one, even if a whole pizza is sitting out there at the moment. (However, if you wanted to buy the whole pizza at the much more expensive "by the slice" price, you could do that immediately!) I told them that this was ludicrous. If they were willing to sell me the whole pizza by the slice, they should be willing to sell it to me at the whole pizza price without making me wait 20 minutes for a new one. At first they refused, citing policy, but backed down as soon as I said I was a Seven Stars an wanted an exception made. While you are unlikely to run into this "pizza problem", you can use your Seven Stars card to have them make exceptions to any dumb/nonsensical policy you run into.

- Room assignment/pre-check-in: This can be a big one if you are choosy about your room location like I am. I am NOT talking about getting upgraded. As a Seven Stars, you have the right to an automatic upgrade to any non-suite room, but that's not what I'm referring to here. I'm talking about a particular room preference. Do you want a certain tower? A high floor? A view? Close to or far from the elevator? A room with no connecting door? You can make sure this happens by first stating this preference at reservation time, and then calling the property itself on the day of your reservation to make sure they lock your room and pre-check you in, so nobody else can get it. This is often important to do, as you will sometimes get last priority of rooms if you check in late. I do this every time I stay at a CET property, and always get the room I want. Always make sure you are speaking to either the rooms assignment department or the VIP department. The regular guest services typically can't do this for you. You don't have to bother your host with this, though, as they don't even work the hotel side and aren't as effective with doing this as a hotel employee.

- Comeuppance for bad employees. I don't like writing about this. People are human, they make mistakes, and I don't like getting people in trouble at work for honest mistakes. But when an employee is intentionally rude or tries to turn his job into a power trip over me, that's when I want that person's boss to know about it. It is considered a HUGE no-no at CET properties for employees to be rude to Seven Stars members, for obvious reasons. For example, three years ago I went to go see Penn & Teller. There was a Seven Stars door, and about 5 feet away, there was a regular door. Both doors were open. I walked through the Seven Stars door. The ticket-taker, standing in front of the regular door, simply needed to sidestep 5 feet over to take my ticket, or I could have even walked over to him. There was no one else in either line. Instead, he scolded me, "Nope! I'm over here! You need to go back out and come in the regular door." I told him that I'd just walk the 5 feet over to him. He refused. "No, you're going to have to go back out that door, and come in this one." I felt like I was in kindergarten. He was enjoying his little power trip over me. He didn't enjoy it so much when I reported this to his boss. Most interesting was the fact that the boss asked for my Seven Stars card and took down the number, which he said he needed in order to take this matter to his superiors and get something done. It was clear that the discipline against this guy was going to be a lot stronger because he did this to a Seven Stars member rather than a regular customer. I feel that all customers should be treated respectfully regardless of tier status, but it's clear that CET takes it far more seriously when a Seven Stars member is mistreated.

- Restaurant seating preference: In addition to getting squeezed into full restaurants, you can also pick whichever available table you want. This includes getting tables which are bigger than your party size. For example, if the remaining tables for 4 are lousy, and there is a good table you see, but it's for 6, they will typically give it to you when you show your Seven Stars card. Of course, if they have a party of 6 reserved for it, they won't do this for you. And if it's a super-busy night, they probably won't do it for you. They also won't give you something huge compared to your party size (if you're a party of 2, you're not going to get a table for 8.) However, provided your request is reasonable and they can accommodate it with their expected crowd that night, they'll do it for you.

- Create Your Own Line: They usually have Diamond/Seven Stars lines at CET properties, but what if they don't? If the line is really long, you can sometimes bypass this line by simply going to the front, showing your Seven Stars card, and discreetly asking if they can do anything for you to speed things up. They will often let you jump to the front right then. This will be at the discretion of the employee managing the line. You do not have the "right" to this, but often they will let Seven Stars members do this.

- Priority Maintenance: Did you get to your room and find various maintenance issues? Too tired to switch rooms (or perhaps none are available)? You can invoke your Seven Stars status and get them to rush a maintenance man up to your room, where otherwise it could take hours to happen. This is hit-and-miss, but sometimes works. When I arrived to my Rio room on June 20 (115 degree day), my A/C was not working! They told me that the maintenance man was "backed up" and that it could be several hours. After stating my Seven Stars status and telling them this was unacceptable, the maintenance man was up in my room 20 minutes later, and my A/C was fixed.

- Temporary Parking: Do you want to run into the property for a few minutes, but don't want to park far away at self-park, nor do you want the long wait of the valet parking and retrieving your car? Show your Seven Stars card, and ask the valet to allow you to leave your car in a temporary spot for a few minutes, without it being parked by the valet. They will usually agree, though they'll usually ask to hold your key just in case (which is fine).

In general, if there is any kind of customer service matter where you want an exception made or a decision in your favor, mentioning you're a Seven Stars will typically get the job done. If it doesn't, ask for the manager, and he/she will usually make it right for you.

Should you feel guilty about any of the above? It is wrong to expect priority treatment?

The answer is no. You earned your Seven Stars status. You earned it just as much as the guy sitting in first class on the airplane, or the guy sitting courtside at an NBA game. By being a Seven Stars member, you have given CET enough action (and in most cases profits) to where you have qualified for priority treatment, and it is totally fine to utilize that to your benefit.

If you are the type who feels embarrassed to invoke your Seven Stars status to get these extras, that's also fine. But just know that the option is always there.

I have personally done all of the above, and it is rare that I am completely refused any reasonable request. Sometimes I need to talk to a manager if refused at first, but I have almost always been ultimately successful. The key word here is reasonable. Don't demand outlandish or stupid things, and be polite when asking for them.

The above is part of the reason why I put in the effort and expense to earn Seven Stars. Given my frequent visitation to CET properties, these little perks are worth a lot to me, in addition to all of the standard perks that everyone knows. It's nice to know that I have to power to get exceptions made for petty and peculiar rules and policies at these properties.