CET Self Booking for 80,000 Tier Trip and Seven Stars Retreat

[FABismonte]

Looks like a Semi-Self-Booking Procedure at CET. But instead of the flight expense fronted by CET, you can only get Free Play rebate. I had booked the free flights to get to a city I wanted to visit, then cancelled my hotel without ever visiting. Looks like that may not work. Not sure if it is an option or a new alternative procedure. I received the following by email yesterday.

[Guy Incognito]

I actually like this, because I typically look for sale prices on the airfare rewards, then email my host, then wait 2-3 days for them to actually book it, and.... the sale is over, and I can't book. Pretty frustrating. Obv the freeplay is worth marginally less than a reimbursement, but worth the difference to me.

[Alan Mendelson]

This is horrible. This means no upfront, out of pocket cost for the casino, and all the risk is on you, the player. And then the reimbursement comes in free play. Of course, the APs will say they can turn the free play into a profit. I've heard that before.

This is just another cut in the benefits of Diamond and Seven Stars.

It's bullshit.

[pkspins]

In theory this is a good idea. You can book when you see the fare you need instead of waiting for Passport. Also there's usually mile bonuses as well as benefits for using airline credit cards for flight payment, like free checked bag(s), etc.. But the assumption then has to be that you're paying for the trip, just like if you were going without using one of your "earned" trips. I have done well on FP in the past, even won small handpays. But I've also ended up losing it all quickly. There's no guarantees.

I agree with Alan. It's just another cut in the benefits. A more player benefit approach would have been to just give $x in free play in lieu of the paid for travel benefit. I would jump on that - I have hundreds of thousands of frequent flyer miles, I can get myself there at no cost and no hassle other than a little pre planning.

My schedule has been crazy this year so I wasn't going to have the time to make the trips to get Seven Stars again for next year and this really isn't something that's going to make me find the time either.

[Alan Mendelson]

I wonder how many employees Caesars will be able to cut with this change?

[Dan Druff]

I have mixed feelings about this.

If it's a new option (but you can still use Passport), then that's a nice thing to have.

If it's a change in procedure, then it's a bit of a downgrade, for reasons already stated.

It is good being able to book it yourself without having to wait for Passport, though. I always hated the stress of having to hassle Passport to act quickly, and then dealing with their frequent mistakes.

This also should allow you to use the benefit to fly with a minor, as they are unlikely to check the age of your traveling companion when simply turning in the receipt in exchange for freeplay.

I was once denied the ability to book a flight through Passport with my son, unless I fully paid for his ticket. They stated that they aren't allowed to give casino comps to minors -- which is strange, because Norwegian Cruises does exactly that with no problem.

I also wonder how flexible they will be regarding airports. Passport used to be fairly flexible, to where they accepted you flying into any airport within about 150 miles of the destination, and they didn't care where you flew back from (so you could drive 1000 miles if you wanted, and fly back from there).

I wonder if the TR desk will be more stringent or less stringent about this.

[blackhole]

Will they let you travel first class? Is there a limit on how much you could spend on airfare?

[Dan Druff]

Technically the rules say you can't do first class, but they will typically let you as long as you stay under the $750 limit (or pay the difference).

[pkspins]

I've gotten first class several times on DA2 and Seven Stars trips. One DA2 trip I spent almost the entire $750 on a FC ticket for myself. On Seven Stars I've done split bookings of a FC ticket for myself from my home city and a regular Southwest ticket (with early boarding) from a friend's separate destination (only airline there that has direct flights to LAS).
Seven Stars allowance is $1200.

I wonder if the limit of 2 tickets still applies. I haven't used my Seven Stars trip yet. I could get 4 tickets to LAS or MSY with $1200 or not much more on Southwest.

[Dan Druff]

I'm guessing the limit of 2 people still applies. Perhaps the TR rep will just look at the front page of your receipt and approve it if it's less than the allowed amount, but they are probably told to scrutinize it more. Probably depends upon who you get.

In fact, while I'm not encouraging this, I wonder how they can possibly combat falsified receipts. So let's say you book a flight with miles or get a flight super-cheap, and then produce a receipt for $762. Will they reimburse you the $750 in freeplay? I'm guessing they will.

Again, I am not telling people to do this, but you have to imagine that there will be people pulling this trick, whereas there was no way to pull it when Passport was involved.

[Dan Druff]

I also wonder if people will run into any hard-ass, stickler-for-rules types at TR who will disallow paying for first class tickets.

Again, the TR rules officially state you have to get coach, but Passport usually allowed first class, up to the full budgeted amount. So what if you get a TR rep who says, "I can't give you freeplay, this was a first class ticket!"

Probably won't happen, but knowing CET, this whole process will probably be very disorganized at first, and will likely be at the full discretion of the rep you deal with.

[FABismonte]

This is a slightly different situation but I had travel reimbursement experiences with CET. I have had travel reimbursements at both Harrahs Rincon as well as New Orleans. For the record, I live in Northern California so I had to travel a bit to visit both casinos.

Rincon's boothlng just looked at my ID and coupon and handed off the cash $200 matching the coupon. therefore it made no difference whether I used frequent flyer miles.

When I went to New Orleans I had to go to a host. Who wanted not only the offer coupon for the $250 travel, but also the itinerary. Because I used frequent flyer miles, no dice. It made no different that I used my own assets to fly, but if it was not cash, no reimbursement

FAB

[pkspins]

I also wonder if people will run into any hard-ass, stickler-for-rules types at TR who will disallow paying for first class tickets.

Again, the TR rules officially state you have to get coach, but Passport usually allowed first class, up to the full budgeted amount. So what if you get a TR rep who says, "I can't give you freeplay, this was a first class ticket!"

Probably won't happen, but knowing CET, this whole process will probably be very disorganized at first, and will likely be at the full discretion of the rep you deal with.

Precisely. And even if you have approval in advance who is to say it's not going to be a hassle once you get there to get the reimbursement. I have no idea what I'm doing with the trip I have from this year but at least this thread reminded me that I need to get on figuring that out. IDK if I will take advantage of this or not. If I'm throwing it at a solo trip to use it up, then I will probably just use Passport so that first class isn't a question. But if I take the whole gang and need to get 4 tickets, I may just book them all myself rather than having to pay through Passport for the other two (as I have done in the past), and try this out. Although that will depend on how I feel once I discuss with my host at whatever destination I end up going.

[ccship]

Oh man - I'm at 75,000 tier credits. I aim to make 2 trips to get to 80,000. I could do it in one trip but I don't want to pressure myself to slightly overextend for a day.

Anyways, any tips on how to spend that airfare credit in 2018? I live in Southern California... Interested in anywhere but Vegas (love Vegas but not for this trip) How is Reno/Tahoe?

[nerakil]

I recently took a trip to Harrah's Lake Tahoe, using the new "self-help" option for my Aspirations Level 2 Getaway. My airfare was reimbursed the full $750.00 in Reel Rewards by a host on duty in Diamond/VIP Check-In; my JetBlue receipts and outbound JFK-RNO boarding pass were presented (for much less than $750.00 limit), the host quickly glanced at it, returned them to me, and wrote a voucher to take to the cage.

[Dan Druff]

I recently took a trip to Harrah's Lake Tahoe, using the new "self-help" option for my Aspirations Level 2 Getaway. My airfare was reimbursed the full $750.00 in Reel Rewards by a host on duty in Diamond/VIP Check-In; my JetBlue receipts and outbound JFK-RNO boarding pass were presented (for much less than $750.00 limit), the host quickly glanced at it, returned them to me, and wrote a voucher to take to the cage.

Wait a minute.

You paid far less than $750 for the flight, showed them an accurate receipt, and they reimbursed you $750 in freeplay?

Do you think this was a mistake?

I might take a cheapo flight to Reno during some other promo they're offering me, just to do this.

[nerakil]

I recently took a trip to Harrah's Lake Tahoe, using the new "self-help" option for my Aspirations Level 2 Getaway. My airfare was reimbursed the full $750.00 in Reel Rewards by a host on duty in Diamond/VIP Check-In; my JetBlue receipts and outbound JFK-RNO boarding pass were presented (for much less than $750.00 limit), the host quickly glanced at it, returned them to me, and wrote a voucher to take to the cage.

Wait a minute.

You paid far less than $750 for the flight, showed them an accurate receipt, and they reimbursed you $750 in freeplay?

Do you think this was a mistake?

I might take a cheapo flight to Reno during some other promo they're offering me, just to do this.

I paid far less than the $750.00 allowed; I did fly all segments and the receipts and boarding passes were accurate and valid.

I intentionally booked a connecting outbound flight with a 6 hour layover in Las Vegas to pick-up 4 separate promotions, including free play at Total Rewards, Mlife, and Stations properties. I then flew Southwest from McCarran to Reno-Tahoe. My return flight back to New York City was non-stop.

I can also imagine booking an expensive (refundable) flight up to the $750.00 limit, printing out the receipt, then canceling the flight and driving to Harrah's Lake Tahoe or flying an inexpensive route.

Do I think this was a mistake by the host on duty/Total Rewards supervisor? Maybe. I was given a few hundred extra in Reel Rewards that I didn't expect.

[FABismonte]

This weekend I had a conversation with my new host at the former Harrah's Rincon. I was told that since I was using my Diamond Aspirations 2 (80,000 tier credit) flight to fly into San Diego airport, the Casino was also willing to either have a casino car pick me up and bring me to Harrah's Southern California (round trip) OR I could rent a car and present a receipt up to $200 for reimbursement. Since I want a car to drive around, I will be renting -- and skip the driver tip. This is the first I have heard of Rincon providing this option for a Aspirations 2 trip. I had assumed it was only offered for Seven Stars Annual trips which has an explicit ground transportation component.

[Alan Mendelson]

FAB I am not familiar with what Rincon is doing but remember that Rincon is privately owned (Rincon band of Indians) and Caesars only manages the casino for them and ties in Total Rewards that way. They very well could have their own independent incentives because of where they are located which is quite a distance from ANY airport.

[ccship]

I recently took a trip to Harrah's Lake Tahoe, using the new "self-help" option for my Aspirations Level 2 Getaway. My airfare was reimbursed the full $750.00 in Reel Rewards by a host on duty in Diamond/VIP Check-In; my JetBlue receipts and outbound JFK-RNO boarding pass were presented (for much less than $750.00 limit), the host quickly glanced at it, returned them to me, and wrote a voucher to take to the cage.

So what you are saying is that I can spend less than $750 for the airfare but still get the full $750 in freeplay?