answer to harry.

[jrtops]

Harry Porter writes:

Great trip! I'm envious.>>>>>>> don't be. it cost $$$$$$$

JRtop wrote:

Ate like a God. Benihanas, steak & lobster many times & lost 2
pounds. Also hit the LVH buffet many times.

Clearly you are a deity (or at least have one watching over your
shoulder, unless this was a "binge and purge" trip

i can't do purging, must have been all the walks to my room safe.

Got bumped up to C3 at LVH.

A little more story is called for here. A bump up in comps during a
LVH stay was a relative no-brainer under the former comp system. It's
a murkier event under the current one. (We'll leave aside how things
may change with the new management.)

For a new player to be rerated into their trip it's pretty easy to
rationalize what happens. But I don't think most players have a grasp
how they might look to bump up their comp level if they play
considerably higher on a trip than normal.

In your case, the Benihanas dinner wouldn't be covered under your
initial C4 but is covered by C3.

At what point did you ask to be rerated and did they add the
additional meal comps without requiring to tap/exhaust earned
Connection Comps to cover a portion of those meals? How much play
over how many days did you have in at the time the request was granted?

I brought with me 4 different mailers, went in with 2 up front then went

to MSS for 3 nites & called LVH for the 2nd two & they then informed me I was
C3. I did not ask.

I've been told that if you do exhaust comps for trip charges that they
will consider a discretionary comp to cover remaining charges.
However, they leave your comp account depleted.

can't answer this as my comp account never got to zero.

If you truly are talking about a comp bump rather than a discretionary
comp, you shouldn't have had to touch your kiosk comps at all for the
related charges.

I'm sure there are inquiring minds here other than mine. The LVH
system is a damned difficult one to get your hands around.

I found it quite easy.>> just follow the rules that are on the mailer.

C4 gets you what the mailer says, nothing more.
C3 gets you, airport limo, VIP room checkin, all meals at everything except
steakhouse & adomos. hope this helps. Jerry in Ohio.

- Harry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Harry_Porter]

Thanks for the reply, Jerry.

What I had taken notice of in your trip report was your statement that
you "got bumped up to C3".

Had that occurred during your second stay, rather than at the time
that stay was booked, it would represent something for which there's
little hard data. Rating upgrades after arrival for an existing
player (vs. first time) at LVH are reported occasionally. However,
specifics would have been helpful had that been your case (which it
turned out wasn't) since I haven't seen any similar reports since the
new comp system was adopted last year.

Regarding your "I found it quite easy" comment in reply to my
statement that it's hard to get your hands around the LVH system: LVH
is one of the better at defining extended benefits up front.

But hosts at each casino have discretion when it comes to the softer
edges of the defined comp systems. To an appreciable extent, getting
the best mileage out of your host relationship takes an understanding
of what leeway they have. (Without that knowledge, your host may
often prove to be little more than a walking comp kiosk - extending no
discretion at all.)

Benefiting from a host's discretion takes considerable finesse at some
casinos and plain bluntness at others. Because of greater intracacies
in the LVH player rating system, getting a handle on where those "soft
edges" are there is more difficult than for many other comparable
properties.

Mind you, the goal isn't to find ways to scam a casino. Simply to
ensure that when you walk into the casino you're well informed, just
as any other consumer looks to be.

- Harry