Ted cautioned about Simon Visa cards: Bottom line: unless you are
planning to use these multiple-seller cards quickly, I'd advise skipping
any promotion pushing these cards.
I disagree, in part. The cards from Coast and Bally's (and I think
Harrah's and possibly Palms --- dealing with them is "Shirley's job",
not that she minds) have been these Simon Visa cards. There is a $2.50
per month charge per month six months (possibly one year) after
issuance, and it can possibly be when they were issued to the casino
rather than when you received them. So you need to use them relatively
quickly. In the example Ted cited, somebody let them sit idle for six
months and was shocked by the $15 service charge.
If you have a choice between, say, two $500 cards and one $1,000 (or
even two $50 versus one $100), it makes sense to get the larger
denomination --- as the $2.50 charge per month is PER CARD, independent
of the size of the card.
In addition, these cards can be used to buy gift certificates that don't
expire at the store of your choice --- whether it's Nordstrom,
Frederik's of Hollywood, Circuit City, or wherever. (Maybe we should
include Hooter's for Beach Stu?) Since you get to pick the store that
works for your lifestyle, this has great flexibility and avoids those
service charges.
Subject to these constraints, these are almost as good as cash. These
are a GREAT way to turn comps into cash, when allowed. Skipping
promotions involving these cards is definitely NOT what I would
recommend. When Coast last year had a "buy $1000 worth of Simon Visa
cards for $900 worth of points" promotion, we ended up buying the cards
off of several people at $925 per $1,000 of Visa cards. They were happy
because the cards were a little tricky to use, and Shirley was happy for
the "free money."
Bob Dancer
For the best in video poker information, visit www.bobdancer.com
or call 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.
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