vpFREE2 Forums

cost of Harrahs VISA cards going way up.

#1

Could it be Bob Dancer's fault for talking about cashing in Harrah's points
for Visa cards? I don't know (just a passing thought). But the cost for the
cards is going way way up as of Oct. 1. Run to Harrah's now if you had
planned to cash in points for cards. New cost will be at 2:1 Ratio!! (yuk). So
$500 in cards costs 100,000 points instead of the already overpriced 67,500.
$250 costs $500 worth of comps, $1000 costs $2000 worth of comps. I can
confirm this - I saw the letter at the Paris total reward desk today.

Macy's apparently will stay the same because Harrah's gets a discount.

No word from Total Reward personnel if other items will go up in price or
not. A new catalog won't be available til Oct. 30, but will be in effect Oct.
1 (explain that, please?).

My guess is that cashing points for Omaha Steaks and airline flights will
now be the best bet unless you like Macy's.

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

#2

Could it be Bob Dancer's fault for talking about cashing in

Harrah's points

for Visa cards? I don't know (just a passing thought). But the

cost for the

cards is going way way up as of Oct. 1. Run to Harrah's now if

you had

planned to cash in points for cards. New cost will be at 2:1

Ratio!! (yuk). So

$500 in cards costs 100,000 points instead of the already

overpriced 67,500.

$250 costs $500 worth of comps, $1000 costs $2000 worth of

comps. I can

confirm this - I saw the letter at the Paris total reward desk

today.

Macy's apparently will stay the same because Harrah's gets a

discount.

No word from Total Reward personnel if other items will go up in

price or

not. A new catalog won't be available til Oct. 30, but will be in

effect Oct.

1 (explain that, please?).

My guess is that cashing points for Omaha Steaks and airline

flights will

now be the best bet unless you like Macy's.

Thanks for the heads-up MissCraps. I just returned from my local
Harrahs where I ordered a few.

FYI: For anyone who has to deal with a clueless boothling, the
official code for the Simon $500 Visa card is "YYYYPR02". It's a
premium gift they have to order through Cascade.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, misscraps@... wrote:

#3

Misscraps wrote: Macy's apparently will stay the same because Harrah's
gets a
discount.

Not true. Macy's $1,000 cards will cost 200,000 points. Although this is
the same price as the Visa cards, Visa cards are accepted in far more
places (including Macy's), which make Visa the better buy.

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.

#4

The Macy's $1000 card is going up to 200,000. I have the new book
if you want to know any other prices.

Could it be Bob Dancer's fault for talking about cashing in

Harrah's points

for Visa cards? I don't know (just a passing thought). But the

cost for the

cards is going way way up as of Oct. 1. Run to Harrah's now if

you had

planned to cash in points for cards. New cost will be at 2:1

Ratio!! (yuk). So

$500 in cards costs 100,000 points instead of the already

overpriced 67,500.

$250 costs $500 worth of comps, $1000 costs $2000 worth of

comps. I can

confirm this - I saw the letter at the Paris total reward desk

today.

Macy's apparently will stay the same because Harrah's gets a

discount.

No word from Total Reward personnel if other items will go up in

price or

not. A new catalog won't be available til Oct. 30, but will be in

effect Oct.

1 (explain that, please?).

My guess is that cashing points for Omaha Steaks and airline

flights will

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, misscraps@... wrote:

now be the best bet unless you like Macy's.

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

#5

Actually, for once, I can write with confidence this wasn't Bob's
fault. I believe a decision was made earlier this year when there was
a run on the cards at their AC properties. You may see some RC
multiplier inflation down the road to counter the higher costs of the
cards, or a correction in the price.

It's interesting HET would do this when numbers are down across the
sector and competition is heavy at this point in time. I'm getting
some amazing offers right now in my mailbox, and not a whole lot of
play is required out of them.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "vetsen" <vetsen@...> wrote:

The Macy's $1000 card is going up to 200,000. I have the new book
if you want to know any other prices.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, misscraps@ wrote:
>
> Could it be Bob Dancer's fault for talking about cashing in
Harrah's points
> for Visa cards? I don't know (just a passing thought). But the
cost for the
> cards is going way way up as of Oct. 1. Run to Harrah's now if
you had
> planned to cash in points for cards. New cost will be at 2:1
Ratio!! (yuk). So
> $500 in cards costs 100,000 points instead of the already
overpriced 67,500.
> $250 costs $500 worth of comps, $1000 costs $2000 worth of
comps. I can
> confirm this - I saw the letter at the Paris total reward desk
today.
>
> Macy's apparently will stay the same because Harrah's gets a
discount.

_______________________________________________________________________

paladingaming.net

#6

paladingamingllc wrote:

Actually, for once, I can write with confidence this wasn't Bob's
fault. I believe a decision was made earlier this year when there was
a run on the cards at their AC properties. You may see some RC
multiplier inflation down the road to counter the higher costs of the
cards, or a correction in the price.

It's interesting HET would do this when numbers are down across the
sector and competition is heavy at this point in time. I'm getting
some amazing offers right now in my mailbox, and not a whole lot of
play is required out of them.

As you suggest, the action in AC by Harrah's this spring was much more
draconian than the RC inflation on the VISA gift cards that's now
pending. AC players were excluded from any VISA gift card redemptions
at the local properties.

It's been said that this move was motivated by the monthly base RC
multiplier one-day offers (a random value that can run to 25x). One
player is rumored to have redeemed RC's for a modest fortune in VISA
cards after playing very aggressively at a high denom upon receiving a
25x offer.

That said, I've assumed AC players could continue to redeem RC's at
other venues, such as LV -- or for that matter, more locally at
Harrah's Cherokee (NC).

···

------

Up until now, the VISA gift card redemption has represented by far one
of the strongest redemption options. When I've priced electronics at
discount prices against the RC redemption requirement, I've come up
with an effective RC price that's inflated to 120% of the cash cost
(when a RC is valued at $.01 per credit). This move brings the
revised gift card value per RC redeemed in line with much of the
merchandise catalog values.

- Harry

#7

Harry Porter wrote: That said, I've assumed AC players could continue to
redeem RC's at other venues, such as LV -- or for that matter, more
locally at Harrah's Cherokee (NC).

Maybe not. If you cash more than a certain amount (perhaps $2,000?) on
one trip in LV, a host must approve the transaction. I wondered why they
had this rule, as the approval seemed to be virtually automatic. Perhaps
the hosts look to see where the points were earned, and deny the request
if the answer is AC. If so, that would explain to me why they have this
rule, and with this additional information, Harry might change his
assumption.

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.

#8

Paladin wrote: Actually, for once, I can write with confidence this
wasn't Bob's fault.

Thank you. It's not often that Paladin comes to my defense, but I
appreciate it.

Note that in general it's impossible to prove a negative. Using the name
"ABC" totally at random, when someone writes "I wonder if it's ABC's
fault that the Golden Nugget removed all of its 9/6 because ABC blah
blah blah," that kind of statement can unfairly hurt ABC's reputation.
If I had a vote, that type of comment would be prohibited on vpFREE.

This is very different from saying "ABC said xxxxxx, or ABC wrote
yyyyyy, and this is incorrect because of blah blah blah." That is a very
appropriate here as many of us are attempting to become more
knowledgeable about video poker, and differentiating between correct and
incorrect statements is one path towards knowledge.

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.

#9

No problem at all. While I'm here...

Regarding GN: ownership being related to the Stations folk
(Fertittas), you can expect to see continually worse and worse VP down
the line. I believe they will philosophically adhere to their cousins'
inventory of games. None of what happens there would surprise me,
actually, that the 9-6 surviving so long has surprised me a little
bit. I also wouldn't be surprised to see same day cash back disappear
sometime soon.

OTOH, local LV VP seems to be pretty good right now. I wouldn't get
too emotional about GN.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Dancer" <bob.dancer@...> wrote:

Paladin wrote: Actually, for once, I can write with confidence this
wasn't Bob's fault.

Thank you. It's not often that Paladin comes to my defense, but I
appreciate it.

________________________________________________________________________

paladingaming.net