The cash/comp dollar rate has improved since my visit in early
September, just enough to (barely) retain my loyalty (for now). The
All-American machines, which accrued cash/comps at a .16% rate in
early September, now accumulate them somewhere around .35% to .37%.
The triple play $1 Jacks and the ten play quarter Jacks have bumped
up their rates from a miserly .06% to a not-exactly-great .15% or
so. In addition, they put $100 in my cash/comp account to compensate
for last month's train wreck conversion. So, in essence, a player
(at least an out-of-towner like me) receives much more now than
during the initial switch, but much less than what the literature
would lead you to believe. More to the point, one definitely
receives less now than before September.
I stayed there for four nights, three of them comped up front
plus one at the casino rate. Because of no more casual dining comped
up front, I charged only one buffet to the room. After about $42,000
coin-in over the course of my stay, I talked to a host on duty who
had no problem taking the casino rate night and buffet off my hotel
bill.
Though the All-American still seems to me like a decent play, I
got my head handed to me this time around. Despite four straight
flushes, I still got stuck for several hundred dollars. After
hitting a royal flush there in December, I've had six visits to the
Hilton since without one. Though not suffering from a royal drought
overall, I'm definitely experiencing one at the Hilton.
Easy access to the strip (the monorail) and downtowm (the 108
stops in front of the Hilton), having good video poker, employees
(some of them anyway) who act very friendly to me, plus familiarity
with it as my Las Vegas "home" all make the above changes tolerable.
They've definitely cut benefits, but at least it seems like less of
a slash and burn than it appeared last month.
Still, I'm not married to the Hilton. So I feel free to have a
wandering eye.
D.F.