Will casinos change tier requirements?

With the extended closure time of casinos do we think they will change tier requirements? I am a CET player who has gotten seven star the past two years. I’m worried by losing 1-2 trips this year I might not hit it again. Last year I ended up around 195k tier points. I normally average about 25k points per vegas trip with 5-6 trips per year.

 

CET sent an e-mail that they were going to account for the closure-

https://www.caesars.com/corporate/coronavirus-guest-information/frequently-asked-questions

 

CET is pretty adept at incentivizing people to chase tier. I can't even remember the reason for it (maybe the splitting up of Diamond into 15k and 25k levels?), but they had a thing a year or so ago where they set some thresholds by quarter. I can't remember the exact scheme.

The thing is, Seven Stars isn't based on a hard number anymore, right?

I think the last thing they'll do would be just extend everybody. That would make everybody happy, but nobody would have any incentive to go for the rest of the year.

 

We know they will adjust the requirements this year to hit tiers but we don't know how exactly.
I would assume they will not make the new requirements known until at least Vegas opens up again.

If I had to guess I would expect them to do a percentage adjustment to the tier credits required.
So if there is a major impact of closures/flights available for 3 months then they would lower the requirements of each tier by 25%
Under this assumption diamond would drop from the 15k requirement down to 11,250 (I would assume they would move it to 11k flat)

Had they not already said "We will be updating the requirements for earning Tier Status? I would have expected them to not move the goal posts. But drop a bunch of easy promotions such as "swipe at the kiosk for xxx tier credits" to bring people back into the casinos.

 

I would be absolutely shocked if the amount of TCs needed for the various levels, as well as the benefits of each level, aren't significantly altered whereby TC requirements are lowered and benefits are raised. The longer this situation goes on, in order to get anywhere close to the business they had before, folks won't come back anywhere near the level for years unless they're enticed to do to. I agree with Chuck completely insofar as CET is relatively adept in providing enticements to many as it is, and they'll likely have to increase that significantly. Unlike MGM for example, this won't entirely change CET's model as they're already adept at providing free rooms and associated comps more liberally, but they'll take an initial, and massive, hit to start getting business back end of the year.

Las Vegas is tantamount to NYC to the extent that a ton of people are crammed into a few mile area. The difference? People live in NYC and aren't moving when this situation is gone and will return to businesses there, wherein Las Vegas only gets that population subset via visitors who need not be there. I can guarantee you that the folks here are not representative of the occasional visitor who will be scared shitless to handle chips, press slot buttons, patronize buffets, be in close quarters in massive clubs with others, etc. for months. Remember, this isn't a financial recession where behavior will come back to normal in due course, this is something that will fundamentally alter human behavior for a number of years.

As a loyal CET player, I'll definitely go back but I'm noticing that it's nice that my bank account is going up when not gambling and I'm (to the extent possible) avoiding large groups until we have some hard, factual science on how this will play out.

Also, lest not forget that 10 million people filed for unemployment within the last 2 WEEKS. This is unprecedented and will take not months, but far longer to recover. When there's no disposable income, why would one go blow 5k?

I cannot imagine a situation wherein comp allocations aren't implemented the second casinos re-open and don't stay in place for years. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

 

Going forward i think the casinos will need to roll back some of the added fees like parking and offer some incentives to get people to come out and congregate with lots of others and share buttons, chips and cards with them. Instead of decreasing the levels, they could increase earning of TCs.

 

This is doing the right thing (take notes MGM). Stay tuned!

 

I would bet they will do something, but NOBODY knows

* When they will reopen
* How soon people will come back
* Status of travel
* Discretionary income
etc etc

But, they will do what works to keep them in business. In general, tier does not cost them that much anyways.

 

If the crisis is as short as many hope it will be, ending in major restrictions (no travel stay at home) by may, and then easing more restrictions through June and July, many Americans will actually have more disposable income long term than they might have. Simply use my office as an example. 3 employees who are currently laid off, unemployment benefits are 50% of pay up to 575 dollars. These employees each make 15/ hr x 40 hours so 600 per week. Their claim would initially have been only 300 which is hurtful to their income, however the federal supplement of 600 per week in the package now means that most of my employees will make 900 per week which is 300 more per week. Also because there is no state or local tax on this money and federal income is held at 10% their take home will be nearly 500 more than their original take home. Add into that the 1200 stimulus check, and if (BIG IF) this crisis is short 3 months or less, I think the economic recovery will be fast and the casino industry will prosper.

Gamblers who didn't lose their job, like me and my wife, have far more disposable income now since we can't go out to dinners or out drinking with friends and family. We will likely be inclined to increase our gambling budget having missed a trip. I know a lot of my friends and in laws are the same way

 

They will make everyone the same as they were last year.

This is a guess of course. Nobody knows.

 

Staying at home we are spending way less money. No shopping for crap we do not need.
No out to dinners - 4-5 nights a week.

So... a bit more money - not counting the massive hit to 401k

 

there is some truth to this but a lot of people who get laid off won't be getting their jobs back.and a lot of people who get laid off who make really good money and dump tons of money in casinos are going to have a lot less disposable income.making 900-1300 a week in unemployment is a giant pay cut for them. a lot of people who own small businesses are getting buried.

 

What MLife and CET REALLY should do is extend everyone's current Tier status for another year, given the circumstances. I think their customers would really appreciate having their current status guaranteed through 2021 (and in CET's case, 2022) since not being able to gamble at any of their resorts during this time cannot be helped.

It's nice that CET is suspending the expiration of Tier credits, but what they really need to do is suspend the expiration of Tier levels.

 

It all really depends on how long this lasts but there is a major reason I do not see them doing this.
It will not give people a reason to go once things actually open up as they will have already locked in a tier for the following year.
It could encourage people to stay away longer.

 

I do agree with the fact that there is definitely pay cuts transpiring, but I'm curious as to where you draw the conclusion that a lot of these people getting laid off won't be getting their jobs back. It seems like (from tv news and articles) that the vast majority of people being laid off are service, hospitality and travel. Also a lot of independent contractors who could never before file are filing for unemployment. It seems like the more logical assumption would be that most of these people will be getting their jobs back once the economy gets back on track. Again my original statement is based on a shorter rather than longer time frame, but assuming that is true, some of these workers will actually be making more on unemployment than their normal jobs for at least 13 weeks.

 

No easy answer.

The out of pocket cost to casino includes different things. Diamond is the big one (shows, resort fees, $100,etc). Lower tiers, not so much. What is hard to measure is impact on visits over the rest of the year, and even return next year.


If you extend tier to everyone for another year, some people see no reason to make extra trips to reach tier, or visit and play less. Others may see it as a good move and continue to be a good customer. What is the mix?

Some folks had ZERO trips for March, April, May or even June. Doing anything for them is counterproductive.

No easy answer - but lots of PERSONAL situaitons.

 

Keep in mind the other side of this situation.
Most of us have put in a certain amount of play last year to earn a status and benefits that we have not been able to utilize due to these closures.

 

True - for some people.

In our case, we earned status in Jan/Feb trips in New Orleans and Southern Calif. We were going in April, but now have May and June booked.

We were unable to use our "benefits" on the April trip, but we also did not give any donations to the casino either.

 

So the letter from CET above says that the hotels/casinos will be closed in Vegas through April 30th...Did the governor of Nevada extend the closure of casinos? Wasn't the original closure supposed to last through April 16 or April 17? Is it just CET closed till April 30 or is that the new date for all of Vegas?

 

All of Nevada is until April 30.