For the past few years I've only been making one trip a year to Vegas, both for the v.p. & to visit friends who live there, & have always booked a few days at either Mains Street Station or The Cal - usually on a v.p. tournament offer. On these short 3-to-4 night stays, I'd always managed to reach low-level Sapphire status.
I made my annual visit to Vegas, staying at The Cal, during the first week of December - not having played there, or at any Boyd property since last December. I booked a v.p. tournament offer that included 3 comped night, but added a night on the front end because of my travel schedule. Though I was still officially Sapphire 'til the end of the year, as a result of the change to the BConnected program I had a Tier Credit score of "0". Based on the threads I'd been following on vpFREE, I thought it doubtful that I would be able to make Sapphire again - particularly since most of my play is either 9/6 JoB or 8/5 Bonus Poker (with a little low-denomination DDB thrown in). Yeah - I'm a pretty conservative player - and I generally play from quarter up to $1 denominations, depending on how the day is going.
I had a good trip, played a lot, and threw in a more-than-usual-amount of "slot" play starting, on the second day, when I saw that I was making very slow progress on tier credits. I was fortunate enough to hit a $1 Royal about mid-way through my stay. Because I bring a specific bankroll, I took the payout in a check. But knowing I had a good buffer - I was also a bit more aggressive on my overall coin-in amounts. I did manage to achieve Sapphire status for 2019 by getting up to 877 tier credits. Because I'd still been Sapphire when I arrived I was able to use earned points to cover a couple meals at Market Street Cafe & claimed about $40 in cash back before leaving. Prior to check out, the on-duty host took a look at my play & ended up refunding the one night not covered by the tournament which I'd pre-paid as a "deposit", and covered the bill for the meal I'd had with a friend at the Triple 7 in MSS. Neither amount was excessive, but being a "jackpot" winner, I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd had to cover the bill myself.
After returning home I received an email Survey from BConnected which I completed (like so many others I've gotten from Total Rewards) and didn't think about it afterward. So I was surprised when I received an email on Christmas Day that sought to address a concern I'd raised on the survey. I'm copying, below, the question & my comment, followed by the text of the email I received. And finally, a small portion of a follow-up email I sent back in reply. Appreciate any of you who have read this far - & would be interested on any thoughts you might care to share. Best to all in the New Year!
What can we do to make your next visit to California Hotel Casino more enjoyable? | Sentiment: 1.2 |
As someone who is predominantly a video poker player, greater clarification on the "coin-in" amounts to earn Tier Credits would be greatly appreciated. |
Thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to attempt to explain the new program.
Please allow me to explain how our new tier credits are earned. In the past, each dollar wagered would equal one card score. Under the new program, video poker tier credit earning varies depending on the game you are playing and the amount you are wagering. If you are playing a lower denomination machine such as $0.05 or $0.25 and are not playing an overly generous paytable, you will receive roughly one tier credit for every $20 wagered. If you are playing a full-pay paytable such as 9/6 Jacks or Better, 9/7 Double Double Bonus, Treasure Chest, etc., the ratio will be closer 1 tier credit for every $100 wagered.
Hopefully, this helps to provide some clarity in the conversion of our previous card score into our new tier credits. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you're having a great holiday.
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Jennifer Nichols
Director of Marketing
Boyd Gaming – Downtown Region
Main Street Station, California, and Fremont
12 East Ogden Avenue
Las Vegas NV 89101
jennifernichols@boydgaming.com
[Part of my reply]
As you'll have seen from my account info, I did get to Sapphire with a small buffer before heading home. I don't know if future plans have taken this into consideration, but with such varied tier credit earning criteria it would certainly be helpful if there were some type of tier credit countdown on the card readers that could track & tally credits being earned while playing. (Such a system is used by the Caesars-owned properties in conjunction with their Total Rewards program.)
