Starwood Preferred Guest Up Its Game In Vegas

It was only a couple of years ago that Starwood Preferred Guest launched their partnership with Caesars Resorts.  Hyatt Gold Passport had already announced a groundbreaking partnership in loyalty with MGM Resorts in Las Vegas, which they said was over a year in the making.  Whether SPG was already working on their partnership or not, they quickly rolled out their program to have something to match up against Hyatt’s relationship.  The problem was, it wasn’t that satisfying.

There wasn’t really any elite recognition, and you could only get partial credit for paid stays.  You could only earn nights toward elite status (no stays) and only up to the 50-night Platinum level.  That made the announcement better than nothing, but lacking pizzazz.

Now, SPG has announced some solid improvements in the relationship for Las Vegas properties.  Platinum members who link their SPG and Caesars accounts will receive the following benefits:

• VIP line for hotel check-in, restaurants, taxis and entertainment venues
• Preferred entry into nightclubs
• Pool access at all resorts
• Priority lines at casino cages and Total Rewards centers

More importantly, they’re offering up to a 40% discount on award redemptions at Caesars properties if you book by mid-June for stays through the end of 2015.  I don’t like verbiage “up to” when it comes to pricing award redemptions, but some discount is definitely better than nothing.

I think the VIP benefits are a nice plus to the relationship.  I’m certainly enjoying them during my MGM stays, including private check-in and this jabungous suite.  I don’t really do a whole lot of gambling, so I hadn’t really paid attention to how much time things like VIP lines for restaurants and taxis can save you.  I guess I didn’t realize that pool access wasn’t already free at all Las Vegas resorts since it’s listed as a benefit here.

Bottom line is that this is a solid improvement to the SPG partnership at Caesars.  I’d like to have seen them create parity on night and stay credit earning towards elite status, but members who frequent Vegas will definitely enjoy these new benefits, and may even save a bunch on an award reservation.  Keep in mind that Vegas always has lots of deals on room rates, so check what the prevailing room rates are before you redeem an award night.

You do need to link your SPG and Caesars accounts, which is quick and easy to do here.

The post Starwood Preferred Guest Up Its Game In Vegas was published first on Pizza In Motion.

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