Caesars has launched a new higher end credit card, a Visa Signature issued by Bread Financial. There’s two parts to how this can affect your approach to the now-mostly-defunct Status Match Merry Go Round™.
First let’s take a quick look at the card which I actually think will be very rewarding for those already loyal to Caesars casino properties:
In this article
Signup Bonus
Earn 20,000 Reward Credits® and 2,500 Tier Credits when you spend $1,000 outside of Caesars Rewards destinations on your new Caesars Rewards Prestige Visa Signature® Credit Card within 90 days of account opening.
You ALSO get Platinum status for the remainder of the calendar year, although they say that could take 2 billing cycles to process and I don’t quite get why it wouldn’t last through the following year to be more fair – but it doesn’t! This is also one-time – not yearly.
However, the point is moot if you spend $5,000 this year. That’s because the signup bonus comes with 2,500 tier credits and once you spend $5,000, you will get 2,500 more tier credits – and 5,000 is Platinum status. So in effect you do get it through next year, as long as you spend the $5,000.
Yearly Benefits
- Annual Bonus of 2,500 Tier Credits for spending $5,000+ on purchases in a calendar year
- Annual Bonus of 2,500 Tier Credits for spending $10,000+ on purchases in a calendar year
- Annual Bonus of 15,000 Reward Credits for spending $50,000+ on purchases in a calendar year
- $50 Slot Play at Caesars Rewards destinations
- $100 Dining Credit at Caesars Rewards destinations
- 1 Complimentary Hotel Night (Anniversary Bonus) at Caesars Rewards destinations (up to $300)
Is the Card Any Good?
While I wouldn’t get it if I didn’t already prefer Caesars properties (and personally, I do not!), I think this is a pretty awesome set of benefits for those that do.
For $150, you get that back in slots and free play credit, and then you get a free night up to $300 on top! And for just $10,000 in spend a year, you could maintain Platinum status year after year which isn’t huge but isn’t nothing in that you get free parking, including valet. It won’t waive resort fees, though. That still requires Diamond and up.
The rewards for spend at Caesars is rich at a 7% effective rebate in points, though the other categories are a no for me.
Impact on Status Match Merry Go Round
Platinum status by itself isn’t THAT useful for the Merry Go Round. However, most forget that you do get 4 free nights at Atlantis as Platinum. Whereas Diamond can go year round, Platinum has just 4 months to choose from. But you can still book it! (Of course you’ll still owe the $85 or so a night in taxes and fees.)
The real opportunity – which comes with a real opportunity cost – is that you can spend your way to Diamond status, but it requires a very hefty $50,000 in spend! Here are the earn rates.
As you can see, you’ll have to do a lot of spending that could be otherwise put on MUCH better cards. So there is a massive opportunity cost in earning one Caesars Rewards point (generally worth a penny each on property) per dollar vs. a minimum of 2X somewhere else. At least $500.
But if you have heavy spend, maybe it’s worth $500 – $1,000 for a chance to jump back on the Merry Go Round? After all, until Rio go overwhelmed last week, a Caesars Diamond card was matching to their top tier with $500 free play! That’s over and they are revamping the program – possibly to exclude statuses like Caesars Diamond.
But you could 100% still use this card to match at Ballys AC or Hard Rock AC, match Hard Rock to Ocean (remember travel benefits at Ocean now require you to earn 350 Tier credits) and even Hard Rock to Borgata / MGM for 3 months of MGM Gold.
You’d also get the Atlantis stay (any month) and presumably the $100 Celebration credit since it would be earned. You could also match to Wyndham Diamond status (although you would not be able to “match back” to Caesars later like the old days.
So I want to hear what you think…. Is $50,000 in spend worth the squeeze here? Do you consider it a new on-ramp to the Merry Go Round? Or is it too much spend? I will be listing it on the master Status Match Merry Go Round page because I’m sure that, at least for a few if not the many, this will be worthwhile.
Thoughts?
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