On January 9, 2014, Starwood Preferred Guest launched a partnership with Caesars Entertainment Total Rewards for limited shared benefits. My previous SPG-Caesars post is an introductory piece and discussed benefits of the partnership for loyalty rewards members.
One of the features of this partnership is the ability to redeem SPG points for hotel rooms at Caesars properties around the USA including 9 properties in Las Vegas.
This post analyzes the value of SPG points redeemed for one free night in Las Vegas over six nights in February 2014. Some trends emerge.
Reward nights at Caesars Las Vegas properties are offered at discrete reward rates and these award rates are assigned to a limited range of room rates.
In essence, the number of points required for a free room night is pegged to the Caesars hotel room rate at the time of booking. The value of SPG points is likely to be in the range of $8 to $12 per 1,000 points when redeemed for a free room night at a Caesars hotel.
$8 to $12 per 1,000 Starpoints is less than half the value that a SPG member can easily find using SPG points at a Starwood Hotel where the value of points tends to range from $20 to $40 per 1,000 points, especially when redeeming for Cash & Points award nights.
Caesars room rate and SPG award rate compared. Dividing the room rate by points required for free night gives redemption value as Points Value per 1,000 points. The redemption value is actually higher since the hotel room rate does not include tax.
Caesars Resort Fees
Resort fees are additional to room rate and must be paid on all cash or award stays.
- Caesars Las Vegas $25
- Nobu Las Vegas $25
- Paris Las Vegas $20
- Planet Hollywood Las Vegas $20
- Rio Las Vegas $20
- Bally’s Las Vegas $18
- Flamingo Las Vegas $18
- Harrah’s Las Vegas $18
- The Quad $15
SPG Award Rates for Caesars Las Vegas hotels
Comparing room rates at these nine Las Vegas hotels to the SPG award rate for six dates in February 2014 reveals the award rates are at discrete point levels starting at 4,500 points, then rising by 2,500 points to 7,000 for the second award tier. The third award tier is 9,500 points. The next three tiers rise by 3,000 points at 12,500 points and 15,500 points and 18,500 points. Then the tier levels increase by 3,500 points for 22,000 points to 25,500 points to 29,000 points. There were no data points for higher SPG award rates during the survey period, however, far higher rates have been observed in other award rate checks, in excess of 50,000 points per award night.
My conclusion is the value of points for Caesars Entertainment properties is low redemption value at $6 to 12 per 1,000 points. I still aim for $30 to $35 per 1,000 points. That kind of redemption value is harder to find in 2014 after the rise in SPG Cash & Points rates, but still a possibility.
The SPG Caesars Entertainment partnership offers new earning opportunities for hotel stays in Las Vegas and around the USA at 17 resort casinos.
Still, there is poor value in burning your SPG points for Caesars hotel stays, unless you find that to be the best use of your points.
*****
Another aspect of redeeming points at Caesars hotels is the option to pay more Starpoints for upgrade rooms with participating Caesars properties. There might be better redemption value in upgrades, or possibly worse. That is another analysis I will examine soon.
*****
3 Comments
Comments are closed.