Over the summer, MGM partnered with Hyatt, to where you could use Hyatt points at MGM properties, and M-Life points at Hyatt properties.
Now Caesar's is getting in on the action, partnering with Starwood.
At the moment, Starwood has a rewards program called Starwood Preferred Guest. In this program, you earn "Starpoints" by staying at Starwood hotels. You spend Starpoints by redeeming them for future Starwood hotel stays. You earn anywhere from 2-4 Starpoints per $1 spent at Starwood properties, depending upon your SPG status.
Caesar's, of course, has Total Rewards. This program has three elements to it:
1) Rewards Credits, which you earn in a variety of ways (mostly from play in the casino). You do NOT earn Rewards Credits for staying at Caesar's properties (unlike Starwood's situation with Starpoints). However, you can earn Rewards Credits for dining in Caesar's-owned restaurants and shopping in their stores. Rewards Credits are also known as RCs. You redeem Rewards Credits for any expenditure at Caesar's properties, where each RC is worth 1 cent. You can use them for dining, hotel stays, shows, etc. You CANNOT use them for freeplay at the same value, but you can trade them in for freeplay at a rate of 0.5 to 0.8 cents per RC (depending upon your status).
2) Tier Credits. These determine your status in the Total Rewards program. You cannot spend or redeem these. You earn these for play, but also earn one for every $5 spent at Caesar's properties (but NOT for hotel room expenditures).
3) Great Gift Wrap Up Points. These are earned from play at the casino, and are separate from RCs. You can spend them at one of two Great Gift Wrap Up events, where you have to be physically present. If you don't show up to at least one of these events, you lose these points. You also lose any unused points after the events are over in early December. Great Gift Wrap Up points are worth 0.33 cents each if you get max value for them.
Starwood has three status levels: Preferred, Gold, and Platinum.
Total Rewards has 4 status levels: Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Seven Stars.
Caesars and Starwood are partnering -- but primarily involving RCs and Starpoints. This partnership will NOT Great Gift Wrap Up points, and tier credits only a little bit. You will NOT have your Total Rewards status upgraded, even if you are a Starwood Platinum. However, if you are a Caesar's Seven Stars member, you will be upgraded to SPG Gold once you link your accounts, and you will keep your Gold status as long as you stay Seven Stars.
Now here's how the partnership works:
First, you need to have accounts at SPG and Total Rewards. If you don't, use one or both of the links below:
SPG Signup: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...oll/index.html
Total Rewards signup: https://www.totalrewards.com/Program/Default.aspx
Next, you need to link the two accounts here: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...HP_Caesars_Eng
If you are a Seven Stars, wait up to 2 weeks for the Gold SPG match.
Once linked, you will automatically earn extra points with each loyalty program. Here's what you'll earn:
- If you stay at a Starwood property, you will earn one RC (worth 1 cent) on every $1 spent there, excluding taxes. You also earn 100 Total Rewards tier credits, regardless of lenght of stay. You can only earn these if you are a Platinum, Diamond, or Seven Stars Total Rewards member! Otherwise, you earn nothing extra.
- If you stay at a Caesars property, you will earn two Starpoints on every $1 spent there. Each Starpoint is typically worth between 1.5 and 3 cents per point, depending upon how you spend them. You will earn these Starpoints regardless of your status in the SPG or Total Rewards program. The Starpoints earned will be based upon the pre-tax value of your folio at checkout, so make sure to charge as much as possible to your room, and don't pay by credit card or RCs if you spend money on-property!
- While your Starwood stays will not earn you Total Rewards tier points or raise your Total Rewards status level, you will get credit for a Starwood "night" for each stay at a Caesar's property, up to 10 nights. These "nights" can help raise your status at SPG, as you need 25 of them for Gold and 50 for Platinum. This CANNOT be done if you are staying in a comp room at a Caesar's property.
- You can use Starpoints for stays at Caesar's properties, and RCs for stays at Starwood properties. However, the exchange rate is not known at this time.
Here is information on the SPG statuses of Preferred, Gold, and Platinum: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...preferred.html
Here is information on the Total Rewards status levels: https://www.totalrewards.com/TotalRe...age=trBenefits
"Companion card" status does NOT count, by the way. So if you're a Total Rewards Gold (the lowest tier), and your friend adds you as a "companion" to his Seven Stars card, you will still be considered Gold for purposes of this program, even though you will have a card that say Seven Stars on it.