Recap of Nick’s Encore Las Vegas Status Match Run: Waking Up In Vegas

Original Author: Nick Reyes

I wrote last month about organising a spectacular status match run in Las Vegas. I wanted to provide an update and our whole trip outcomes in this article. Overall, this vacation was undoubtedly successful. Since the Wynn Platinum match ends on May 31, 2024, you will need to be in Las Vegas today if you are interested in participating.

Stay tuned for more

We reserved a room at Encore (at Wynn Las Vegas) for our first night in the city through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts. The value was unexpectedly decent.

The first night’s fee was around $275 total, and the inclusions were respectable:

• $150 spa credit
• $60 breakfast credit
• $25 hotel bar credit or minibar

While Wynn Las Vegas (which provides rooms at both the Wynn and the adjacent Encore tower) offers a $150 spa credit via Fine Hotels & Resorts, it should be noted that most Fine Hotels and Resorts reservations include a $100 property credit of some kind. Normally, I wouldn’t be a fan of a spa credit, but in this case, it sounded more appealing because it might stack with the $100 spa reward from matching to Wynn Platinum rank.

Related Article: Fontainebleau Las Vegas & American Express Partner to Provide an Affluent Clientele Attraction

Sadly, $60 won’t buy you much food for breakfast. Nevertheless, who cares if you receive this amazingness?

You may spend the $25 bar credit at any of the casino/resort’s bars or in the minibar, which includes snacks.

When my wife had phoned the Wynn spa ahead of time to ask if she could use both her $100 Wynn Platinum credit and mine, as well as if the $100 Wynn Platinum credit could stack with the $150 FHR credit, she was informed that everything would be alright. She was interested in both the Encore and Wynn spas, but the phone representative persuaded her that the Encore spa is superior. She chose to take advantage of the Encore spa on our initial visit because we would be coming back for another one. Having visited both, she would heartily suggest the Encore spa over the Wynn spa since, as appears to be widely agreed upon online, it is larger, more airy, and more luxurious.

I had the following brief observations on the Encore stay:

• Excellent standard rooms that resemble suites
• The brunch at Jardin was really good, if pricey. The Encore side spa is even superior.

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Wynn Platinum equivalent

Before checking into our accommodations at the Wynn, we matched our Caesars Diamond to Wynn Platinum at the Wynn Rewards desk. We took that action in case you needed Platinum status in order to receive the complimentary Holland America cruise before completing your qualifying stays. It might not have mattered.

The people at the rewards desk didn’t seem to believe that this was possible and said that if it was, someone at the hotel front desk needed to do it. However, some readers have reported success in adding Player 2’s Wynn Rewards number to their reservation so that both members can get credit for the stay. We gave it a shot, but I’m still not sure we both received credit for the stays. We’ll find out in time.

The contest was relatively straightforward except from it. Although they stated that advantages would take effect in seven days, in reality, they have proven effective in less than twenty-four hours. Nothing takes time to load, since I’ve heard of individuals spending the spa credit the same day they matched (although YMMV). Our Platinum cards were printed right away, and we finished the match in a matter of minutes.

Returning to Resorts World

We stayed at Resorts World for three nights throughout the weekend since my sister-in-law’s Ocean Prime match in Atlantic City approximately a year ago earned her a complimentary two-night stay. She reserved her two complimentary nights through the match, and for the third night, she utilised a free night coupon she had accrued on her Hilton Surpass card. I used free night vouchers to buy two award nights and the yearly credit from the Hilton Aspire card to purchase a third paid night.

The most of our visit was similar to our previous one to Resorts World, which I have already described here, but I will mention a few things:

• The Hilton elite food and beverage credit ($25 per person per day for those sleeping at Conrad and Crockford’s; I’m not aware of the Hilton on the same site) may only be used at The Dawg House, a bar and grill located on the casino floor. The meal is still quite bad, and the charges were not promptly erased. To get the Dawg House fees waived (for the one night only, as my sister-in-law utilised a free night coupon), we had to make a trip at the desk for both rooms. If you remain here, you’ll have to deal with not just the awful cuisine but also making sure you receive your elite privileges.
• My sister-in-law received $200 in Free Play for whatever reason while she was taking advantage of the Ocean Prime free two-night stay deal. The desk agent verified that it should have been $100 in free play and $100 in meal credit. She didn’t use any of them while she was there, but when we went back a day after we had checked out of Resorts World, the machine recognised her card and allowed her to load $200 in free play money. In the end, she took out more than $125.
• Only Crockfords guests are now allowed to use one of Resorts World’s pools. It’s only a little, round pool. I suppose that sets Crockfords apart a little, even though it seems a little ridiculous.
• Free parking will soon expire for anyone without Genting Rewards elite status, which costs $18 per day. Right now, all you need is a player’s club card, and it costs nothing, but that will soon change. To be honest, we had some trouble finding a spot to park a few times throughout the weekend due to the busyness of the parking garage, but $18 per day seems excessive.
• It’s noteworthy how young most of the attendees are. My sister-in-law, who is a little younger than I am, remarked, “This location makes me feel ancient,” while we were chatting. When I saw my friend an hour later, he observed, “This place makes me feel ancient,” among other things. Indeed, a large portion of the audience is college-aged. Unfortunately, that meant that two of the three nights that we were awakened this time around by a party in the room next door, with music pounding and an unknown number of people crammed inside (it was obviously a large gathering; upon awakening, I assumed the hallway must have been filled with people, but it turned out to be just the people in the room next door). It was so extravagant that both nights we had to phone the front desk. The hotel handled it both nights, which is to their credit.
• It appears that the “Street Eats” food court is only available on the weekends and not throughout the week.
• I still think it’s nice, and I wouldn’t think twice about using my Hilton points or certificates to book a weekend stay here. I can appreciate the center-strip excitement, but if you don’t want to always be in crowds, I believe this is really better for families.

Also Read: KOMODO Las Vegas Trip Reviews

A game at Fontainebleau

At Fontainebleau, the match was incredibly simple. We just took our Wynn Platinum card and licence to the Fontainebleau Rewards desk. The following notes are provided:

• The match barely lasted a few minutes; the longest part of the experience was standing in queue.
• You can activate gold-level perks by inserting your player card into a slot machine. Although it’s not strictly required to gamble, inserting the card into the machine is. When you do, a message congratulating you on achieving Gold level and awarding you with a $150 dining credit and a $150 spa credit appears.
• As I previously said, we had no issues using four $150 credits for a single dinner.
• Straight off the spa bill was the $150 Gold spa credit.
• My wife and I only needed to exhibit our cards and IDs in person to complete the process of merging our spa credits.
• It was said to be a really wonderful spa. According to my spouse, although it wasn’t quite as luxurious as Encore, it was still fairly close—and far more affordable—and would even be preferable for many couples because the primary amenities were primarily shared or coed.
• Gold members can park for free in valet. If you have your Gold card when you arrive, you can give it to the attendant so they can enter your number and when you go to request the vehicles (which is done via a link from a text message), it will ring up as $0 so you can go ahead and request the car. Alternatively, you can bring your Gold card to the valet pick-up station to show the card and get the fee waived.
• Caesars Diamond Celebration Dinner
• We made use of the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars, which is reasonably priced if you have a large appetite, for our Caesars Diamond Celebration Dinner.

A few observations

• Each adult pays $84.99. Our 3-year-old was free, while our 6-year-old cost $49.99.
• Combining many Caesars Diamond credits on a single bill was a simple process for us. They also allowed us to pay for wine at the cashier in the same transaction as the buffet last year in order to use up the entire $100 because both of our kids were free.
• There was an initial discussion of a ninety-minute time restriction. Although our server last year had not brought it up, a buddy of mine did. It seems that after 90 minutes of eating, they will ask you to leave. Regardless, we finished in about precisely ninety minutes.
• Important to note: My sister-in-law had not received any tier credits, although my wife and I had each received 100. When we showed the cashier our Diamond cards, she swiped mine first, deducting $100, then my wife’s, deducting another $100, and finally my sister-in-law’s, whose face seemed perplexed. After making another attempt, she claimed that there was not a $100 credit. That aligns with the most current revisions to the regulations, although we just received information from a reader who utilised the $100 Celebration meal without engaging in any gaming. YMMV, but in the absence of tier credits, don’t bank on it.

A Recap at Encore

To fulfil the stay requirement for the Holland America cruise, we returned to Encore. The second visit was much the same, however the following observations are pertinent:

• My spouse visited the Wynn spa this time. It is said that the Wynn spa is much, much smaller (something the phone representative had mentioned). P2 and P3 didn’t appear all that excited about this spa.
• Paying bills was a hassle. We further complicated matters by trying to charge three different treatments for two people to three different rooms, each with a different Wynn Platinum number, in order to use up the $100 Wynn Platinum spa credits that Encore Spa had not properly taken. We had three rooms reserved in total. They appeared to be somewhat confused by it, and it doesn’t help that because the FHR credits are applied only at checkout (and after the first stay, the spa costs hadn’t posted at the time of check out), it’s difficult to view the total amount once the credits are applied.
• It is feasible to combine the Wynn Platinum $100 advantage with the FHR $150 benefit, but as previously said, it required more effort than I had anticipated to persuade them to comprehend our desire to do so.
• It seems that in order to redeem the $100 credit, you must print a spa credit certificate from the Wynn Rewards desk before visiting the spa. I hadn’t heard about this from readers, nor had it been discussed. Ultimately, we were able to complete the transaction over the phone with the spa desk representative, however it seems that stopping by the Wynn Rewards desk on your way to the spa might be a simpler option.
• The $25 minibar credits didn’t apply correctly, and even though we gave distinct room numbers, two different bar tabs were paid to the same room, thus at checkout we had to double verify everything. Everything was harder than I had anticipated.
• In a heartbeat, I would still book a stay at Encore through FHR. The hotel/casino is nice, and the Encore rooms are really spacious.

Keep in mind that Platinum members receive free self-parking but not valet.

Matched with MGM Gold

Because I occasionally needed to park at an MGM location and I didn’t want to pay for it, I ended up matching my Wynn Platinum to MGM Gold. There is just a 90-day challenge in the current MGM match. I was merely hoping to get free valet parking; I had no intention of earning the necessary points to maintain my status.

You don’t need to know the status when you arrive—you may request your car at a kiosk by scanning the code on your ticket and then using your MGM Gold card to waive the cost right before you depart.

Source:
https://frequentmiler.com/waking-up-in-vegas-results-of-nicks-las-vegas-status-match-run/

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