Although the Rewards say to “Redeem by December 5”, the current Travel Window is only through September 30, 2021. There is generally a lot of availability between now and then. I’d expect the travel windows to extend a bit further soon.
As a general rule, Comp Room Rewards are not available for weekends, although Park MGM is showing the weekend of September 10&11 as available. The 25% and Fixed Rate discount Rewards are available for almost every day. You can usually get just as good a deal if not better simply by logging in to your Mlife account or using a readily available deal from a site like my MarksLasVegasDeals.com site.
If you have never purchased myVEGAS chips, you might not be able to see all of the comp Rewards in the app. I discuss this in my Getting More myVEGAS Rewards post.
MGM properties have every other slot machine turned off or disabled. At table games, they have plexiglas dividers between each player space as well as between the players and the dealer. They have similar plexiglas barriers in the poker room. I still felt the poker room was too crowded.
It may be difficult to see in the photo, but there is Plexiglas between each of the available player positions as well as between the dealer and the players at the Bellagio. Also true for other MGM properties.
Caesars on the other hand has every slot machine on. They are expecting players to not use a machine next to another player, but they are not being proactive. I saw multiple instances of players playing and sitting next to each other, so that isn’t working. Caesars doesn’t have barriers at tables or in the poker room, either. They have removed seats to limit the number of players at each game. Caesars seems to be taking a more staff oriented approach. They have dealers wearing plastic face shields in addition to masks, but there is nothing separating players..
An empty table game at Caesars Palace. Limited chairs, but no barriers in place.
MGM has also installed hand washing stations around the casinos and has stands with free disposable masks and hand sanitizer near the entrances. I saw hand sanitizer available at Caesars properties, but not to the same extent as the MGM properties.
Bellagio Mask and Hand Sanitizer kiosk as well as Hand Washing Stations.COVID safety kit in Bellagio rooms with hand sanitizer, touchless door opener tool and reuseable masks.
Check in lines and hotel lobbies were also very different. The Bellagio had a lot of space available to keep distanced while in the check in line. MGM Grand also had a lot of space. Neither place was crowded when I visited. The Flamingo check in line was a mess. They did create some space to keep the waiting line away from the check in counter, but the line continued across the lobby and down the hallway. People in line were much closer than 6 feet. There were no markings to indicate where people should stand in the extended line. It was a hazardous situation. It also created a road block if you were trying to get from the casino to the Spa Tower.
We each have our own personal risk tolerances. The situations at Caesars Palace and the Flamingo made me very uncomfortable. I was happy that I was not staying at either place. It would have made for a very stressful trip for me. Unless things change, I cannot recommend staying or playing at a Caesars property in Las Vegas until things get better.
On the other hand, my stay at the Bellagio was really good and relatively comfortable given the situation. I would readily stay at the Bellagio or another MGM property during the pandemic if necessary.
UPDATED June 30, 2020 Las Vegas casinos and hotels will be able to reopen after the COVID-19 closures starting June 4, 2020. Everything isn’t going to instantly reopen and try to get back to normal, though. I plan to do a series of posts on the topic in the coming days. I am going to start with the most pressing one.
Since the casinos are closed due to COVID-19 and will probably stay that way for a bit longer, M life Rewards is extending current tier statuses through January 31, 2022.
They are also revamping the program calendars. The new Tier Earning Year will be January 1 – December 31 and the new Tier Benefits Year will be February 1 – January 31. This basically gives you a 1 month pad if you didn’t renew your status and matches the Caesars Rewards calendars. The previous calendars were both October 1 – September 30.
