Back in July New Jersey approved the $17.3 billion merger of Eldorado Resorts Inc. and Caesars Entertainment Corp. That created the largest casino company in the world, operating 55 casinos worldwide.
Fine, you might counter, but what’s in it for me?
Well, quite a few things, actually. If you’re a Caesars Rewards (formerly Total Rewards) Diamond member, you can match your status to Trop Advantage Platinum. Are you not a Caesars Diamond? You don’t have to be a gambler to enjoy the benefits. Here are some of my musings on the subject matter.
My Atlantic City Status Match Adventure — Part 1: What’s Still Working and What Is Not
My Atlantic City Status Match Adventure — Part 2: Total Rewards Diamond Benefits IN DEPTH!
My Atlantic City Status Match Adventure — Part 3: MGM M life Gold Benefits IN DEPTH!
How to take advantage of Trop Advantage (nice pun here, right?)
Consider matching your status if you live close to the following properties:
- Tropicana Atlantic City
- Tropicana Laughlin
- Belle of Baton Rouge Casino Hotel
- Tropicana Evansville
- Lumiere Place Casino & Hotels
- Montbleu Resort, Casino and Spa
- TROP Casino Greenville
The tier matching takes about 2 minutes. It goes like this:
- Sign in to your Trop Advantage program.
- Click CAESARS REWARDS
- Enter your Caesars credentials
That’s all it takes, really!
PIC TROP 1
Is Trop Advantage Platinum any good?
Trop Advantage has 5 tiers: Green (entry level), Copper, Gold, Platinum, Black. You’ll start feeling some love at the Gold tier, but the Trop Advantage Platinum benefits take it a bit further. Please note that the list includes the best Gold benefits, too.
- Access to TROP ADVANTAGE VIP Lounge 7 days a week ($10 Comp copay per person)
- Complimentary Birthday Dinner (Choice of any Tropicana Atlantic City-owned restaurant. Play required)
- Annual Cruise on Celebrity Cruises (Guests are responsible for cruise fees, gratuities, taxes and airfare)
- Exclusive Select Card Level-Only Events
- Annual stay at Tropicana Laughlin, Belle of Baton Rouge Casino Hotel, Tropicana Evansville, Lumiere Place Casino & Hotels, TROP Casino Greenville, MontBleu Casino & Spa
- Complimentary Valet & Self Park
- Free or Reduced Admission to Nightclubs in The Quarter
- Separate VIP Reservation Number
- Exclusive Hotel Check-In
- Complimentary Show Tickets to Select Shows
- Preferred Showroom Seating
- Priority Lines for Restaurants & Showrooms
But COVID-19 …
Grrrr!
This is the argument I keep hearing all the time when I even try to start talking about travel; but you can’t fly there, sail there, eat there, so what’s the point!
The point is that naysayers are annoying!
Are you going to stay put till the day you die? Do you really think that this plague is forever? That we’ll never be able to go on a cruise or enjoy a nice dinner in a crowded restaurant?
By the way, I love crowded restaurants, for how else are you supposed to know that the food is good?
Anyway, if that’s the future you’ve drawn for yourself, by all means stop reading here. But quit whining when someone else has the “audacity” to see the future differently.
The cruising will return, and return soon. Coronavirus might not just disappear into the thin air, but I hope we’ll have a safe vaccine. and the potency of this deadly disease will eventually be reduced to the point that it really becomes “just like the flu.”
But what if I’m wrong and all the whiners are right, and we won’t be able to go cruising in the next several years?
I don’t know. This tier match took about 2 minutes of my life if not less. What do you have to lose?
Let’s unpack the best Trop Advantage Platinum benefits
But first:
- Indoor restaurants reopened in Atlantic City on Friday, September 4 at 25% capacity.
- Drink service on casino floors is back.
- Smoking on casino floors is banned (again).
- Player lounges at Tropicana, Caesars, Ballys, and Harrahs are open (the hours).
Access to TROP ADVANTAGE VIP Lounge
I’ve been to the Tropicana VIP lounge in Atlantic City and it’s great! It doesn’t have the Caesars’ views, or Hard Rock’s ambience, or Golden Nugget’s amazing pomegranate lemon drop martinis, but it has an extensive (for a lounge) buffet, and the food is pretty good, too. Service, on the other hand, can be hit or miss, but no major complaints. I still prefer Caesars Laurel lounge for the views and general ambiance.
Since the merger, you can move points between Caesars Rewards and Trop Advantage, and if you’re not a big gambler, there is a neat hack to get as many comp dollars for lounge access for $13 per person (remember, unlimited top-shelf drinks!). As I pointed out in this post, you can transfer Wyndham Rewards points to Caesars Rewards in 10,000-point increments, and then transfer your Caesars points to Trop Advantage in 100-point increments.
Complimentary Birthday Dinner
UPDATE: My relative, who’s an organic (LOL) Trop Platinum member has told me that you can use it during your birthday month, which is much better, of course.
Sure, it’s like 365 times less flexible than Caesars Diamond Celebration Dinner, and it only pays $75 vs. $100, but if you can swing it to Atlantic City on your birthday, you can choose from any Tropicana-owned restaurants (I have no idea what restaurants they do own, and Tropicana is ridiculously skimpy on details).
Annual Cruise on Celebrity Cruises
This is the most awesome Trop Advantage Platinum benefit. You’re getting a free up-to-7-day annual cruise on Celebrity for 2 in an ocean-view cabin. My understanding is you can choose any cruise to the Bahamas or Caribbean from any U.S. port.
In 2019, Platinum members received a “complimentary cruise sailing to the Bahamas or Caribbean for up to 7 nights, in an ocean-view Stateroom.” Just as a [probably useless] data point, last year my aunt, who was Gold at the time, received a free balcony upgrade without even asking.
However, in the 2020 brochure I didn’t find the same ocean-view language. I don’t know why the emission: maybe because the coronavirus has thrown the whole world into disarray, but the only thing you can find in the most recent brochure is that you’re generally entitled to the cruise. Compare both brochures side to side.
The future of Trop Advantage beyond 2020
The new company will operate under the name of Caesars Entertainment and it will adopt Caesars Rewards as its loyalty program. While I don’t expect the new management to start alienating members during the COVID-19 pandemic by devaluing the program right away — from a historic point of view, Eldorado Resorts has gutted benefits almost immediately whenever it would snatch yet another property. And they did the same thing when they merged with Tropicana in Atlantic City. The Eldorado One Club program is much stingier than Caesars Rewards, and I’m really afraid that the last great Caesars Diamond benefit — waiver of Caesars resort charges — isn’t long for this world. And I also don’t expect that Caesars’ merry-go-round of tier matches will continue beyond 2021, but we’ll see.
What does it mean to us? The same thing every other inevitable devaluation does.
Enjoy the perks while you can.
Because you never know.
Let’s recap
If you’re a Caesars Rewards Diamond member you can easily match to Trop Advantage Platinum, which is the second highest Tropicana tier. You’ll get access to the Tropicana lounge ($10 comp copay), a $100 birthday celebration dinner, and, most importantly, a free cruise to the Bahamas or Caribbean for 2 in (supposedly) an ocean-view cabin.
Do you have any experience with the Trop Advantage program and are you going to status-match?
