Venetian to Rebrand and Revamp Grazie Rewards
Venetian’s Grazie Rewards will get a rebrand in March 2024 to Venetian Rewards.
According to Venetian, “The new program will have more tangible benefits, more transparent earning and more ways to earn Rewards Points.”
Some of our favorite earnings are the transparent ones.
If you’re familiar with the process of rebranding and revamping loyalty clubs, it will come as no surprise such changes are never, ever good for players.
We have, however, decided to be more upbeat and positive in 2024, so we’re going to put a muzzle on the reality checks and dive into the wonderful changes in the works with Venetian Rewards!
Here’s a convenient overview of the perks of Venetian Rewards membership.
You can compare and contrast with Grazie Rewards benefits below.
The most obvious difference between the two plans is the tiers have been renamed. Grazie Rewards: Member, Premier, Elite and Paiza Gold, whatever that might be. Venetian Rewards: Jade, Sapphire, Ruby and Diamond.
Basically, Venetian Rewards tiers have been given stripper names to make them easier to remember.
Casino loyalty club overhauls have become common in recent years. MyChoice became Penn Play. Total Rewards became Caesars Rewards. M Life became MGM Rewards. Wynn’s Red Card became Wynn Rewards. B Connected became Boyd Rewards.
The change to the Venetian’s loyalty club follows on the heels of a change in ownership of the resort. In Feb. 2022, Las Vegas Sands bailed on Las Vegas, selling the resort and its Sands Expo to Vici Properties, a REIT (real estate investment trust) and Apollo Global Management, one of the companies that bankrupted Caesars Entertainment. Sorry, the company that provided lots of bankruptcy lawyers with a robust revenue stream. Upbeat!
At the time of the purchase of Venetian, Apollo and Vici said guests should see few changes at Venetian and Palazzo. Apparently, the rebrand of the loyalty club is one of those few changes.
The Venetian has provided a handy FAQ about Venetian Rewards. Technically, according to the official Web site, they’re “FAQs.” Basically, “frequently asked questionses.” Sorry, pet peeve. At least they didn’t use an apostrophe. Don’t get us started about “ATM machines” or “PIN numbers.”
The frequently asked questions get a little granular, but this is important stuff to people who have spent a lot of money accumulating points and tiers.
Question: “Will I lose my Tier Status and Rewards Points that were earned while participating in Grazie Rewards when the program converts to Venetian Rewards?” Answer: “No, we will honor your current Tier Status based on what was earned during the last Grazie Rewards Tier Year (March 1st, 2023 to February 29th, 2024). Example: If you earned 40,000 points in the last Grazie Rewards Tier Year which would have qualified you for Paiza Gold, you will now become Diamond instead for the new Tier Year (the programs top earned Tier) when the program converts. Any Rewards Points that were earned under the Grazie Rewards Program will roll over to the new Venetian Rewards Program under the same expiration criteria. Future Venetian Rewards Point will follow the new earning criteria.”
On the bright side, at least you’re pronouncing “Grazie” properly in your head now.
How will Tier Points be earned? For slots, one point per $4 (wagered) of coin-in; video poker, one point per $10 (wagered) of coin-in; tables, based on average bet, duration of play and game type; “Experiential Spend” (Hotel, Dining, Entertainment, Retail & Spa), two points per $1 spend. Ditto for Venetian Rewards Points.
Here’s more upbeat news! See, in the last few years, casinos have been doing very well, at least on the gambling revenue side, so they haven’t really had to exert much effort to get people to visit and gamble. Visitation, though, has flattened, and as the landscape continues to change, and competition increases, we’re likely to see loyalty clubs becoming more generous, along with lower table games minimums and lower prices of things overall. There’s more supply than demand in Las Vegas, and that’s a trend likely to intensify now that Fontainebleau has opened, flooding the market with another 3,400 rooms. As casinos compete for business, they offer more deals and dangle more perks.
We are a big fan of dangling perks, but that was mostly during an experimentation phase in college.
While we are not a loyalty club expert, two things are worth noting with this rebrand.
1. Players can get distracted by tiers and the associated benefits when a club rebrand happens, which is exactly what casinos are hoping. Players should be focusing on the value of points in the revamped program. In this rebrand, Venetian will slash the value of its loyalty club points, in some cases by up to 80% for members of the highest loyalty club tiers—arguably their most valuable players. “Slot Point Multipliers” are touted as a new perk, but it’s unlikely that largely symbolic gesture will make up for the dramatic reductions in point values.
A math whiz helped us understand how bad this revamp is: If you play $1,000 on a game that pays back 90%, you’ll be expected to end with $900 (a loss of $100). You’ll get 400 points for that $100. Previously, each point was worth 2.5 cents, so a player would see $10 in free play. Now, if you play $1,000, it’s one point for every $4. Diamond members get a 2x multiplier, so they’d earn 500 points. Those points are worth one penny, or $5 in free play, a 50% reduction in benefits.
2. Venetian’s transferring everyone’s existing Grazie Rewards points to the new Venetian Rewards Points. Today, those points are worth from one penny to 2.5 cents. In March, all the points will be worth a penny. This change means players with big point balances will face a dramatic reduction of their point values overnight, what’s known in casino parlance as a “swift kick to the beanbags.” The bottom line is if you have a significant number of points, use them prior to the loyalty club switch.
Venetian Rewards are coming to Venetian and Palazzo, stripper names and all!
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