Quote Originally Posted by dannyj View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post

Hi, welcome to PokerFraudAlert.

First off, if you are halfway to Diamond (7500 TCs or more), I would suggest you earn Diamond in one day. That is, play exactly 2500 base tier credits, and you will get 5000 bonus, pushing you over 15,000. Otherwise you are being very inefficient about it, as the next bonus down isn't nearly as good.

Regarding your questions:

You are not instantly granted Diamond if you get it through bonus tiers. This is because bonus tiers post at about 6am the following day, so you won't have your status until the bonus tiers post.

So let's say you show up Friday night, already have 7500 tiers from the past, and check in. Then you play 2500 base tiers that same night, and earn 5000 bonus tiers. You will be granted Diamond at 6am Saturday when those 5000 bonus tiers post. However, if you exceed 15,000 WITHOUT bonus tiers (let's say you show up with 14,500 and earn 700 that day), then you get it instantly.

I believe you CAN get your resort fees waived, even if you earn Diamond in the middle of the stay. However, I am not sure about their official policy on this. I would suggest doing the following:

1) When you check in, sign that you're paying the resort fee, as normal.

2) When you make Diamond (or the next morning following making Diamond, if it involves bonus tiers), go to Total Rewards and have them print your new Diamond card.

3) Walk over to the front desk of the hotel. Hand them your ID and new Diamond card. Say, "I'm Diamond, but I believe I'm being charged resort fees. Can you fix this?" They will then verify that you're really still Diamond, and adjust them. If they ask, "Were you Diamond when you booked?", you should answer, "I was Platinum, but I became Diamond in between then, and I didn't realize at first that I had to come over here." Even if they somehow catch that you just made Diamond, you can always say you were confused and didn't understand what they were asking you. I have a feeling that the hotel can't see the date that you made Diamond (but I'm not sure).

Keep in mind that the existing policy may not require the trickery in #3, but I am not sure what the policy is regarding making Diamond in the middle of your stay, and CET employees tend to be so poorly informed of such rules that calling the hotel will get you 3 different answers.

I do know for a fact, however, that you ARE entitled to get the resort fees waived if you book as Platinum, make Diamond before check-in, and then inform them at check-in. I know this because a friend of mine did exactly that. If you make Diamond AFTER your stay, you are definitely NOT entitled to getting the resort fees back. But during? That's a grey area, but I bet you can talk them into it by using the method described in #3.

I would advise going to the front desk late at night, as Harrah's Lake Tahoe tends to be staffed by just one person at that time, and that person doesn't seem to give much of a crap. That's what you want here.

If for some reason you are refused, try going to a host and asking if they can make an exception and just comp off your resort fees. However, they might want to use your RCs to do this, which obviously isn't a real comp, so make sure that's not what they're doing.

Good luck, and please post whether you were successful in removing the resort fees.
Ok, so we are in day 2 of our 5 day stay and I made diamond this morning. The 5000 bonus tiers that I won from first day's play showed up in my account this morning and then I only needed a couple hundred more tiers to get to 15,000.

I just came back from the front desk and pretty much said verbatim to what you advised in #3. She asked me straight away when I made diamond and I admitted that I made it today. I got a little defensive and asked her what the rule was regarding making diamond status during the stay. She couldn't tell me and just said she would take care of it, including yesterday and today's fees. I think your right Dan, in that, I don't think they can see on their terminal when status has changed. She asked me when I made diamond after she had my room number and info up.

Thanks again for the tips.
Thanks for the update. I believe that your experience pretty much verifies they can't see when you made Diamond, which means that I would probably advise others to BS and just claim they made it before the stay started (but after the reservation was made), but forgot to mention it at check-in. As I said, even if they catch you in the lie, you can always make up BS and say you were confused and thought you had Diamond earlier than you did.

But anyway, I don't blame you for just wanting to be honest and avoid potential embarrassment/hassle.

Glad you got this worked out. Given that it's a CET property, I would call up and verify that your resort fees have really been waived for the entire stay. Otherwise something might have been messed up, and you could get a rude surprise at check-out.

Also make sure they really removed the resort fees, and did NOT use your RCs to pay them. So watch your RC balance closely, or simply visit Total Rewards and ask if any RCs have been spent in the past month.