The Incredibly Lucrative Caesars Rewards Status Match

Status matching is one of the most effortless ways to extract maximum benefits from the airlines and hotels along your travels.

One particular status matching opportunity has existed for a while now, and it’s probably one of the juiciest low-hanging fruit around. I’ve mentioned it before in one of my emails, as well as featuring it in our Reader Success Story from Daniel, so it’s about time that we take a proper in-depth look at the Caesars Rewards status match and how you can use it to gain thousands of dollars’ worth of benefit. 

The idea here is to take advantage of a series of status-matching opportunities to eventually attain rewards that far outstrip those of the original status levels. The end goal? Caesars Rewards Diamond status.

In This Post

Step 1: Marriott Gold to Wyndham Diamond

To get there, all that’s required is to begin with a standard mid-tier status level within one of the major hotel loyalty programs – the most accessible for Canadians being Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite.

You can earn Marriott Gold by staying 25 nights at Marriott hotels; however, by far the easiest way to do so is to simply sign up for either the American Express Platinum Card or the American Express Business Platinum Card

These cards both come with instant Marriott Gold Elite status as a complimentary benefit, and you may enrol your Marriott Bonvoy card to receive a status bump to Gold Elite as soon as you’re a cardholder.

(With the personal Platinum, you can also enrol in Hilton Gold status, which achieves the same purpose as well.)

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Marriott or Hilton Gold will be instantly matched by Wyndham Rewards to their top-tier Wyndham Diamond status. Indeed, you may visit this page on the Wyndham Rewards website to view all the details of their publicly advertised status match program. 

Simply by opening a Wyndham Rewards account, you may then request your status match by submitting a screenshot of your Marriott Gold Elite (or Hilton Gold) account, which will then be granted within 3–5 business days. 

Once your Diamond starts is granted, it’ll be valid for 90 days, unless you stay 14 nights with Wyndham hotels to extend it for a year – so you should definitely take action on the next step within that 90-day window.

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Step 2: Wyndham Diamond to Caesars Diamond

And why should we care about Wyndham Rewards, a hotel chain whose brands, ranging from Super 8 to Days Inn, don’t exactly inspire a great deal of excitement? 

You guessed it. By some twist of fate, Wyndham Rewards and Caesars Rewards have teamed up to offer a reciprocal status match program, meaning that Wyndham Rewards Diamond status also gets you Ceasars Rewards Diamond status. Once you’ve created a Ceasars Rewards account, simply visit this page to match your Diamond status from Wyndham to Caesars.

(Note that while I had received an email from Wyndham notifying me that I had earned Diamond, I had never received any such email from Caesars, so you’ll want to log in to your Caesars Rewards account periodically to check up on your status.) 

It’s the sheer asymmetry between the two programs that proves to be the most rewarding, because while Wyndham Diamond might get you some complimentary bottled water the next time you roll up into that roadside Travelodge, Caesars Diamond will propel you towards complimentary dinners, Las Vegas shows, and even a four-night stay in the Bahamas.

What Does Caesars Diamond Get You?

Let’s take a look at those benefits of Diamond status in detail:

  • Priority lines for check-in, shows, on-property restaurants, casino games, etc.

  • Complimentary valet parking

  • Two free tickets to a Vegas show per month

  • $100 Celebration Dinner at participating Caesars-owned restaurants

  • No resort fees on most Caesars hotel stays

  • Complimentary four-night stay at the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas

You’ll notice that most of the benefits are concentrated in Las Vegas, where the Caesars Entertainment group operates a large number of hotels and casinos, chief among which is the iconic Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Caesars Palace Las Vegas

Caesars Palace Las Vegas

For anyone planning a trip to Las Vegas, taking advantage of the Caesars Rewards status match can really take your trip to the next level with very little effort on your part, as reader Daniel recently reported in his Success Story

Even better, if you and your spouse were to both take advantage of the status match originating from your respective Amex Platinum cards, then you could double-up on the $100 Celebration Dinner and Las Vegas show tickets, extracting even more value.

Planet Hollywood Las Vegas

Planet Hollywood Las Vegas

Note that there are a few benefits listed on the Caesars Diamond page that are specified as for “earned Diamond members” only, such as the VIP Laurel Lounge access at Caesars hotels and the complimentary two-night stay at Caesars Bluewaters Dubai.

This language means that members who obtained Diamond via a Wyndham status match (and therefore didn’t “earn” their status in the traditional sense) unfortunately aren’t eligible for these benefits. 

While a majority of Diamond benefits are realized in Las Vegas, and many of the other benefits (such as priority check-in and complimentary valet parking) can be used at other Caesars locations around the world too, clearly the most valuable benefit is the four-night stay at the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Let’s take a closer look at maximizing this benefit in particular.

How to Book Your Four “Free” Nights in the Bahamas

Once you’ve been granted Caesars Diamond status, you’ll need to call 1-800-752-9711 to book your four free nights at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Be sure to mention you’re booking a complimentary package as a Diamond member.

Note that not all dates may be available for the complimentary four-night stay, so a bit of flexibility might be required in planning the trip. 

Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas

Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas

The Atlantis Paradise Island is a massive resort complex, and the specific room in which you’ll be booked will depend on whether you’re travelling on an off-peak date (January, February, May, June, September, October) or a peak date (March, April, July, August, November, December).

On off-peak dates, you’ll be put up the Royal Tower, which is a much nicer and newer part of the resort than the Beach Tower, where you’d be booked into during peak dates (and by all accounts sounds rather old and decrepit).

Either way, you’ll also be granted access to Aquaventure, the Atlantis’s 141-acre pool and waterpark complex, as well as a $100 Free Slot Play, which is Caesars’s sneaky attempt to get you to blow money on the slot machines. Be careful with that one! 😉

Royal Tower, Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas

Royal Tower, Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas

Alas, many data points indicate that even though Caesars Diamond status includes a resort fee waiver as one of its benefits, that waiver does not apply on the complimentary four-night stays here at Atlantis Bahamas. You’ll still pay the resort fees of US$55.94 per night, plus an additional US$10 gratuity for a total of US$66.95 per night.

For four nights, you’re therefore looking at US$270 in resort fees, so even though the benefit is advertised as four “free” nights in the Bahamas, do be aware that there’s a rather exorbitant resort fee to be paid as well (and of course, you’ll probably have to shell out for meals, activities, etc. while you’re on the property).

One final thing to note is that even though the Caesars website indicates that the four-night Atlantis stay must take place by January 31, 2020, the reality is that this promotion has been extended year after year in the past, so in all likelihood it’ll continue beyond January into the rest of 2020 as well.

Atlantis Bahamas is a rather unique property in that it maintains a marketing relationship with Caesars Entertainment while technically being a part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection.

Therefore, Marriott elite members may also expect some level of special treatment here at Atlantis, although the resort is indeed exempt from offering elite members free breakfast, and also doesn’t have an Executive Lounge.

So if you’re visiting Atlantis as a Marriott Platinum Elite member or above, you can probably expect a late checkout subject to availability and a few snacks or beverages as a welcome amenity, but not much more than that. 

Matching Onwards to Hard Rock Hotels, M Life, and Hyatt

The story doesn’t end there. With a bit of extra legwork, you may even leverage your Caesars Diamond status into a variety of other status levels in even more programs.

First off, Caesars Diamond can also be matched onwards to a variety of other casino and gaming chains, such as Hard Rock Hotels’s top-tier Rock Royalty status, which comes with two complimentary nights, two tickets to a comedy show, and a one-time entry for two into the Fresh Harvest Buffet or Legends Lounge at a Hard Rock Hotel. 

Just like that – two comped nights at a Hard Rock in the bag. If you’re the type who likes to embark on spontaneous poker weekends, it doesn’t get much better than this!

The status-matching pathway to Hyatt, meanwhile, goes through yet another gaming-oriented hotel chain: M Life, the loyalty program for frequent participating at MGM Resorts.

While Caesars Diamond can be matched to M Life Gold, the caveat here is that this particular “step” in the pathway must be done in-person at an MGM Resorts property.

Many data points suggest that it can be done at The Borgata in Atlantic City, but a few data points also indicate that it can also be done at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as well. If you’re in Vegas taking advantage of your Caesars Diamond benefits, it certainly doesn’t hurt to drop by the MGM Grand to see if you can match your way to M Life Gold.

If you do manage to match your way to M Life Gold, you can then request an onwards match to Hyatt Explorist, as indicated on this page on the Hyatt website. A list of Hyatt Explorist benefits can be found here; it’s definitely more closely aligned with Marriott’s Gold Elite rather than Platinum Elite (i.e., it doesn’t grant breakfast or lounge access), but it still gives you a nice leg up for the next time you stay at a Hyatt hotel.

Conclusion

From a single American Express Platinum Card or Business Platinum Card, one can earn Marriott Gold, then Wyndham Diamond, then Caesars Diamond (four free nights, check!), then Hard Rock’s Rock Royalty (two free nights, check!), then potentially M Life Gold and Hyatt Explorist as well. For those of you who successfully take advantage of all these benefits, the $499 net annual fees on these cards clearly pay themselves off multiple times over.

This status-matching sequence is probably best suited to those who are likely to travel to Las Vegas or the Bahamas often (which may be why I haven’t given it too much attention thus far), but whether you’re considering a single weekend of debauchery in Sin City or a relaxing family getaway in the Bahamas, there is incredible value to be extracted here with minimal effort required.

34 Comments
  1. Tony Ventura

    Im diamond status in Wyndham because of the business credit card. I asked for status match in Caesars and they gave me Platinum status and not the diamond. Any idea why? Im trying to call Ceasers Rewards and the number is not working anymore.

    1. Carl

      They stopped this program (Amex plat Canada devalued :()

      1. Eli

        Caesar’s caught on with this loophole. From their website: Please Note: You must have earned Tier Status with your current loyalty program in order for your status to be matched. Caesars Rewards will not grant status to WR members who came into the WR program from a tier match promotion with other programs or who previously had recent Caesars Rewards status that was about to expire, and vice versa.

  2. Vishesh Parekh

    If we status match from Wyndham to Caesars, what would be the validity of Diamond status with Caesars? Wyndham has condition to use 14 nights in 90 days, if not you loose Diamond status. Will the same apply for Caesars?

  3. Alex YWG

    Has anyone been able to match to Hard Rock and if so what was the process? I think you have to physically go to the Hard Rock with your Casears Diamond card, but I am not too sure.
    Thanks

  4. Russ

    I have gone through this process now and have caesars diamond status. How now do I get my dining credit and free show tickets? On the rewards section of the website it doesn’t show where to actually obtain or how to use these perks. Thanks.

  5. Suresh Advani

    The folks at the Atlantis resort say that the 4 night complimentary stay requires an obligation to gamble for 4 hours in their casino during the 4 day stay, if you don’t comply they say you will be liable for full room price.

    1. raman

      4 Hours a Day or Total 4 hours in 4 days , and any gamble game ??

      1. Max S.

        I just completed the status match in January and reserved our stay for June. I was told it was a 4hr total for the stay. You also get the $100 slot credit so be sure to stretch that as long as you can to count towards the 4hr stay.

        1. Chris

          Curious if you went through with it, and if you still need to be a Diamond member at the time of your trip?

  6. Lucy

    Heading to Vegas Feb 1-3. Anyone know how long it takes to status match from Wyndham to Caesars? I know Caesars status calendar resets on Feb 1. Hoping to take advantage of this status match perk.

  7. ZS

    Anyone know if you can use your current status to book for the first week in Feb.? If not, would have to try and do it very last minute on the 31st?

  8. GL

    I am in the process of doing this but I read in a comment section that Caesar’s system can distinguish from status match to earned which I thought they could anyways and hence getting denied some of the privileges. So the status match Diamond may not get the 4 free Atlantis nights, something that I need to watch out for.

  9. Tim

    Unless I’m mistaken, that Hard Rock status match from Caesars Diamond is only available at their Atlantic City location?

  10. Adam

    Hi Ricky, can the hard rock free nights earned be used at any hard rock property?

  11. mk

    Can anyone confirm if it is a one time deal or can you status match from Marriott to Wyndham to Caesars year after year?

  12. 7

    T&C says you have to gamble at Atlantis. Anyone have any information on this?

  13. PrincessOfPoints YYZ

    Also one benefit of the Caesars diamond status that seems to be undervalued is the up to 20% off Norwegian line cruises. I have taken advantage of this for a few years now and have a few booked in coming years. The discount is stacked over the best deal you can get so it is really worthwhile. Atlantis stay is pretty sweet – my family and I have done it a few times. We’ve used our food credit in past years in Las Vegas, Phoenix (harrahs), new orleans (harrahs) and Windsor (live in Toronto). As a tip I usually purchase 10k Wyndham points and transfer them to 10k Caesar tier credits. Which can then be used to access the lounge at the various Caesar properties.

    1. Russ

      Great info. Can you elaborate more on the buying Wyndham points and transferring them to Caesars? What are the benefits and why did you choose 10k?

    2. Ricky YVR

      Great input! It’s definitely pretty crazy that all this value can be so simply derived from one of the Amex Platinum cards.

  14. Chris

    I went on the Bahamas trip last year thinking I would get a "cheap" 4 day vacation with my Caesars status match. I luckily was upgraded to a suite with Marriott Platinum stauts. The resort gets pricey very quickly as the dining options are expensive.

    1. Joseph

      Were you able to collect elite night credits with the complimentary stay?

    2. Guest

      We planned ahead and packed a checked bag full of chips, granola bars, cookies, alcohol, and soda to tie us over during the day. We only ate dinner because it would be too pricey to have 3 meals a day.

    3. Ricky YVR

      Yeah, it’s one of those situations where the costs can definitely add up quickly. Best to think of it as scoring a nice deal on the room, and thus having a little more freedom to spend on the resort experience itself.

  15. James

    My wife and I just made a Christmas trip to Vegas and this was a great perk! We both hold an AMEX Platinum so we got $200 in dining credit and 4 show tickets. Patrick is correct that our matched CET status expires January 2020.

    1. Ricky YVR

      Now’s the time to match back to Wyndham before the end of the month then 🙂

      1. PrincessOfPoints YYZ

        Wyndham made it even easier now. Yesterday I requested status match to Wyndham to get back diamond and i was upgraded immediately. Last year took a few days.

  16. Arbitrage

    So how long is the status match to caesers valid for until Dec of the same year?

    1. Ricky YVR

      According to Patrick below, it’s valid until the end of the next January after you did the match. Meanwhile, since Wyndham Rewards works on a calendar-year basis, you could match your Caesars Diamond back to Wyndham Diamond each January, and then match that back to Caesars in February to keep the cycle going.

  17. Patrick Huang

    Great information. I had seen a US chart for this but didn’t realize there was a Canadian route. Still new to the miles and points game but Vegas Loyalty programs is something I can speak intelligently about.

    I concur with Will. Although I had never heard of a match from CET to Mlife being available in Vegas. Borgatta, yes and I have heard MGM Springfield also

    CET program year is Feb 1-Jan 31. So if someone matches to CET this month, their diamond status will end on Jan 31, 2020. They should wait until Feb 1 or later to match to CET diamond. This also created the situation where once someone is CET diamond, in Jan of a year they can match back to Wyndam Diamond which is then good for I believe that year from Jan to Dec. Then in Feb when their CET diamond has expired, they can match back from Wyndam diamond to CET diamond which will be good until Jan 31 of the next year.

    Having said all that though, with the Eldorado purchase/merger with Caesars Entertainment, it is unclear yet what matching options, if any, will still be available Feb 1 to CET diamond. That usually is announce right near the end of Jan or early Feb.

    1. drofmab YQR

      OK – let me get this straight… I need something for the initial match: credit card-obtained status, or earned status in another program (I have Marriott Titanium).

      Once I’ve obtained the Wyndham match to Diamond (from MR Titanium), I could maintain Wyndham Diamond essentially forever by reciprocal matching to Caesars. To take this to the logical extreme, I could maintain Wyndham & Caesars Diamond without staying a single night in any hotel, or dropping a gambling dime for years on end?

  18. Will G

    Hey Ricky,

    Happy New Year!

    Thanks for the detailed outline of the caesars status match program.

    I just want to let you know through first hand experience, Mlife in Las Vegas at any hotel (including MGM) no longer status matches to Caesars.

    In July 2019 they told me at the MGM Grand Mlife rewards desk that you may only status match to your Caesars Diamond If you’ve never signed up for Mlife before. So if you’ve ever signed up for an Mlife account you’re not eligible.

    I went back in August 2019 To MGM Grand Las Vegas with a friend whom obtained the Caesars status match Via AMEX biz Plat > Marriott Gold > Wyndham and happy never had an Mlife account before And they said Mlife is no longer status matching with Caesars.

    So perhaps the Borgata in Atlantic City is still a-go but unfortunately Las Vegas is not.

    Just wanted to share!

    Cheers

    1. drofmab YQR

      StatusMatcher.com still has users reporting successful status matches at 2 MGM properties – Borgata & Springfield (as recently as Jan 3).
      http://www.statusmatcher.com/company/MGM-Resorts

      This said, if you can match your way to Hyatt top-tier, MGM’s response indicates that they’ll match that. Best match I could find MGM handing out was Gold (their mid-tier status… 3 out of 5 tiers).

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