Good afternoon everyone. Last week, I was in New Orleans for the 31st annual Freddie Awards. During my visit, I went over to the Harrah’s New Orleans, Caesars casino property, to pick up my new Caesars Rewards Diamond card. Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of drama over Caesars Rewards Diamond matching from Wyndham Rewards Diamond. I have the Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Credit Card which comes with Wyndham Rewards Diamond Elite Status and I was able to match to Caesars Rewards Diamond Elite Status pretty easily (without the upgrade, downgrade, and upgrade drama).
My favorite perk of Caesars Rewards Diamond Elite Status is the $100 dining credit you get each year. After having diamond status for the past 3-4 years, I was finally able to use the $100 dining credit for the first time. Unfortunately, when I went to the Caesars Rewards desk at Harrah’s New Orleans, the agent said I wasn’t eligible for the $100 dining credit since I did a status match. Hmm, I thought I was eligible, so I decided to do some more research. In this post, I will show you what I did to confirm my $100 dining credit and how I used my credit.
This part isn’t relevant, but… during my stay in New Orleans, I went to the Harrah’s Casino and lost gambled $25 on roulette. I gave the dealer my Caesars Rewards Diamond card and I earned 2 tier credits. I don’t think you actually need to gamble, but I was curious how many tier credits I would earn for gambling $25. Now I don’t feel so guilty about my free $100 dining credit.
Anyway, on the Caesars Rewards account page, it says that diamond elite members get a $100 Celebration Dinner.
On the Caesars Rewards benefits page, I scrolled down to the Dining Benefits section and it shows the $100 Celebration Dinner.
Here is the small print at the bottom of the page that talks about the Celebration Dinner:
8 Celebration Dinner is only valid and can be redeemed directly at participating Caesars owned restaurants. Offer applicable only towards food and beverages consumed in the restaurant; no take-out is allowed or retail merchandise. Alcohol may not be covered at some properties. Gratuity is not included in offer. If the check is under the value of the credit(s) being used, the remaining amount is considered forfeited. If the check exceeds the value of the credits being used, the difference can be paid with Reward Credits, cash, or credit card. Diamond redemption limited to one (1) $100 voucher per benefit year (February 1 – January 31, annually). Seven Stars redemption limited to five (5) $100 vouchers per benefit year (February 1 – January 31, annually).
Long story short, I went back to the Caesars Rewards desk and asked which restaurants participate in the $100 dining credit. For the New Orleans Harrah’s, the 2 participating restaurants are Manning’s Sports Bar & Grill and The Steakhouse. I then walked over to those restaurants with my Caesars Rewards diamond card and asked the bartender to check my Caesars Rewards status and confirm that the $100 dining credit was available. At both restaurants, the bartender saw the $100 dining credit and told me to use that card to pay the bill and $100 would be taken off the total.
The following night, I went to Manning’s Sport Bar with my friend and we spent about $103 on drinks, appetizers, and entrees. I gave the bartender my Caesars Rewards diamond card and they took $100 off the bill. My friend paid the rest and covered the tip. The process of using the $100 dining credit is pretty easy, but I’m convinced that there is an internal memo where all Caesars Rewards desk agents are told to check if the member was matched to Caesars Rewards Diamond from Wyndham Rewards Diamond and, if yes, told to tell the member that the $100 dining credit is not available to those members who matched to diamond elite status. It seems a little sketchy, but Caesars Rewards does whatever they want (case in point: see the upgrade, downgrade, and then upgrade again drama from earlier).
To summarize all the steps:
- Get your Caesars Rewards Diamond card from the Caesars Rewards desk or the casino cashier area
- Ask the Caesars Rewards desk which restaurants participate in the $100 dining credit
- Bring your Caesars Rewards Diamond card to those restaurants and ask if they can see the $100 dining credit
- Eat at a participating restaurant and pay with your Caesars Rewards Diamond card
If you have any questions about the Caesars Rewards Diamond $100 dining credit, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
I’m in Vegas 5/2 to 5/6 and will give it a shot. I guess you should get the list in a second trip to the rewards desk. No use making them curious why you would ask for a list while they just told you that you didn’t qualify.
Hi Carl, maybe you can ask for the list of restaurants first and then you can ask if the $100 dining credit is available on your account.
The list of participating Vegas restaurants is published
https://caesarsrewards.custhelp.com/ci/fattach/get/363894/0/filename/Diamond+Celebration+Dinner+3.15.22.pdf
Thank you Mitch!
When I got my status match (@Caesars) I chatted with the agent. He seemed knowledgeable and indicated that I need a small number of credits before this benefit kicks in. I don’t remember if it was 100 tier or 100 reward credits.
Anyways this is helpful. Maybe he was just making it up :)
Hi Iowan, thanks for sharing your experience. Hard to know what the real answer is since every Caesars rep has a slightly different requirement.
He wasn’t making that up. I’ve tried that today and got no $100 credit when I checked at the restaurant
Bummer, that is annoying. Sorry your $100 credit didn’t show up when you checked at the restaurant.
I got the same answer from the Rewards Desk around Thanksgiving ’22. They also said it takes about a week… I think they were confusing it with the status match timeline, but can’t be sure.
I think it’s tier credits, not reward credits. Someone else said they did a survey to get 625 (500 for first survey, plus 125 bonus for earning 500 in one day), which was more than enough. The survey offer is obviously one time only… I guess you could slog through multiple surveys if you wanted to repeat the following year, but there are probably better ways to get the credits.
First of all, this is the last year you will get the match to Diamond from Wyndham unless you actually earn Wyndham Diamond status so enjoy it. I have been Diamond Plus or Elite for years through gambling so always gated people that got benefits “free”. At least you can’t get in the Laurel Lounge without paying 1000 Reward Credits.
If you need to earn 100 Tier Credits before you get the comp the easiest way is spend at least $100 in a restaurant where you can earn points (need to check Caesar’s website since not all restaurants earn points). At checkout give the server your Diamond card and credit card w instructions to add points. May take a day or 2 but sure than by gambling for those of you that don’t want to run $500 through a slot machine (1 Tier Credit for every $5 bet and much easier to earn points on machines versus table games)
Hi Retired Gambler, I can totally understand the ire of people who earned the status through time, effort, and money. I would feel the same way if the roles were reversed. What are your favorite features of Caesars Rewards Diamond? Also, have you matched to Wyndham Rewards Diamond? Not many perks matching to Wyndham Rewards Diamond, but just curious.
Thanks for commenting and have a great weekend.
Thanks for heads up on this. I have matched back and forth for 3 years but have not been able to take advantage of the dinner. Determined to use it this year.
Make this the year you use the $100 dining credit :)