HARRAH’S PLATINUM/DIAMOND IN A DAY

For their Total Rewards player’s club, Harrah’s offers a quick way to achieve Platinum and Diamond status in one day. In a 24-hour period from midnight to midnight, earn 1,000 points to become Platinum and 1,800 points to become Diamond. This status is then good through the end of March the following year (March 2007 if earned before March 2006). If you’re already a Platinum/Diamond member, earning these points within 24 hours will get your level renewed for one more year.

Points are earned based on $5 coin-in per point for slots and $10 coin-in for video poker. In other words, to become Diamond you’ll need to playthrough $9,000 in slots or $18,000 in video poker over the course of one day. Normally it takes 10,000 points over one year to be upgraded to Diamond.

What will Platinum and Diamond get you? Increased offers. Harrah’s mad marketing team mails constant fliers for free rooms, show tickets, food comps, gas cards, free cash coupons, slot tournaments, poker tournaments, and more. Diamond players receive priority check-in registration, free health spa, and are granted access to the Diamond Lounge, containing free drinks, free food, and, at Rio, free Internet access. A list of benefits can be found here.

(There’s one additional level above Diamond called Seven Stars, requiring 100,000 points within one calendar year. Harrah’s is mum about the offers those top-tiered players receive, but they include chartered flights to Harrah’s properties.)

Also, if you’re very close in points, you can sometimes sweet talk the Total Rewards host into bumping you up. I was able to get to Diamond with 48 points remaining (though it didn’t include table play). They saw the previous day I’d earned 120 points, and they merged the two into one day without my even having to ask.

What’s more, now that Harrah’s owns Caesars, all of Caesars’ properties will soon be converted to the Total Rewards system, meaning an even greater variety of benefits from being a Platinum/Diamond member.

Flamingo has already converted to Total Rewards, so you can begin racking up points using your same card at Harrah’s, Rio, and Flamingo (as well as Showboat and Harveys casinos). Next up is Bally’s and Paris on Jan. 17. Then Caesars on Feb. 14.

Other properties outside of Vegas to switch over include Bally’s Atlantic City (Feb. 7), Caesars Atlantic City (Feb. 28), Caesars Indiana (March 7), Grand Tunica (March 21), and Shearaton Tunica (April 4).

The Harrah-fication has already begun!