Updated: November 14, 2024 , August 25, 2024

par·lay (verb): turn an initial stake or winnings from a previous bet into (a greater amount) – normally achieved through gambling but I am going to show you an alternative route. And if you’re wondering if this is worth it: how by doing some research into the merry go round, I parlayed a $300 trip to Atlantic City into my most impressive travel hack to date and hit the JACKPOT by scoring TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars cruises for FREE!

CASINO STATUS MATCH JACKPOT

How am I getting these comped cruises? From casino status matching!

Background: it’s useful to understand how airlines, hotels and casinos offer matches to those holding status with competitors. Status = $$ being spent with 🏨✈️ 🎰 so the hope is that you + your spend is poachable AKA the hope is that they’ll be able to convince you to bring your business to them.

And while casinos are in the business of making sure the house always wins, they are wanting you, especially if you’re a high roller, to keep coming back for more so they ease the pain of losing with some sweet perks such as comped rooms, free drinks, free $ play, comped show tickets, travel perks and more!

The allure for customers is to find out if your loyalty to Company A is warranted by testing out how Company B would treat you without having to go through the rigmarole of earning status with Company B. And in our case, we are obtaining Company A status and matching that to Company B (and Company C and beyond) to get those very tempting travel perks!

So here’s the kicker, there’s an in if you’re not a gambler with status: the Wyndham Rewards Business Earners credit card! This card automatically gives you Wyndham Diamond status which you can match online ➡️ Caesar and receive Diamond status (for us, this is our Company A!)

ATLANTIC CITY STATUS MATCHES

If you’re willing to go to Atlantic City, you are guaranteed at least one comped cruise! And yes you must visit AC as these matches must be done in person and in this order based on what each casino program matches to! Helpful hints + Loyalty program highlights follow after

1. Go to Caesar’s + get physical card
2. Take Caesar’s Diamond card which matches ➡️ Hard Rock (Icon status)
3. Take Hard Rock Icon status card which matches ➡️ Ocean casino (Prime status) 

CAESAR’S

Able to use either valet or self parking as fees are charged when you leave + you will have your card then to waive the fee

Notable Caesar’s Rewards Diamond benefits: free or discounted hotel stays with waived resort fees, priority check-in, skip the line for most restaurants, free parking including valet at many places, free Atlantis stay (note that taxes, resort fees + housekeeping gratuities are not waived),  free $100 celebration dinner (YMMV with this one), discount on NCL cruises – here’s the full list

HARD ROCK CAFE

USE valet as that fee is charged when you leave + you will have your card then to waive the fee. As opposed to self parking that is pay as you enter! Note that the valet parking fee waiver is specific for Hard Rock AC and Icon status

Notable Hard Rock Unity Icon benefits: not 100% certain what all the benes are since I was just matching to get Ocean but I know that you’re eligible for a comped two night stay. In addition, I received $50 free slot play + I ended up winning $80 (which paid for my rental car and gas)! here’s the full list

OCEAN RESORT CASINO

You can walk between the HR and Ocean as the casinos are pretty close to each other (~5 min walk along the boardwalk). Or you are able to use either valet or self parking as fees are charged when you leave + you will have your card then to waive the fee

Ocean Prime benes: this is why you are going to AC as I was able to visit their player’s lounge for lunch (prime rib, shrimp cocktail ~ fairly decent but really great since it was free!), Complimentary cruise for two, with Ocean View accommodations for up to 10 days anywhere MSC sails. *Excludes China itineraries, free two night stay at the Wynn Las Vegas including waived resort fees, $100 free play and $50 dining credit, here’s the full list

MSC CASINO COMP CRUISE: VALUE $4,015.92

If you are wondering about what the cruise really costs? The Cruise AND port fees/taxes are comped but you are responsible for daily staff gratuities. I paid 108 euros for daily gratuities + $59 for the upgraded Fantastica experience for my 10 day Baltic Sea Cruise (at the time of booking, my comped cruise was selling at $3,658 for an oceanview for two + comped port fees/taxes were 357.92 for two!) Here are some additional posts with more information about my MSC comp cruise.

What I Wish I Knew Before Booking MSC Comped Cruise

MSC Comped Baltics Review

Overview of My MSC Comped Baltics Cruise

HOW TO GET MORE CASINO COMPED CRUISES

You can take it further and match directly to cruise lines for potentially more free cruises. And why would cruise lines match + give comped cruises? Because alas casinos are big money makers on the seas (ya know why they say the house always win right?!)

Note that as posts are finished and posted, I’ll come back and link them here!

CARNIVAL – DIRECT MATCH

Direct Match

What I Wish I Knew Before Booking Carnival Comped Cruise

Overview of My Carnival Comped Cruise

HOLLAND AMERICA – DIRECT MATCH COMP CRUISE VALUE: $2,178

Direct Match: https://oceanplayersclub.com/hollandamericamatch/

How I Got My Holland America Line (HAL) Comped Cruise

What Did My Free HAL Comped Cruise Really Cost

Overview of My HAL Comped Cruise

What I Wish I Knew Before Booking HAL Comped Cruise

PRINCESS – DIRECT MATCH COMP CRUISE VALUE: $10,095

Direct Match to Princess

What I Wish I Knew Before Booking Princess Comped Cruise

Overview of My Princess Cruise

VIRGIN VOYAGES – DIRECT MATCH COMP CRUISE VALUE: $5,090

Direct Match to Virgin Voyages (VV)

What I Wish I Knew Before Booking VV Comped Cruise

Overview of My VV Cruise

AND EVEN MORE CASINO COMPS THROUGH THIRD PARTY HOSTS- URCOMPED

One more step is to connect with a third party host ~ some people like myself have had great luck + some awesome offers with URComped, whilst others have said they’ve gotten zero offers. Like most things in this game, YMMV. The best advice I was given was to submit all offers you are given (ie I had multiple Atlantis comps in addition to the MSC, HAL and PCL offers).

MSC – THRU URCOMPED COMP CRUISE VALUE: $2,485

Overview of My MSC Cruise: Cancelled due to scheduling conflict with another trip – cost to cancel $0

VIRGIN VOYAGES – THRU URCOMPED COMP CRUISE VALUE: $3,974

Overview of My VV Cruise

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s important to give credit where it is due and this has typically been known as the status match merry go round and the phrase was popularized and now is trademarked by the founder of Miles Talk. I learned so much about the process from his posts and his Facebook group. It’s an amazing group as the members provided so much valuable insight re their experiences/helpful notes and really helped with maximizing the gains when I came back later asking for some guidance. He termed it as the merry go round is from the idea that you are able to continually status match and continue to get free cruises (but as with many things in the travel hacking sphere), things can quickly change.

I have removed mention of that name accordingly to respect his trademark and is being referred to as the casino status match jackpot.

LASTLY:

I am still matching and getting comped cruises but will continually update this post with new matches and info! I am also very, very behind in blog posts as I have taken many more trips that anticipated so those links will be updated soon.