Mailbag 6/15/26: Let's talk Average Daily Theoretical and Comps

You asked, and I'm answering. I've been collecting the best questions and comments from Facebook — about comps, charter flights, Free Play, the credit card, how the casino “feels,” and everything in between — and pulling them together in one place.

A quick note before we dive in: my number one piece of advice to every player is the same. Gamble what's fun and what's in your budget. Everything below is meant to help you get the most out of the play you're already enjoying — not to talk anyone into more.

Let's get into it.

MGM Rewards & Earning Points

Deb K asks: Is there any benefit as a player to own an MGM credit card for additional points?

Yes — the no-fee MGM Rewards World Elite Mastercard gives you automatic Pearl status, earns 3x points + tier credits at MGM destinations (1x everywhere else), and those card-earned points can be converted to Slot Dollars for Free Play. The points and tier credits stack on top of what you earn from play, so it helps you climb tiers faster.

One important caveat: card spending won't raise your ADT (average daily theoretical) or make you more likely to get comped trips — those are driven by your actual play, not credit card use. Think of the card as a way to pad points and tier status, not as a way to boost your player rating with hosts.

How Comps & Trip Pricing Actually Work

This was easily the most common theme, so let's lay the groundwork. Comps and trip prices are built on ADT (average daily theoretical) — essentially a measure of your play over time. It has nothing to do with your tier, and it's evaluated over longer spans (usually 6, 12, 18, and sometimes 24 months), not just your last trip.

Lynne S asks: How does the Beau calculate when you get a free trip?

Comped trips are based on your ADT. Each trip has an ADT “requirement,” and that requirement shifts with demand — lower-demand dates need a lower ADT to comp, while high-demand dates (4th of July weekend, New Year's Eve, etc.) require more. Those requirements can change daily, so your rate for one date may look different than another.

The general rule of thumb: if your play stays above 400 ADT, you'll typically always be comped regardless of the date. Players between 150 and 400 ADT are the ones who see the most variation, since that range is where trip demand has the biggest effect on your offers.

Sharon S asks: How or what determines the price of the junket? Is it based on tiers? ADT from previous trips?

The price of the junket comes down to your ADT, not your tier — the two aren't connected. Typically they'll look at your ADT in-market first (say, Laughlin), and if there isn't enough there, they'll look outside the market (like Vegas or Atlantic City). And it's not just your last trip — ADT is evaluated over those longer 6-to-24-month spans. So it's really your overall play history driving the price, not any single trip.

Patti K asks: I'd love to know how Caesars Rewards calculates ADT. I read that they have a different method.

Not to my knowledge — ADT is a standard, industry-wide calculation, so I'm not aware of Caesars using a fundamentally different method. As far as I know, the core approach is consistent across the board.

Jodi S asks: My flyer says $299 but when I call, it's $60. Always talk to a human!

Glad calling worked out for you! One thing worth clearing up: your offers are the same no matter who you call. What you're seeing is that trip prices are variable based on demand, so the same trip can show different rates depending on the date. Ultimately, your play is what determines your price. That said — my team does actively look for more opportunities to get you comps, so it never hurts to have us take a look before you book.

Debby F asks: My charter offers have always been $60 for years. Now my last offer out of my home airport jumped to $249 per person. I don't feel like I play any different — the only difference is I can't play as long when the machines aren't giving anything back.

You may have actually put your finger on it yourself. Your offer is built from two things — your play level (ADT) and the comp criteria set for that specific trip, which moves with supply and demand for that date and airport. When the machines aren't giving back and you cut your sessions shorter, that lowers your coin in, which lowers your ADT — and a lower ADT means a smaller comp toward the next trip. So even if it feels like the same play, shorter sessions can quietly move the number. Worth having my team look at your recent play to confirm.

Judy Q asks: My most recent offer was $399 per person to AC! We just returned from one at $60 that we booked months ago. I think it's jet fuel being so high since the war — all airfares are up.

Totally fair to wonder! The big thing to know is that trip prices themselves can be variable — the same destination can carry a very different rate depending on when you book and the demand for that date, which is why the one you booked months ago came in at $60. So a lot of that swing is the trip pricing moving, not necessarily your play.

ML D asks: These price jumps were happening for many regulars before the Iran conflict started. MGM must have changed something.

I'll be honest — I haven't seen any change in charter flight criteria tied to jet fuel prices or the conflict. What I do consistently see is offers moving with each person's play level and the comp criteria for the specific trip, which varies by date and demand. So I'd point folks back to their own play and the particular trip they're looking at rather than a broad fuel or policy change.

Why Your Offers Might Look Different

A lot of you wrote in comparing your offers to someone else's, or wondering why they changed. The honest theme: offers are individualized to your play history, so they're tough to compare account to account.

Robin B asks: We took one trip from Daytona to the Beau and thought we'd get other offers, but we never did.

A couple of things could be going on. Offers are largely tied to your level of play, so if that one trip didn't reach a certain threshold, the system may not have generated follow-up offers yet. It's also possible MGM Rewards has outdated info on file — if your address is wrong, offers can get sent to the wrong place or not at all. Easiest fix: stop by any MGM Rewards desk and have them confirm they've got the right card and current address on file.

Thomas T asks: MGM closed the casinos near me, so now I have to fly to Vegas or Atlantic City to earn points. Not right.

I hear you — losing your nearby properties is frustrating. Here's some good news, though: player ratings are based on your last 24 months of play, so your rating doesn't disappear just because you're not playing as often right now. As long as there are charters running in your area, you've got a way to keep your play rating active without booking a flight every time. Worth checking which charter trips are available near you.

Sylvia F asks: Why don't I get food credit? And how is my freeplay so low compared to other players on the same tier?

Food credit is something you qualify for based on your play. Here's where my team can help: we always review reservations to see if there's potential for upfront food credit, and we're aggressive about it. Ultimately, though, approval comes down to play.

On Free Play being lower than others at your tier — this trips a lot of people up, and the key is that tier and Free Play aren't the same currency. Your tier is set by Tier Credits, which build from all kinds of activity (gaming, hotel, dining, multiplier days, and more), so two people can land at the same tier through very different play styles. Free Play, on the other hand, is driven mainly by your actual gaming play and theoretical. So a player at your tier who games more heavily can show a higher Free Play offer even though you share the same status. The good news: as your gaming play grows, your Free Play offers tend to follow.

Judy Q asks: We never get good offers for the Beau, only for AC.

One very common reason: charter trip offers depend on whether your home region is actually served by that property's charter program. If the Beau Rivage charters don't fly into an airport near you, you simply won't see those Beau trip offers — even if your play would otherwise qualify — while AC stays in the mix because it's served from your area. So it may have nothing to do with your play level and everything to do with the flight map. Also - different charter programs have different play requirements, which may lead to the discrepancy.

Dawn T asks: How often does the Beau review your play and adjust freeplay offers? Mine was the same for a long time, then dropped $100 — was that because I visited Borgata?

Your rating updates immediately after a trip is completed. The Free Play offers themselves refresh on more of a monthly or quarterly cycle — I believe that's how it works, though I'm not 100% certain on the exact timing. As for the $100 drop, the most likely cause is a dip in play, though it can sometimes reflect a change in marketing strategy on their end. One thing I can reassure you on: visiting Borgata wouldn't hurt your Beau offers — it's all part of the same MGM family, so that play still counts in your favor.

RoRo C asks: We play many hours a day at the Beau for the $60 offers, but ours are $1,200 for two. Meanwhile a coworker hasn't played in 3 years and still gets $60 offers. What's wrong with this picture?

I can hear the frustration. I'll be straight with you: it's really hard for me to say what's driving your specific offers without looking at your actual play and reservations. But I can say confidently that the difference in rates between players almost always comes down to ADT, and offers are individualized to each person's play history — so it's tough to compare one account to another.

Here's the encouraging part: it doesn't take much to move the needle. One strong trip with MGM — or even one very strong day of play — can bump your rating and get you back to that $60 comp rate. One common pattern I run into, too: a guest will stay somewhere else in Biloxi, swing by the Beau for maybe 30 minutes, play for 30 minutes, and that logs as a “day” that actually drags the rating down instead of building it. So sometimes it's less about total hours and more about how the play records across your trips. (And other casinos set their own offers on their own criteria, so those aren't really apples-to-apples with MGM's.)

The best way I can truly help is to have you book and complete a trip with my team — that lets us get a real look at your play and work on getting you back to those better rates.

Holly B shared that after taking a year away to care for a loved one through a serious illness and recovery, the offers she's received since have come back much higher, and she's considering walking away from the Beau.

Holly, I'm so sorry to hear about everything you and your family have been through — that's a tremendous amount to carry, and I hope you're all on the mend. Please give my team a call when you're ready. A year away can affect offers since they lean on recent play, but we'd love to see if we can get you re-established. Happy to check what we can do for you.

Charter Flights & Seating

Jesse A asks: Sometimes the Beau waives the $60-per-person charter flight fee, and other times we pay it and get $60 back as Free Play when we check in. How does that work? And how does the seating arrangement work on the charter flight?

Al T asks: How do they assign seating on the planes?

Jesse - as always - thanks for your business!

Let's cover both. On the fee: the Beau actually runs a lot of different offers. Two common ones are an offer where you pay $60 per person and get $60 back in Free Play when you check in, and one where you don't pay the $60 and don't get the Free Play. That second one is considered the stronger offer, and we find guests at higher play levels tend to prefer it.

On seating: generally the charter seats stronger players toward the front and lower-rated players toward the back. It can shift, though — on a super-popular trip (think Super Bowl), someone who's usually in the first five rows might end up around row 20. The good news is my team reviews every seating chart to make sure our guests' preferences are met. The most control you've got is choosing window/middle or aisle/aisle together, and there's a paid upgrade option too if you're interested.

Susan S asks: I've flown to the Beau from OKC since 2010, but the last year or so the flights have gotten staggered. I was told not enough money was being generated. Hopefully we get more flights for OKC.

Thank you for being with the Beau since 2010 — that kind of loyalty means a lot! The charter program can only run a fixed number of stops, so they have to keep the more profitable cities in steadier rotation. And a city can sometimes get oversaturated if too many trips run, which is part of why you're seeing them staggered now. It's a balancing act, but the Beau does its best to accommodate customers across the whole charter region. Here's hoping OKC picks back up soon — and in the meantime, my team is always glad to help you find the best options to get back to the Beau.

Playing Smart (and Having Fun)

Don D asks: I notice a “pulse” at the casino — times of day when you can feel the place. Your thoughts?

Love this one! I think a big part of that “pulse” is really the sound of the floor. Machines these days celebrate even small payouts with big animations, songs, and sound effects — so when you've got a ton of people in there, all those bells and lights are going off at once and it genuinely feels like everyone's winning. Pack the floor and the energy goes way up.

Worth noting too: casinos can't change payouts on the fly — every spin is random and independent. So what you're feeling isn't the house turning anything on or off, it's the energy of a busy room.

Pam W asks: Is it better to switch machines often or stay at one machine longer? You use the same amount of money in the end.

Kathryn S asks: I hear 4 hours of time in seat is desirable. Is it important to sit at one machine the whole time, or can I bounce between machines during those 4 hours?

Two things to separate out. First, on your odds: assuming the machines are the same, there's no advantage to staying on one versus bouncing around — every spin is random and independent, so moving doesn't change your results. If anything, hopping around can quietly eat into your time on device, since you're not playing while you move.

Second, on time in seat: you can absolutely bounce between machines without losing any credit. Your play is tracked to you through your card, not to any single machine — so as long as your card is in whatever machine you're playing and you're not leaving long gaps where you're not carded and playing, your time and play keep accumulating just the same. The system follows your card, not your loyalty to one seat. So move around and play whatever looks and sounds the most fun — just keep that card inserted wherever you land!

Big-Picture Questions, Answered in Full

Brenda C asks: I've been a NOIR member for years, and honestly I don't understand how comps are determined anymore — it used to make sense to me, and now it doesn't. On top of that, the flight allowance doesn't come close to covering my airfare like it once did, so the "free" trip ends up costing me real money out of pocket. I've also noticed I can get better cruise deals on my own than what comes through my offers, which makes me wonder what my play is really worth. And one more thing: I'd like to know the best way to track my play for taxes — should I be pulling my card, or does the casino keep that record for me? I'm starting to wonder if it's worth staying with the Beau at all.

Brenda, first off — thank you for being so candid, and for your loyalty. Before anything else: I encourage everyone to gamble what's fun and what's in your budget. The suite, the food, the Free Play — those should be the cherry on top, never the reason.

On not understanding how comps work anymore — totally fair, and you're not alone. The MGM Slot Dollars system is still new to a lot of folks, and many aspects of the Rewards program change on an annual basis. Its difficult to stay on top of all of them. Personally, I refer to this guide quite often -> https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/mgm-rewards/earn.html

On airfare — you're 100% right, and I wish I had better news. Flight costs have climbed way beyond what they used to be, and unfortunately that's well outside my control. The fixed flight allowance just doesn't stretch as far as it once did.

On cruises — I'd be glad to help here. My team can book you on Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity. And here's something a lot of players don't realize: your play often earns you far more than the standard “free cruise” offers that come with your tier. For someone playing at your level, that gap between your play value and a standard tier offer can be significant, so it's worth letting us look at what your play actually qualifies you for.

On tracking your play for taxes — quick thing worth knowing: your Players Card is actually the tool that does this. MGM provides a year-end win/loss statement based on your carded play, so pulling the card for a year would mean losing that record, not gaining one. (I'd just add that a win/loss statement is a starting point, not a complete substitute for your own records — definitely loop in a tax professional on how to document it properly.)

And I'd genuinely love to earn your Beau Rivage business. If you'll let me, I'm happy to check on your upfront food & beverage folio and see whether you've got existing freeplay offers waiting based on your play level — sometimes there's more there than people realize.

Keep the Questions Coming

That's the mailbag for now. The recurring lesson across almost all of these: your play (ADT) is the engine behind your comps, your trip prices, and your offers — and it's measured over the long haul, not one visit.

If you've got a trip in mind, want to know what your play actually qualifies you for, or just have a question I didn't get to, reach out to my team — we'd love to help, and we'll always dig for every opportunity to get you more.

Want to learn more about how the rewards program works? Start here: MGM Rewards FAQ.