In the midst of an unprecedented wave of business closures, including casinos, because of the COVID-19/coronavirus spread across the country, many businesses are evaluating how they’ll get back to normal.
For casino companies, not only do they need to figure out how to ramp back up, but with casino programs with time limits to achieve certain milestones, they’re evaluating how to address them.
In an email sent to players on April 10, Mlife announced measures to not only rectify the short term issue, but they’re also making permanent changes to their program. [Updated 5/29/20]: A second email to players on May 29 added a new change not previously announced around tier earnings to achieve the next tier.
Extra Year of Status
Players who have earned a certain status in 2019 or 2020 will be able to enjoy that status in 2021. This means that those whose statuses might be impacted by the lack of play in 2020 have another year to earn it. This will solve the most immediate issue for those who attempt to play to maintain or earn a certain level.
Mlife has five tiers, and each progressive level gains something, so maintaining the tiers when players aren’t able to play at least takes that off their minds right now.
Point and Express Comp Expiration Extended
Sapphire Mlife players have six months from their last earnings to either earn more or use their express comp and point earnings. For Pearl level players and higher, it’s a more generous 12 months.
To ensure that no player loses access to either while casinos are in an extended shutdown, Mlife has paused expiration of either of these through September 30 at a minimum. Players can therefore not worry about those either.
Tier Year Changes
A more permanent change is the shifting of the tier year to a calendar year. The previous Mlife tier year was October 1 to September 30. With the grace period, they’re taking advantage of the opportunity to move to a calendar year for the tier year. So going forward, tier credit earnings in a given calendar year will be used to evaluate what the status will be for the following calendar year. This aligns with Caesars Rewards.
This tier year will therefore end December 31, 2020, despite starting October 1, 2019. The next tier year will run the calendar year of 2021.
It also appears they are following the lead of Caesars Rewards in another way and having a 30-day grace period after the end of each tier year. For instance, with the grace period extension of statuses players will actually keep it to January 31, 2022. Caesars has a one-month period after the calendar year is over where the previous status is maintained before it resets to what was earned. From the looks of things Mlife is headed that way too.
Separate from all of the above, many players have been wondering about casino offers that expired during this window of time. While it’s safe to presume that they won’t just roll up all the missed offers and extend them, casino companies will have offers waiting for their players when things begin to pick back up.
In Mlife’s email they promise they’re working on it, and I have no reason to believe otherwise. The companies are going to want get players back as soon as it’s safe to do so.
[New 5/29/20] Tier Earnings Reduced
Late on May 29, an email went out confirming one further change – tier credit earnings requirements to reach each level has been reduced by 20 percent, mirroring what Caesars Rewards and others have done. This is despite also being given three extra months. The levels:
- Pearl: 20,000 tier credits (down from 25,000)
- Gold: 60,000 tier credits (down from 75,000)
- Platinum: 160,000 tier credits (down from 200,000)
mLife confirms in their email that this is a one-time reduction, and the levels will go back to normal in 2021 when they shift to the calendar year cycle.
