There are some familiar features of playing at an online casino. They include a variety of games, bonuses, payment methods to make deposits, for instance, casinos online PayPal deposits, as well as the opportunity to get into a rewards programme. This loyalty offers incentives for customers based on their level of play, and can include increased percentage of cashback and reload bonuses, and many other perks.
Most online casinos will have one of these loyalty programmes, primarily because they help operators with customer retention. With the target and appeal of incentives, players will likely want to keep earning rewards, meaning they play more and more.
But are casino rewards programmes worth using? What is the best way to get any real benefit out of them? We answer all that more on this page.
Flat Loyalty Programmes
This type of loyalty reward just gives a standard reward for all existing customers. It could, for example, be something like x-amount of play on slots in a month. Anyone at that casino who meets the requirements will receive the same bonus, maybe a package of free spins. These are usually very simple loyalty programmes to enter and can take preference over the following type of laddered rewards.
Tiered Loyalty Programmes
The other type of loyalty programmes that you see will be based on tiers. A player may very well be automatically entered at the basic level when signing up for the account. But then they play, and they can get promoted up a tier where better rewards can be claimed. Among the rewards there can be an increased percentage of cashback and reload bonuses, birthday bonuses…
While that sounds great, the pitfall of such a structure means that a player needs to keep playing at the same kind of levels to stay in a certain tier, or they will slip down. That can lead to excess gambling simply to try and get more rewards.
Types of Casino Loyalty Bonuses
To get the most out of any kind of loyalty rewards programme at an online casino, you first want to look at the type of bonus that you can earn. The best way to put the pieces together is to recognise what your preferred type of casino play is.
Is it simply slots or do you lean more heavily towards table games like roulette or blackjack? This is important because then you can see how best to get the rewards that will suit your style of play.
If you never touch the slots, but a rewards programme only offers free casino spins, are you ever going to use them? Would you be better off looking for blackjack-oriented rewards instead if that is your game?
The common types of bonuses from online casinos are no-deposit and deposit bonuses which can be fixed or deposit matched and credited as free spins or bonus funds, merchandise, entries to exclusive tournaments, improved customer support and birthday bonuses and entries for big giveaways.
Sometimes the best bonuses for an individual may rest outside of loyalty programmes. If there is something like a weekly Happy Hour for something like a 10% win bonus on blackjack, those long-standing promos could offer a more genuine return. It’s all going to be down to the player’s gaming preference.
Wagering Requirements
Loyalty programmes can benefit players, but there is one big factor in all of them to look out for. The wagering requirements. These can be very high, making any type of online casino bonus unreachable for the casual player. And before any winnings from the bonus can be withdrawn, a player has to meet a wagering requirement on the bonus amount.
To meet a wagering requirement, real money stakes have to be played to x-amount the value of the bonus. That may be 30x, 35x. 40x or even 65x times the amount of the bonus, which can quickly stack up to a lot of outlay.
It’s usually the same for free spins – commonly any amount won from them will still be subject to wagering requirements. Whether a bonus is worth collecting or not usually boils down to what level the wagering requirement is set at.
Are Loyalty Programmes Worth It?
Some loyalty programmes are better than others. Because there is so much variation of them across so many online casinos, that’s only natural. The VIP schemes will likely require you to keep on depositing and playing at that particular casino to really ever get the most out of them.
These are not scams, they are genuine things that provide rewards, but usually with the caveat of having to be a very regular player. So they can perhaps be looked at as more of a challenge for players. But getting a little bonus on your birthday, or other important dates, is always a nice thing to receive!
