Also see:
- Free Caesars Total Rewards Diamond Status with FoundersCard
- Yup, FoundersCard Still Offers Caesars Total Rewards Diamond Status Through 2017
- Assessing the Benefits of FoundersCard
- 18 FoundersCard Travel Benefits (Status, Discounts, and Freebies)
I’ve written a lot about FoundersCard over the years.
One of their cornerstone benefits since 2014 has been free Caesars Total Rewards Diamond elite status.
Thankfully, it’s made a comeback every year. Including this one!
Yes! FoundersCard’s best benefit returns for another year
You can get Total Rewards Diamond status through January 31st, 2018 – nearly a full year.
The bad news is FoundersCard currently costs $495, plus a one-time $95 fee, if you’re new.
Been better, been worse
However, if you have a trip to Vegas in the near future, it could be worth it anyway.
What you get with Total Rewards Diamond status
With Total Rewards Diamond status, you’ll get:
- Access to Diamond Lounges
- No resort fees
- Guaranteed Room with 72 hours notice in Atlantic City and Las Vegas
- Access to Priority lines at hotel check-in, restaurants, casino cages and the Total Rewards Center
- Use of VIP Reservations Hotline
- Diamond Aspirations eligibility
- Receive 20% discounts at casino gift shops
The Diamond Lounge access and lack of resort fees in Vegas is easily enough to cover the FoundersCard membership fee.
But what I’m most interested in is the “Diamond Aspirations eligibility.”
In December 2016, I got 4 free nights at the Atlantis in the Bahamas, which was easily worth over $1,100. Update: Out and Out reader Dan let me know this benefit has returned for 2017! So, 4 more free nights in the Bahamas is on my radar again for this year. This is open to all Total Rewards Diamond members – just call to book!
I reached out to Caesar’s to check if I was eligible to book a package this year. But they told me I had to wait for my Diamond status to hit again.
So then, I called FoundersCard. They said I was in the first batch to renew Diamond status and that it should hit next week. (So new and existing FoundersCard members get the perk.)
Not so sure about this one
However, I don’t have much hope. Because it looks like packages this year are based on Tier Score instead of just status. Either way, I will definitely be following up on this. And will report if it’s possible.
And the other benefits are still extremely valuable if you use them a lot. Apparently, they also give you comped rooms and free show tickets as bonus benefits when you visit Vegas a time or two. Plus, you get a $100 Celebration dinner credit again this year.
Wanna sign up?
- Link: Sign up for FoundersCard
Right now, you can sign up and lock in a rate of $495 per year. It usually hovers around $395 these days, although I have no information on when or if that will return. But you can basically buy status for a set price.
If you use my promo code “FCHARLAN818” you can get the $495 rate ($100 off the normal rate).
You also get tons of other benefits, so take a look and see if it’s worth it for you.
Most peeps seem to only want the Total Rewards Diamond status, so if that’s you, the question is whether to sign up now or wait for the $395 rate to come back. If it does, I’ll be sure to have a post on it!
Bottom line
I’m pleased FoundersCard brought back Total Rewards Diamond status this year. It’s valid through January 31st, 2018. And comes with a slew of valuable bennies.
Now that this is a for sure thing, I think I need to plan a trip to Vegas and take full advantage of the Diamond Lounge, lack of resort fees, VIP access, free $100 dinner, and whatever else they wanna throw my way.
I’ll keep an eye on other potential rewards. And will be sure to let you know if I find a lower rate.
Check out my previous posts to read more about everything you get with FoundersCard. And do let me know if you have questions, want a referral, or plan to use the heck out of this perk in Vegas or elsewhere this year!
* If you liked this post, consider signing up to receive free blog posts in an RSS reader and you’ll never miss an update!Announcing Points Hub—points, miles, and travel rewards community. Join for just $9/month or $99/year.
BEST Current Credit Card Deals
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I also have the Diamond status via FC – I just checked and it was renewed through 1/31/18. (I had last checked on the 4th and it hadn’t renewed yet).
Also, check out the information for Diamonds on this page for the Atlantis offer (book your trip by January 31, 2018 for travel by February 28, 2018). It looks like
https://www.totalrewards.com/content/cet-tr/en/earn-and-redeem/with-tr-alliances/atlantis.html
That’s awesome, Dan!
Thanks for finding that link – it looks like we can get ANOTHER 4 free nights in the Bahamas. Kind of tempting!
Glad you got renewed already – as soon as mine hits, I’m thinking a weekend to Vegas is in order.
Thanks again for reading and commenting!
That is good news! Looks like it is slightly different this year for Diamonds, unless I’m missing something. Last year there was the option between getting resort fees waived or getting the casino benefits… Bummer since those are about $50 per night per room
What casino benefits are missing this year? They look the same as last year to me (but I could be missing something, too).
last year there were 2 options for the diamond package. The 1st option waived the resort fees and the 2nd option charged the fees but gave a $100 free slot play. This year it appears the only option for Diamonds is the option with the free slot play but charging the resort fees. Unless I’m missing something here. http://outandout.boardingarea.com/atlantis-founderscard-benefit/
Ah, so it is! You are right.
That is a bit of a bummer. As long as they keep the Casino Experience Pass, I can deal. That ended up being worth a couple of hundred dollars on its own.
Thank you for pointing that out!
What are your thoughts.. I have 4 little kids and no hotels really care if I have all 6 of us in a room with max occupancy of 4. The only exception I’ve seen are all inclusive since there is added expense to hotel per person for food… Since resort fee at Atlantis includes wristbands for water park, I’m wondering if I’ll have that issue there.
When I was there, they didn’t give wristbands for the water park. You just… walked in. It’s not separated from the rest of the resort in any way. No one asked me for any type of proof and I rode most of the rides.
Based on that, I don’t think you’d have an issue. But you might want to call ahead just to be sure it’s OK to have 6 in a room, especially if that’s a concern.
Thanks Harlan! I must have misread something somewhere about wristbands. Thanks for the feedback.
You’re welcome! I remember seeing something about the wristbands, too, so I expected it. But nope, nothing. I don’t think they bother tracking it any more.
Excelent Benefit! Wanna do both Atlantis and Vegas!
Heck yeah! Me too! 🙂
Is there a play requirement to get the Diamond Aspirations? On their site I see 40k points, which seems to imply you need some play. I am not sure how quickly that racks up, since I don’t have many TR properties near me I don’t really have any status with them currently.
I spoke with a rep at Caesars and she said for the Diamond Aspirations, you DO need to have a certain Tier Score, which is earned when you play. The Diamond status hasn’t hit my account yet, but I’m going to try once more when it does.
I do think you need the Tier Score, though, to access Diamond Aspirations. Not sure how quick it racks up – I’m not much of a gambler myself.
Hey, did you try and book this again? Unfortunately looks like you need 40k+ tier score which for the record is 4x what it takes to get platinum status!!! You would need to gamble pretty seriously for several weeks to meet that. Anddddddd we lost another good deal 🙁
I think having Diamond elite status is enough. I didn’t have any tier credits last time I did it. And I know another FoundersCard member that just booked it again with no tier credits.
I will keep you posted! But I think the deal is still on.
Do you think this benefit will be renewed through January 2019? I am debating getting the founder’s card mostly for this benefit. However, if it is not renewed, then I would only get half a year of this benefit.
Thanks,
Justin
It’s hard to say definitively. But it has been renewed the past 3 or 4 years so I don’t see why it wouldn’t come back for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019. I don’t have any inside info or anything, but they’ve been good about bringing it back every year. Maybe see if the other benefits are meaningful to you, on the off-chance that it doesn’t return. That way you still get your money’s worth this year.