My Borgata Black Label trade up experience

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For quite a while now My Borgata Rewards has been running a status match program called "Trade up to Black Label." New My Borgata Rewards members who show elite status with "Caesars Entertainment, MGM, Tropicana Atlantic City, or Trump Casinos" will instantly receive My Borgata Rewards Black Label status and:

  • "$100 BONUS SLOT DOLLARS or Match Play
  • "Complimentary Stay in a Classic Room
  • "Access to VIP Lounge"

During a weekend trip to Philadelphia I popped over to Atlantic City to see how the status match works in practice. Here's my report.

Getting the status match

When I arrived at the Borgata, which is not on the Boardwalk but rather stuffed into a little corner of Atlantic City along with the Golden Nugget and Harrah's, I went straight to the My Borgata center and got in line for a new account. I mentioned the promotion (it's prominently advertised on-site as well) and showed a screenshot on my phone of my M life Platinum status (showing 0 tier credits, points, etc.). In other words, I didn't need a physical M life Platinum card in order to take advantage of the status match.

The My Borgata agent was happy to get me set up with a new Red Label account and immediately upgrade me to Black Label.

Although she kept apologizing for her "system being down," it seemed to me to work perfectly so I'm not sure what she was talking about.

Using $100 Bonus Slot Dollars

I chose the $100 Bonus Slot Dollars option, which can be redeemed for credit on any of the casino's slot machines. The $100 in match play option can be used on table games, but requires a real dollar to be matched to each bonus dollar.

The only two things you need to know about Bonus Slot Dollars are that once added to a machine, they can't be withdrawn and added back to your account, and that only your winnings can be cashed out, not the Bonus Slot Dollars you add to a machine. To simplify things, I just added $10 at a time to the machines I played, then after betting $10 withdrew however much I had won.

I ultimately won about $280 on my $100 in free Bonus Slot Dollars. If you go to Atlantic City, you should definitely try to do that.

Hitting the Amphora Lounge

After "gambling" up an appetite, my partner and I decided to head to the Amphora Lounge for dinner. Both the Amphora Lounge and the buffet cost $10 for Black Label members (and $10 for up to one guest), and the My Borgata staff member had added $20 in comp dollars to my account when I signed up. My impression is that the Amphora Lounge has a more limited food selection than the buffet, but drinks are included (and as Matt suggested on Twitter, they are happy to make drinks to carry out).

(Not) redeeming my complimentary stay in a Classic Room

Once back in Philadelphia, I activated my online My Borgata Rewards account and logged in to see how the free night benefit works. The stay has to be booked within one month for a stay no later than 3 months in the future.

Long story short, there are no complimentary rooms available in the next 3 months, or at least none available online. I assume this varies with demand and with the season, so maybe if you status match at some other time of year there would be more complimentary rooms available. But there aren't any right now, so don't count on this benefit when deciding whether to make the trip.

Is it worth it?

On the one hand, I came out pretty far ahead on my day trip to Atlantic City: after backing out the $46 in train tickets, plus cabs and tips, I made about $200 and got material for this blog post.

On the other hand, if you go to Atlantic City and status match to My Borgata Rewards Black Label, you might not win $280 on the slot machines. After paying for gas and parking, or train tickets and cab fare, plus the obligatory salt water taffy, the trip might turn out to be a pretty expensive "free" dinner with cocktails in the Amphora Lounge.