Guide to Loyalty Bonuses

What are Loyalty Bonuses?

1994 saw the introduction of the very first online casino provided by Microgaming. Since then the online gambling arena has boomed. There are now hundreds of online casino sites available, to try your hand at Poker, Blackjack, Roulette or various video slots and other games, right from the comfort of your own home.

With the explosion in the online casino market, the increase in competition has hit its peak. The key to success is not only in drawing first-time players into the casino but in ensuring that they are kept on board as regular players. One of the many ways that casinos do this is by incentivising patrons who use their casino, especially those who become loyal to the “house” over a period of time. These incentives are offered out in various ways, such as through casino bonuses and loyalty rewards.

For the scope of this guide, we are going to be concentrating on loyalty bonus rewards. We will concentrate on educating you as to what they are, as well as informing you how you can benefit from them.

What are Loyalty Bonuses?

You can walk into just about any major retail store today and find that it runs a loyalty rewards program. In a similar way, online casinos have followed suit with these stores and their land-based cousins, offering loyalty programs and bonuses to their patrons in an effort to keep players interested in their platforms.

Loyalty Bonuses are designed to reward players who visit the online establishment frequently and who have wagered at their machines consistently. These players are usually categorised as loyal players by way of a “Loyalty Rewards Program”. This is generally set up as a tiered program that assesses your status by means of a points system, and grades your performance and levels based on how much you spend on games. These levels are often represented as:

• Bronze – starting off.
• Silver – member for a while with decent investments and playtime.
• Gold – Frequent player with good spends.
• Platinum – Frequent player with very high spending.

The rewards offered increase as you scale up from Bronze level on up to Platinum.

How do they work?

Once on a casino loyalty program, the casino may frequently keep you up to date with promos that are offered throughout the month. You will be offered bonuses based on your status. Typically, these offers are sent out to High Rollers and other frequent spenders.

Offers will also often be sent out to you by email on your birthday, which will give you an exclusive bonus, tailor-made for you individually. Other bonuses may arrive at Christmas and New Year to help you make the best of the festive season.

Other times, you will be tempted with prizes that you can redeem with your loyalty points accrued. These may sometimes come in the form of physical prizes, and other times in the form of promotional bonuses.

Popular forms of Loyalty Bonuses

There are three primary tiered forms of Loyalty Bonus awarded to online casino members:

Cashback Bonuses

With cashback bonuses, you earn points for every wager you make. These points can usually be redeemed once you have reached a specific number of points. The milestone can vary from casino to casino. These points can often be redeemed as cash or converted to credits to spend at the casino. The higher up the tier you are, the better your conversion rates from points to credits are.

For example, a Silver member could receive €10 for every 100 points earned, but a platinum member might receive €50 for every 100 points. Because platinum members generally spend more, they will also considerably increase their points tallies.

Tiered Loyalty Bonuses

These are other promotions that are set aside for the various tiers. The level of prize or bonus is dependent on what tier you find yourself in. To win these bonuses, you will need to play a great deal. Certain online casinos may even let you buy points so that you can qualify for certain prizes. Here, your points are the currency for the promotional rewards.

General Casino Bonuses

Here, the standard casino bonuses that include Free Spins Bonuses, Deposit Bonuses, Match Bonuses and so on, can be awarded. The level of the bonus will depend on what tier you find yourself in. Higher tiers are also subject to more favourable Wagering Requirements (read below) and other terms and conditions.

Becoming a Loyalty member

This is as simple as choosing your casino and signing up for the loyalty program. Sometimes you may not have to contact the casino about joining. They will contact you after you have registered a player profile. Other casinos automatically link you to the program when you sign up with them. Be sure to scout around. A good loyalty program is probably the best reason to join a casino if you plan on frequenting its virtual “corridors” on a regular basis.

Once you have established your membership, all that is left to do is spend, spend, spend! Spending will gear you to a place where you will begin to receive exclusive loyalty bonuses that are not shared with everyone on the “Home Page”.

Important things to remember

• Always read the fine print on a bonus. There are always conditions attached to your “gift”. Pay special attention to Wagering Requirements, Pay-out Limits and Expiry Dates.
  
  

Wagering Requirements: The amount offered to you on a bonus will have to be bet through the machines a number of times (average of 25 to 40 times) before you can claim any of the wins for yourself. The higher your status, the more lenient wagering requirements generally are.

Pay-out Limits: Certain offers come with a cap that limits the pay-out that can be withdrawn from that specific bonus.

Expiry Dates: Bonuses are not valid forever. Once you have triggered a bonus, ensure that you complete the Wagering Requirements and cash out before the offer expires. Failure to do so could result in loss of the bonus and any wins accrued by using it.

• Shop around and read reviews on casinos to make sure that you pick an establishment that offers a good selection of games, as well as a decent loyalty rewards program.
• Always select a reputable casino, as this will minimise the risk of bogus bonuses and identity leaks. You can use any one of the casinos on our online casino list. Each one has been tried and tested for service excellence and has passed.
• Keep an eye on your points tally. This will help you budget effectively in order to reap the bonus you are after.
• It is suggested that if you are going to be a regular gambler online, you choose only a few casinos to play at, as you will want to rack up loyalty rewards in order to qualify for “Loyalty Bonuses”. If you can find just one good casino to suit you, this would prove even more valuable.
  
  

If you frequent too many casinos, your efforts will be spread too wide to amount to anything substantial at any one of the establishments. Rather concentrate your efforts and money in one place so that you can advance your status there and tally up decent rewards and bonuses.