Reading an offer before accepting it

Field 1The four fields of any offer

Every loyalty, retention or matched-status offer reduces to four fields. Ask for them in writing, whatever the channel the offer arrived through, because an offer that cannot be put in writing is a verbal discretion that can change with the host.

Field 2What to ask, and to whom

Support teams and hosts answer operational questions rather than negotiating terms, which is exactly why asking for written answers is useful: an answer in writing is what you can hold them to, and a refusal to write it down is itself information about how solid the offer is.

• "Which games count, and at what weight?" This decides how much of your play actually feeds the metric.
• "What is the base — turnover, loss, or something else?" The base decides whether the advertised percentage is generous or narrow.
• "What has to happen before the value is withdrawable?" This is where free play and comp credit reveal themselves as bonuses with conditions.
• "When does it expire, and what is forfeited?" Expiry is where an accepted offer quietly becomes a deadline to keep playing.
• "Is any part of this discretionary?" A yes means the reward can move; a no means it should be documented as a rule.

Field 3When to walk away from an offer

Some offers are not worth reading twice, because the condition is the point. An offer that only clears if you keep playing, one that raises your limits, or one whose value expires exactly when the qualifying window resets is asking for more play as the price of a discount. The sensible response is to decline, and to note what the offer reveals about the programme’s model.

1. 1An offer is a contract for future play; its value is the reward discounted by every condition attached to it.
2. 2Written, rule-based rewards are the part of a programme you can rely on; discretionary offers are the part that can change.
3. 3The test of any offer is whether you would still accept it if you had already decided to stop playing.