Virgin Unveils Sassy New Loyalty Club: Cherry Rewards

By Scott Roeben, on February 25 2025
4 min read 2 comments
Las Vegas

Virgin Las Vegas resort has announced the name of its new loyalty club program, replacing its Momentum program: Cherry Rewards.

Sometimes, the comedy gods just smile upon us all.

The cheeky new program launches on March 5, 2025, with celebratory activities March 20-23, 2025, including a free-to-enter $50,000 slot tournament.

Ironically, Virgin had to lose its Momentum to try and gain some.

The new loyalty club marks the end of Mohegan Sun managing Virgin’s casino. The Mohegan deal never really worked and Virgin is wresting back its various parts to create a more seamless, integrated resort experience.

Much to our chagrin, Virgin is doling out details of its new Cherry Rewards slowly (sorry, deliberately), but an announcement does share this: “The all-encompassing loyalty program will allow members to earn and redeem points on almost every dollar spent throughout the resort—from dining to the resort pool, retail, and gaming, members will be able to celebrate every win and experience all the resort has to offer. Members of Cherry Rewards will be able to enjoy exclusive rates on rooms and suites, cabanas at the resort’s multiple pools, advance access to show and concert tickets and much more.”

You know, it will be a casino loyalty program. This may not be new to Las Vegas casinos, but it’s new to Virgin.

Here’s an exclusive look at the Cherry Rewards players club cards and tiers, not included in the official announcement, but that’s how we roll.

Casino loyalty clubs lack visual metaphors. Until now.

Cherry Rewards tiers: Hello, Insider, Exclusive, VIP and All-Access.

Just so this doesn’t pass unheralded: Cherry Rewards at Virgin Las Vegas has a tier named “Insider.”

This, friends, is how you get us to trumpet a new loyalty club.

We trust there was a lot of brainstorming to determine the name of Virgin’s new players club. We have taken the liberty of creating a fake card using the name we assume Virgin would’ve liked to use but the bastards in legal wouldn’t sign off on it.

What might have been.

Here’s another look at the Cherry Rewards logo.

Beyond the virginity reference, cherries speak to the heart and soul of slot players. Some of the earliest slot machines had cherries as symbols on the reels.

Cherries are typically the lowest-paying symbol on a slot machine reel, but they are infinitely better than a “ghost,” or blank space.

This is one of the old-timey slots on display at Golden Gate. Intact cherries are rare in Las Vegas.

Cherries appear on slots because early slot machines gave gum rather than cash as prizes, so the symbols represented gum flavors like cherries, lemons and oranges. The Sherman Antitrust Act in the 1890s made it illegal to offer cash prizes in certain regions.

Why “cherry” as a name for a loyalty club at Virgin? Do we have to mansplain everything?

Cherries have been associated with virginity forever, they even appear as a sexual symbol in Renaissance art. Cherries, especially in their ripe form, are often associated with purity and innocence. The connection presumably comes from the similarity between a cherry’s intact skin and the aforementioned hymen, a small membrane sometimes present at the vaginal opening. The red color of the cherry further reinforces the connection to potential bleeding during first penetration.

Fun fact: Much like a Las Vegas road construction worker, the hymen serves no biological function.

Cherries continue to play a part in pop culture.


We aren’t entirely sure what’s involved with “turning a cherry out,” but all the kids are doing it, apparently.

Here’s more from the announcement: “As one of the most transparent and easily understandable casino rewards programs in the city, Cherry Rewards offers members simpler ways to earn points and level up faster. Benefits now last longer, and members have more rewards to choose from than ever before. Existing Momentum members will be automatically enrolled in the new program and can collect their new card beginning on March 5.”

From Virgin, “From March 20-23, new and existing casino members are invited to an exciting launch weekend, packed with entertainment and exclusive casino activations, including a $50,000 slot tournament. Cherry Rewards members can enjoy free entry into the slot tournament with a chance to earn additional entries based on play. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas will award the top 50 players with a total of $50,000 worth of free slot play, with the top winner earning $25,000 in free slot play.”

Yes, Cherry Rewards is a big deal for Virgin.

Virgin has already taken back its sportsbook from Betfred, a disastrous partnership from day one. Virgin spent nearly two years without a functioning sportsbook due to regulatory issues. Virgin will manage its sportsbook in-house as negotiations with third parties are ongoing.

Virgin’s management of its own casino means more flexibility for incentives and perks for players. Virgin is struggling, but this move is a glimmer of hope the ailing casino can draw new players and better reward existing ones.

Yes, there will be tier matching (where a casino gives better players at other casinos an equivalent loyalty club tier rather than making them earn it through play), details to come.

We enjoy our visits to Virgin, but the weak Mohegan loyalty club was an obstacle. Cherry Rewards is a playful sign things are moving in the right direction at Virgin.

Yes, “Cherries continue to play a part in pop culture” was intentional.

Do you know this blog at all?

Update (3/4/25): Virgin has shared more details about its Cherry Rewards program. Here are some of the perks for the various club tiers. Tier matching is “coming soon.”

Don’t squint like that, you’ll get crow’s feet.