Imagination or Greed

Is't my imagination or are the prices for things in Vegas increasing at triple that of Inflation.

$20 for a Lunch Buffett and $25 for a Dinner Buffett. This price would be great if the Casino's were paying out on the machines but they are not.

What do you think?

I agree with you on the casinos/hotel resort prices increasing and machines getting tighter. Unfortunately that is to be expected with big mega resorts. It cost a lot of money to staff and run them and keep them high end, so when the economy is bad (or even when it’s not) they are always going to charge more and tighten up to keep up with expenditures.

I've been avoiding the strip, staying and gambling either downtown or local props. We go 2-3 times a year and don't spend enough to get the royal treatment mega resorts. I think your right about the increases, resort fees, higher food prices make up for the " seem to be lower room rates"

I think that that might be happening more on the Strip than in other places around Las Vegas which is just another reason to go Downtown or Locals Casinos for more reasonable prices.

Also, the Strip seems to be geared more toward clueless tourists who don't tend to know much about where deals can be found or they just don't want to move from where they are and then the Strip hotel/restaurant/casino operators have the public where they want them.

And also, these places (especially Strip Casinos) are larger properties that employ more people and that can definitely make for higher costs as well.

RecVPPlayer

Why do we always ascribe high prices to greed? If the market will bear higher prices, any entity will charge them, whether those prices come in the form of higher buffet prices, lower payouts on the machines, tightening of comps, or any other way that a casino can raise prices.

And it's not just "greedy corporations". If you or I can get $30/hour for our labor, we won't voluntarily work for half of that. (Well, I won't anyway.) And I'm trying to recall the last time that the United Way or the local hospital foundation, or my alma mater, or any other non-profit organization announced that they wanted to raise 30% less this year than they did last year.

So the libertarian in me blames the consumers who don't bother to learn the economics of gaming far more than he does the casinos. Which is why I don't venture on to the Strip, except to see a show.

Descending from soapbox now...