The Nothing Happening Calendar

You know what I'd love to see? A Vegas calendar that highlights the weeks and weekends when there's nothing special going on. No Formula 1. No March Madness. No Super Duper Pooper Scooper Bowl. No National Association of Blind Left-Handed Proctologists convention. No Desert Nun-Skinning Festival. No Vegas Golden Knights Hockeygasm. No witch burnings, no public hangings. Just a regular week/weekend.

Why? Because I can't plan ahead without that info! So many times, I've tried to book a room, only to be told that it's $549 a night plus resort fee and taxes, and I ask, "WHY???" and the answer is, "It's the Platinum Peach Pit Perversion Party" or "It's the big Gronkulus vs. Snorter prize fight." AAAAARGH!

Now, I realize that there are relatively few "nothing going on" periods throughout the Vegas year. So maybe we don't need a calendar--we just need a list. That's something I would really appreciate! Hear me, LVA!

I simply pick the casino that I want to stay at and and look at their monthly calender online for the lowest rates, same thing for the airlines.

On my upcoming trip to Japan I looked at the fare calender for the airline I'm flying and booked the dates based on the lowest fares, not only is it less expensive but usually less crowded. Of course I double check for weather and such things to maks sure I have an enjoyable trip. I also travel on the less poplular days and times.

As a side note, I never eat lunch at noon, I show up at a restaurant at 11:45 am, get seated immediately and I'm eating my lunch while watching the line grow at the door.

I know what you're thinking, and you're right, I'm the smartest person ever. s/c

Unfortunately, there's only a rough correlation between what Vegas hotels are charging and what airlines are charging to get there on any given week or weekend. You know that holiday airfares and rooms will be more expensive (horrifyingly, criminally so), but some events in Vegas don't affect airfares, and some reasons for airfare hikes have nothing to do with Vegas events. The "less popular" mantra works in both cases, but I've been surprised to find, for example, that while I can get to Vegas on Southwest for $129, it's the week(end) of the Electric Doofus Carnival and rooms are $8,000 plus tax and resort fee.

And yeah, most hotels have a room rate calendar, so it's usually possible to research that and coordinate it with your airfare choices. That's the more critical info, as you can usually find a cheapo airfare if you plan ahead, even on a busy weekend. But the hotels collude, and even if the "event" doesn't affect the whole city, room rates go up everywhere. One example is the Rootin' Tootin' Redneck Rodeo held in December. Even though it's at South Point and therefore isolated from the rest of Vegas, room rates are jacked up everywhere, especially during its final days (the good news is that the period between then and Christmas is a "nothing happening" time).

And I congratulate you for figuring out that the way to avoid lunch crowds is to get there before lunchtime. You are indeed a visionary :)

Once you start going to Vegas again you should start getting free rooms.  If not you should play at properties that treat you better and should result in more positive posts !

I actually like the premise of what Lewis is asking for concerning having a source for upcoming seasonal/annual events that happen throughout the year in Vegas, such as Cinco De Mayo, the Rodeo, etc. I also like the possibility of having a way to add other events that materialize, such as the F-1 Race, and the dates of these events. Possibly a page or two could be added to the monthly newsletter in the form of a calendar page for the current newsletter month and another page or 2 for the next 2 or 3 months. I realize that adding new events and their dates would be labor intensive, but they definately would help with planning future visits to Vegas.

I have several existing free room offers. The killer, though, is that you don't always get to use such offers on weekends (though my current ones are good for weekends), meaning that you have to either pay the sky-high Friday and Saturday night rates or cut your visit short.

I like to stay in Vegas for a week at least, as it's a fair amount of trouble to get there (I no longer fly, so it's a day's drive). So ideally, I have one offer I can paste over a weekend. But I still would rather not pay high room rates for those nights left after I use my offers. For instance, I decided not to come during the March Madness weeks, because even the weekday room rates I saw were pretty high.

I'm considering coming after that, before the weather gets too hot, and sprinkling my play around in the hope of getting future offers, including from places I haven't visited in years. There seems to be no correlation any more between the amount you play and the offers you get. (And I think that the week after the Final Four is a Nothing Happening week.)

Basicly those events only affect things on the strip, like room rates and table minimums, although the bars are packed everywhere for sporting events.  But we should all know to avoid the strip, and know what to expect during the superbowl and playoffs etc.  Free rooms off the strip really do not change unless it is valentines day or something, but those tend to open up as well if you play even a little bit

I used to worry about that kind of thing, but never found it to be a problem, even on the Strip.  Even March Madness, my birthday month, I worried MM would interfere but it never did, always got comped anyway.  Like Brent Kline said, I've usually stayed and played at the same places, so my offers, email and snail mail, are good enough to give me flexibility in planning ahead.

But then, each to his own, and I'm sure my likes and dislikes aren't universal, to say the least.

Remember, Strip is a five letter word, not a curse word.  There is so much misinformation tossed about regarding the Strip.  I know they don't support LVA, and I truly wish they did, but they are business people and realize they don't need to.   

I strongly disagree. Anybody who doesn't think that "Strip" is a curse word is full of Strip, and Strip them.

Anyway, my concerns weren't with Strip room availability, since I wouldn't stay there even if the rooms were free and someone held a gun to my head. Well, maybe if I got some free play too, I would. And complimentary hookers.

I guess the compliments are good for the ego even if the size might not match the accolades!  haa.  Oh, you meant free...

I do like your anti calendar idea, but trying to aggregate all that data might be difficult.  I know it could be done but you'd need a dedicated team or an advanced AI trained to load from hundreds of sources.  But then I'm sure MGM or Caesers would use it and jack up rates causing a cascading effect across the whole system.

I see this effect during March Madness.  I still go as its an annual event for my friends and me for decades now, but I really dislike the doubled and triple minimums on table games and the crowds of idiots and vape / cigar smokers.