It would be nice if you were right. I kind of doubt it, but logic does dictate a loosening of the screws. However, we all thought that would have happened quite some time ago.
I think there's still a bountiful enough supply of lemmings that they don't have to budge an inch. We'll see.
The gouge will always be there. The state will never do anything about hotels gouging for rooms ($29 a night the week before CES going up to $ 300+ then back down to $ 29 afyer CES) as the more the hotel charges for a room the more the state gets in room tax fees.
Originally posted by: VegasMatt26
The gouge will always be there. The state will never do anything about hotels gouging for rooms ($29 a night the week before CES going up to $ 300+ then back down to $ 29 afyer CES) as the more the hotel charges for a room the more the state gets in room tax fees.
The room tax thing may be an incentive, but that tax is imposed and collected at the local level. Where the state makes hay is in state corporate income taxes; the Trump tax giveaways didn't affect Nevada collection and revenue.
I think the true incentive the powers that be (at all levels) have to support the gouge is that taking money from tourists--overall--is a very, very politicially safe way to raise revenue. Example: who paid for Allegiant Stadium? Tourists.
When you come to Vegas, about 1 in every 5 dollars you spend winds up in the hands of local and state governments. That sidewalk you're walking on? You paid for it. That park with all the nice new playground equipment that you rode by on the way from the airport? That's your tourist dollars at work. That billboard advertising the Almost Naked Ladies Revue at the Golden Commode? Yours. (The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority--a "public service.")
Think of yourself as just another camel in the endless caravan that trudges through the desert carrying gold to Vegas.
We're going to use up every scintilla of comp values ( rooms, free play, resort credit) we have accumulated from previous play since we've essentially already paid for it during past trips. We've got free rooms, dining credit, and free play to spread out over a week's trip..no resort fees, either. So, one more hurrah on the comp train. The players club earning rates have been whacked to the point that this comp accumulation level will be unaffordable for us in the future unless the Vegas economic condition hits some supply / demand / fiscal axiom wall that still seems inevitable to me. Who knows when and if.
In some ways visiting Vegas now somewhat resembles attending a pricey zombie riot...with infectious slobbering in plain sight. Don't misinterpret that..Vegas has always been an appealing destination for us; it's still possible to mine out some Vegas value if one employs a 60-pound jackhammer..maybe a little dynamite, etc. It's just that the opportunities to find those are becoming scant / scarce as everyone / anyone who's visited in the past two years knows. Despite all that, we're going to milk every dime possible out of our old haunts next week..employ the old 'ask' axiom constantly ( tell the host "we're going to need two tickets to Carrot Top", etc...and convince ourselves that it will be 'fun' *l*. It is what it is..and not what it once was. The whole scenario is about attitude I guess..up until some point where we begin to delude ourselves. The entire Vegas marketing machine is dependent on visitor self-delusion, right? Not this trip. *l*.
Cheers
Yeah, I have six comp nights that I can arrange to include a weekend, about $100 in free play, and food freebies for the whole trip. So I might go one more time. Maybe
