Jesus Christ!

1.  Vegas is more expensive as most people used to happy with million dollar casinos and now many seem to need billion dollar casinos.

2.  I'm sure that the current casino owners have a handle how best to make money, and Kevin does not.

3.  Now let's look at my budget for back to back trips..............golfing in Gulf Shores Alabama, and then immediatly flying to Vegas.  $500 for the three leg flight for my golf trip and my Vegas trip.  My golf trip will include $950 for golf, condo, and rental car for five nights.  I figure about $100 per day for food and beverage.  My room costs in Vegas will run me $402 for four nights.  I figure about $75 per day for food and beverage, and a typical of about $100 per day in gambling losses.  Add in about $50 in beer for my buddy to drop me off and pick me up at the airport and the nine night trips costs me about $3000.

4.  I'm happy I can afford a great trip this.  If you think that's crazy money, then you should have planned better for life.

I'm glad that I booked my group's October rooms a couple of months back.  I got the Golden Gate suites at $750 including taxes and fees for Friday-Monday.  If I booked for the same weekend now, pricing is $1070.  I just booked a full size rental car for that October weekend via Costco at $47 per day including taxes. 

At least I have a pricing ceiling for both rooms and car that aren't too bad.

If one shops around you can find value. I paid $0 + $140 resort fee for a 4 night stay at the Rio for August. (Star Trek convention). Although, I may use a MGM properties comp for a day or 2.

That's not shopping around as such, though--it's cashing in comps or using offers. CET doesn't offer any resort fee-only deals to the general public.

What disturbs me about this, though, is that it's been pretty much a tradition that comped room nights also include a waiver of resort fees. Now, is CET saying that is no longer the case--that you have to pay the resort fee even if the room IS comped?

Also, will there be tax on the resort fee?

It does seem that a comped room would have the resort fee waived but on the rare occasions that I've booked a room on the strip over the last decade I have been charged the resort fee. I can't think of a time that I've been charged a resort fee off strip. If I book a room on the strip it is usually for someone who hasn't been to Vegas before so paying the 40 bucks or so per night is worth it to me.

 I understand the attraction of the strip and I do feel that at least the first time someone goes to Vegas they should stay on the strip.

 As far as the virus not being gone, if we are to believe our government's health big wigs, it's here to stay. So it's up to everyone to live their life based on how fearful they are.

Your use of the word "fearful" in this context underscores the problem. I don't wear a seat belt because I'm "fearful." I don't keep a fire extinguisher in my home because I'm "fearful." I don't go to my doctor for an annual checkup because I'm "fearful." But a LOT of people have done exactly what you're doing---paint it as an issue of macho manhood. "I'm not aFEARED of that gol-durn virus, hyuk, hyuk."

I "live my life," and everyone else should, based on common sense. I take steps to mitigate dangers to myself and strive not to endanger anyone else by my actions. In the past months, this has included wearing a mask. It has also included avoiding crowds, and of course, getting vaccinated as soon as I could. This is not, repeat NOT, "up to everyone." We all have an obligation to keep ourselves and each other safe. Public health and safety are not, in fact, optional---not in a civilized society.

Covid-19 is only "here to stay" in the sense that it will probably remain present in the population no matter what we do. However, we can render it largely ineffective by immunizing ourselves. Just because we can't make it go away completely doesn't mean we should shrug our collective shoulders and act like it doesn't exist. That's like not locking your front door because a sufficiently determined burglar could get in anyway.

The Vegas casinos should require proof of vaccination for entry. Period. They aren't doing that because it would cut into profits. What's a few hundred extra deaths if the bottom line is enhanced, they say. What happens in Vegas can sometimes kill you. We cool with that, I guess.

Kevin you are wrong in your thoughts as to why I used the word fearful. I meant fearful as in someone regardless of their vaccination status could be fearful of contracting covid-19 or giving it to someone else so they wear a mask. Some people may wear a mask the rest of their lives. I have no problem with that, it's their choice. People choose to keep a fire extinguisher in their home, I assume that they fear if a small fire were to start in their home that it could get out of control if they didn't have an extinguisher. I assume most people wear a seat belt in a car because they fear that they might incur unnecessary bodily injury If they are not wearing a seat belt. I don't think any of these habits make the person un-macho.

Fair enough. But "fearful" has a negative connotation, whereas "cautious," "prudent," "careful," etc. do not. I think we have to choose our words carefully in these contexts, because the orange scumbag who used to pretend to be our President painted mask-wearing, social distancing, etc. as wimpy measures that only cowards engaged in--remember him mocking Biden for wearing a mask?

That wouldn't matter, of course, if everyone ignored him, the way any crazy person should be. But we know that there are 75 million people out there who hang, adoringly, on his every word and will follow him slavishly until they die. Trumpism is the cause of vaccine hesitancy as well as premature openings, both of which have led to widespread deaths.

And yes, over the past 14+ months, I've asked people to put on their masks and been yelled at and called a "pussy," "coward," etc. So for some people, it really is a macho manhood thing.

The Vegas casinos should require proof of vaccination for entry. Period

Multiple stadiums & arenas have allowed full attendance with no vaccination passports & there hasn't been any increase in infections.

How would you know?