Vegas TR 4/4 - 4/11

FLIGHTS : Southwest w/ Early Boarding both ways; used accumulated SW points for the ticket costs (paid for EB / taxes & fees out of pocket, roughly $80 total)  ; Two slight delays  involving 30 minutes on departure and 10 minutes on the return leg, which is nothing compared to some of the recent problems encountered by numerous airline customers. The flights were smooth and there were no fistfights or otherwise unruly customers in nearby seats. +1, overall.

CAR RENTAL: We arrived about 9AM at Harry Reid on Tuesday the 4th, and drove out of the car rental center just a bit past 10 AM. Total cost for the Hertz Nissan compact SUV , all in, was $302 ( excluding gas refill..about $35). We routinely rent vehicles on Vegas trips simply because it provides us with a little more control and spontaneity; it allows us to make LVA coupon runs and off-Strip gambling and dining jaunts at our own discretion. After a typically exhausting car rental deal search pre-trip, this ended up as the best possible 'deal' as far as total costs ( most weekly rentals were quoted at $400 - $450 from other sites). AAA membership ( along with SW Rapid Rewards and Costco memberships) reduced the cost via the Autoslash consolidator site. A large majority of Autoslash 'best prices' are mediated through Priceline, and we've experienced fairly consistent lower pricing options via Autoslash during the past three years.  We could have saved  about $100 by renting either a UHaul or Penske cargo van ( including transportation costs from and back to the airport), but my wife preferred the SUV for this trip. She got it, as this was our anniversary trip. Nothin to say *l*. The SUV only had about 1800 miles on it at pickup. All the accessories worked, it was easy to drive ( and we drove a bunch), no issues.

HOTELS: My wife likes the Strip, though I made significant progress in convincing her to stay off-Strip next trip ( explained later). We had comped room offers at TI, Nomad, and Caesars Palace this trip; we received a total of approximately $600 in dining credits ( and we needed every bit of it for a week's stay on the Strip with some frugal budgeting and timing due to exhorbitant meal costs) and  a total of $715 in Free Play among the three mentioned properties ( most of those amounts generated from Nomad, an MGM Resorts property). We'd made a decision to exhaust our MGM comp offers and future earnings because MGM's players club earning rates have nosedived relative to the recent past...like most all the others, particularly on the Strip but certainly not limited to that. It's likely this trip resembled a last hurrah venture , so to speak, with the tanked comp / tier earning status at MGM. Use it or lose it, etc.

We stayed in a Two Queen Strip View at TI ( north Strip view) on the initial night; the rooms are a bit dated but clean and cleaning services were good. We stay here primarily because they have the best 3:2 blackjack games ( rules and minimums tolerable for our bankroll) on the Strip..bar none, imho. Further , their players club payback rates for future comps are far better than the grand majority of all the other conglomerates on the Strip in our experience. Their 3:2 blackjack minimums early AM midweek for both multi and double deck games are $10, and they grandfathered players at that level after they hiked minimums for entering/ new players ( usually about 10 - 11AM on weekday mornings when the crowds filtered in). Players can find $15 minimums in the evening midweek at 3:2 tables (DD and 6-deck games)..but they're crowded ( an expected tradeoff). It's difficult to find a seat on weekends unless you arrive early AM; the lower minimums and tolerable rule sets at 3:2 games is a big draw, despite the fact that there exists a ton of blackjack players who erroneously flock to 6:5 games on the Strip.

We moved to Nomad on Wednesday the 5th for the ensuing four night stay in a Two Queen Salon Double room. This particular room type and overall boutique hotel gets nothing but accolades from us..we've stayed there several times. The services and staff ( including valet services) are impeccable and stand out among Strip properties..no kidding. Nomad is of course located on the top few floors of Park MGM..the casino sucks for our tastes but at least it's a nonsmoking property. From a hotel / lodging standpoint for Strip-goers, we'd highly recommend it if affordable for varied budgets. We had comped rooms..so it was very affordable on this trip ( no resort fees, either). We had paid for these rooms via gambling spend in the past, of course. Comps aren't free in spite of the marketing myth..but you folks know that.

We switched to Caesars Palace on Sunday the 9th and stayed in one of the most recently renovated Palace Tower 2- Queen rooms. Check-in was easy at the Diamond check-in desk..took about 5 minutes. The main lobby check-in was inundated with customers that evening..looked like a disturbed ant hill. The room was comfy and we parked exclusively at the North Valet; it was about the same distance and logistics from the room location / tower to the main valet up front, but much less busy. Our trips in and out of there were very quick on Sun - Tuesday..very good service. We checked out Tuesday AM via phone to Guest Services ..confirmed no room charges on our way to the airport rental car center. One of the main reasons we stayed in a CET property this trip was to take advantage of a 5X tier credit gambling  promo that centered around our trip dates. We hadn't stayed at a CET property for about three years because of their complete obliteration of player perks and earning rates after the El Dorado merger (actually a little prior to that event). The 5X promo was a brief blip in favor of players for a few days...really resembled a slight advantage play relative to ' normal' CET earning rates.

Dining , gambling, and general observations to follow in the next entry.

I wonder just how many "loyal" customers of Strip-rip properties have found that everything is much, much, much worse in tandem with being much, much, much more expensive, and have, after years, or even decades of faithful visitation, said "No mas, chinga tu madre" or words to that effect. Some will stay and play downtown or at South Point or Orleans (etc.), and some will take their ball and go home--vacationing/blowing their money somewhere else altogether.

These gouge/treat 'em like shit policies HAVE to start hurting them eventually.

Don't they...?

DINING / BUFFETS: My wife likes the buffets..so we go and they usually comprise the bulk of our dining activities. Generally, we visit these for breakfast brunches only because the costs are a bit lower, particularly during weekdays. We visited buffets at MGM Grand, Bellagio, Luxor, Excalibur, Wicked Spoon, and South Point. Weekday prices for breakfast at MGM props ranged from $28 - 49 per person per visit. Payment for these were  covered by resort credit comps and/ or MGM Rewards accumulated points.  Some of these MGM buffets are still not open on certain days of the week (eg Luxor)..but others are. The South Point breakfast buffet was partially covered by a printable 2-for-1 LVA coupon. Wicked Spoon @ Cosmo had the most variety at a Sunday brunch visit, but it was also the most expensive..too expensive ($130 for the two of us). The breakfast buffet we had at South Point was the best overall dining value we experienced during the entire trip .. we both had a good breakfast for a total of about $18 bucks with the coupon and players card use.

DINING/OTHER: We ate burgers at In-N-Out @ the Linq Promenade( burgers are still tasty and a great value, with a bill of about $16 out of pocket all in); supper  (ribeye steak, sandwich, sides,drinks) at the America Cafe at NYNY was good and less expensive relative to other MGM options.. the bill was about $50 (paid for via RC's); we visited Pronto by Giada at Caesar Palace for another evening meal while staying at CP, where we did take out for the room with panini sandwiches, sides, and several dessert options to keep in the room fridge ($103 all in, covered by comps). For those who like pie and don't mind overpaying for it, Bavettes @ Park MGM has two decadent pie selections..lemon meringue and chocolate silk options. Without the RC;s, we wouldn't have sampled them ($14 / slice). We also ate the South Point $1.50 hot dogs from the cart on every day we visited (M, W, and Fri.)

GAMBLING : I played blackjack at TI for about 15 total hours in several short sessions during the week. The game rules (DA2,DAS, H17, splits allowed to 4 total hands, surrender allowed at multideck, surrender not allowed at double deck which is typical)  and minimums are the best on the Strip for our bankroll ( avg bet $20/hand), imo. I managed to make a couple hundred  bucks after all the typical ups and downs. We also trekked downtown to play BJ at El Cortez for a few hours on Sunday the 9th. They have  raised their table minimums ($15 at double deck on Sun AM), with tolerable rules but they're still very serious about game protection ( as sweaty as they've always been)

I like to play quarter progressive slots (9 line, $2.25/spin) and did a bunch of it at TI ( hit four small progressives, roughly $70-$100 each). I also played a fairly large handful of quarter progressives at Paris (CET) in order to take advantage of the 5X tier credit promo that ended on the 9th. I accumulated enough TC's to get halfway to Diamond for next year..but it cost me overall per normal despite hitting a few small progressives. We made a concerted effort to get off the Strip for slot / VP play  , with  three visits to South Point and two visits to Boulder Station during the week. I hit a small handpay ($1280) on an old ancient Pompeii machine at Boulder Station. We played the Spin to Win promo on Mon, Wed. and Fri at SP..over all the visits it amounted to a bit over $100 in Free Play and / or points. Overall, without question, my wife's slot play was a lot more enjoyable at these two off-Strip properties, and she vowed to stay off-Strip on the next trip because of those experiences.

 TAKEAWAYS: The comparative differences in vibe, feel, and reality costs along with play results vs the Strip properties ( with the possible exception of TI) will be the driver for our next trip. Strip costs , players club payback rates for comps, and progressively worsening gaming conditions still remain in full force. Most if not all of you are fully aware of that condition and have been for some time..it's worsening, too. Now that we've generally exhausted our player perks / comps at the Strip palaces with this trip, we'll be off-Strip next go-round. It's just too costly to earn / stay on Las Vegas Blvd anymore as far as we're concerned. The SO agrees so the world will spin a bit better next trip.

They had just begun the road work in preparation for the Nov F1 race on and around the Strip a day or two before we  arrived. Driving the Strip is difficult during normal times..in several places it was already a mess this time. The next six months will be a miserable experience for anyone intending to drive this area ( and surrounding feeder routes) as their road work continues. Plan accordingly if you intend to drive..it will be a major clusterfork, and will likely affect Uber /Lyft / Taxi transportation to a great extent, too. I don't get their decision or approach to this F1 thing..it seems so disruptive and stifling to the visitor component. To be fair, I'm not an F1 race fan;  it's just another gargantuan Vegas attempt to make a money grab, seemingly. Their business, etc.

Final note concerns a free live classic rock concert event that we just happened upon on the Strip. The site was the Pepsi Sound Stage near the Brooklyn Bridge facade that fronts NYNY. Fabulous band (Mission to Rock) played three full sets from 7PM - 10PM..absolutely great time just enjoying a few beers while they played. The fact that we were completely unaware of it and that it was free to grab a seat made it a memorable experience.

Kevin..I think so, absolutely. I don't know if they'll hit a wall eventually or not ( visitor demand and the general economic condition will influence that, likely). It's just horrendous.

Thank you so much for this , this is very much helpful to the travelers.