Question of the Day - 16 March 2023

The gougefest will be permanent. They have no reason to go back to the good old non-gouge days--and crucially, if there's a recession or some other disturbance that cuts back on visitation, they'll tell each other it's temporary and stick to their gouge guns. 

The gouge gun, by the way, was first used by Slippery Munro and his gang during the Skeleton Flats First National bank robbery of 1929.

The biggest gouger of them all is MGM.

 The forthcoming recession will answer this question.

I'm guessing that the pendulum will never swing back.  We all talk about the good old Vegas days in the 1970s or 1980s or 1990s, because the generosity line has always trended down.  Also think about the cost of other vices:  cigarettes are $100 per carton in many places, and people still buy them, because they "have to."

BTP (before the pandemic), I'd visit LV at least once a year. TP showed me I can live without visiting LV. I went December 2021 for 5 days (short visit, it's usually 8). Next visit will be October 2023 because my daughter is going for the While We Were Young music festival and she invited me to go with her (I get free rooms and have comps for food, I can get her friends cheaper rooms through my host, smart kid), so I'll go for a few days then. At that point I'll decide if I'll ever go again. I've been going since 1979. It's not the same anymore. And I hate getting gouged and being disrespected. I probably know the answer now.

...you have to look harder and be consistent. The LVA member BOV gave me good value last year. I will buy again this year if I go. I just got my first room offer in YEARS from the El Cortez, three nights comped, $25 gaming, $25 dining. Can't use that one in time but I think there will be others eventually. Good gaming downtown, too. We stay at the Nugget, play at 4Q and the El. Is it as cheap as it used to be? No, but I still get a lot of bang for my bucks in Sin City.

Been going, once month for over 25 years.  Now we visit our local casino twice a month.  Really nice room, 5x comps, 98%+ VP, food comp, half the drive.  CET probably did us a favor by taking away the goodies (lounge, shows, spa).
MGM started the cuts, Eldiablo took it to a new level (look how they treat ( or don't) their rooms.
Waiting for those "We missed you" emails.  They can f**k off.

  6 in our group agree  with too much BS, ie.RESORT FEES, food prices ,etc. 2 do not .  SANDRA RITTER -- u hit the 'NAIL' on the head , ty, tyvm . 

People are voting with their wallets. As long as they keep paying, casinos will gladly take their money.

Caesars Entertainment (formerly Eldorado) has gotten really bad as anyone who plays and stays at their property. When the CEO was asked about the buffets he said their players can eat at McDonald's.

Supply and Demand. When demand is increasing and supply is decreasing (or stable), prices rise. When demand is decreasing and supply is increasing (or stable) prices fall.

Used to go 3 or 4 times a year, more for the entertainment and the dining.  Now, maybe once a year and only for a special occasion.  Don't need or want $90 chicken dinner for two or surcharge for a window seat overlooking the strip.  Reno, Biloxi, Laughlin. Atlantic City and Council Bluff offer a much better value and even entertainment.  I think eventually the bean counters will realize that they are getting fewer and fewer customers and need to change something. Their own charter programs are draining away their most dependable customers to other than Vegas.

The Rotunda, soon to be gouged, is/was a visual value.

Longest hiatus since 1969.
Paid full prices and resort fees (grrr...), because comp points at favorite off-strip resort chain evaporated in the Pandemic. Probably would have stayed home or gone to Laughlin except for additional factors: (1) significant other wanted to go for anniversary; (2) more and better poker tournaments in Vegas (Laughlin poker is pretty sad and getting sadder); (3) local sports-bar poker league is "temporarily" shut down (suspect they "poked the bear" once too often); and (4) cousin was in Vegas on business and we wanted to hook up with him. 
While there, played enough to get about halfway back to next-higher tier level. Would have been more but had terrible luck. One more trip should rack up enough points to make it, but right now that's still an open question: waiting to see if this trip's play generates any discount offers.
FWIW, went through the "Dropicana" I-15 construction site several times in each direction, with only one delay.
Cheers/Carpe Diem. 

last visit was june 2019. played in a world series of poker event (bucket list stuff). had a ball..collected a few more $1 chips from the new joints..checked out the dispensaries (being from texas that was unique)..and truly enjoyed the experience..that was it though...will hit the much closer joints in louisiana for the immediate future...thanks for the memories vegas...you ruled but not anymore...too many other choices...been going since the mid 80's so have seen tons of changes...some good...some not... adios LV

Now you got the 'get off my lawn!' types all riled up with that question, oh the horror, the horror! :)  

'they'll tell each other it's temporary and stick to their gouge guns.' 

Now let me see, where did I hear that "it's temporary" before. Thinking. Thinking. Hmmm. Oh yes! We were told inflation is 'temporary' from the clown circus once upon a time ago! But let's get clever, define 'temporary', right? So Lewis is speaking against his inept buddies, sees reality? Finally? Pigs are indeed flying?   

Supply and Demand people. End of story. Nice seeing one post from Steve L who gets the reality of it all. Though once again there is a major inflation factor for labor and food and oil and gas prices etc element playing a role no doubt that impacts prices from A-Z in Las Vegas and beyond. Oh, and once again, it's 'temporary' people, all is going so well under the non-orange clown show for the average person, smile, SMILE, viva Las Vegas $$$$!



    

When we have an economy downturn is usually the times casinos change for the better. Meanwhile I will remember the casinos with 6/5 blackjack, 000 roulette, bad video poker payouts and high table minimums. I just won't play at those casinos.

This is a voluntary expenditure...no?
To "gouge" a tourist is just a transaction.... offer and acceptance.  The demand must be there if business is so good.  Buffets?  Please!  People are figuring out that gorging yourself on substandard ingredients is a bad bargain for your body and cholesterol.    Things change... Vegas has always adapted and changed.  The only ones that can't take it are the people who want the same 99 cent breakfast for the rest of their lives.

...on the same day you can ice skate down the strip.

YOU GAMBLE , YOU LOSE.  WHY WASTE MONEY AT ANY CASINO? HAD LOTS OF COMPS AT THE SUNCOAST AND PUFF THEY WERE GONE. KNEW MANY WORKERS THERE BY FIRST NAMES. MY GAMBLING MONEY NOW GOES TO BUYING PRIME STEAKS AT SAM'S CLUB OR COSTCO AND GRILLING THOSE BABIES...PLUS NO $1000+ AIRFARE OR EXPENSIVE HOTELS OR $500 RENT-A-CAR. SPEND ALL THAT ON CRUISING INSTEAD...

They don't care!! They are going after new younger players who weren't even born in the "good old days ". All of us old timers are just that. Old news. 

I really enjoy QoD's like this that are open-ended on the answer. The answer by LVA is informative, and all the comments from various people with a wide variety of thoughts makes it a good read for me. I'm ok with the divergent comments, gives me something to think about when I see someone's thoughts that are different from my own.

As Ray said, what I've noticed for years, but surprised me frankly boomers are so low in attendance in LV

"• March 16, 2023 12:56 Visitor Profile Study for 2022 Released by LVCVA: The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's annual "Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study" for 2022 has been released and at 45 pages, it has a ton of statistics about who's visiting and how much they're spending. For the first time in its 48-year history, the Study expanded its interview pool to online surveys, nearly doubling the number of people interviewed (6,200). Here are some of the stats that caught our attention. The average age of visitors last year was 40.7, down from 43.2 in 2021, with 48% Millennials, 27% Gen X, 13% Gen Z, and only 12% Baby Boomers; the number of Boomers has been on a slow but steady decline since the pandemic shutdown."

Sorry boomers, wish for the good old 'cheap' LV days all you want here. They are gone along with the rose colored 'freebies' you think you once received.  

Check out the ticket sales for the new show at the Wynn Awakening.
Tickets starting at $140 and the place is 3/4 empty most shows.
  

As I think about it, through out these United States of America, the cost of everything has gone up appreciably since the cheap days of Vegas. All you have to do is wake up and smell the coffee brewing in the morning. At your own house coffee costs much more than it did when Vegas was full of comps. Unless you are a full time professional gambler, and only interested in the money, Honey, your local casino can never produce the same thrills of being in Vegas. No one has ever gone to Vegas just to sit at the sit at slots nor to eat the buffets. It’s exclusively of all of that and even more when in Vegas. I have not been able to duplicate the same fun at home that I’ve experienced in Vegas. Many of you are expressing online “sour grapes “. Well, stay away from Vegas, and keep lying to yourself! If you want the whole package, you can’t get it by staying away. On the other hand, no one is forcing you to come to Vegas. However, your family and friends will be there.

I think the gouges will continue until they run out of gouges that are profitable.  Lots of social and economic waves will affect that, so trying to figure out 'when' is neither productive nor a very happy way to spend your time.  I prefer to dream of a day when someone with the vision of a Steve Wynn (hopefully much better behaved) will work their way into a place of sufficient power to tilt the balance again, and the corporations will look to find visionary Money Makers rather than Money Managers to run these gold mines.  
In the meantime, I'll still make my trips to LV when in suits me, and spend what I feel like spending, and enjoy the most of my visit.  I'll miss some of the great things that are gone or are now to spendy for me to bother with, but I'll also marvel at some of the changes, and in the end be glad I have the chance to go.  Take a breath folks, there is still fun to be had, if you care to look.

There are so many good choices locally that we didn't have 20 years ago.  A two-hour drive with decent comps vs. a 12-hour drive with points/comps that disappear.  Local HHR machines popping up everywhere... Flights are more expensive and dangerous.  Getting older...lots of factors make it easier to just stay close to home.