Where Can I Get a Room the Day before I Arrive in Vegas?

I purchased an "All You Can Fly" season ticket on Frontier Airline. Now for one year, I can fly free anywhere Frontier flies. The catch is you can book your flight only the day before you fly. (I'm sure they want to fill up their empty seats.) So what can you suggest for a place to stay where I would not be able to make a reservation? I would only know I'm going to be there the night before I arrive. I'm by myself, so I could stay at almost any little hole in the wall, as long as it's clean and cheap. Any suggestions for super-cheap last-minute places to stay?

[Editor's Note: This is an interesting question for several reasons and we asked our ultra-low-cost-carrier expert, Conrad Stanley, to weigh in on it. Here's what he had to say. We'd love to hear your ideas too if you have any.]

Yes, the Frontier pass requires that you can book your flights one measly day before they fly. The one exception is with international travel, which you can book 10 days in advance. That allows you to go on a nine-day trip abroad and have both flights guaranteed in advance.

As for hotels, here are a few suggestions.

First, I would use third-party OTA (online travel agency) sites like hotels.com and especially hotwire.com for night-before or day-of booking. On Hotwire, you get star level and location, but not the name of the hotel until you book. You can trust the star rating, at least in my experience; If they say, it's a 4-star property, it is a 4-star property. And it's often cheaper than booking directly through the hotel. Unless it's a big weekend where everything is booked, these sites sell rooms right up to the last minute; the hotels need to fill their rooms, but they want to do so without bastardizing the brand.

You could, for example, book a room when you arrive at Reid. You won't be able to cancel if something comes up; most hotels charge you in full for the first-night's stay unless you cancel at least 24 hours in advance (Caesars' properties are 48 hours and MGM, big surprise, is 72). But you're there, so pick up your rental car or grab a cab or Uber and go get your room. At least you know where you're going and the hotel or motel has a room with your name on it.

As for "clean and cheap," Motel 6 and Super 8 are good choices; I prefer Super 8.

If you want to go "super" cheap, you can stay in a hostel. Sure, you get a bunk in a shared room, but I've done that for as little as $35 a night and hostels are always clean. You don't need a reservation; just call when you arrive to make sure they have a bed. I stay in hostels when I'm really on the go and literally just there to sleep. It's a very European way to travel, along with other parts of the world, and I've met a lot of interesting people from all over the planet doing this.

Las Vegas has three hostels these days: Bposhtels Vegas, Sin City Hostel (free breakfast), and Bungalows Hostel.

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Comments

Kevin Lewis Apr-20-2024

Am I missing something?

Why not just do this the other way around? Keep making reservations, over and over, at the palace or dump of your choosing, BEFORE you know whether a Frontier flight will be available on that day. Then when you find out that you can go, you simply show up at the hotel; if you can't get a flight, you just kill the reservation, and make a new one for the next attempt.

I know what you're thinking--it may be too late to cancel the reservation by the time you find out there are no flight seats available. Here's what I would do. MOVE the hotel reservation to two or three days later. Then cancel it the next day--it'll be within the hotel's cancellation window. (You'd think that if they won't let you cancel, they won't let you change it, either--but I've never, ever had a problem with that maneuver. Probably because if they figure you're still coming, they don't want to antagonize you.)

Bob Apr-20-2024

Calendar

I would do some research and black out dates on a calendar, for weeks and or weekends where major events are going on. Like CES, F1 Week, SEMA, Superbowl etc.

David Miller Apr-20-2024

"All You Can Fly"

 I find it hard to believe that anyone would purchase this deal. Book only ONE day before your flight- plus bag fees, seat fees, plus carry on fees. This may be a fit for some, but I can't see it...

Susan Johnson Apr-20-2024

no comps?

Why assume there wouldn't be a room where you would want to play?

Fumb Duck Apr-20-2024

AZ Charlies

Several years ago an LV local friend suggested Arizona Charlies Boulder. Their rooms were actually small suites and quite comfortable.

AL Apr-20-2024

Hostels & Motel 6?  NO.

There's a really important reason why we shouldn't stay at a hostel: Your valuables can get stolen, including your wallet with your ID & credit/debit cards, and then you're "up a creek" (you know what kind). Then you are screwed. So I would never do that. As for Motel 6 (and even Super 8, to some extent), I would never stay at one unless I had to, because they have become the "motel of choice" for the kind of people you don't ever want to run into: drug pushers; drug addicts; pimps with hookers; bikers (the bad kind); violent ex-cons; you name it. You can expect many people in the room next door, who "flip off" common courtesy & manners and will be loud well past midnight. If you complain about them because you can't sleep, you might wind up with a knife in your gut. Instead of either of these options, I recommend going online & finding a not-well-known place that's a good distance from the "main drag". The best choice would be one with a cute name where macho guys would never stay.

O2bnVegas Apr-20-2024

getting back home

Just an FYI.  Frontier started flying from my city but only on certain days of the week, like Mondays and Thursdays.  Not the same deal you speak of, but I'm assuming you'll want to fly back home, so be sure you can match your flight and stay both ways.  Good luck.

Candy

David Sabo Apr-20-2024

IT'S NOT FREE

You pay one penny for the airfare portion and then all applicable taxes. Coming back from Cancun the taxes are quite expensive leaving Mexico.  I'm 100K Elite flyer with terrible Frontier Airlines and as a savvy traveler I'm able to often book my airfare portion for under a dollar in advance.  I would never buy the $599/ year Frontier Fly for free if you are a savvy traveler.

Gregory Apr-21-2024

Google is your friend

I did some research and found that even Super 8 charges a resort fee.  After that you're probably going to be at $75 a night at a place with limited amenities.  I found a site that had at least 8 options for rooms priced under $30.  All of those are going to add on a resort fee, but even so, you are going to be looking at a comparable nightly rate to Super 8 and getting at least a 3 star hotel to boot.  I'm not going to link the site, because I don't know how reputable they are, but start by going to Google and search for "las vegas cheap tonight".

Question of the Day - 20 April 2024

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