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Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2017
Comments
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jonesMUFCforever wrote: »Wow
what exactly would you have done if the ESTA had not been agreed?
I would have applied before booking my flight (in case) would rather lose $14 than a whole holiday.
Just saying
We booked our flights in September and our old Estas don't expire until next week. I've never considered applying for Estas any earlier than a couple of weeks. I suppose what I would have done is cry lol!
Does everyone else do their Estas really early?
No reason why they should have been declined but if they had, we'd have lost very little financially - flights are booked with airmiles (fully refundable until I think 48 hours before) and only four nights of our 11 are non-refundable"Don't sacrifice what you want most for what you want now"
MFW: Mortgage Cleared!!! 14 1/2 years early0 -
Winter_Jasmine wrote: »We booked our flights in September and our old Estas don't expire until next week. I've never considered applying for Estas any earlier than a couple of weeks. I suppose what I would have done is cry lol!
Does everyone else do their Estas really early?
No reason why they should have been declined but if they had, we'd have lost very little financially - flights are booked with airmiles (fully refundable until I think 48 hours before) and only four nights of our 11 are non-refundable
Like you I've left mine till nearer the time, maybe about a month before due to it not being expired yet.0 -
We usually renew our estas about a month out from a trip.
Ours expire late September,so we're good for our trip to New Orleans/ New York a week Saturday.But run out just before our Vegas trip at the start of October...i will apply for new ones early September.0 -
Just a bit of a question regarding spending money.
In the past we usually take travellers cheques, I know a lot of people don't use them but they've always worked well for us.
I was just looking at the Post Office website and it appears now that they are charging commission on travellers cheques. So this being a money saving site I want to avoid that.
I know when we check in to our hotel they take a swipe of our credit card for anything we charge to our room but I was wondering how that would work when we wanted our gambling "cash". Do we get it from the Cashier and they charge it to our room? :embarasse
We've been to Vegas a lot but we've always taken travellers cheques and a small amount of cash so I'm just after a little bit of advice please.Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.0 -
Trip Report:
Budget - £1500 (to cover 2 adults + 1 Teen)
Nights: 10
Plan: Crazy flights & Long Drives!
Full Cost: Under Budget....
Flight: Ryanair + 15kg Luggage = £21 each (x3) - BRS to DUB
Flight: DUB - LAX (via LHR) = £360 each (x3) (rtn = get bags at LHR
)
Wednesday 24th May (7:30am):
Had pre-ordered Dollars from MoneyCorp Bristol to the tune of £4997 @ $1.279
Attempted to collect our money (wasn't prepaid), turns out, the computer said "No!". Operator tells me they cant do the transaction unless I show a Wage Slip!
My Order form shows I only need to show Passport & Drivers License as ID to collect monies.... Who takes a wage slip on holiday ?! !!!!!!!
So despite the operator trying to call different people from MoneyCorp, no answer from any phone she calls, and she wont release the money!!, boarding is about to finish, so after 20 mins of getting nowhere, I run down to the gate, am the last person to board the Ryanair flight to Dublin, and have ZERO Dollars.... GREAT!
Get to Dublin, we have 3hrs 50mins before next flight to LHR, so on the phone to MoneyCorp, short story is, nothing they can do, they don't operate out of Heathrow, tuff luck!
I log onto Travelex website, they can do $1.261 on a pre-order rate, so I do that, and pre-pay £4994 to get $6320 dollars....
After I clicked PAY, I then read it states money wont be released until after 4hours!!! ARGHHHHH !!!!!
So time of order + flight time + get to gate & board = I have 9 minutes to collect cash and be at final boarding!!!
So at T5 in LHR, last call to board the A380 jet to LA is at 15:45, and I can collect money at 15:36! , it takes 6 mins to get from Money desk to Gate at a rush!. So I get the ball rolling with the money desk, at 15:36, they give me the cash, wife and kid are already at the gate.... I get my skates on, get to the transfer train thing, then realise my Passport is still in the photocopier at the Travelex desk! ARRGHHHHH !
Run back, get passport, run back to transfer train, got to gate at 15:45, and luckily, there are 6 more people to get on, so I wasn't last person!
Lovely start to a holiday!!
On the plane, we have row 41 I think, which is the last row of seats on the window side, so a row of 3.... First thought is, no recline and bothersome as near to toilets....
However, WOW and I mean WOW..... BA plane (A380), those last row of seats have great recline, no one behind u, and loads of space in area so no one bothers u as they walk by to the loo's!
Very comfy seats, happy with what we got.... Think flight was about 10hrs 45 to LA, although that flight felt like it was 20hrs long!!!!
Landed OK, got through customs nice and quick, on bus to Alamo rental.... Booked Fullsize SUV (£49-1 Day), drove out in a Ford Expedition, and then straight to our hotel in Fullerton.......
Thursday 25th May (Monte Carlo - Full Comp):
Its 7am, its now time start the holiday as such!! I feel a Chevy Chase moment from Vegas Vacation!!
Off we go, cruising around 80mph towards Vegas (everyone else doing same speed!), MPG not that bad in the Expedition...
We got to Vegas around 11:30am, and 1st Hotel is the MONTE CARLO.....
Comp Monaco Suite for 4 nights, they not playing ball with letting me have a Diamond Suite, as all booked for Memorial Weekend....
Got into the room, called Housekeeping to get a rollaway Bed, but they direct you to Front Desk... Front Desk say there is a charge for the bed! No matter what option I tried, front desk has to authorise the RollerBeds, and u cant avoid the cost!
Ordered the bed at a rate of $15pn + tax......
Left the room, and went over to the MGM Pool for the day...
The Ford Expedition SUV we had was 1 day only, so took that back and then had a 2 day Full Size car with Alamo (£47)....
Tried the $20 backhander with the garage girl, but she was new on the job, so didn't want to sign off cars she not allowed too, fair enough....
However, managed to get into the Dodge Charger R/T , a V8 with 370bhp Hemi engine, looooooovely sound! Unsure if this is Fullsize or Premuim, but drove out of the garage with no issues!...
Had buffet food at the Monte Carlo on the evening, wasn't too bad, meat selection was pretty good!
Evening time, child in room, we go downstairs to do some gambling in the casino.....
We play the tables for a short while, and kinda breakeven, but by 11:30pm, wifey wants to goto bed, so off she goes and I decide to play Slots.....
Slots = I hit max bet all the time, and hope for the best!
I recorded a few Video's of the slot wins, only short clips, links at end of Report....
Soooooooooo, 5 minutes into playing slots on my own, BANG! I hit some Wilds on Flying Horses!!!! (Video)
I then hit the Walking Dead machine, $130 win (not massive I know, but still a win!)
Then I go onto Dancing Drums, the machine that max bet is $8.80 per spin....
I blast through my $100 and as I get towards near empty, the magic started!
$1056 win, kept me happy!!!!
Then onto the Playboy Machine, and couple of hundred out of that machine!
Played a few more machines, went to bed with around $2.7k in my pocket (Up!)
Friday 26th May:
Up early, off to Mandalay Bay to catch some rays, got there around 10 ish as figured it will be a busy weekend now being Memorial weekend......
Pool has changed since we were last here, they sectioned off the sides, the deeper end and don't allow you in the shallows either.....
Hit the strip for a walk up and down as you do, don't know why, but me and the wife, must have stepped on an invisible poisionous frog! cos we both had sore feet, balls of feet ached, etc !!!! lasted for days too !
Then decide we want to Hit Hoover Dam and have a walk around, so nice drive out, see the sights, then head back!
On the evening, we hit up Double Barrel Roadhouse as we had $200 in resort credit.. Nacho's are amazing!! same as last year!!!
Hit the casino later in the evening, took some heavy losses on the tables, playing 3card poker, I play $10 on Ante, and $100 on PairPlus, I was losing and knew I should have stopped playing, but like a div, I kept going, chasing the 3-of-a-kind or Straight Flush......
$2k down and I leave! Played Blackjack for a while and won some monies back, then some slots, then bed....
Saturday 27th:
Up and early, out to MGM Pool again, as expecting it to be a busy day!
We get our beds before 10am, and then goto the MGM buffet for breakfast.... I forgot its Brunch style on weekends, so $104 for the 3 of us (that's like £90 for breakfast!!!!) I argue its a waste of money as you only eat about $7 worth of the stuff, but I get overruled! Billed to our room at MC anyway....
Breakfast sucked, limited choice and not worth the money at all!
After a few hours in the sun, we hit up the North Outlet for some shopping, Ralph Lauren store hits my Amex card hard, and although I like buying there stuff, I wish I paid attention to what I was picking up, as it turns out, once I checked what I bought when we got home (from going to the RL stores a few times), I bought shirts that donr fit, and same T-shirts 3 times over (as in colour!) doh!!!!
Car is going back to Alamo, to make way for the 1 week Standard SUV hire we have with Dollar (£147).....
I had booked the SUV through Expedia, and although they said they wont link my booking to my DE account, somehow, it had been linked... So straight to the Garage, saw desk agent, she took a $350 hold on my card... I ask why given I got full insurance, and if I didn't fill up with fuel, most u would charge could be $90! she said its the card companies that state the amount of the hold, to which I replied she talking crap, for UK customers who don't have coverage on there CC's....
So you can imagine what response came next when I asked about upgrades! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !
She directs me to Area 9, which is standard size SUV, as its a Saturday, thers like 3 cars there, a Santa Fe, some nasty looking thing and a GMC Arcadia which is a Mid-size SUV, but in Dollar's terms, its a standard.. oh well, no backhanders to anyone in the garage either, so I drive out in what feels like a step down, but so be it!
Sat night, we hit Hooters for dinner on Rainbow Blvd, good food, fast service, win win!
Back to the Monte Carlo on the late evening for some gambling, losses and wins, all good fun!
Sunday 28th:
MGM Pool again, then am dragged around the shops again in the afternoon (south outlet!), arrrghhh My feet!!!!!!!
Had some great wins again on the slots, $500 to $800 wins! Happy days!!!!!
The 1 machine though I couldn't break, was "Breaking Bad".. Each night, I had pumped in a few hundred and nothing came out, so on Sunday, I sat there at max bet, and got to $370 play before I cashed out with $30, pumping in $370 and having a win of $6.56 max was a joke! The 777's machine wasn't being too friendly either...
Got about $380 worth of stuff billed to the room, and have $200 resort credit....... figured I will go see the desk on Monday morning to see if they can knock off some of the bill, etc..
Monday 29th May:
Its check-out day for Monte Carlo, so off the front desk I go.....
To note, I am Pearl with Mlife, and when we started the holiday, I had 0 Tier Credits.... In 4 nights, I had amassed 38696 tier credits, and need only 36k to reach Gold. That's a lot of Tier credits to earn in 4 days!
So having a chat with the front desk, they say nothing can be waived on the bill....
I then state the level of credits I have just earned, she look's a little closer at something, then says, "you have zero balance" ! I'm now a happy chappy!
Before heading to the car, I go for 1 last go on Breaking Bad....
In goes $100, max bet, $75 play and I hit the Bonus..... Is it a Big Win ? is it hell, dam machine gives me a $90 win! $90 ! I pumped in over $800 to this machine! grrrrrrrrrrrrr !
We leave Monte and head over to Luxor, its 11:30am....
Luxor booking is through a Host, and the deal I had was for a Queen Suite, 3 days at a special rate and 2 nights full comp (the 72hr mlife rule thing)..... Get to the desk, check-in woman says u have a Cleo Queen.
Didn't want that room, wanted the suite, so front desk say to go see my Host, my Host not on duty till the evening, so I see another host, he chats with whoever, and I go back to the front desk, I now got the Queen Suite, but the 3 days rate is showing normal price, and the woman puts a hold of like $700 on my card! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !
Got into the room on the 17th floor, all is good!
Went to Battlefield Vegas for Guns as opposed to Gun Store on Tropicana... Not a bad layout there, step-daughter fired a few guns, and I did one of the packages + AK47 + extra ammo, like 200 rounds for the Glock (10 extra mags!) Like I do with anything, I haggle on price, and they agree, niiiiiice!
Then to North Outlet again (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr !)
On the evening, we hit up Famous Daves BBQ joint, maaaaaaaaaaaan I love this place, my yearly treat (along with Rollin Smoke!), out comes the goodies!
Photo looks small, but it was big enough on the plate! Ribs with real meat on them (unlike UK ribs)
We get back to our room late, and theres a bottle of Champers and strawb's !! A hello and welcome from my host! She's nice!
Down a few glasses, then we hit the floor for some winnings!
I quickly see my host to say thanks for the Champers, and to mention about check-in.... she's fully aware, and said it will be sorted, I would be on the rate we agreed for the 3 days
Sooooooooooooooooo, its Blackjack time and Slots....
Win, Win, Win! and lose, lose and looooooooooose, and win!
I hit up the Willy Wonka machines and Lock it-Line, and a few others, nice juicy wins pop out, had about $1.2k from the Wonka machine...
No idea what I went to bed with, but I won a fair whack! 0 -
Tuesday 30th:
OMG! Cloud! !!!!!! !! CLOUD! and I mean Cloud like the UK cloud!
I'm dragged around shops again, roller coaster on the NYNY, walk up and down strip...
I went back to Dollar rent a car to talk about upgrading the SUV to a Full Size/Prem, the Garage desk agent was Unhelpful, and refered me to the manager... manager talks with the supervisor, then supervisor talks to me.
Basically, he said, as I booked through a 3rd party, if I want to upgrade to a Fullsize SUV, it will be $100 a day, !!!!!!! you Kidding! In the end, I left and got back into the nasty GMC Arcadia......
I then booked a normal convertible car with Netflights.com to pickup on Weds for a 3 day hire (£127)...
We went to CowaBunga Waterpark today, as its 4pm to 8pm, so figured it shouldn't be that busy, good guess!!
Had some cool slides there, so had good fun without big queue times, left there and went straight to Hooters in Henderson...
Back to the Lux on the late night for some gambling, drinks are flowing, winnings are coming in the Blackjack, and slots..... and losses!
Lock-it-Link !
Green Lantern pumped out some goodies for me!
Checked my Mlife status while playing, and I had changed to GOLD! Woooooohoooooooooooooooooo !!!!!
Went and got my new Card
Few more games, and as were about to leave, I figure, what the hell, lets go 3card poker and lose all my money... $100 on PairPlus, and $10 on the Ante....
Out comes a Flush, so 3-1 = Smiley Face...
Next hand, Flush, next hand, Straight (6-1), next hand is a Pair.... I am SMILING !!!!!!!!!!!!!
A guy sits down, cards change, so I take 1 loss and leave!, off to bed, with $$$ !
Wednesday 31st:
Daaaaaaaaaaam, Clouds are still here!!!! They need to go away!!!!!!!!!
Cant remember what we were doing in morning/afternoon, but late afternoon, I dropped them off at North Outlet, I went back to Battlefield Vegas and bought $616 worth of guns & ammo, mainly handguns, went through 100 rounds on the Sig-226 in about 70 seconds!!!!! Also hit up Rollin Smoke for a lunch on my lonesome, happy days!!
Picked the witches up, then drive down to the rental place to pickup the convertible hire car, to which wifey would drive as she not insured on the SUV.....
The car is with Alamo, and its Alamo who I have good luck with sometimes!......
Soooooooooooooooooooooo, the dude in the garage, I recall from last year, I have a good chats with him, and mention the $20 handshake!
Alamo have 'Camero SS' cars in stock as upgrades..... I didn't bother asking what it would cost as it wouldn't be cheap, but the garage guy, he chats on the radio with his boss, tells his boss I am his neighbour ! and his boss signs off on giving me the Camero SS, instead of the Camero RS (V6 335bhp)
In all fairness, the V6 Camero RS looks a tasty car, but I like power, so a nice V8 455bhp SS will work for me!!!
So out I drive in that, and then hand it over to the wife... but before leaving, I would I would give Dollar another try.....
Into the garage I go, had a chat with a girl, tried a bribe, but not happening on the exchange......
Soooooooo, I went all in, as we walk over to the Premuim SUV's, I offer $100 in her hand to put me in a Suburban.....
Out I drive in this:
Compared to driving the Ford Expedtion which is the same size, this is like driving a tank!!!!!!!! Its big, its heavy, but maaaaaaaaaaaan, its luxury !!!!!!! I like it, got some good power too!
So both cars back to the Luxor, as our Mlife Accounts are linked, wifey has a Gold mlife card too, so able to get into free parking using her card....
Weds night see's us crusing up and down the strip in the camero, followed by a late night pizza takeaway from somewhere east of the strip on Flamingo.......
Back to the Lux late to do some gambling...
Now I took with me £3900 ($4200 ish ?), allowing for the monies already spent on this and that, clothes, watches, sunglasses (wasting money basically!), I have $5.5k left....
What I should have done, given we got 3 nights left, is limit myself to $400 a night........
I take out $3k, and hit the tables...........
Wifey goes to bed at 1am, I roll in at 3, bleary eyed.... and this:
When will I learn!!! (never knowing me!)
Thursday 1st June:
The Sun is out, wooooooooohooooooooooooooooooo !!!!
I still got $2.5k, so down to the Private/Vip/Paid pool, and I talk Cabana's...... Wheel and deal, back hander to the guy, we get the Cabana for $160 !
Comes with Gatorade, water, chips, cookies, happy days!!!
Had lunch here too, spent most of the day out in the sun, to which I was using Factor 0 oil.......... not good, as I turned red! doh!! luckily though, no pain from the sun burn, so all good!!
SHOPS AGAIN !!! aarghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!
Thursday night, had buffet in Mandalay Bay.... it was good, but I think for all the buffets we done, Spice Market wins!!!
Went over to the RIO for the Kiss bowling, that was good fun...
Back to the Lux to recover some losses!
Good fun night, I goto bed with $500 remaining in my pot! doh!!!!!!
Friday 2nd June:
Our Final day, down to the pool for some sun, pool guy said as its a Friday, the cabana's are pushing $350 to $400, as I looked after him on Thurs, the lowest he could go would be $250, but I figured we wouldn't be out all day, so skipped on that, and went for the $10 chairs in the VIP pool........
Few hours of sunning, then off to messing about here and there, etc....
Went to the Wax Musuem (freebie from Expedia), that was cool, came across this scary thing on the way to the musem!
An Alien made of scrap car parts!!!! amazing!!
Went to Hooters in Henderson for dinner, and then back to the Luxor....
I got $500 to blow on the tables, lets work some magic.......
ok.......... I'm having fun, I play some slots, and lose heavily, more tables, more fun.......... I call it a day at 2am, but all is good, I have $2200 !
I read an email from my host just before going to bed to say she has taken care of all my bill, ALL of it! wow!! no special rate to pay, no resort fee, no room charges, no cabana charges, etc etc! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!
Saturday 3rd June:
Check-out done, wifey drives the Camero back to the rental centre, then we drive to Primm for 1 last blast round the shops, to which I buy more RL stuff, which is the same items I already bought, doh!!!
So now we got the long drive back to LA, but were in a Suburban, so all is good..............
But is it ?...........................
As some of you know, the Interstate between LA and Vegas has high elevation, so it was, were tanking along around 77mph, aircon on full blast, and we hit the climb...... I start to see the Temp needle rising, rising, approaching the red!!!!!!!!!!!!!
then the LED display shows "Aircon switched off, engine too hot", and bings at me!, then needle goes into RED ! and LED Bings and displays Engine overheat warning!!, then just as I turned the blowers off and opened the windows, BING BING BING, LED displays "engine Idle mode, overheat!" !!! felt the power go, so I pulled into the lorry lane and dropped speed to 50mph..... its 105f outside, warm in the truck, but the needle starts to leave the red! eventually, its at the 3/4 mark, but were able to resume speed and put aircon back on........
20 mins later, we slam on the brakes, as what I think had happened, was a dog had either jumped from a moving car or a parked car (lots of cars pulled over on hard shoulder along the 160 mile stretch of road)...... we miss the tiny dog, and watch chaos unfold in the rear view mirror!
Once we hit the climb to take u to 4000ft, engine starts going nuts again !! so for the few big climbs u do, I had to change driving to keep the truck happy!!!!!
Got to LA, flew back with AA on the Boeing 777 , normal cramped seats, but flight wasn't too bad!
Home now, had a great trip, want to go back already!!!!!!
My MLife stats don't record my table play properly, despite asking the pit bosses what hand they record me at....
On blackjack, biggest hand I did was $1000, as I did $500 with Double down.... I lost! I also had multi splits with Double down and $800 on table, I lost! I remember those bets well!!!!
I wanted to make Gold, which I did, and I wanted all 3 of us to have a good time which we did, we got good cars, and free good suites! Great holiday, I LOVE VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!
Slot Wins:
Dancing Drums
https://youtu.be/NieQm3Ze8dQ
Flying Horses
https://youtu.be/FcflbSyiIdw
Willy wonka
https://youtu.be/N8_ipzjxF_M
Previous Trip Reports:
2011 - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=44710164&postcount=5243
2013 - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=61704401&postcount=2507
2014 - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=65718189&postcount=1779
2015 - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=68610926&postcount=1582
2015 - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=68611448&postcount=1583
2016 - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=70847228&postcount=1688
2016 - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=70847233&postcount=16890 -
littlemissbossy wrote: »Just a bit of a question regarding spending money.
In the past we usually take travellers cheques, I know a lot of people don't use them but they've always worked well for us.
I was just looking at the Post Office website and it appears now that they are charging commission on travellers cheques. So this being a money saving site I want to avoid that.
I know when we check in to our hotel they take a swipe of our credit card for anything we charge to our room but I was wondering how that would work when we wanted our gambling "cash". Do we get it from the Cashier and they charge it to our room? :embarasse
We've been to Vegas a lot but we've always taken travellers cheques and a small amount of cash so I'm just after a little bit of advice please.
I popped money on to a Revolut (they charge for £200+ now so maybe something else like Monzo would be better now?) and withdrew cash from a regular ATM (off-strip is slightly cheaper).0 -
Trip Report
Nights: 13 night holiday (7 nights in Vegas, 1 Grand Canyon, 5 Los Angeles)
Plan: Vegas, Grand Canyon & Los Angeles
Notes: Our 2nd time in Vegas (first being 3 nights as part of a SF, LA, SD & Vegas trip)
Flights:
15th May, LHR to LAX - Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy
28th May, LAX to LHR - Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy
We got a great deal on flights. Bought them on sale for £864.57pp!
Car:
Avis (Preferred Plus) Class E (full-size) - got a Nissan Altima - £242.88
Hotels:
Monday 15th May: Sheraton Ontario Airport
Tuesday 16th May (3 nights): Monte Carlo, The Strip
Friday 19th May: Days Inn, Williams, Arizona
Saturday 20th May (2 nights): 4 Queens, Downtown
Monday 22nd May (2 nights): Rio, Off-Strip
Wednesday 24th May (4 nights): Airbnb in Los Angeles
Most of the hotels were on sale. We paid for upgrades for both Monte Carlo & Rio!
Shows:
Thursday 18th May: Love @ The Mirage
Monday 22nd May: Penn & Teller @ Rio
Tuesday 23rd May: Ka @ MGM Grand
Brought with us:
$100 cash (leftover from previous USA holiday)
Revolut card
Aqua Reward (foreign free spend)
---
Monday 15th May
We arrived at ~4pm local time. We knew we would be jet lagged so we booked a hotel the Vegas side of LA. It took a good 2 hour drive to get to the hotel.
We booked the "business lounge" - which includes 24-hour free snacks and sodas as well as breakfast. We paid using miles-and-more points (we never usually fly with them so had to burn them somehow!).
The room was nice, but there was a ringing coming from the ventilation. They moved us to a different room and comped us two drinks. My wife didn't fancy anything (flight sickness) so I took two whiskey cokes to the room for myself... it was more whiskey than coke!
Tuesday 16th May
We set out on our drive to Vegas! We stopped by at Peggy's Sues to look at the "Diner-Saur Park" which was an amusing way to stretch our legs!
We also made a small stop at Primm to look at the V̶i̶k̶k̶i̶ ̶&̶ ̶V̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ Bonnie & Clyde death car!
Once we arrived at our hotel there was a minor glitch. The guys at the check-in counter of the Monte Carlo said "the room you booked isn't available, but it would be ready within 20 minutes". We were told to go to the 32nd floor with a room key and we would get a text which room it is when we can enter. Needless to say, it took over an hour and they removed 2 of the 3 nights resort fees and gave us $75 food & beverage credit!
Wednesday 17th May
We had the Neon Museum booked for the morning. It's a great museum!
We then spent the afternoon sat in the MGM Grand Pool!
We used some of our F&B credit to visit the Monte Carlo Buffet. It was nice but nothing special.
Thursday 18th May
We visited the Valley of Fire state park! We had a nice drive around and had our lunch before leaving to go the the Mandalay Bay pool!
We had tickets to see Love at the Mirage; so we went to checkout Grimaldis pizzeria (in the Venetian) before-hand. Signed up to their newsletter and got $5 off! Really good pizza! Was also happy hour so our bill was a few $ cheaper without us realising; score!
Friday 19th May
We left Vegas to spend the day in the Grand Canyon (South Rim). After a good 4 hour drive, we spent the day discovering this natural wonder!
We spent the night in Williams.
Saturday 20th May & Sunday 21st May
We decided to spend the weekend downtown. We spent our nights in the 4 Queens. We asked for a quiet room. The first night was not quiet! They comp'd us $30 for their restaurant (Magnolias Veranda) to apologise.
I only gambled downtown. My luck was running thin in the 4 Queens so I headed over to the Golden Nugget where I came out around ~$200 up so I was well happy!
We also visited the Mob Museum which is fascinating!
Monday 22nd May
We started by having breakfast at the Main Street Station casino hotel. You get a lot of bang for your buck here... $8.99 each!!!
We took a drive around Lake Mead before heading to the Rio where we had a "luxury suite" booked
We watched Penn & Teller at the Rio. After the show, we got selfies with them and they signed my ticket!
Tuesday 23rd May
We visited the Clark County Museum today! It's an open-air museum of historic buildings of Nevada - they moved several here and renovated them!
Our hotel came with $25 F&B credit which was upped to $35 as we decided not to have our room cleaned. We used that to have a nice pizza and some beers (well I had wine, I'm a cider man!) before heading down to check out the pool!
We then headed back to the strip to watch Ka at the MGM. MGM were doing a deal where you sign up to their rewards program, you get 2 free drinks! We both signed up and got 2 drinks (1 in Paris & 1 in Cromwell) while walking the strip back to the shuttle bus to take us back to the Rio.
Wednesday 24th May
We had to leave Vegas today
We headed for Los Angeles where we stayed before heading back Sunday evening... arrive Monday... back to work Tuesday!
When is our next visit?
Unknown, it's quite possible we will do it again next year! We are doing NYC - Washington DC drive in August/September time after which we'll have enough Virgin points for a premium economy return leg ticket. Just need to get a single out (Norwegian Air Premium perhaps...?)!0 -
hi
StuieUK34-sorry to hear about the bad start toyourholiday, a few good wins though and it seems you all had fun and maybe brought some money home!.
a bit of advice never take the ladies shopping !
always tell them you d pick them up in x amount of hours lol
but thanks for the detailed trip report it is always welcomed and very money saving inspiring !
stevenhp1987- thanks for the detailed trip report, seems you had fun also ! My brother and i have done new york-vegas and loved the 2 city break!
thanks to you both again !:T0 -
We did N/Y for the first time last year (although I'm from Philly, never been to N/Y) found it dirty and expensive. Did all the stuff worth doing in 2/3 days then headed south to my homeland. Ahh, bliss.hi
stevenhp1987- thanks for the detailed trip report, seems you had fun also ! My brother and i have done new york-vegas and loved the 2 city break!
thanks to you both again !:TThe common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.0
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