Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

stoneman wrote: »

I know with AA and NWA you can bag extra legroom while checking in online.

Well, that's one more in the plus column for going with AA for our trip September/October then. Thanks!

duchy

I never knew that-probably because by that point I usually have them already.
I was amazed to be able to get exit rows on all four flights for our August September trip this week on NW and Delta (admittedly with status but last year it was impossible by this point)

tingtong

I was sent a PM this week asking me about Players Clubs, as I’d mentioned joining quite a few on our recent trip. Now I’m certainly no expert, the only info I have is what I’ve read on here, researched myself on the net and my recent experience when joining them myself. However, I’ll do a little summary and as long it’s informative enough, maybe Trets could add some of it to the first page of this thread (just a thought so it can be found easily).

List of main Players Clubs on or within walking distance to the strip:

Total Rewards
Ballys, Caesars, Flamingo, Harrah's, Imperial Palace, Paris, Rio

Players Club
Bellagio, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Mirage, Monte Carlo, NYNY, Treasure Island

Red Card
Wynn, Encore

Club Grazie
Venetian, Palazzo

A-List
Planet Hollywood

Players Card
Casino Royale

Passport Players Club
Ellis Island


List of Players Clubs off-strip (vehicle required):

Boarding Pass
Boulder Station, Green Valley Ranch, Palace Station, Red Rock, Santa Fe Station, Sunset Station, Texas Station, Aliante Station

American Can Club
Cannery, Eastside Cannery

Club Coast
Gold Coast, Orleans, Suncoast, Sam’s Town

The Club
South Point

Imagine Rewards
M Resort

One Card
Terrible’s

Club Uno
Monte Lago Casino


You can sign up for these clubs at the casino, you just need to have some photo ID – I used my UK photo driving licence which was accepted everywhere. Some also allow you to sign up online (in advance) but I don’t believe you qualify for some of the ‘freebies’ on offer. Also, where there are multiple casinos in one club, you can only sign up once so you should check which one offers the best deal for you. I found a list of sign-up offers on the following website, although they do seem to change quite often:
http://www.advantageplayer.com/lasvegas/index.html?content=/lasvegas/promotions/slotsignups.shtml

Now, people ask, is it worth signing up ? Well, it’s free for a start. What I did was try to join early in the morning, either before or after breakfast, as there were not really any queues. It only takes about 2 mins and once you have joined not only should you get some sort of freebie (slot play, vouchers etc), but as long as you put your card in the slot machines as you play them, you will start to build up points which may help you qualify for reduced rate or even ‘comped’ rooms in the future. It’s impossible for me to say how much you would need to spend but some people on here have received ‘comped’ rooms for relatively small amounts of slot play.

Hope this is not too long-winded and if anyone wants to add (or correct !) anything, please feel free. I just hope it explains things clearly enough for those who are not familiar.

tingtong

Odyssey wrote: »

Thank you so much for telling me to pick my seats now! I've just booked our seats so at least I know we are sitting together! I think we will check in online 24 hrs beforehand to try and get the extra legroom seats and then go to a hotel nearer the airport for the night.
Just got to decide on our hotels now from all the reviews on here and the offers available!

Just remember if you book anything at the moment, make sure it's a refundable offer so you can cancel if something better comes up before you fly out. The way the offers have gone over the last few months, they do seem to be getting cheaper and cheaper. I mean, a couple of months back I was sent an email offering Planet Hollywood from $49 a night. Just over 6 months ago it would have been double that.

tingtong

pebblesmax wrote: »

MSS have an area near to the players club that has free WiFi too.

There's also a new Apple Store in the Caesar's mall, so free wifi there as well now.

Could we not (between us all) compile a list of all these free wifi places and store them online, on something like Google Docs ? Then when someone is about to fly out they can just print off a list - and it will just get bigger over time.

Steveswift

Hi all,

Just got back from Tunica for an Elvis MIL 70th birthday present. Went really well, but made miss Vegas soooooo much.

Any way wife was planning to take me to Gibraltar for my 50th on May 20th. ( i am an ex service man who lived there for 3 years) Any way long story short...... " a weekend in Gib i could get to vegas for that ish".

So am off in 16 days........... swwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeettttttttt

I have to do it as cheap as poss ( I mean really.............. same price as Gib heheheheheh )

Checking in here for details on the Orleans i bumped into a deal on fro the Gold coast, check it, sounds good book it, under $300 for 7 days.

Flights, i can get indirect from Gatwick for £302 per person, any better deals. I have checked back on the site and cant see anything better, is any one aware of a better deal?

Cheers all, site as good as always.

" Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear VEGAS traveller, happy birthday to me":beer:

Steve ( nearly 50 )

Froggitt

The Fremont street experience

Free Wifi - Venetian casino. Google Maps a better idea.

tingtong

Steveswift wrote: »

Flights, i can get indirect from Gatwick for £302 per person, any better deals. I have checked back on the site and cant see anything better, is any one aware of a better deal?

Have a look on https://www.kayak.co.uk and also on Netflights.

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

tingtong wrote: »

but as long as you put your card in the slot machines as you play them, you will start to build up points which may help you qualify for reduced rate or even ‘comped’ rooms in the future. It’s impossible for me to say how much you would need to spend but some people on here have received ‘comped’ rooms for relatively small amounts of slot play.

Great summary, Steve! I would add to check before checking out if you qualify for any reduced rates to those you booked based on your play. If you've booked through a 3rd party then they won't be able to do anything, but if you've booked direct then maybe you will be pleasantly surprised.

And on the Harrah's properties - Total Rewards - you can easily see how much you have in comps you can use that trip...each reward credit is worth $0.01 (and you can always see how many you have by putting your card in the machine and reading the display)...and you can use them towards most restaurants (not all, Mon Ami Gabi is an example where you can't)...so even if you only have a few dollars earned you may as well use them. For MGM and the others, it's not nearly as clear.

And some players clubs entitle you to a discount in the restaurants/shops, etc...so worth asking.

Ultimately no one should ever play for comps - but you may as well take what they'll give you for playing as you normally would.

tingtong

Froggitt wrote: »

Free Wifi - Venetian casino. Google Maps a better idea.

OK, Google Maps a good idea. What would be good is to find a free wi-fi location somewhere inside (or closeby) each of the main hotels on the strip, right from Mandalay Bay to Stratosphere, then a few around Freemont St.

I've made a start on a rough list for now:

Apple Store - Fashion Show Mall
Apple Store - Caesar's
Betty's Diner - Imperial Place
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf - PH Hotel - Miracle Mile
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf - The Venetian
Denny’s - near Casino Royale
ESPN Zone - NYNY Hotel
Fortuna Coffee/Wine Bar - Las Vegas Hilton
Kahunaville Island Restaurant - Treasure Island
Krispy Kreme - Freemont St
Krispy Kreme - Excalibur Hotel
Main Street Station Hotel, Lobby & Players Gold room
McCarran Airport
McDonald's - near MGM and Casino Royale
MGM Signature - Hotel, Lobby & Surrounding Area
Palazzo - Lobby Area
Saks Fifth Avenue - Fashion Show Mall
Sugar & Ice - Wynn Hotel
Terrace Point Cafe - Wynn Hotel
UPS Store - Flamingo Hotel
Venetian - Casino Area


It would be great if everyone could PM me with some additions for the list. I will keep editing this post to keep the list 'live' then as Froggitt suggests we could save it into a Google Map that everyone can access.

Oh, by the way, here's a list I found of wi-fi locations across Nevada:

http://www.wi-fi-map.com/nevada.php

Maybe useful for people who are out and about and need internet access.