Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Vegas Trip Planning II - Research Resources

                                              Copyright CC0 Creative Commons via Pixabay



This is the second entry in a series of Vegas trip planning articles to assist future visitors whom have made the decision to live it up on a Vegas trip. In this article, we'll consider some local factors that affect planning and costs, along with a listing of some useful websites for trip research / options and pricing.

In the first article, we addressed some of the basic choices travelers need to determine before a  trip to la-la land. Throughout the planning process, the amount of total trip time and a budget will obviously affect every decision regarding transportation, lodging, dining, shows, attractions, gambling, and sanity preservation, among others.

Las Vegas is truly among the lower total cost tourist destinations in the domestic US. With current average daily room rates at $125 - $130 per night (one can beat those average rates via budgeted research ; add $10 - $50 resort fees plus 13.38% taxes per night) and the lowest average round trip airfare costs ($234) among 25 top US cities, Vegas annually ranks among the most affordable in the US , assuming gambling costs are kept in check.

  

Las Vegas is famously hot from May through September (routinely over 100 degrees F in June, July , and August). The average weather conditions may or may not affect your decision/s on trip dates..but it may impact your activities and plans while in town. You'll have plenty of options to enjoy the cool AC in all those resorts during the hot summer months. Vegas receives just over 4 inches of annual precipitation..might not need to pack that umbrella.

Vegas is subject to the laws of supply and demand like all tourist destinations, and that fact can significantly affect your travel costs. Larger crowd numbers (during conventions, special events, and on weekends) lead to higher costs for most things. Room costs are typically cheaper Sunday through Thursday unless there's a massive convention / event taking place. If you don't have comped room offers and  have the option, travel during weekdays and avoid big holidays / conventions / events. Refer to these Las Vegas convention and event calendar resources to determine options ( if you have options) for your trip dates.

 Websites for Vegas trip planning 

There are literally hundreds of online resources that are potentially useful to do research, plan, and/or book flights, rooms, transportation, rental cars, attractions, dining, events, tours, and all else for Vegas travel. Obtaining that "best deal" for anything often requires multiple site visits and revisits and cost comparisons between sites. Some sites offer "deal alerts" that travelers can sign up for even after initial bookings which allows cancellation and re-booking of a better deal. Always make bookings that give you the option for cancellation  in the early phases of planning because better pricing deals often become available. Below is a categorized listing for some of the best linked online sites for researching multiple Vegas options and Vegas travel in our experience.

 

Las Vegas local sites/ blogs /research/tips and discounts / message boards 

                                                                                                                                                       

Visit Las Vegas
Viator (Las Vegas)
Best of Vegas
Travel Vegas
Las Vegas Jaunt
Vegas.com
Trip Advisor Las Vegas Forum
Mark's Las Vegas 
SmarterVegas 
Vital Vegas 
Vegas Message Boards
Las Vegas Weekly
Cheapo Vegas
Vegas4locals 
Eater Vegas
Vegas RTC Bus system
Las Vegas Monorail
Las Vegas taxis
Las Vegas Uber
Las Vegas Lyft 
Airlines serving McCarran Airport
McCarran Airport Shuttles
McCarran Rent-a-Car Center
Las Vegas 4 Newbies
Smartertravel (Las Vegas)
Trip Savvy (Las Vegas)
Five Hundy by Midnight podcast

 

Vegas travel aggregator / packages sites

Hotwire  
Trip Advisor  
Southwest Vacations



Always verify tips/ info gleaned from websites regarding anything. Las Vegas sheds it's skin and changes constantly rendering some info  either potentially inaccurate or obsolete. Seven come eleven. The above should aid Vegas trippers in discovering options for trip planning and an idea of potential costs. In the ensuing article, we'll outline an order of trip planning tenets and begin to pull together an overall Vegas getaway approach.

Cheers...


                                                                                                                                     













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Mostly Useless (and approximate) Las Vegas Facts

1. Number of Las Vegas citizens   500,000
2. Number of Clark County residents   1,500,000
3. Year first casino licensed   1931
4. Number of slot machines in Vegas   200,000
5. Number of annual Vegas visitors   40,000,000 (and dropping)
6. Number of licensed gambling entities   1700
7. Hours per day average visitor gambles   4
8. Annual state gaming revenue   9 billion (and dropping)
9. Average gambling budget per trip   560  (and dropping)
10. Mean price per acre in valley   161,000.00
11. Price per acre on the Strip   11,000,000.00
12. Number of  hotel rooms   137,000 +
13. Number of pillowcases washed at MGM daily   15,000
14. Number of doors at MGM  18,000 
15. Annual no. toilet paper rolls used at Bally's   1 million
16. Lucky The Clown marquee sign at Circus Circus has
      1232 fluorescent bulbs, 14,498 incandescent bulbs, and
      3/4 mile of neon tubing light  (no wonder they're replacing
      it!)
17. In good times, Excalibur goes through over 44,000 
      Cornish game hens, 15 thousand pounds of hamburger
      meat, and 4200 pounds of prime rib monthly
18. Caesar's Palace has used 2 million plus maraschino 
      cherries, 11 thousand ounces of caviar, 2 million ounces
      of tomato juice, and close to 600 thousand ounces of
      vodka yearly (bloody mary winner?)
19. Mandalay Bay has 5,300 palm trees and their wave pool
      has a capacity of 1,640,270 gallons of water
20. Average nightly room rate  119.00 (and dropping)
21. Average number of Vegas weddings per day   300+
22. Number of golf courses  37
23. Miles of neon tubing on the Strip and Downtown  15,000
24. State's nationwide rank in gold production  1st
25. Cost of Nevada marriage license   35.00
26. Average cost of filing for divorce  450.00
27. Average length of stay for visitors    3.7 days
28. Number of hosted conventions annually  3750
29. The electric bill to operate the Luxor pyramid beam is
      approximately 55.00 per hour.
30. Las Vegas has 17 of the world's 20 largest hotels   



"WHERE'S MY WALLET , ETHEL!? "

Just a cautionary tip when in Vegas.. there are active
pickpockets all over town. I experienced this first-hand
and came within 10 seconds of losing my cash stash last July
while visiting one of those upper end joints on the strip.

I was gambling significantly at a video poker machine, unabashedly slipping C-notes in them. Somebody had been
observing my wagering behavior. I was happily winning at the time and my cautionary tendencies regarding my bankroll
money went south and out the window.

A lady approached me from behind as I played and was all aglow with my run of good luck. She initiated a conversation about nothing and anything . I was concentrating on proper VP strategy and responding to her comments with a lot of "yeah-yeahs". I was fortunate enough to get ahead on the machine again and I cashed out. I had a satchel (I normally never gamble under those conditions) with me that had assorted trip stuff in it. The satchel presence and the relatively high denomination coin-in amount collectively screamed " please rob me!" I placed my wallet in the satchel along with the machine cash-out tickets and proceeded to reconnect with my family and head to our room.

I had developed a sense of cautionary unease as I mulled over the contact with the effusively talkative woman at the VP machine. My senses told me that something about that encounter was skewed, although at the time I didn't know what it was and I wasn't bleeding profusely..yet. My group then proceeded to meander through a very crowded slot machine aisle and some other 6th, 7th, or 8th sense that vaguely detected an impersonal yet succinct encroachment into my personal space kicked in. Instinctively, I immediately dug into the satchel to locate my wallet and it was gone. I then immediately turned around and backtracked about ten feet (a matter of maybe 3 seconds, tops) as my endogenous adrenaline kicked in. I'm not sure that my hair wasn't on fire briefly.

I then spotted my wallet (and life) in a woman's hand who was playing a slot machine. I walked straight at her and demanded it post-haste in a tone that screamed seriousness. I immediately grabbed the wallet and called for security. The woman claimed she picked it up off the floor and so did the man (her accomplice) behind her, both vowing that they were planning to remit it to the security desk. My svelte ass they were.

This team of thieves including the woman who was all goony-googoo at the VP machine were pros. I have to claim part of the blame for the openly careless manner I had displayed with my money. They were held by security and the eye-in-the-sky tapes were to be reviewed.

The good thing is I didn't lose a cent because my peripheral senses kicked in immediately and they didn't have time to bury the evidence ( perhaps they weren't the best of pros?). Take heed folks..these people are everywhere in Vegas. Know where your cash is at all times; take precautions to protect it, don't flaunt it around carelessly as I did, and if you sense something is awry while gambling trust your instincts.

Distractions from one member of a team of thieves is a common MO. Store your gambling session monies in a front pants pocket or in one of those god-awful front-loaded fanny packs (pride be damned). The lesson I learned here after several years of Vegas gambling experiences turned out to be one of the most valuable for me personally.


Cheers..
Chuck60