UPDATE on Saving a few bucks in Vegas

When you go to Las Vegas, whether for business or pleasure, you probably would like to conserve as much cash as you can.

Hotels started to jack their prices up a couple of years back, when they decided that they wanted to keep Las Vegas an "adult" fun zone. (What HAPPENS in Vegas STAYS in Vegas.) Cab rides went through the roof (and still remain there.) Car rentals became more and more expensive. Splashy shows can cost a hundred dollars a seat and more.

Las Vegas is in a funk. Business is off in the hotels and casinos, and airlines are not filling their planes, even with fewer flights. So the entire city is resorting to something they teach you in MBA class -- "Yield Marketing." That means if you can't sell it for the published price, LOWER the price until it DOES sell. That's exactly what they are doing.

Here are links to two separate stories from the Arizona REPUBLIC of Sunday, February 8th. (If you have any difficulty reading them -- it happens -- email me, and I will send you the stories as PDF files):

1. JACKPOT for Low Rollers
2. Hot Deals in Las Vegas

Both of these stories have GREAT TIPS on how to get onboard for deals in the future, and deals DO appear regularly. Many hotel specials pop up in the summer and are good through early winter, but many have a limited window for making reservations. I made THREE reservations last August at the GOLD COAST, one of Sam Boyd's hotels, across the street from RIO. From December through January I paid $25 PER NIGHT, which included a $20 food credit (breakfast was about $5 at a spectacular buffet), a $20 slot machine credit which I burned off and left with $12.50 in cash, and a $10 coupon for TGI Friday's. I recall waiting for the elevator with a couple of people, looking out the window at The PALMS, and observing, "For another couple hundred bucks a night, we could be staying THERE."

A couple of more things. In Las Vegas a rental car is a convenience more than a necessity. But if you could rent a new car for $10 a day, would that interest you? If you want to see a show, there are two ticket outlets on the strip which sell unsold tickets on the day of a performance for a particular show. Tickets are about half price. If you want two tickets, there is a CHANCE that the seats may not be together, but if you want to see a show badly enough, it shouldn't be a problem.

These numbers can change radically and overnight! Some friends asked me to find them a deal for a weekend in early March. You know what the NCAA basketball March Madness is? Well. this year, it's in Las Vegas. Not only are real DEALS few and far between, but many prices triple and quadruple for weekends, returning to sanity on Sunday night or Monday after the event.

One more item: sInce November Las Vegas hotels have instituted a nightly "Resort Tax" which is supposed to cover parking and/or local phone calls and/or 800-number calls, etc. The strange thing is that each resort, each hotel has its own charge, and it doesn't seem to be a percentage of the nightly rate. For one it may be $3; for another under the same ownership it may be $6. This is not unlike the quaint "facilities charge" of the airlines, where you pay each time you get onto another plane. The hotels could, of course, just raise the rates by $3 or $6 or whatever. Don't ask me....

If you are interested in any of this, I will take the time to put further information up here, information which WILL save you money. There are little insider secrets that I can share with you, and I am happy to. Send me an email, and depending upon response, I may post some ideas in here.

Meanwhile, you can CLICK HERE and download a PDF file of an article from the Los Angeles TIMES, published the day after Christmas..

Thanks, and I hope we can help. Frank & Linda