My December 2014 Trip to Las Vegas

Last minute vacation planning is always a rush of “get it now or lose it” – “is it the best that we can do” – “we already saw or went there let’s do something different” – “that is too expensive too short or too long”.

MY December 2014 vacation planning had several limitations.

Vacation budget $1000 – somewhere warmer than Canada in December with sunshine.

My other half had to take 7 vacation days by Dec 31 – also had to work Dec 29, 30 and Jan 2nd. I had to work until Dec 16 and be back Dec 31.

We checked the early December cruise prices departing from Florida.  The cruises starting Dec 6, 7, 13, 14 were all priced at $450 and over Christmas at $1,200. I will have to wait until April or September to get the cruises at $400.

The only vacations that were priced lower up to and over Christmas was Las Vegas.

I checked all the “special last minute email offers” and actually found one that worked for us.

I checked the online coupons and found Las Vegas BOGO offers for dinners, shows, attractions, spa visits and ads for “boxing day specials” at the outlet malls.

I checked the blackout periods for the “Total rewards” and “MyVegas” rewards to see what we could get for free.

So the December 2014 trip to Las Vegas was a go.

Dec 17 to 26 – flights and nine nights – paid and comp nights at Paris, Excalibur and Circus Circus using Expedia.ca for $555 Canadian per person.

Used tix4tonight.com for show discounts to Gordie Brown at the Golden Nugget and Suda at the Laugh Factory at the Tropicana. Both shows were excellent and I recommend them.

Used “MyVegas” rewards for free buffets at Aria and Mirage, used coupons for Tony Roma’s Surf and Turf at 11.99, shrimp cocktails at Golden Gate for 1.99, frozen Margaritas for 99 cents at Fremont, breakfast buffets at Main Street Station for 6.99. Yes I gained 10 pounds over the 9 days.

Saw all the free shows – volcano, fountains, Fremont Street, Circus Circus, Christmas lights and decorations everywhere, street performers and house bands.

Boxing day at the Outlet mall was crazy but got $150 walking shoes for $25 – my other half got $400 leather boots for $40.  We are both happy.

Used the Bell Trans shuttle to get to and from the airport – roundtrip was $16. Used two RTC 3 day passes for $20 to get everywhere else in Vegas.

Flights, rooms, food, local transportation and entertainment costs per day about $82 Canadian.

Gambling wins and losses – another story – later.

Baadster