Flights
1. Use my credit cards to build airline miles
2. take advantage of oversold cabins in Southwest for flight credits
3. search all sites for the lowest flights (even if I have to do one-ways or multiple layovers)
4. I will take other forms of transportation such as a car, bus, or train to travel to a lower city to flight out from (also makes for mini-vacays in other cities)
Bonus. I use megabus to travel to Los Angeles or San Francisco as other mini-vacays when i get to Vegas. In advance, these buses are truly $1.
PS. I never have but would take a bus from the east coast to get to Vegas if the price was right
Accommodations
1. I also stay 3 weeks typically in order to make the value of the flight stretch
2. But I am so frugal that I will stay in multiple places for the best rates (but this also ends up feeling like multiple mini-vacays....although this is starting to get to be a real hassle with all the resort fees/incidentals and other crap I have to take care of nowadays)
3. I love hotwire, priceline for their secret rates/bidding to get rock bottom prices
4. I am a huge fan of myvegas and have gotten so many great deals through them over the years
5. I am not above staying at a motel, particularly if it's a crazy weekend that I can not afford. I adore Days Inn Wild Wild West although the area can be quite seedy. The rooms are basic and clean. And the casino is cute and playable. A 24/7 Dennys on-property and laundry doesn't hurt. It also has a superb Dennys breakfast [I]every[/I] morning *complimentary*. There are also places like Baymont Inn off-strip (which is actually very very nice, better than most CET properties). Then there are places like Rodeway Inn near Riviera or Howard Johnson near Hooters that feel much seedier, but I would not be against staying for a night if I really want to go and everywhere is charging $300/night. I am sure this is where most people would draw the line. But then other folks stay for 3 nights and if I was only staying for 3 nights, unless I was staying for a festival or huge once-in-a-lifetime concert during a high-rate weekend, there would be no way I would stay there either. because my trips are long and I stay multiple places, this works out. They usually turn out not to be that bad. I will let you know when it gets bad.
6. Like motels, I am not against staying at lower end properties. Your Circus Circus, Rivieras, Excaliburs, Hooters, and at a point Imperial Palace. I actually quite openly LOVE these places. They take me back in time, they transport me. They are old classics or just plain fun. They make me *happy*. Perhaps they are run-down. But they are enchanting to me. There, I do feel like I am in a Disney World. People often say that "oh it's just a bed", but to me I would actually never want to stay in a place that does not make me ecstatic and feel like "I'm in Vegas baby!" These properties fall into the "just bed" category for most but for me they are sacred. Their prices make them jewels to me. I can stay at these places for a full vacation, no matter how short or long.
7. I stay at higher end properties too but only if they comp me (or severely discount the rates)...and strangely they do! In order, I love Wynn, Mandalay, Caesars (not the rooms), Cosmopolitan, VP! Ahhhh. I am ready to go right now! And with my handy dandy research skills I have not spent too much on them. I use my lower rates to offset my higher rates.
8. A Diamond TR friend of mine once helped me book a room at IP or now Linq for $10/night with the friends and family rate. Sooooo score.
9. In the past, I used to stay off-strip as a rule on the weekends to save money but then I realized that I just do not like staying off-strip (even though i do love so many off-strip prices). Lucky for me I have been able to stay on the strip with nice deals. Occasionally still I will use a downtown comp to cover a weekend. Otherwise, hotwire is my favorite website to cover a weekend on the strip, because I do not often get comped on weekends on the strip. Also, during the winter, especially in dead week before christmas, weekends on the strip are so doable, you can find excellent rates on regular websites.
10. I will tip for an upgrade!
Shopping
1. Ross--end of story
2. Souvenir shops downtown or at Circus Circus
3. Window shopping at Forum shops/fashion show mall (buy most things online)
Attractions
1. Free circus acts at Circus Circus or free midway games from the fun booklet, also free adventuredome rides in the booklet
2. Free and discounted rates in the fun booklet for food and fun at Excalibur and Luxor
3. 3 for $57 deal at Luxor
4. LVA/ACG coupons
5. Costumes everywhere downtown and on the strip is a free attraction for me
6. People-watching of course
7. Hotel arcades
8. Walking the strip, taking photos, selfies
9. Entertainment on the strip like dancers and dancing fountains
Entertainment
1. Groupon, goldstar, halfpriceshows.com, vegas4locals, travelzoo, bookit.com to get discounted rates on shows (sometimes offered as a package with the hotel...ironically never used tix4tonight because I usually find better deals and far in advance)
2. $1 Tuesdays at Tropicana Cinema, $5 Mondays at Palms, $5 Tuesdays at orleans for movies
3. Free coupons for shows on the strip like ACG Riviera comedy, Marc Savard, Divas, Nathan Burton, Mac King
4. Timeshare presentations
5. TV previews (some offer cash or gift cards, discounted rates on things) and taste testers at Ballys, Hard Rock cafe, Twin Peaks, and most importantly MGM Grand
6. Hotel discounts on big production shows like Le Reve, LOVE, Mystere, KA and myvegas of course
7. Local entertainment such as Onyx Theatre, Cockroach theatre, Smith Center, Las Vegas Little Theatre
8. Guestlist passes on line for dayclubs and nightclubs (sometimes comes with free drinks for ladies)
9. Free cover nights at bars, ultralounges and karaoke citywide
10. Free drinks in the Excalibur/Luxor booklet
11. Free time at the pool! (Ladies are complimentary at most pools)
Gaming
1. I can buy into a $3 table with a $6 buy-in...enough said.
2. I can exclusively play penny slots with a minimum of a 9 cents max line the entire time. For what I like, I am certainly getting my entertainment's worth (or play exacrly 1 cent at a time on a penny keno machine--lots of fun!)
3. I try to play for as many hours as possible with $100 when I am "really" playing
4. I hop slots and I call this a frugal move because I hop them as soon as I have played 3-5 measly units of a few cents a spin to see if it likes me!
5. I can have $20 bucks for a session
6. I can take out only $40 from an atm (from an atm that is charging me $5.99 plus other charges...I guess this part is not so frugal--rather care free) when I want to play more and I do not want to leave the casino
7. I can walk a far distance to get to a $1 atm at Casino Royale when I am in the mood
8. Win cards
9. $1 and $3 BJ at Riviera
10. I have traveled to the ends of Vegas for gaming deals, lower limits and better odds including downtown, boulder highway, henderson, summerline, the water area, and even outside in laughlin (free bus ride out here with several deals)
Food
1. Fun booklets
2. restaurant.com
3. LVA and ACG coupons
4. comps, dining credits, free buffets with hotel packages
5. myvegas
6. Eating downtown and off-strip (cheaper), particularly $6 buffets, $4 pancakes and eggs, $11.99 ribs and chicken, etc
7. arriving between breakfast and lunch for the buffet (I do not mind paying the lunch price and gladly will/do but I do this more to get more bang for my buck---i get breakfast and lunch dishes...and usually do not eat for the rest of the day)
8. $1 dollar menu at Mcds, $1 fried oreos/twinkies and $1 hot dogs at Mermaids, $1.99 footlong hotdogs at Casino Royale and other chains
9. food courts
10. stocking up on snacks from stores
11. Order-in food
12. Sign up for the "clubs" at chain restaurants and use their free coupons (they also offer one for your birthday and other discounts throughout the year)
Transportation
1. Shuttle or wax from the airport
2. Deuce everywhere ($34 for 15 days at 7-eleven or Walgreens...taxi only in extreme cases) or hotel shuttles
3. Walking mostly (and I have walked from the strip to downtown a number of times)
Miscellaneous
1. I not only budget my money, I budget my time and space. I do advance planning to make sure I take full advantage of the area I am staying in so that I do not have to use the deuce or taxi as much. I can a lot more things, cover a lot more ground. Where you stay is also where you get more discounts. Each area has their own frugal gems. It also saves me time. By budgeting my time, I am able to fit in as much low-cost things into a day as possible. Ultimately receiving more bang for my buck not only through budgeting money but also through budgeting time and space.
2. I play for comps. Yes, I do not believe I would play for anything more than $20 at a time if not for the possibility of comps. Gaming is fun (like an arcade) but it's not my main source of entertainment like shows, pools...and even hotels. So if I can game a little (totally way within my budget) and get a nice hotel in the future, why not? I gain entertainment within the time of playing and in the future with staying at a nice place. Ultimately me playing for comps is a bargain because I keep my play under a certain condition.
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