The concept is rad – stretching your travel dollars as far as they can go when you’re on vacation. Nowadays, everyone is keen to get more bang for their buck wherever possible. Today, we’re racing to entertainment central – fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Our tips will save you a pretty penny on your wild adventures. With travel and tourism prices hitting the stratosphere, money-saving tips are more important than ever.
Timing is everything 🕤
Believe it or not, almost every vacation destination is seasonally priced or, at the very least, demand/supply priced. That means wide price fluctuations are likely, depending on when you go. Here are a few nifty travel tips to help you time your vacation to perfection. Weekdays are substantially cheaper than weekends in Sin City. Why?
It’s basic supply and demand.
People get time off on weekends, and that’s when they flock to Las Vegas en masse. While the best pokies like flowers can be played online, people still enjoy going to Vegas for in person gambling, and they do so at the weekend. Expect to pay several hundred percent more for a Friday night and Saturday night than you do for Monday through Thursday. Plus, you enjoy the added benefit of less congestion during the week.
This means that you can move around more easily, book shows more easily, play the best gaming tables without fighting your way through the crowds, drop big dollars at the tables, or simply move & groove to the rhythm of the beat at the casino nightclubs. There’s a reason why all the travel and tourism websites tout weekday specials as the best time to go if you’re on a budget.
Location, location, location 🏩
You’ve heard it before – location is everything. You can get cheap accommodations if you stay in a less desirable part of your vacation destination. Cost savings may or may not be commensurate with the benefits you reap because of your location. For example, it will take you longer to get from the north end of the strip to the highly populated and desirable south end of Las Vegas. But hotels and motels are much cheaper on the north end.
That’s why we recommend shopping around for deals. Did you know you can get deep discounts at top resorts like the MGM Grand, the Venetian, Caesars Palace, and even the Bellagio if you shop intelligently. And by that, we mean: use all resources at your disposal, including travel credit cards and the extensive range of offers they have available. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express often offer cashback if you stay at select resorts. It’s a real money saver!
Buy food at grocery stores to cut down on eating out
We agree part of the fun of being a vacation is being able to eat out at restaurants as often as possible. However, you quickly learn that your budget runs dry in Las Vegas faster than a Ferrari moves from 0 to 100 km/h on a track. With that in mind, buy bottled water at CVS, Walgreens or a grocery store and keep it in your room. You can get a 24-pack of water for under five dollars, and you will need it with all the walking around you’ll be doing in Las Vegas. Fruits, snacks, and savoury delights are much cheaper in grocery stores than in restaurants. Trust us on this tip!
Travel options in the city 🚅
Here’s the thing about Las Vegas – it’s a maze of interconnected mega hotels, streets, and stores. If you don’t know it, be prepared to walk extensive distances daily. We’re talking 10,000 to 20,000 steps a day as a standard. Why? Because there are so many attractions everywhere – thousands of slot machines, gaming tables, video poker machines, restaurants, fast food outlets, stores, exhibitions, etc. All this stuff takes up space, and you’ve got to move across it all to get to where you are going.
Even if you can see your destination, it’s further away than you think. Many options for moving about the city are available, notably Uber, Lyft, taxis, buses, and monorails. That’s right, folks, you can catch a six-dollar monorail for a one-way ride or about $15 for a one-day pass with unlimited rides; costs decrease if you buy two, three, four, five, or seven-day passes. Look into it – they are convenient, fast, and easily accessible. Taxis get expensive quickly because traffic is so congested, and you pay even while vehicles are inching.
Enjoy the perks 💵
There’s a lot to be said of gambling perks. For example, you can use your MGM Rewards card every time you gamble to get cashback to upgrade your tier status. The higher you go, the better the rewards. Of course, play responsibly and never lose your shirt chasing a status level.
But there are other perks, too, such as free drinks from cocktail waitresses while you play slots, bet on sports, or gamble at the casino tables. Other benefits include room upgrades, parking passes, show tickets, or restaurant vouchers. Ask, and you may receive!
Also read: Gamers are Making Their Millions Online: Here’s How They’re Doing It