After not visiting Vegas in two years, I'll finally be heading back in a couple of months. I have ~700,000 myVegas rewards points. I'm looking to maximize value, but not necessarily looking to use more of the rewards points than necessary. (I'm in DC and hoping they might eventually have some value at the new MGM being built in National Harbor, MD) I'll be staying for Sun - Tues at Monte Carlo (it's a partial work trip and work is paying for these nights) with a $100 resort credit. I'm staying through the next Mon and currently am planning on spending Wes night at Circus Circus (cheap with $20 drink credit), Thurs - Sat nights downtown, and then Sun night at Westgate (assuming they are still doing Football Central this year). For my first reward, I'm planning on redeeming $50 in freeplay at Monte Carlo For the second, I'd like to do a show - I'm thinking Zumanity (I've already seen LOVE and Ka) The third one I can't seem to decide on, I keep wavering between: A free night redemption on Thursday (what hotel? no clue. plus with $15 redemption fee (unless you can book online now) and resort fees I might prefer to spend a night slumming at Slots of Fun/Circus Circus) A buffet redemption (Bellagio? something less expensive?) $50 drink credit at NYNY (except given my work schedule, I probably wouldn't want to use this until the day I check out of Monte Carlo -- is that allowed?) Sorry for the oversharing --- I guess my question is what would you do? Open to all advice and discussion. THANKS! ETA: I'll be solo all trip.
if you're staying at Monte Carlo, maybe the whisky tasting reward?? its supposed to be pretty good, they have a good selection of bourbons and scotch to try.
You can probably get a free night at Aria (san resort fee) if you want to ugprade frmo Circus Circus on Wednesday. 200k I think though in LP
Not particularly a whiskey fan, but might be fun. I'll look into it. I thought all of the comp room nights required you to pay a $15 booking fee plus resort fee. Do some of the comp nights include resort fee? Side question: how bad is CircusCircus? I don't think I've ever actually been in there even though I used to stay at Riviera from time to time.
You only pay the $15 fee if you call to book the room instead of booking it online through the email they send you. So that shouldn't be a problem. As far as I know, they require the resort fee to be paid on all reward comp night stays, so either way, you will be out $25-$35 in resort fees. As for your third reward, I would lean toward the comp room reward first, then maybe an Aria buffet (get the add-on drink package at the buffet!), then the drink credit last. For the drink credit at NYNY though, you would need an active reservation, so you may need to go to NYNY before checking out at Monte Carlo to get that added onto your player's card to use it later in the day.
It depends on your expectation. CircusCircus is like the run down motel to the Hyatt/Mariott. Obviously if you don't care about a run down hotel that's catered to kids who doesn't really know better then this place is totally fun. I prefer a more updated room with newer furniture and a cleaner feel. To each their own and the price can't be beaten. (depending on what you're paying? it better be in the low double digits). You can probably find low limit tables and slots throughout but it might not be as fun if you're in Casino Royale or anywhere on the strip with a livelier feel to it. You'll probably be sharing the tables with parents taking a break from their children to get some gambling in. In Nov., I'm flying in late and staying at Aria using MyVegas reward for Wed. I paid $35 on resort fee and saved $180+tax on the actual room. No way I would pay $180 for Aria but at $35? That's a steal. If you value your LPs and don't want to drop 200k of it on a hotel or use 1 of your 3 rewards, then you can always choose to stay at other resorts for lesser LP. Only problem is if you have to stay additional nights (I'm assuming you're only staying at CircusCircus for one night?) then you'll have to pay the price for the room which could ne out of your budget. Obviously you don't mind moving around, so you might want to spend one night at CircusCircus and then use a free stay on Aria or something to see what your preference is. LP Price for comp night Sun-Thurs. Aria 200K <-- highly recommended but will take up a lot of your LP, IMO rewards starting to suck lately in Vegas anyways so I had a ton saved up for no reason.. that's my reasoning. If you want to save some for future resorts that might be openining near your home - then this might not be the best option for you. Manadaly 67.5k <-- It's good, but you're kind of far off from the center of the strip. But Mandalay Bay is pretty consistent. Mirage 52.5k <-- You're near everything. Room has been "updated". It's pretty good pick. MGM - 30k~ <-- meh... it's OK. Rest: like 15k. If you like the theme hotels you can always go Luxor or Excaliber over CircusCircus. You have no reason to due to what's listed above... IMO because all these other hotels are probably same price and you can use MyVegas on it for a night comp'd.
Thanks -- for some reason I had it in my head that you HAD to book the comp nights on the phone and that's why the $15 fee annoyed me so much. I HATE resort fees, but I accept that they are just the way it is in LV. I have never been a huge fan of Aria --- maybe because I associate it with work/conventions. But I might need to consider its buffet. I usually try to stay at Cosmo and hit up the Wicked Spoon - how would Aria buffet compare? Would you go with the drink credit @ NYNY over freeplay? Does a comp night work for using a reward that requires a one night stay or does it need to be a paid night? Thank you so much for all of the wonderful advice. I'm thinking the Mirage might be a good choice as I haven't stayed in that area of the strip before. I do love checking out new places, so don't mind switching hotels every night if it eases my explorations. For Thursday night, I was able to grab a $114 rate at Delano with a $100 resort credit and $60 breakfast credit using AmEx FHR --- so I'm rejiggering some of my plans to make that my splash out day (dinner at Aureole or Fleur or ?). And based on your advice, I'm probably dropping Circus Circus. I don't mind dive-y, but don't really go to Vegas for screaming kids -- I get my fill of that on my Disney trips.
I consider Aria's buffet the top of the line of MGM Resort buffets. I would give the nod to Aria's buffet over Wicked Spoon, but just barely. I like both of them, but my preference would be Aria's. As for drink credit versus Freeplay... If I was with a group of folks, I'd lean toward the drink credit. By myself, the Freeplay.
