Surprisingly Few LVA Coupon Users

Thanks for that tip. I didn't know that though my July trip will be a long solo one so I could see, potentially, visiting a couple of places twice.

 

I am not only shocked that the subscriber base is 15k, I am shocked there are any left at all! Years ago, I joined LVA because I wanted the coupon book (there was an amazing one for The Palms - I think it was something like 50% off a meal and I used it at a Mexican restaurant I used to love there called Garduno's) and I found the members on the forum to be the most disgusting, nasty, rude people I have ever encountered online. They were truly a miserable bunch. Luckily I found this board after ditching LVA, but I'm sure most people here also realize that most internet message forums are not as civilized as this one is.

Upon looking at the current crop of LVA coupons, I can see why it has severely dwindled. The majority of travelers to Vegas will never see most of the places listed. Are the few paltry coupons for the D, Four Queens, Paris and Mandalay Bay House of Blues worth $37? I don't think so. You have to spend $37 to join LVA in order to get the coupons, so right there you are in the hole, and the first $37 you save is basically breaking even. There is nothing - not one thing - in the LVA book I would ever use.

I think that the rise of MyVegas, the Wynn app and others have really tolled the Death Bell for LVA and ACG coupons. Why pay $37 for access to a bunch of mediocre deals when you can play a game for free in your spare time (some people buy chips in the games but it's not mandatory) and get way better real world rewards? Even though the MyVegas rewards are not exactly as great as they once were, they are still far more enticing than anything the LVA is offering.

 

Sure we all have preferences, and certainly some, like you, can/will prefer MyVegas over spending money for the LVA coupon book. But, how about comparing $37 to hours of time spent playing MyVegas?. Many hours! So it's not "free", even if you enjoy playing the games, as it takes hours of your time. Add the increasing difficultly of using the MyVegas awards. The LVA coupons don't require a stay at that hotel to use the coupon.

LVA freeplay/matchplay coupons aren't disallowed if you are staying on a casino offer with freeplay like MyVegas freeplay awards do. Even a low roller will get freeplay with their MLife hotel offers, and so won't be able to use myvegas freeplay offers. That's a significant obstacle to using offers. I have tons of unused MyVegas points which I can't really use for anything I want/need, because my offers tend to come with freeplay and food credits, making the use of MyVegas freeplay and comp food offers just about impossible to use!

Sure, depending on where you like to go, the LVA coupons might not fit your itinerary, but MyVegas has issues as well.

I totally agree with the forum comment though.

 

How would this be an issue with this year's Boyd coupons? The only potential gaming overlap I see is the Orleans $10 matchplay. Which other Boyd gaming coupons do you see being an issue to use "both"? For non gaming, there is a bit of potential overlap, but that is probably only going to be an issue if you are going to eat two buffet meals in a day at the same buffet. So, I don't see coupon overlap at Boyd being a factor for most people.

 

It does if you have both books (ACG and LVA).

It is only a problem at Boyd casinos, nowhere else as far as I know. Also since some time my drivers license (not US) is not good any more. Need the passport. Most other places accept the driver's license. Boyd.

 

Ahh, you’re right... they don’t have most of the Boyd matchplays in LVA this year.

 

While I agree that our time is worth money, playing the MyVegas games is a lot of fun. I think that I can safely say that going on Las Vegas Advisor, is not! Plus the quality of the rewards are very different. While many do require a stay at an MLife property, there are still many that do not, and there are things like comped rooms etc that outweigh all of the 2 for 1 and matchplay coupons in the other books IMO. There is no coupon or offer in this world that doesn't have some issue or restriction - and nothing is ever truly "free"!

 

We have used them on & off for years. But we usually stay on the Strip. And the quality of coupons has diminished over the years.
(We did a coupon run all over Vegas with my folks like 10 years ago & had a blast. No big win but a good way to see other casinos)
Last March we had a long trip & decided a day DT to use the FPs/MPs would be a good way to stretch our gambling dollar.
To buy 2 each of LVA & ACG was $110. We did spend about $30 RT Lyft from Strip to DT (as opposed to $16 for bus for both).
We did VERY well that day. I believe we lost ONE MP, tho freeplay was nothing to write home about.
When we did the math we made maybe $20, once you factor in book costs & Lyft (I do believe we did not hit ElCo)
It does take time & effort to got to each casino players club to get the free play.
If it were just me, & we always stayed DT I'd probably do it. But DH is ambivalent at best, so I think we are done with the coupon books.
(plus several times I have notoriously brought them but neglected to use them...)

 

For me, the 25% off Binion's steakhouse coupon alone is worth buying the LVA. If my wife and I get a steak dinner each, share a side of lobster mac & cheese and a bottle of wine, that coupon is worth an easy $40. We usually go to Vegas 3 times a year and we'll hit up Binion's at least once. All the other downtown coupons are just a bonus, IMO.

 

I find more benefit in using the LVA coupon book (free now courtesy of the Comp City app) compared to myvegas, where I have 1.4M LP's. Just to add, I never go on the LVA forums, but do enjoy and find good information in reading the monthly newsletter. To each his/her own. Cheers!

 

When MY Vegas first came out the awards were interesting.
They have gone way downhill and continue to decrease.
The choices are more limited now than ever.Early on ,they offered suites at most of the mid tier MLife hotels.
Comparing MyVegas to the LVA coupon book is not the same thing.
I'm not defending either one but they are different and the value has gone down in both.
The LVA newsletter is another source of information for me like VMB ,Vital Vegas, and numerous podcasts.

 

Well so much for those great coupons. Maybe they subscribe here?? Crappy move.

 

bummer, it was fun to use them

 

Never thought about how many people get a book from year to year. Should have guessed it wasn't a huge number, given LVA is cutting deals to provide books thru Draft Kings or the casino app to get books in the hands of gamblers.

I missed out on the glory days of casino fun books, so I can't bemoan the good ol' days. I've been going to Vegas for 23 years, but didn't get on the coupon book train until 10 years ago, after the books had gone downhill. That was about the time I became an off-strip and downtown visitor, so the books made sense. I also rent a car for my trips. What I do and how I do it has changed since 1997. I imagine that's true for many of us.

So the coupon books have been beneficial for me. Last trip at Orleans we used the LVA buffet coupon for the new Palms buffet, which I drove past several times. We tried it thanks to the coupon during a previous trip, and like it for the price and quality. I'm sure that won't last. We normally skip the Orleans buffet, even with a coupon, but we used it for breakfast last trip.

We end up downtown a few times, so downtown coupons add to the value. Same with Ellis Island.

I don't care if coupons won't save me hundreds of dollars. I know I'll get more out of them than I spend, without much effort. And since I buy them well in advance, it's like pre-funding my vacation. Yes, it's real money I spent, but the money is long gone by the time I get to Vegas. I don't kid myself, it's not free money, but it gets me a little more for my money when I'm in Vegas. On one trip I was 7-for-7 on match plays. That was $210 in extra cash in my pocket, without a lot of effort. I don't make $210/hour.

 

Of course, free stuff was always better in the "old days". That said, I still get my LVA coupon book every year. Normally recover the cost of the book in one day's use of the coupons. Part of the draw is going to the different places to use the coupons. Places I would not normally visit. I do enjoy most of the side trips taken to use the coupon. Hope my new book arrives soon.

 

I usually am in Vegas for 3 weeks Jan/Feb (with friends, partially alone) and we always have both books. We use the food coupons and have fun with coupon runs.

(flying in from Austria this saturday, wohoooo. See ya at the poker tables at Excalibur)

 

I got my first set of coupons in 2004 and used them religiously for each trip. I always look over the list of coupons before the new books come out. I take note when a casino stops accepting a coupon. I remember being able to redeem a coupon in 1 step, not 2 or 3 or more. The value of the coupons have gone down, the more conveniently located (strip and downtown) coupons have mostly dried up, the ease of use is gone. Some things have popped up to replace coupons like text whatever to this number and you get a coupon. Things that would basically be on your phone. My advice is to always check out your options, coupon books included. And go with what works for you.

 

I definitely don't go out of my way to use the coupons like I used to but I still get both books for the two of us every year and we pretty much only use the downtown gambling coupons. There's something really fun about taking a couple hours to work your way up one side of Fremont Street to do hit n run freeplay/matchplays, have lunch at Siegel's with the 2 for 1 deal, then mosey back on the other side to use the remaining coupons. Combined it seems we always end up with at least a few hundred dollars profit along with a nice break from VP grinding so by the time we get back we're ready to jump back into it with a much healthier bankroll.

 

Timely thread for me. I've been an LVAer for 15 years and considering pulling plug. As others have mentioned, it can become burdensome to make a few dollars.
For me, it may also be a by-product of overall Vegas burnout. Going on coupon runs, hitting up twofer buffets and seeing the sights around Vegas used to be fun. Not so much anymore.
I got hooked on the coupon book one particular year when 14 straight BJ stops came up winners with LVA and ACG MPs. That also created a desire in me to play blackjack, sometimes the casinos are banking on when they hook up with an Anthony Curtis.
But, for the hassle of queing up at players club for free slot play, feeling like a cheapass for hit-and-run MPs and letting the coupon books dictate one's plans for the day - what's the point anymore.
I used to enjoy getting the newsletter in the mail. Not so much pleasure in reading same-old, same-old every month.
And, that message board did go to crap.
Still haven't made my mine up to go a year untethered or make that $37 commitment.

 

I was talking to a guy about eighty years old in the Sportsbook at Mohegan Sun Ct, and {he says to me} as he sipped on his whiskey and water while looking at his notes -- "you know, this room used to be full of gamblers." we were looking at an empty room. Sad but we lost a whole generation of factory workers, War Hero's, family men and women, gambling defects, characters, music.
It's up to all of us to carry on and continue the legacy these great people blazed the trail and sacrificed for us enjoy. Uncle Sam says go out and buy the coupon books and carry them proudly in your back pocket. And when giving directions to the nearest rest room to a desperate gambling degenerate pull it out and use it to point out the way. Coupon book has many uses.