Is your Vegas budget the same as your non-Vegas vacation budget?

Interesting question. I would say that I tend to spend more on Vegas vacations than other destinations for two reasons (1) gambling - my gambling budget for a 3/4 day trip to vegas is more than I would typically spend on a full week vacation somewhere else and (2) non-gambling activities - most of the non-gambling activities I enjoy in Vegas like golf, high-end restaurants, bars, etc. tend to be more expensive in Vegas than other places and I tend to spend recklessly in Vegas, but not so much in other destinations.

Of course Vegas can be very cheap if the gambling gods smile down on me!

 

We never spent much/trip in Vegas, in the grand scheme of things, though it added up a bit more when we were heading up every 4-6 weeks there for a spell. We were low-rollers -- quarter/Kennedy VP, green-chip BJ -- who only played a few hours a day and we spent more on food, golf and spa.

But in the travel universe, we've long spent WAY more on other locales since those are the trips that involve good-sized to long flights -- the islands, the antipodes, back east -- or road tripping, and two- to three-week spans of time.

 

I think the variety of answers so far really sheds light on why Las Vegas is such a desirable vacation destination all around. Unlike many other places, it can really appeal to a large variety of people with widely varying vacation budgets and goals. You can easily make a Vegas vacation as budget-oriented or costly as you want depending on your wants and needs.

To elaborate for myself, this particular trip we have booked for six nights August 28th through September 3rd, our total budget for everything - including flights, hotels, rental car, gambling, and non-gambling activities/meals - will be under $3,000 even if we spend our maximum daily budget for dining and activities, PLUS lose all of our daily gambling budgets (which I've never done before). In reality, we'll likely come back with at least some of our spending and gambling money, keeping the total cost of the trip in the $2,500 range (less if we hit something decent).

A budget for the same amount of time in one of our other desirable vacation destinations - whether it be a skiing trip, theme park-based, major downtown city exploration, or white sandy island beaches - would all probably total in the same $2,500 - $3,000 range. Like with Vegas, these numbers could possibly go as low as $2,000 depending on flight and hotel deals, but could also easily get up to $3,000+ if deals are harder to find or we feel like splurging a bit.

Flights are usually similar regardless of our destination, but decent quality hotels in other cities and areas are just so expensive compared to Vegas. As many have said, you could stay in a regular/deluxe style room at a 4-5 star Vegas resort for the price of a budget hotel or similar in most other areas. We don't typically stay in higher level Vegas hotels, though, the exception being our wedding last year. And although food can get pricey quick in Las Vegas if you want to go that route, great deals on decent/acceptable nourishment can still be found without much effort. Trying to find cheap meals in other places, especially more remote tourist areas, can be harder.