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TR: Allegiant Mess, But Still a Great Trip!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Sue24, Apr 28, 2012.

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  1. Sue24

    Sue24 High-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    TR: Allegiant Mess, But Still a Great Trip! 4Queens & Presidential !

    This trip had been scheduled since December , for a totally frugal price of $340 round trip (for the 2 of us!), no seats reserved and carry on bags (no charge yet). This was my 7th trip to Vegas, 6th for my husband, Rick. Allegiant was in the worst shape ever ... worse than I have ever experienced or read about on here. In Des Moines the plane was 2 hours late which put us into Vegas after midnight. (Apparently, they had "mechanical" trouble on the ground in Vegas & had to bring in another plane.) Score #1..... seats in the exit aisle, lots of leg room and this was with open seating!

    Transportation was provided by our kids as a Mom's Day, Dad's Day, Anniversary gift.... a limo from Presidential. Very fancy..... we did feel special. The driver was waiting for us, stopped at a 24 hour store for some refreshments, and then drove up the strip before heading on to downtown. Stunning at 2 a.m., with no traffic. And we received an extra bottle of champagne to take with us. Score #2

    Hotel -- 4 Queens downtown. Had to pay a little, $28 each for the 3 nights. No comps as we have not been to Vegas since 2008 and were well off their radar. Room 707 in the North tower was home for 3 nights. No view, old decor, tiny bathroom, a bedspread, which I know some you hate!. But....on the plus side, very, very quiet. very clean, and just a few doors from the elevator which is what I requested. Upon check out, I bravely approached the casino host in her glass room near the reservations area. She felt our play did deserve casino rate, so she knocked the room rate down to $24. She did say when we come again, we should remind them we had casino rate before. Score #3.

    Food --- We snacked a lot along the way, but these are some meals/prices I had written down.

    Magnolias at 2:30 am ... Sausage /biscuits for me and a French Dip for Rick = $11.50. With the age 55+ discount, bill was 10.54.

    The Secret Pizza Place at the Cosmo .... 2 slices supreme pizza and water from their cooler = $12.00 Excellent thin crust, our favorite!

    Binion's Burger with ACG coupon 2 for 1. Came with lettuce, onion, tomato slices on the side, extra for the cheese and a scoop of potato salad. = $6.40 total

    Paradise Buffet at the Fremont 2 for 1 ... It was steak night, yummy. Thinly sliced but good! $15 for both of us.

    Also a couple trips to Dunkin' Donuts at the Fremont ... about $5.

    Gambling

    This trip we followed the motto ... play where you stay. I like the 4 Queens casino, so this was not a problem. We did take an afternoon to go to Cosmo to try that $100 promo. Honestly, the casino is beautiful, but we will probably never go there again. I think we cashed out slightly under $100 out of the free play for the 2 of us. Not very good!! Very tight machines, but something new to do. We crossed over to Planet Hollywood to get a few CET points, enjoyed the vibe there, and then back onto the SDX to downtown.

    One afternoon we headed to the 3rd floor of the Plaza to try the electronic bingo. Ha! Wouldn't you know that was one of the very few days they have ever had problems with their computer system. So we ate free donuts leftover from the morning session and visited with some locals. We paid $23 each for 21 cards in the electronic game. This was the cheapest pack and was plenty for us, especially since they had the technical difficulties and we did not know how the machines worked! In the end, it was very easy and is something I would enjoy doing again. I think Rick was dozing through most of the session except when I would say, "Look, you are 2 away!" Sadly, we did not win anything, but it was another Vegas experience to cross off of our list.

    I left Rick with my card to play at the D (Fitz) while I ran down to the EL Co to claim my $10 free play. Turned that into $27 and then back to find him sitting at the same Wolf Run slot! Really, couldn't you move around a bit and get a heater going?? I did steer him to Wolf Run 2 where he managed to run up a nice $40+ ticket. Score #4

    In between there somewhere we had our free photo taken at Binion's and dropped a few bucks at the Fremont after the steak buffet. Rick was playing a nickel machine right outside of the buffet area and won $255 ... red 7, 10x. 10x... nice! Of course, I was somewhere else & missed getting a picture of the biggest individual hit of the trip. Score #5

    Rick is a better gambler than I am and also had some nice titos at 4 Queens.... these were some penny slots near the car they are giving away. .... Triple Dollar and a Red White Blue. I think he cashed about $300 from those machines.

    I ended up depositing all of our gambling cash back into the savings account when we returned home. I guess you call that a winning trip!! Score #6


    Some General Observations:

    * No problems with cocktail waitresses anywhere; we always had a beer when we wanted one, except at bingo, which is probably why Rick dozed off.

    * The SDX is so much quicker than the Deuce, but was extremely crowded. We ended up standing in that middle section that connects the 2 pieces of the bus.... not good for 50+ folks with poor feet! The people next to us, also hanging on for dear life, agreed it was like a thrill ride with all the wild turns the bus makes. Funny to look back on, but not at the time!

    * Wow, Binions! Such an improvement in that place. Lots of new machines and very, very clean. We didn't play there though. Where would the credit go when there is no hotel? Why don't they combine their card with 4 Queens, same owners, right?? I would love that.

    * The Vegas Club still smells funky and just feels creepy. We played a couple match plays and the free slot play & moved on.

    * The Golden Gate looks good! A nice remodel going on there.

    * The D.....Hmmmm. I use to love the Fitz; this time I just left Rick there because he did not want to walk to the EL Co. The Long Bar is impressive, the tables were packed, but for some reason I couldn't wait to get OUT of there. The music was extremely loud and I mean so loud that we had to holler at each other to be heard. Maybe the old saying is true "If it's too loud, you're too old." But that did not bother me at Planet Hollywood. Anyhow, I did not see any other remodeling going on. I don't think the carpet was new. So, to me, it looks like a slow process. For those who wanted to know about the pay tables, I couldn't tell. Nearly every stool at the bar was occupied!


    Going Home:

    That beautiful limo took us to the Welcome sign for some pics and also cruised the strip one more time. So great to be pampered!

    When we got into McCarran, all the fun was OVER. The place was a madhouse, snake lines at the Allegiant check in, snake lines at D gates security..... I was ready to scream. Then, when we finally staggered to our gate, we saw what seemed like hundreds of people all over the place and not a chair to be found. The flight to Shreveport was LATE in loading, which in turn made the flight to South Bend also late. Then came the announcement that our Des Moines flight needed to change gates, so we staggered again across the moving sidewalk to the opposite side. Then there was a wait for South Bend people to load and for Silver Springs to change gates and for our plane to unload and then back up into the correct gate. OMG!! It was a freaking nightmare. I can't believe someone (me!!) just didn't start shouting obscenities or something. In the end we were again, 1 hour late to depart. I'm not sure I will fly Allegiant for awhile..... I need this whole scene to blur in my memory!

    Finally:

    Probably one of the most fun trips we have taken.... minus the whole airport experience. We laughed a lot and just enjoyed life in the desert. After the tornadoes in our area of Iowa, it was a great get away.

    Feel free to ask any questions!

    The drapes in one pic are in the room at the 4Queens...1955??
     

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    Last edited: May 5, 2012
  2. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    Enjoyed reading your trip report. Who knew you could have so much fun for less than $350.

    Binion's cards are connected to the 4 Queen's. Binion's sends out offers for free play at Binion's and free nights at their sister property, 4 Queen's.
     
  3. Wanger1969

    Wanger1969 Iowa Nice

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    Allegiant - UGH

    I'm having my own personal nightmare with Allegiant. First we were flying out of Cedar Rapids, and then they up and changed our flights. So, we all changed to fly out of Des Moines. Its a later flight in the evening, but hopefully without delay its not a big deal. Now you've got me worried.

    I've never once had a problem flying Allegiant, either out of Des Moines or Cedar Rapids. I'm traveling with a group of 9 family members, and I'm the trip organizer. (I'm seeing flying debris at ME if any of these flight delays happen) Hopefully I don't have the same experience.

    Sounds like you had a great downtown experience. That's honestly my favorite place to be, but I'm traveling with mostly Vegas newbies, so the strip is a must first trip. We'll hit downtown to give them the full feel of Vegas. Knowing my family, they will love it.

    Glad you had a great trip! Allegiant, even with all their problems, can't ruin a Vegas trip, can they?
     
  4. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

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    Great trip report, sounds like you had a WONDERFUL time!

    I haven't flown Allegiant in two years as I became tired of them ALWAYS being late. Flew from Cedar Rapids and Peoria, always late. The worst thing was Cedar Rapids was already a pretty late flight, so the hour or two delay made it a devastatingly long day. They have since changed that one to an afternoon flight. And with them starting to charge for carry-on bags, I'll never fly them again. Insanity.

    Southwest gets me where I'm going efficiently, without nickel and dime-ing me to death, and they don't put a damper on my trip before I reach my destination.

    And you are absolutely correct....depositing all your gambing money when you return home is INDEED a winning trip! Congrats, now you have the bankroll to return soon!

    Thanks for posting!
    diane
     
  5. Blonde_4_ever

    Blonde_4_ever LasVegas4ever.com

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    Love downtown trip reports! Thanks!
     
  6. Sue24

    Sue24 High-Roller

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    Wish I would have asked about the card connection between Binions/4Queens. Things did look nice over there and it was busy for mid week.

    Yes.... Allegiant. .... Ugh!! I don't know what I will do next time. We spent 3 extra hours of travel time..... I want a voucher for a future discounted fare!

    Ha, ha! Dreaming!
     
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