For anyone planning on spending their Las Vegas vacation on The Strip, there is no need to break the bank. The Associated Press offers tips in five areas where Vegas visitors can save a lot of money.
Rooms
It’s no secret that visitors will save money if they stay midweek, but some hotels offer additional savings off the regular room rates for bookings from their website or by calling the property directly. MGM Mirage, for example, guarantees that their resorts offer the lowest rates when booking online through their websites.
As an example, from now until March, limited rooms are available at the MGM Grand for $64 a night, or $45 a night at the Monte Carlo with a minimum of a two-night stay.
Food and Drink
A couple of off-the-menu items are available at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino if asked for. A steak and shrimp special for $7.77 includes “an 8-ounce New York sirloin, three jumbo shrimp, a salad and garlic mashed potatoes.” For the heartier appetite, try the “$9.99 prime rib special that includes a salad, mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, along with all the meat you can handle.”
Free entertainment
Don’t feel like spending money to see a show? Enjoy, free of charge, the Bellagio fountains, the Pirate show at Treasure Island and a new volcano at the Mirage.
Inside the casinos, catch free circus acts at Circus Circus or catch a “coed cast of singers and dancers taking over one side of the casino, riding floats on tracks from the ceiling and performing on the hour every hour from 7 p.m. to midnight” at the Rio Hotel and Casino. Go also to see pink flamingos at the Flamingo Las Vegas and lions at MGM Grand.
Getting around
Free trams run along the strip 24 hours, seven days a week between Mandalay Bay and the Excalibur and between the Mirage and Treasure Island. Harrah’s offers free shuttles to and from its properties with stops at Caesars Palace, the Rio, Harrah’s Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas.
The Deuce, operated by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week along Las Vegas Boulevard. The cost is $2 a ride or only $5 for an all-day pass.
A super cheap way to move between The Strip and the airport — Anyone arriving and departing by air should catch the free rental car shuttle to the the rental car center and then catch the Deuce to their hotel. On the way back to the airport, take the Deuce back to the rental car center and catch the shuttle to the terminal.
Gambling
If rookie gamblers don’t want to spend a lot of money playing blackjack or pumping pennies into the slots, try a hand at a Pai Gow Poker table.
For about $10, the goal is to assemble two separate poker hands, one with five cards the other with two. If the player beats the dealer with both hands they win, but if the player wins with one and lose with the other, it’s a push–no money won or lost. Due to the nature of the game, pushes happen a lot more than wins or losses.
How does the casino make money on the game? “First, it benefits from identical hands, so it would win a two-card showdown if the player and the house each hold ace-king. Second, the casino charges a 5 percent commission on all wins. That means a $10 bet will pay only $9.50.”
The next time traveling in Las Vegas, remember there is no need to spend a lot to get around and have lost of fun.
