Day 1
Saturday December 11, 2010
We didn't have to get up too early today because we spent the night at the Best Western Albany Airport. I had booked a rate on their own website as opposed to Best Western.com and got a rate of $75. They also have a deal where you can park your car there while you're away for $25 and they would shuttle you back and forth to the airport. We were assigned room 207 yesterday and everything was fine with exception of the room not having a remote for the TV. A stop by the front desk fixed that situation in just a few minutes though.

They also offer a deluxe continental breakfast so we hit the restaurant for a quick breakfast. They had scrambled eggs, hash browns, ham and pancakes, fruit and yogurt along with the traditional continental breakfast items. After breakfast we went back to the room to check e-mails and flight times and then the front desk called the room to let us know the shuttle was there and ready when we were. The driver loaded our things into the van while I ran over to the car to throw a few things in it that we didn't need for the trip and then I ran in to check out at the front desk. They had pre-checked us out and I noticed on the bill they didn't charge for parking there for the next 18 nights. I'm not sure why because I put it on the original reservation when I booked and we told the guy the checked us in yesterday. Well there would be no argument from me on this one and I looked at it as a way to offset the bullshit we went through last time we stayed here back in the summer.

The ride is only a few minutes from the hotel to the airport and we arrived at Albany International with no events. The driver was cool and said he'd been to Las Vegas a few times and loved it and his father goes at least once a year and stays all over the place when he goes.

We were dropped off at the Southwest are of the terminal and the line was long but moved quickly and people were doing what they were supposed to be doing. We checked in yesterday online and got 'A' boarding passes 35 & 36. Then it was off to security. Security lines were short here and it's a lot easier flying out of here than Newark, that's for sure. Once again there we no issues at security and people seemed to do what they were supposed to do without being told 5 times. They did have to run Dee's carry on through a second time and they tested some casino chips I had for explosives but other than that there were no hang ups.

In the terminal we grabbed a roast beef and cheddar sandwich for the flight that we would share for the rip off price of $8. The sandwich was large and would be enough to hold us over on the flight.

While we were waiting in the terminal we were informed our incoming flight was going to be a little late but they still anticipated an on time departure as long as all of our passengers lined up correctly and boarded quickly. Once again everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do and we left right on time.

I'm in shock so far at this point of the trip between the hotel, and the airport, from check in, through security and boarding the plane no one was being stupid and everyone did exactly what was expected of them. No one held up the check in line, no one tried to go through security with their shoes on carrying bottled water while sporting their Mr. T starter kits with a carry on the size of a steamer trunk and no one tried to board before they were supposed to. Could it be people are finally getting it???

One note about security this trip so far. We had to show our boarding passes and ID at 3 different check points today. One prior to entering the line for security, once again when we walked through the metal detectors, and again while we were lined up waiting to board. It's no big deal to me and if it's going to keep things safer I'm for it although I think it might just be overkill.

Today's flight is on Southwest Flight 154 Non-Stop to Las Vegas. I originally booked this flight back in August for $164 one way. I rebooked 3 days later for $139 banking the difference in my Southwest account and then rebooked yet again in September for $109. I really like Southwest and with exception of the boarding process they are pretty good. I really like not having to be nickel and dimed on things like luggage.

When we boarded we took 2 seats together near the back of the plane and settled in for what was scheduled to be almost a 5 hour and 50 minute flight. We left on time and the captain came on saying the flight would be 5 hours and 20 minutes and might even be less. He did warn though if we got there too soon they might not have a gate ready for us and we'd be waiting on the tarmac.

Since this is Southwest the is no food other than a small snack (today was a choice of Lorna Doone 100 Calorie packs, Ritz Cheese Sandwiches or Athenos Pita Chips) and soda. We broke out our sandwich and chowed down. That is where we are right now in this report as I type Dee is fast asleep and I'm about to do the same in a few more minutes.

The flight was smooth for the entire trip except for a bit of bumps over the Rockies which is typical this time of year. Even though I slept a bit this flight is still really, really long but eventually we were on our approach into Las Vegas. The landing was ok but I've been on smoother. We taxied to the gate for a while and when we pulled in we actually saw our luggage get thrown onto the carts! We took our time getting off the plane and to the monorail to the luggage claim area. Our bags came out within 5 minutes of getting to baggage claim which has to be a record and it was on to shuttle to the rental car facility.

I have 3 rentals booked today. I had one with Alamo that I booked back in early September, one with Avis and one with Dollar. Avis is my company of choice and I had booked what I thought was a decent rate back in September but Dollar came in with a killer rate back in October of just $209 + taxes so I booked that as well. It dropped again a few weeks later to $200 and then just Wednesday night it dropped to $197. This is probably the lowest rate I've paid in years. Although it's a great rate I still prefer to rent with Avis and thought I'd check with the manager on duty (this is one good thing about the consolidated facility) and see if she'd match the rate. She said she didn't price match but would look to see if she could give us a good rate. She actually quoted us a price higher than what I had previously booked and was shocked at the rate Dollar was offering. I told her to cancel the reservation and we had no option but to go with Dollar and save $170 plus tax. She agreed that's what we should do.

There were no lines at Dollar's Fastlane booth and we were given a car in space 30. It ended up being stupid Hyundai Sonata with over 35,000 miles on it. I don't think I've ever had a car with that many miles on it in my entire renting career! I wasn't thrilled with this but for about $11 a day beggars can't be choosers. Oddly it was in decent condition. After the quick check for damage on the car we were on our way to Green Valley Ranch.

Dee wanted to see a show tonight at Green Valley Ranch with an instrumental artist called Keiko Matsui so we ran over there to try to get tickets. I wanted to use comps to cover the cost but my Stations account was low. I did have over 400,000 Fiesta points and was able to transfer points from there. The tickets are section 6, row C, seats 12 & 13. I scored us 2 tickets in the middle price range that normally went for $86 for free and we were set for 8pm tonight. We didn't stay here long and were on our way to the hotel.

For the first 4 nights we are staying at M Resort. Each of us got offers for 2 nights and we both booked separate reservation. When we arrived we linked them both together and were assigned room 8131. This room has a strip view and a king bed with 2 night stands attached to the wall. There's also a wall unit with dresser and closet equipped with a mini bar, work desk with a flat screen TV on it. The bathroom is large and has a soaking tub with shade that allows views of the strip and bedroom area, separate shower stall and a toilet room. The vanity has double sinks and there's a large open closet area.

As part of our mailer we were offered 5 different coupons for gifts, 1 free buffet and 7X points on slots and 2X points on video poker on Friday, Saturday & Sunday so we'll make sure to take advantage of those today & tomorrow.

We were both starving so didn't even unpack and ran down to the Vig Deli in the casino. Dee got a turkey wrap and I got a BBQ pulled pork sandwich. We didn't have our slot cards with us so we just charged it to the room and would get it taken care later on. The food here is pretty good and the prices are fair for a casino restaurant however, there are some things on the menu that are out of line when it comes to price like $5 slices of pizza.

When we were done eating we came back here to the room to get cleaned up from the trip and unpack some of our things. We traveled light so it didn't take long to do this before we were ready to head out.

Our first stop was to the slot club to get some cards made up and to redeem a coupon for one of our free gifts. I got a bottle of Cuervo and Dee chose an M logo sweatshirt that's pretty nice and doesn't have a giant M logo on it but just a small one on the front.

The next stop was over to CVS for some survival items and then off to our friend Anne's house to grab our tote full of other essentials that we don't take back and forth anymore that allows us to travel lighter than we used to.

Next we ran over to the Orleans to their box office to get some tickets for the Wranglers midnight hockey game next week. We got seats on the glass Section 101, row AA, seats 1 & 2. These tickets are normally $17.50 a piece but I used comp dollars from my B-Connected card to cover the cost of them.

Now it was back to Green Valley Ranch to play a bit and to go to the show we got tickets for earlier today. We started with some triple play video poker. I hit a quad early on but that was about all. I hovered for a bit then sank like a rock. Dee on the other hand hit multiple quads and got a few nice dealt winners. I dropped $100 and she won $75 so not too bad for about 45 minutes of play. Next we played a few penny slots. I hit a bonus round but did poorly on it. I had bigger hits just in regular spins. Dee hit a few bonus rounds and they kept her alive. She cashed out even and I won $10.

At about 7:30 we went over to the Ovation Lounge where the show would be tonight. The seats here were fine as this is a smaller venue and I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. I'd actually prefer these seats to the closer ones in most cases. I was totally unfamiliar with this artist so didn't know what to expect. I thought the show was decent although not exactly my type of music. It was all instrumental which is ok but most of it sounded the same to me. Dee enjoyed the show quite a bit so I was glad we went.

After the show we grabbed a quick late night meal at Panda Express. We got a 2 item combo with a side for $6. Yes, I actually paid for food to save time. We got some type of spicy beef and their signature orange chicken with fried rice. This was good and we headed out of Green Valley Ranch.

On the way back to M we stopped off at Wal-Mart to grab a few more items for the trip and then came back to M to take a much needed break from the long day we've had. Other than the hour or so of sleep I got on the plane I have been up since about 6:30am Eastern Time. It's now midnight here in Las Vegas or 3am in NY. Goodnight everybody!

Total win/loss for the day -$50
Total comps for the day $269