Day 1
Tuesday June 21, 2011
We started off the day by heading downstairs to the restaurant to take advantage of the complimentary deluxe continental breakfast they include with the room. They have a decent selection here with standard baked goods, coffee, tea and juices as well as fresh fruit and a few hot items. Today they had pancakes, sausage, hash browns & bacon. The food was decent and the price was right!

After breakfast we took it easy for a while and then gathered our things, dropped them into the car and headed to the lobby to schedule the hotel shuttle to the airport. We had plenty of time so we went to Panera Bread for a quick lunch and then went back to the Best Western to catch the shuttle. We got dropped off right outside the Southwest area and checking in was fast and easy. Oh yeah, and there weren't any baggage fees either!

Security was a little longer mainly due to only 1 lane being open and a few ass clowns that had no clue on how to travel. Once we got through there it was a short wait until it was time for all of us cattle to line up for boarding. I had purchased the early bird boarding and scored Boarding Pass A39 & A40.

Today's flight is on Southwest Airlines Flight 2022 non-stop from Albany to Las Vegas. We were scheduled to leave at 3:10pm and the flight was scheduled to take 5 hours and 35 minutes getting us to Las Vegas at 5:45pm. The captain came on and said the flight was only going to take 4 hours and 57 minutes. I originally booked these tickets back in February for $164 each and used up some old credits we had left from previous flights. We left a little late but made up some time in the air.

The flight was one of the best we've ever had and by that I mean there were no screaming babies, no misbehaved kids and no assholes that thought it was ok to disobey the seatbelt sign and no silent farters. The flight itself was also smooth most of the way. We landed about 20 minutes early and then taxied to the gate.

When we landed we took our time getting off the plane and heading to the baggage claim area. Once we got there our luggage was already out. After grabbing our things it was on to the rental car shuttle.

This trip I booked our rental car with Avis. I originally booked this car back in April. Normally I would have had this car booked in February but the rates were really high so I held off. In April I got a rate for 3 weeks for $436 minus a $40 coupon I had. I wasn't thrilled with that price but at the time it was the best I could do. I rebooked the car on June 8th for a $17 savings. It wasn't much but it's something. I rechecked my rates almost daily at this point before the trip and on June 11 I scored a rate of $365 minus the $40 coupon. They also showed a price of $329 if I prepaid for the car. I don't usually do this but with the prepay price and the coupon it had me down to $288 for a 21 day rental. Even Alamo and Dollar weren't close to this rate so I jumped on it. I didn't figure the rate would go down much more in the last week leading up to the trip and I was right. Avis went up a bit, Dollar was higher and Alamo spiked up to over $700. WTF is up with that?

When we got to the rental car facility my name was up on the scoreboard and said to stop at the preferred counter. I had to stop off at the preferred booth anyway to drop off my coupon. The guy there offered us a Malibu, Charger or an SUV. We jumped on the SUV so we'd have the extra space for luggage and a more comfortable ride for "The Cousins" when they arrived. He had us set up in a Mitsubishi Endeavor with just 4,000 miles on it. After looking it over and loading the luggage in we were off to our first hotel of the trip, Sam's Town.

We took the drive out to Sam's Town and scored a parking spot in their gated Emerald area. I haven't stayed here in a good number of years since they changed their comp requirements way back when. I popped in a time or 2 and we gave them a decent day of play back in December and my lame calendar rate offers suddenly became 3 complimentary nights, $75 in free play and a silver card that covers meals at the lower end restaurants. These included the buffet and deli, Willy & Jose's and Calamity Jane's Ice Cream. It's also good at all casino bars except the Ram's Head and bowling alley. Between that deal and Dee having never stayed here before we jumped in this one.

Checking in here was always quick and easy and today was the same with exception of the people in front of us that took 10 minutes to check in. I never understood this as we always seem to be able to check in less than 3 minutes. We were given room 850 and were on our way. These rooms were remodeled since my last visit and looked good. It has a king bed, nightstands, sitting table, dresser and flat screen TV mounted on the wall. The bathroom is room but basic and we've got a view of the park. The only thing I didn't care for is that it was a handicapped accessible room.

After we looked over the room we hit the buffet for something to eat. The food here is usually pretty decent but basic and tonight was the same. The only odd thing was many of the foods were mislabeled. One said chicken and appeared to be chicken and noodles in a cream sauce. It turned out to be tuna noodle casserole and I almost puked (I hate tuna)!

It was still early but it felt late now and it's been a long day for us flying in from the east coast so we hit the bed and day one was over without any gaming action. I felt like a loser going to bed so early but I'm sure we'll make up for it tomorrow!

Total win/loss for the day $0
Total Comps for the day $81