Welcome to the Fall Trip Report for 2015. This is a “shorter” trip compared to our normal trips only coming in at 15 days. This trip was put together because some of the Christmas Holidays fell on work days so I was able to save some vacation days then and by cutting the summer trip back by a week. We'll be up to our usual gaming, dining and hotel hopping. I'll also be adding another hotel to my already long list of places I've stayed in town. As always we've got lots planned from meeting friends, gaming, dining, shows and more. There is one special thing about this trip. This will be trip number 50 for me! The bags are packed, and the plane is waiting so let's go!
Pre - Trip
This trip actually started out in Lake George, NY for a few days. On the way back through we stopped in the Albany area and checked in at the La Quinta Albany Airport where we'd be spending the night. We arrived around 3:00 and the handicap accessible Jacuzzi suite I reserved was ready for us. Apparently someone who was here for a week already decided to extend their trip and they already had this room (they only have one). I was not all too happy and ended up taking a non handicap Jacuzzi suite. Luckily Dee is getting more of her abilities back and can make do without a full handicap room if necessary. Normally I wouldn't book a room like this for an overnight but it was only a few extra bucks. The room also comes with breakfast in the morning and we can park our car in the lot while we're gone. They also offer shuttle service to the airport too.
Day 1
Saturday September 19, 2015
When we got up this morning we started off with breakfast down in the hotel lobby. They've got the typical hotel deluxe continental breakfast with cereal, pastry, breads and fruit.
We went back to the room to finish getting ready for the trip and then headed to the lobby to catch the shuttle to the airport. Today's flight is going to be on Southwest Airlines. This flight was actually booked through Caesars Entertainment using my Level 2 Diamond Aspirations trip. It takes 80,000 points to reach this level and it offers airfare for 2 up to $750. This trip was actually $916 but they allow you to use reward credits to pay the difference.
Checking in was fast with no issues, much like it usually is when we fly from here. Getting through security was equally as easy and after Dee had her full body & cavity search we were off to the gate to wait for boarding.
When it was time to board they took Dee down first in her wheelchair. We grabbed our seats and settled in for what was scheduled to be a 5 ˝ hour flight. This is flight 3434 and it's scheduled to depart at 1:05pm but while we were sitting in the terminal the sign switched to delayed and would now depart at 1:35pm. Then it became 1:45pm and then 1:55p. The delay was due to the incoming flight from Baltimore. They had heavy fog in the morning that sent a ripple through the system. It was originally scheduled to arrive at 3:35pm in Las Vegas. The captain came on and told us the flight would be 5:15. We departed later than 1:55pm but not by much.
The flight was very smooth. People also behaved on this flight except for the lady behind us that decided to tell the person sitting next to her that her parents were in a plane crash. Great topic for a pre-flight conversation. Between watching TV on my tablet and sleeping before I knew it we were making our descent into the Las Vegas area. We landed 4:00pm and taxied to the gate.
We waited for Dee's wheelchair to come up and we were off to the baggage claim area. The bag came out just as I got there. I was able to head to the rental car facility to pick up the car while leaving Dee at the airport. It takes a few extra minutes to do this but it's a lot easier than dragging her and the luggage on and off the shuttle and through the rental car garage.
Originally when I booked this trip we were going to arrive tomorrow and I had booked a car to reflect those dates back in May. The rates had spiked quite a bit since then so just adding a day to the existing reservation wasn't going to work. Instead I had a 1 day rental tonight through Dollar. I got a premium car for a base rate of $25 which was actually cheaper than all of the smaller cars for this one day. I also had a 2 week rental booked for a full sized starting tomorrow for $106 per week. Then an e-mail came through a few weeks ago offering SUVs for fairly low prices. With the rates now out of control for this trip I doubted the discount code would work but it did. Instead of the full sized for $106 I for an SUV for $149 and I don't have to screw around with a 1 day rental. The reservation went through and wasn't blacked out for my dates. I found it odd because without the discount code the rate was $749 per week and $110 for the extra day. Yes, that is a seven. Even worse was the premium and luxury cars at over $2500/week. I know it's a little busy in town this week but come on Dollar!
They did not have my car assigned already so I had to stop at the Fastlane Booth to get my contract. The lot attendant showed me where 3 standard SUVs were. I chose the Chevy Traverse over the Jeep and Kia. It was in decent shape with “only” 17,000 miles on it. Typically Dollar's cars are beat up and have high miles on them. My guess is because they are actually hand me downs from their parent company Hertz's fleet.
I gave the car a quick look and and then headed out and back to the airport to pick up Dee and the luggage then we were off to downtown.
When we arrived downtown I pulled into the Fremont where we would be spending the next 3 nights. We don't normally stay at the Fremont and in fact, this would be the very first time I've ever stayed here making it the 51st different property I've stayed at in Las Vegas. I booked this on an offer I received for renewing emerald status with Boyd gaming. The offer actually offered the chance to stay at any of the Boyd properties in Las Vegas. We chose the Fremont because of it's central location downtown which would allow us to hit the Four Queens among others to use our free play offers. Also since we don't typically play here there is no level of play to “maintain” to keep offers coming since I don't get offers from here.
When I booked this room they only had smoking rooms available but I booked it hoping when we checked in they'd have something in non-smoking. They did and we were assigned room 222. This is a king room with nightstands, a dresser, flat screen TV and small table with one armchair. It has a view of Binion's and the Golden Nugget entrance on Fremont Street. The bathroom is very small but has a vanity toilet and tub. It has to be the smallest hotel bathroom I've ever seen beating out the Four queens for smallest ever. The room is about the smallest I've ever been in too.
Once we got our things settled into the room we were off to grab something to eat at the Lanai Express. I got the saimen and Dee had chili over rice. Normally when we stay down here at Main Street Station I've got a silver card. I don't have that here so I just used points to cover the hotel bill.
Next up it was on to the casino for some gaming. I found a couple of 3/5 play STP machines and we got started. One my 5th hand I was dealt A234 of hearts and pulled the 5 for the ultra dread ace low straight flush. I hit another straight flush soon after. Later on I got dealt a flush with a 5x multiplier for 625 coins and later on hit aces. Dee hit a bonus quad and a straight flush of her own. Unfortunately the multipliers were far and few between and when we had the 8x and 10x multipliers we'd whiff. By the time we'd run 5k through we were down $300. Not exactly the way I was hoping to start this trip!
It was starting to get late and it's been a long day so we decided to pack it in and just go to the room to watch some TV and get some sleep.
Total win/loss for the day - $300
Total Comps for the day $1079
Room(s) $150
Food $13
Other $916 (Airfare)