I booked this flight through a host in my home casino in Atlantic City. Initially the flights were still too high even with the $1200 credit but they finally came down. Unfortunately my host dropped the ball and I lost out on these fares because of the long and drawn out way Caesars does things. By the time this flight got booked it was just over $1200. I still took the flights and will be using reward credits to cover the $33 difference. We're also going to have to pay for luggage which I hate but will suffer through for the “free” flight.

We left the house at around 4:00am and I dropped Dee off at the airport. I drove back down to where I work which is only a mile away to park the car for free! Once I got down there I walked back up to the airport. This is a smaller airport and checking in was so fast and easy. They also told me that it wouldn't post $25 to my credit card but the luggage was covered. I can only guess that Caesars covered that as part of the price. Security was equally as easy except for me being a bonehead and forgetting I had a pen in my pocket prompting a full body cavity search!

This initial flight is on a smaller plane and we boarded first because of Dee's wheelchair. The only drawback of flying from here is that we have to make a connection. This is American Airlines flight 4745 from Newburgh to Philadelphia. We have a scheduled departure of 5:45am and a flight time of 1 hour and 9 minutes but the captain came on and told us it would be 51 minutes.

When we arrived in Philly we had to get off the plane and take a shuttle to a different terminal where the main flight would be departing from. This went well.

When we got the the other terminal we made our way to the gate all of the way down to that farthest point of the terminal. It was just about time to board. Things here went well and we pre-boarded and got to our seats with no problem

This is American Airlines flight number 577 non stop from Philly to Las Vegas. We are scheduled to depart at 8:00am with a 10:43 arrival time. Before we took off the captain came on the PA and told us that the flight was going to take about 4 hours and 45 minutes.

To pass the time on the flight I played on my tablet and slept. Dee slept too. Before we knew it we were on our initial descent into Las Vegas. The flight was smooth except for a few cases of turbulence. The only other issue was the cabin. This had to be the coldest flight I've ever taken. We landed at 10:05am and taxied to gate. We waited for everyone to get off the plane and then headed for the monorail to the main terminal where I collected our suitcase.

Once I had everything I found a place for Dee to sit and I took the shuttle over to the rental car facility. I actually have 2 reservations this trip and the selection of cars will dictate which option I use. One rental is with Dollar for a Standard SUV through Dollar for a price of $108/week. This worked out well for us last time we were out here but I noticed on their website that they are now using a smaller sized SUV for standard sized than they did just 3 months ago. I decided I'd check their inventory to see what was being offered and if it wasn't up to my satisfaction, I would cancel it and go to Alamo. At Alamo I have a premium car booked for $102/week.

When I got to Dollar they had me set up in a Nissan Exterra that had over 48,000 miles on it. I wasn't ok with this and one of the lot attendants offered me a Chevy Equinox. It was in good condition with only 10,000 miles on it and I took this one. After looking it over and heading out

When I got back to the airport I got Dee and we were back out fast enough to not have to pay for the short term parking.

We left the airport and went up to Arizona Charlie's Decatur. The plan here was to have lunch and then play because I had a $90 mailer and they were running a promo where if you earn 1200 points you get to swipe and win $12, $120 or $1200.

For lunch we went to the Sourdough Cafe. I got the French Dip with fries and Dee got the Farm. It's the standard 2 eggs, 2 sausage, 2 toast and has browns for $3.99. The food here is decent but nothing fancy but we usually leave here satisfied. Today was no exception. I used points to cover the bill and we were off to the casino.

We chose to play 3/5/10 play 8/5 bonus today. Dee hit aces on her 4th hand. She continued to hit quads while I fed in bills. I even switched games a few times with no luck feeding in bill after bill. Things caught up to Dee too and she started getting slammed. By the time we quit we'd dropped over $1200 and we haven't even checked in yet.

On our spins we hit for $12 in free play each. I ran it through some penny slots and we were on our way.

After a quick stop at CVS for a few items our next stop was to the Linq Hotel and Casino where we'd spend just the next 2 nights. I booked this hotel on a mailed offer of up to 4 nights, $50 free play and $20 in food. The reason I chose the Linq over some of the other properties in the Caesars portfolio was simple. I've never stayed here before.

When we checked in and the room was ready. Considering this is the old Imperial Palace they did a nice job on it.

We were assigned room 22016. This room has 2 double beds, dresser, flat screen TV, small table & 1 chair and a view of the Strip. The bathroom is small and had your standard vanity, shower stall and toilet. I can say they've done a pretty nice job with the remodel of this place and the transformation from Imperial Palace to the Linq. The only thing I found lame is the soap, shampoo and conditioner dispensers in the shower and no alarm clock.

We stopped at the booth/cage to get my free play vouchers. I saved them for tomorrow because even though it's not late, it's late! We don't play much at the Caesars properties in Las Vegas because of the poor pay tables on their video poker. I also don't need anymore points for the year since I've already reached 7* for next year so any additional points would be a waste.

For dinner we went to Guy Fieri's Las Vegas. We've been here a couple of times in the past and really like the food and atmosphere. I got the Motley Que sandwich. It's pulled pork and slaw with fries. Dee got the deli salad. She said it was excellent. My sandwich was very good but was lacking in meat.

Even though it wasn't that late we decided to just go to the room and wrap up the night. We've been up since 3:00am eastern and it was now 9:00pm pacific.

Total win/loss for the day - $1250
Total Comps for the day $1491
Total Coin - In for the day $9600
Room(s) $74
Cash/Free Play $114
Food $67
Shows $0
Gift Shop $3
Other $1236 (airfare)