Day 1
Wednesday February 24, 2016
We were up early today to get ready for today's trip. Yesterday I piked up a rental car from Budget at the local airport for a base rate of $68 for a full size. Just days before the trip I was able to re-book at $59. They gave me an upgrade to a small SUV which was a Ford Escape with 19,000 miles on it. The car was in great shape but all we needed it for was to get to Newark.

We left the house around 8am and make the 75 mile drive through North Jersey to Newark with one stop to fill up the gas tank on the car. When we got to Newark returning the car was quick and there were no issues.

We jumped onto the monorail to the terminal and got in line to check in for the flight. Today's flight is on United Airlines. The cost was only $240 per person. This is less than half of what fares have been for the past few years and is the main reason we're taking this trip. Typically it's a zoo down here in the United Airlines terminal. Today it was pretty slow though.

When we finally got to the counter we were able to check in quickly, pay for the stupid luggage and then made our way back up to the security check point. Things here were typical with most people complying but the few assholes that always try to get bottles of water or soda past the x – ray machine. Folks, it's not going to happen. Stop screwing the rest of us behind you and follow the effing rules. That also applies to the douche bag that thought it was a good idea to cut in front of us while we were waiting our turn.

We got to the gate where our flight was scheduled to take off from and waited for the plane to arrive. I grabbed a cheese steak sandwich a tone of the food stands for $9.50. It was actually a good sided sandwich and I didn't feel ripped off. We pre-boarded and got to our seats with no problem. This is flight 1749 scheduled to depart Newark at 12:36pm and arrive in Las Vegas at 3:30pm with a flight time of 5 hours and 54 minutes. The captain came on and told us the flight was actually going to take 5 hours but with some rough patches along the way.

We took off on time and we were on our way. The flight was typical, long and boring. I passed the time by playing on my tablet and sleeping. Dee passed the time by sleeping and reading.

We finally arrived and landed at 2:47, 43 minutes early. We had to wait for Dee's wheelchair to come up and were last off the plane since we were sitting in the back anyway. When we got to luggage claim the suitcase was out there already and were were on our way.

We jumped onto the rental car shuttle to go pick up the car. For the first time ever I actually got the best rate from Hertz at a base price of $150 for a mid sized SUV for the 8 day rental. I also had a coupon $25 off dropping the rate down to $125. This isn't a great rate by any means but there are a couple of conventions in town this week to the tune of over 80,000 people so I'm guessing this this is why the rates were higher than I normally pay.

They had me set up in a Chevy Trax. This car had 30,000 miles on it and was in good condition. It amazes me that these car companies keep downgrading the car sizes. Even in the last few rentals the same size rented is getting me smaller cars. After looking it over we were off to the Las Vegas Advisor office to pick up Dee's coupon book which we'd be using this trip along with mine. The next stop was to Walgreen's to grab a few items and then it was on to the hotel.

When we got downtown I valet parked at the D. I have a 4 night stay booked here but we will only be here for tonight. I booked this an a mail offer of 4 nights, $100 free play, $150 food, 2 show tickets to Defending the Caveman and (2) $50 match plays.

Checking in was fast. We we assigned room 1925. This is a handicap room with a king bed, nightstands, dresser, flat screen TV and small table and chairs. There is also a sleeper sofa which was a surprise. It has a view of the downtown area facing El Cortez. The bathroom is small but totally renovated with toilet and vanity. There are also safety bars around the toilet. It's also got a roll in shower. The bathroom in this room is actually nicer then the regular rooms.

We we hungry now so decided to go over to the Fremont and get something quick at the Lanai Express. I had a 2 item combo with fried rice and Dee had the burger combo. One thing I can say about the Boyd properties is while the food is basic, you always know what you're going to get.

After we ate we headed back over to the Golden Nugget. I just wanted to scout out some games to play when we stay there this week since they removed the 8/5 bonus.

It was getting late now (for us being 3 hours time difference) and it had been a long day of travel so we came up to the room and packed things in for the night.

Total win/loss for the day $0
Total Comps for the day $41
Total Coin - In for the day $0
Room(s) $24
Food $17