Day 1
Saturday December 12, 2020
I worked night shift last night and got home this morning. I slept until about noon and got up to start the day.

Around 1:30pm I loaded up the rental car I picked up yesterday from Avis and I was on my way to Newark.

Now let's flashback a bit. Originally I was supposed to leave tomorrow on a flight out of my local airport, Stewart Newburgh but, American Airlines decided to suspend service from this airport for the second time this year. To make things worse they decided to help me out by changing my flights for me. They thought it would be a good idea to have me fly out of LaGuardia. Uhh, I don't fucking think so. I called them up and they offered me a full refund.

It left me the option to fly out of Newark, NJ or fly out of Albany, NY. I wanted Albany because Newark sucks and it was just cheaper getting to/from Albany. However, I couldn't trust American Airlines because the rep said more airport suspensions were coming. Sadly I had to choose to go from Newark which adds $200 to the cost of this trip.

So back to the present. I picked this car up yesterday at Avis at Stewart Airport which is a ghost town. I reserved a mid sized SUV for $60 base and $80 all in using a discount code through my job. This size car was actually cheaper than everything else. On the app the night before it offered me 3 cars to chose from. One of them was a Chrysler 300 in the luxury category for no additional fee. I opted for this. Picking up here is always easy and Manager Lynn knows me after all of these years. I was actually given the 300 with 4500 miles on it. It was in new condition other than a few dings in it.

The trip to Newark was the usual. It was nice to not be driving down there in the wee hours of the morning and to be driving down there in daylight. Being a Saturday traffic wasn't bad either except in the usual spots where the road bottlenecks.

When I got to Newark I gassed up the car at the clip joint across the street at the absurd price of $2.86 a gallon. That's about 80˘ a gallon more than everything a little farther away. The car only took about $10 to fill up.

Returning the car was easy and I didn't deal with some of the usual douche bags that work at Avis down here.

Next up was the monorail to terminal C and downstairs to check in with United. I booked this ticket just a few weeks ago.

Checking in at United was a breeze. Because I'm on my Seven Stars trip with Caesars Entertainment and have a $1200 airfare allowance, I'm flying first class today. The cost of this ticket was “only” $760 and I'll get reimbursed in the form of free play.

Security is usually shitty in Newark . Today was the exception. I don't think there were 20 people here. I had a whole line to myself. You do still have to deal with the idiots that can't follow simple instruction, there's just not as many of them these days with the slower season and COVID.

I got through security and found my gate. I have a couple of passes for the United Club so went up there to take it easy before the flight and grab a snack. COVID has ruined this perk too. All of the foods are pre-packaged including Lipton Cup A Soup and ramen noodles. I grabbed something to eat played on my laptop to pass the time. At about 5:45pm I left the lounge and headed to my gate.

We're scheduled to depart at 6:35pm with a flight time of 5 hours 43 minutes. An announcement was made that said the flight would only be 5:10. This is flight 1153 non stop to Las Vegas.

We took off at 6:35 and we were on our way. The “meal” was the option of a sandwich or snack box. I went with the chicken sandwich with provolone and kale aioli. I spent most of the flight doing the usual watching TV, playing games and sleeping. The flight was smooth for most of the trip. Just a few small bumps here and there I knew we were getting close when I woke up and felt the plane coming down. The only disruptions were the guy next to me deciding to video chat with someone and a barking dog. I was woken up by him yelling into the phone. The flight attendant put a quick stop to the ass clown for using video chat. As far as the dog goes? WTF?

As always people can't follow simple instruction. I still don't understand why when the captain comes on the PA and says the fasten seat belt sign is on why people feel they should get up. The guy on the other side of the aisle from me had be told 4 times to put his seat back into the upright position. Again, I ask, WTF?

We landed at 8:47pm and taxied to the gate. Being in seat 1 in first class I was one of the first off the plane and headed towards baggage claim making the usual stop along the way.

When I got there the suitcase was already on the carousel.

The next stop was to the rental car shuttle. I booked this as just a 1 day rental because originally I was supposed to come out tomorrow and the rate I got for that time period just can't be beat. Adding this extra day added $200 to the total of my other rental. What's even more odd about this is booking this one day by itself scored a rental rate of $10.56 base and $20.78 all in. Yes, ten dollars and fifty six cents for a mid sized (compact and economy were also the same price). I don't really understand how adding this day to the 17 day reservation can spike it by $200 but booking separately it's only 10 bucks.

This was booked with Budget and my name was on the board. My car was in spot F4.

They had me set up with a Toyota Camry with 19,000 miles on it which was actually an upgrade to a full sized. I didn't really care what they gave me because I'd only be putting about 20 miles on it. I gave it a quick inspection and I was on my way to security and out the door.

Because it was late I just went directly to the hotel to check in. I booked a 2 night stay at Tuscany (staying for 1) using my quarterly mail offer. It's good for 3 nights, $100 free play, $75 food and a kiosk game. Checking in here is always pretty easy and I was assigned room 101 in building D.

This room has a living room area, dining room/kitchenette area and bedroom area. The living room has a couch (sleeper), coffee table and work desk. The dining area has a table and chairs and small counter with sink, cabinets, coffee maker and a fridge. The bedroom area has a king bed with night stands, dresser, TV and closet. There is a view of the other buildings.

The bathroom is room with a shower stall, separate tub, toilet and vanity area. Nothing fancy but certainly better than many others out there.

I threw my things into the room and took a walk over to the casino. It was late and I had no plans to play today but did pop a few twenties into some penny games. I lost a few bucks.

For something to eat I went to Pub 365. I got the brisket dip sandwich and it came with chips. Sandwich was so-so. Nothing great, nothing awful.

That wrapped up the day and I came back to the room to end day one.

Total Coin In For The Day = $0
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $7
Total Comps For The Day = $43