Because he's probably not going to want to spend much time down there. At Bally's I found myself walking North way more often than South, and MC is a good chunk further South than there. Granted somebody playing predominantly Aria/B wouldn't have such an issue but I liked Mirage/V and walking from somewhere like Trop to V would get boring real quick. Sure, taxis exist but I'm way to nitty to pay for those!

I've got one word for you. Monorail.

Hasn't been in summer, but I've actually walked from Trop to V.

this is probably a stretch, but...

have a trip planned for the end of march with 4 friends. i have 6 nights booked at Harrahs for $120 with a few comped nights. I'd prefer to stay at Flamingo, which is where my 2 other buddies are staying, but didn't have any offers. the last 2 years we stayed there and did a ton of our gambling there. is it worth calling, looking to speak to a host and see if he/she can do anything for us?

edit: we aren't high limit players by any means but for some reason we enjoy gambling there. craps/roulette/bj and even use the poker room lol

yeah I'm a big fan of flamingo gambling too - love the casino

I doubt they'll do anything for you though

with the new quad it's not all that far though (and you can play bubble craps along the way!)

I want to thank everyone who provided advice on my questions. My first ever Las Vegas trip is booked. Im staying 10 nights at the Flamingo from the 10th March. The levels of excitement were making me physically shake when confirming the booking.

One further question if i may.

1. Checking my online bank i notice the hotel seems to have charged a small amount (maybe one night?) as of right now. Will that remain the same and i pay the rest at check in/check out?

2. When checking in will i have to leave my debit card or any sort of cash deposit at the flamingo for the duration of my stay?

3. Im currently planning on taking half my budget in dollars and using my Visa debit card to withdraw the rest if and when needed. Im presuming using my visa debit will be ok in Vegas ATM's?

I cannot thank the entire LVL forum enough for the information and various trip reports over the years. They have allowed me to live my dream through the eyes of others and i would love to bring back a TR of my own.

1. Yes, and if you gamble and earn Total Rewards credits you can apply them to your balance at checkout.

2. Yes usually.

3. Yes, if you use Chase there's a no-fee ATM in the CVS in front of Monte Carlo and I think there are Bank of America ATMs somewhere in Forum Shops. There used to be a Wells Fargo ATM in the airport but it's been years since I had an account there. Otherwise prepare to get smacked with ATM fees.

Im a little confused as to how leaving my debit card works? So i arrive and for 10 days they keep my debit card and i get it back when im leaving? How about if i need it to withdraw money from the ATM considering im only taking one debit card and a few thousand in dollars.

Apolagies for the newbish questions but i am a newbie

To my way of thinking, the worse they can do is say no.

No, they do not keep your card. He was answering the part about the deposit.

You can either pay for your entire stay or leave the bill open so you can charge things to your room. Also, some of the stay may be comped due to your play. If you close it (pay for the stay upfront), I don't think they would comp any of your current stay but might comp nights if you came back. Given you live in the UK, it might be best to leave it open so some of the nights of the current stay might be comped.

Haha! No they don't physically keep your card, they will just keep your card # in their system and they might do a temporary charge of $50 or $100 or something that will be reversed upon checkout if you don't charge anything to your room.

Thanks again for the quick replies. One last question from me, should i mention when checking in that i signed up for total rewards whilst in the UK and hope to get the card whilst checking in?

I promise thats the last question for at least 24 hours :P

Much love.

I'm not sure I'd bring so much of your roll in cash. I think you should check with your bank and see what the daily limits are for cash withdrawl and if there are any other limits you should know about as well as making sure your card will work over here. Guessing it will but it never hurts to ask.

Personally, I'd bring $500 to a $1000 and do some big withdrawls once you are over here.

You'll probably need to go to the TR counter to get the card.

Speaking of giving thanks to the forum, I owe you guys some thanks as well. I asked some basic dumb questions about a month ago, mostly around where to stay for 1-2 months. Today marks 3 weeks here, and things are going great. Thanks to everyone who chimed in with advice.

I ended up staying at Candlewood Suites, here through the 17th. Getting lots of use out of the kitchen, love the free wifi, no resort fees, and the decent walk to the strip. Still planning on staying until at least the end of the month, maybe a little longer. May extend my Candlewood reservation, but would like to hit 3 other IHG properties to lock up IHG Platinum before the end of February.

A friend came to town for 2 weeks for conferences, so spent a lot of time hanging out with him. Another friend shows up on Tuesday for some conference, will hang out with her for a few days. Enjoying the town so far. Haven't gotten over to Yama Sushi yet, that's maybe tomorrow.


To do list:
Yama sushi
Goyemon sushi
Mandalay Bay aquarium
Atomic museum
Neon museum
Sail on Lake Mead
Ride the deuce up and down the length of its route
More buffets
Someone told me that Ceasar's has a decent aquarium as well


Sessions:

0/5 in tournaments (all $125 Bellagio/Aria, -$625)
3/4 winning 1/3 cash sessions (+$704, -$300, +$452, +301)
0/1 Aria HU Holdem machine (-$200)
0/1 Pai Gow with friends (-$65)
2/2 Walking Dead slot machine (+$2.20, +$345.60)

Total: +$614.80

I had planned not to do any degening, and so far so good. I consider the HU/PG/WD all entertainment expenses. I did tilt off the second $100 at HU, so that was probably degening. The Walking Dead slot machine is a lot of fun.

4 of the 5 tournament knockouts were preflop shoves against villains who woke up with either KK or AA. Sadface.

I thought I'd be playing poker more, kinda surprised to only have played that much over 3 weeks. The friend that was here for 2 weeks is a high roller, so we spent a lot of evenings enjoying comped steaks and hanging out. That may have something to do with the lack of poker.

The friend coming into town this week has zero interest in poker so I imagine she and I will be eating lots of sushi.

That's my mini-report for the first 3 weeks. 3 more weeks to go, maybe a little more.

Semi-pro tip: Get your TR card prior to checking in . . .

Then use said card to avoid any major lineup while checking in by using the Gold Card members line (far right while facing registration desk at the Flamingo - that is where you're staying, right?!) bypassing the general registration lineup mayhem.

No pinball museum?

TR Gold line is far left facing registration at Flamingo.

Pinball Museum, Bellagio Fountains, and Absinthe are missing.

Not interested in pinball, but if there's another reason to go I'll reconsider.

Have already watched Bellagio Fountains multiple times.

Not really into shows, so Absinthe is not on my list. Looks like it has consistently amazing reviews.


Two more possibilities are the Desert National Wildlife Refuge and the Mojave National Preserve. I tend to prefer outdoors stuff.

True. Thanks for pointing that out!

Such a hassle having two right hands.

Just a slight correction.

Pinball museum is the best thing ever created by a human.

What about non human

The pyramids?

Nope. Still pinball.

OK what the hell, it's on the list.

Im back with another question

Im going to be using my phone to take pictures/notes etc whilst out there and will be taking my usb charger. Im guessing its unlikely but is there some way of charging my phone in the room using the usb lead? Or if not, anywhere reliable on the strip where i could?

Thanks.