Some pretty good tips from Allen. If he kept his posts to things he knows about (ie travel logistics) instead of things he has apparently no knowledge of (the business of running casinos), I think most people would have no quibbles with him. In any case, my 2 cents on some of his tips..

Carrying cash on board planes: There was a thread about this somewhere last spring on 2+2. In general, anything less than $10K is probably fine. I wouldn't carry it on my person since you have to remove all items from your pockets to go through the screener. Just put it in your carry on and make sure you stay with your carry on at all times other than when it goes through the x-ray. I have had my carry-on checked many times because I travel with a computer and lots of wires. I have never been asked about large sums of money I might be carrying, particularly when traveling to places like Vegas. I suppose its possible you might be asked by an over-zealous TSA agent. To my knowledge there is nothing illegal about carrying less than $10K on a plane so as long as you give a reasonable answer, there's absolutely no reason this should cause you any difficulty. Checking with the TSA website from time to time (or your own country's authorities) is always prudent to see if any laws have changed. Of course, if you can wire the money ahead and not incur a cost, this might be a good alternative.

Checking Baggage: I agree that in general checking baggage should be avoided. But if you're going anywhere for more than a week, this might not be possible, and points people have maid about carry-on restrictions are valid. Also, if you're travelling through multiple airports, lugging around garment bags or other carry-ons can be a pain, especially if you're stuck for an extended time due to a lay-over or flight delay. Sometimes its nice to just get rid of most of your stuff and be unencumbered. Waiting at your destination for you bags can be annoying, but to be honest, the amount of time it takes to get off a plane these days, you usually don't wait too long. An, IMO, places like Vegas seem to do a better job than others at getting you your bags in a reasonable amount of time. I do agree that checked baggage could causes issues making changes to your travel plans. There have been times when my connecting flight was seriously delayed and an earlier flight ON THE SAME airline was available... however my checked bag would not be transferred. I hope that technological advancements will make this sort of situation less common, but it is a real concern today. Of course, the ultimate solution is to win a bunch of money playing poker and hire a personal assistant who will fly ahead of you and buy you a new wardrobe for your trip so you don't have to pack

As for locking your bag, I disagree with Allen. You can lock your bag... you just should use a TSA-lock, otherwise, if they chose your bag for inspection, they will cut your lock off. If you don't care about the cost of the lock, this could be ok. While TSA locks will not prevent officials from looking in your bag if it is suspicious or if it has been selected randomly, the lock will prevent baggage handlers or others from accessing your bag. I wouldn't necessarily put large sums of money or other valuables in a checked bag, but there's no reason you can't lock it.

As for flying on Southwest, I'm pretty sure their first-come-first choose method of boarding was implemented to maximize the fullness of their flights as opposed to their stated reason of increasing the efficiency of the boarding process. I have never found their process to be at all efficient. That being said, I don't think you really need to pay the extra $10, or whatever to avoid the dreaded middle seat. As long as you check in the day before as opposed to when you get to the airport, you ought to be able to get a place within the "B" boarding group. Anything is possible, but I've taken probably something like 50 Southwest flights and have never been stuck with a middle seat when I checked in the day before. If you absolutely need to sit in the front of the plane, you will need to pay more.

Maybe. It depends on what the flight is. Local flights to Vegas are VERY popular on weekends. I'll start trying to check in 24 hours and 1 minute before the flight. I keep clicking until I get in, and I still end up getting A28 or so, whereas A16 should be first available. It's like people are using an ebay sniper program to check in. If I forget and am more than 5 minutes late I usually get deep into the B's.

When you check in online like that, you are behind those who paid the $10, and A-list members (their frequent fliers), who essentially get the $10 early check-in without paying the $10. You are also checking in not just for your first flight, but all your connections. So, if somebody is flying A to B at 10am, and then B to C at noon, they get to check in at 10am, which includes checking in for the noon B to C flight. So, if you are just flying B to C, you don't get to check in online until noon the day before, and they beat you by 2 hours. As will anybody else who is connecting before getting on that flight with you.

I prefer SWA over all the other airlines. I do find that they get the boarding done quicker than when seats are assigned. And unless the plane is full or very close to full (like only 4 or fewer empty seats), I can always get an empty middle seat next to me, by sitting in the aisle in the back of the plane. When I've flown other airlines, I end up in the middle seat way more often, even if I picked an aisle seat when booking the flight. They will do something like change from plane A to plane B a few hours before the flight, wherein the planes are not the same model, and have different seating arrangements, and then they reassign everybody to new seats. Then maybe you get screwed out of the nice seat you picked when you booked the flight.

In the interest of really providing some advice for this thread, I'll suggest that you always go online about 24 hours before your flight, and see if you want to select a new seat assignment. Maybe your aisle seat had two empty seats next to you, but now they're taken, but another row has an empty aisle seat with an empty middle, and you can move to that one.

Another tactic. If you're on a flight with assigned seats, and not worried about them running out of overhead bin space for your roller bag, board last. Then, you might find an empty row or something that is much preferable to the seat you have assigned, and just sit there instead. If you're really the last one on, nobody else is going to come and say that's their seat. And if they do show up late, you can always just move to where you were going to go anyway.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

All I meant was that I have never checked in the day before and gotten the "C" group, which is where you likely need to end up in order to be forced to sit in a middle seat. Of course, it all depends on the composition of the flight (ie how many people are traveling together, taking up middle seats, etc.)

Stock the mini fridge in the room. $$ adds up over time

Beware of hotels such as the Aria that will try to rip you off $25/day if you put your own item in the mini-fridge, or even move an item in the mini-fridge! Many guests don't bother asking about extra charges or requesting that they be reversed.

Hotels Get Hidden Fee Happy: Formerly Free Perks Now Cost Big $$$

Yeah, I check the mini-fridge (on the rare occasion that I get such a room) when I first get there to make sure it's stocked, then I never open it again.

Always been able to hold my cash in one hand in the Airport whirly machine, keep it in view and always noticed but never queried.

I once wore my entire wardrobe on my trip to the dominican republic. I packed my dufflebag in my backpack and then when I arrived to the Dominican I undressed in a stall in the bathroom and folded all my clothes up nicely in my dufflebag. Saved me 200$.. I figured I'd get patted down by security for so many layers being on but they said that the xray machine only catches abnormal protrusions.

Were you a bit hot on the plane?

What played in my favor was that I was going to the Caribbean. My wardrobe mostly consisted of ball shorts, and t-shirts.

Level?!?!

If not, read up on risk v reward and apply it here. Risk. Internal body cavity check. Reward. No $50 bag check and a half hour wait. Worthwhile?

Agree with the SWA comments from Fossilman and others, but FYI, the Early Bird checkin fee is now $12.50 each way. It also has become so popular that I occassionally get B boarding passes even when paying for it. Still worthwhile in many situations though.

Probably not relevant for many here, but one reason NOT to use Early Bird is if you travel with children 4 years or under. SWA allows family boarding with the kids in between the A and B groups. No need to pay for Early Bird in that case.

Just set your alarm to remind you to check in and save $25

For those like me who have flown with Westjet, beware that they will now be ripping us off $25 for first checked bag. Hopefully, Southwest will soon be available in the Canadian market with lower airfares.

Seems like an extreme tactic to take to avoid checking a bag... but to each his/her own.

Any experience with FlightHub.com? I was surprised that it had the best price for my trip to the WPT UK Festival, better than the US Airways website, Kayak, Expedia, One Travel, etc.

Below is a travel tip that I absolutely love to do ESPECIALLY in Vegas during the summer

I like my room super dark so I can sleep whenever the hell I want. So, all it takes is a $2 roll of aluminum foil and $1 roll of scotch tape and 5 minutes of your time.



It has the added benefit of reflecting the Infrared Rays of the sun which is what carries all the damn heat. So this makes your room like 70% cooler than it would normally be so your airconditioner doesn't have to fight a losing battle with the Vegas sun.

Room service doesn't mess with it (I put a note up just in case) and of course when I check out it takes 20 seconds to tear it all down.

This is by far one of my favorite things to do when Traveling. I can't stand how curtains just suck and lets the light seep in through the corners and somehow always finds its way right onto your face.

Anyways, trust me, once you tape up your windows like this (especially in Vegas) you get addicted to it.

the above pic isn't my best effort, but even that makes the room pretty dark in the middle of the day when combined with the curtains. When you overlap the foil and get good at taping it up, you literally block 99% of the light when used with the curtains and your room is more or less pitch dark any time you like...

Seems like an awfully inconvenient method. If you're that sensitive to light when trying to sleep, and you happen to get a room which has crappy curtains, wouldn't a night mask do the job? Anyhow, if one is going to go to these lengths to block light out, at least try to kill two birds with one stone. I'm pretty sure you could wrap some food in the aluminum foil and the summer sun in Vegas will thoroughly cook it. With a little creativity, a person could have a quality meal waiting for them when they wake from their slumber.

Lots of good information in here it seems Southwest Airlines is the best airline for a poker players lifestyle

Question for those who have spent time traveling between the U.S. and Europe.

What have you done to have cell phone and data service, but also control cost?
i.e., are you using Skype minutes to make calls, separate sim card, etc.

Thanks

The light coming inn around the edges of the foil is a problem.

Fortunately, I use an ingenious solution which is to pull all of the curtains shut.

I leave the following note on the desk in front of the window:

Search Las Vegas Lifestyles, it's been asked often. If you plan to use the phone only to make calls in the U.S. it's cheapest to just get a prepaid phone when you arrive.

Allen thanks for the tips. Can you list your yearly tournament schedule ?

I bring a couple of clips with me to completely close the curtains. I know the curtains in most casinos are room darkening but where they come together they never quite close enough and let that annoying sliver of light in. Much easier than the al foil but I like the way you think.