This shouldn't be a surprise to anybody here, except maybe the timing on this. Paid valet will be launching in the next week or two while paid self parking will be in coming months.

https://www.caesars.com/parking

Bally's, Caesars Palace, The Cromwell, Paris and Planet Hollywood
Up to 4 hours: $13.00
4 to 24 hours: $18.00
Over 24 hours: $18 for each additional day or fraction thereof.

Flamingo Las Vegas, Harrah’s Las Vegas and The LINQ
Up to 4 hours: $8.00
4 to 24 hours: $13.00
Over 24 hours: $13 for each additional day or fraction thereof.

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Valet parking at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino will remain free.

Someone on Reddit is saying that self-parking will still be free for locals for an indeterminate amount of time. Not sure why that part isn't mentioned in the press release if it's true.

Valet is free for platinum and up (and so I assume self parking as well)

Depending on level and where you play, it can take as many as 294 hours of 1-2 play to achieve platinum status. 5000 tier credits to achieve platinum, and 17 tier credits per hour at most poker rooms.

Your best bet is to play at a room like Caesars as they offer double the tier credits. Or, park at Mlife as it only takes 75 hours for free parking.

Vegas is not what it once was.

I had a thought... and this is a "It's 1am and I'm probably too tired to be coherent or sensible" thought. Vegas is really doing **** backwards.

Think about it. In the 50's, when the mob ran Vegas, there was zero competition for what Vegas offered. Atlantic City existed, sure, but it was nothing like Vegas, even back then. The mob could have gotten away with charging for parking, resort fees, skimping out on drinks, making food more expensive, etc. Where else would people go? Instead, they gave away the farm knowing that whatever they lost, they'd get back ten fold in gambling revenue.

Now, 30 states have legalized gaming (either state-run or tribal-run). Competition is everywhere. People literally don't have to even go on vacation to get their degeneracy fix. If Vegas wants to remain a destination, they should be doing things like giving away the farm. Instead, with all this competition around, they're starting to price themselves out of the market.

The logic of everything just seems completely backwards to me. I understand why the CEOs are doing it - they don't care about anyone except the shareholders. And with MGM, the stock price actually ticked up once they announced the pay-to-park scheme. Every Vegas local could mail their MLife card back to the MGM corporate offices and tell them to shove it, and it wouldn't change a thing as long as that stock price held steady.

Why the **** am I still awake...

Atlantic City didn't have gambling until 1978

FYP. Ever watch Boardwalk Empire?

Well crap.

The obvious play is to park at Rio and take the shuttle, or at Gold Coast when the Rio starts charging.

The mob still ran parts of Vegas in the 80's and into the 90's. It was a lot more fun and a lot cheaper back then. Unless you were trying to cheat and got backroomed, it was a great time.

MGM used the excuse that other cities charge so charging is okay. But the fact that other cities charge should be a reason for Vegas to keep parking free. People should enjoy their visits to Vegas more than they enjoy visiting other cities. Doing the same thing other cities are doing isn't going to make Vegas special in any way.

This is why I laugh though when people expect places like MGM properties and Wynn to give stuff away. That's not the way they want to do things in Vegas anymore. They want customers to spend a lot and get very few comps/offers in return. They say they offer such an amazing experience that people will accept things that way and will want to pay.

Yes, they used to give away the farm because they knew they would get it back in gaming. The market has changed. They can't expect to get it back from gaming anymore given that only a small percentage of their revenue comes from gaming. Most of these casinos are losing money. They need to make money somehow.

Most tourists don't make their decision to come to Vegas based on free parking. Many of the people that are concerned with parking prices will put in their hours at the table to ensure they get free parking. Seems like a no brainer, TBH.

So the only free parking that remains is Wynn, Venetian, and Tropicana?

TI. For now.

Cosmo

In a town where you can Uber from Mandalay Bay to Fremont Street for Less than $10, seems like the "Pro/Nit move" or whatever you want to call it, is to park somewhere with Free parking still like the Fashion Show Mall, or Tropicana Locals Parking lot and Uber/Lyft it right to the valet or wherever you want to go. I believe my last ride from Encore Poker Room to Planet Hollywood was around $5-6.

Of course, vitalvegas.com projected it would be announced by the end of the year, and here we are!

http://vitalvegas.com/caesars-entert...harge-parking/

F*** that. Yes, it's no surprise but it cements me not going back to Vegas anytime soon. One thing I really liked about Vegas was the freedom of going around in your own rental car being able to park everywhere. Now they destroyed everything on that in a short time. Uber is a poor substitute

And the dominoes begin to fall...

Finally, what took these idiots so long? It amazing how slow they were to copy MGM once they saw that their business did not plummet. I will be surprised if the remaining independent casinos will not follow suit very quickly. I'm Diamond so I don't really care but this simply reinforces my dislike of the corporate Vegas culture. It's a nickle and dime business and they will be taking away whatever they can get away with and free drinks is next.

As a poker player, the next big thing will be free drinks being limited in the poker room. Just watch and see how a cocktail waitress will be limited in how many trips an hour she makes to each table. Seriously, just wait and see. Also, I fully expect rake to hit $6 + $1 by the end of 2018 if not 2017. After 1 casino does it, the rest will follow as long as business doesn't drop off too much.

Also, I will make it my mission to get MAXIMUM value out of my Diamond card earned entirely from poker. I hope CET bites a big one and I will get a bunch of Diamond lounge visits, all my free show tickets, a ton of gym and spa visits, and will put up my friends in hotels using my card for reduced rates and no resort fees. I have hundreds of dollars in comps and they will all be used to the penny before CET changes their expiration policy probably without notice.

I just hope they put in those little green and red lights above the parking spaces because I will not tolerate paid parking if I have to search for a spot.

Lol, they finally installed those green and red lights at Bellagio. I still don't get how they are helpful in any way. It's not any easier to see a tiny red light than it is to see a huge car in the spot.

The next trend will be price increases for parking. Only a matter of time before valet starts pushing 40 dollars for 24 hours at the upper tier properties.

When you're alone and life is making you lonely, You can always go downtown

When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry

Seems to help, I know, downtown

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city

Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty

How can you lose?

The lights are much brighter there

You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares

So go downtown
Things will be great when you're downtown

No finer place for sure, downtown

Everything's waiting for you

As a tourist I don't personally care about parking because I don't drive while visiting. But this penny-pinching on service has got to hit a peak at some point. I will continue traveling to Vegas until I begin paying for rooms and drinks. If this happens it will be more convenient for me to get robbed by the indians in Oklahoma casinos.

If service amenities continue a downward spiral, it will eventually affect the casino profits because so many choices now exist in this country. A large casino will then step up and backtrack to regain the gambling business. Think of the wildcat formation in the NFL...Everyone copies until it no longer works.

Remember the mid 90's experiment of making Vegas a family destination? lol

The current trend is a de-emphasis on gambling and more so on entertaining / dining and nightlife. They know the non gamblers won't gamble a thousand bucks on a trip, but are likely to spend just as much on event tickets and shopping.

Oh yeah and the convention business is booming again. Don't discount that as it fills up the city during the weekdays.

One of the things I hate about downtown is that they charge for parking.

Oh, and rob you they will. They already have higher rake than Vegas. They completely screw players with the "promo" dollar they pull before the cards are being dealt. It wouldn't surprise me if their slots pay out tighter than those on the strip. They require you to pay an ante to play black jack. I don't see any casinos in Vegas that have antes on table games.

Anyways, comparing some of the nicest resorts in the world to a casino whose primary structure is a tent is not an apples to orange comparison, IMO.

Who pays for parking downtown? I have been dozens of times and never have. Either valet for free at GN or Parking garage at GN and poker room will validate. Or park at Binions garage and you just get ticket stamped by the cashier cage for validation.