2020 Socially Distanced Las Vegas trip - Final thoughts

Overall Thoughts:

I saw a lot of articles on the news about violence, gangs of scooters, non-compliance on mask wearing, etc.  I really only saw a bit of non-mask wearing (or improper mask wearing).  I didn’t walk around the Strip at all, but I drove it.  I saw a few people riding scooters and a few groups of people not wearing masks.  When I went into Mandalay Bay and The Mirage on a Tuesday afternoon, I noticed the both casinos were noticeably empty.  I recall seeing hand washing station on the casino floor at both casinos, like what I saw at MGM National Harbor.

Fremont Street Experience was a different story.  It seemed pretty crowded every night, especially on Friday and Saturday.  Granted, it’s a small area of concentration.  There was more visible security on FSE, with barricades set up at points.  Not exactly sure what they were doing, I don’t recall them asking to inspect my backpack when I was there on Saturday night, nor when I was carrying around my “beach bag” going from Golden Gate to The D.  Mask wearing was hit or miss, and of course, there was often the overpowering smell of marijuana around.  COVID didn’t seem to stop buskers from doing their jobs either (not sure how they sanitized the tip money they received).  I avoided walking down FSE at night as best I could.

Laughlin on Sun-Tue was pretty slow, I’m not sure if it’s always that way or due to COVID.  I did not encounter many people during my walk from Harrah’s to Riverside on the sidewalks or Riverwalk.  It was a bit warm, so a few times when there was no one around, I did remove my mask while walking outside.  I believe all the casinos at the time did not open table games until at least 10:00 AM (at least during the weekday).  I don’t recall seeing dividers on the tables, the craps table I played at Aquarius did not.

All the casinos had abundant signage about social distancing and most had hand sanitizing machines around.  Some had limited the entry and exit to the casinos.  Some took temperature checks.  Some scanned IDs.  As I mentioned in my report, Friday night at Wynn, they had a metal detector wand check and bag examination.

Wynn did have housekeeping, but Harrah’s Laughlin and Golden Gate did not.  I did end up taking some take out food trash to the elevator lobby trash can during my stay at Harrah’s Laughlin.  I did miss getting my Fiji water replenished every day at Golden Gate, but I think I could have gotten it (and coffee) at Prohibition Bar for free (although I would have been obligated to tip).

Airfare:

Once again, there was a nice airfare out of Philadelphia (as I recall, it was just over $100 r/t).  It was originally going with friends, but they cancelled, and I ended up going alone.  We booked June 30, and our flight had changed several times.  We ended up modifying our flight one last time for a preferable itinerary.  Fortunately, I was able to park at Bob’s, so I didn’t have to spend around $75 for parking.  My friend booked my flight with her points, and I reimbursed her.

Rental Car:

Cars were originally around $300 when I was first looking around after we booked the flight.  I booked a car with Alamo for $300.07 on Aug 5, and on Aug 25, I rebooked with Thrifty for $235.13.  Finally, on Sep 3, I booked with Hertz for $199.46.  I booked a medium sedan Group C (Mazda 3 4-door or similar) and received a Nissan Rogue.  It was a nice vehicle, although the cargo area seemed small for an SUV type.  It had lane control, which at times was annoying.  I only had to fill up before I returned the vehicle, which was $28.

Rooms:

Fortunately, I didn’t pay anything for rooms this trip.

I was able to book two nights at Wynn using their slot app before they had made changes to the program.  I did spend around $70 to get to the level to redeem rooms after the change, but that is a good rate to pay for two nights at Wynn, without resort fees.  I left $5/day for housekeeping, as they did service the room both days of my stay.

I booked two nights at Harrah’s Laughlin comped through my prior history with Total Rewards.  I originally had booked three nights at Caesars Palace, so I gave up a nice room in Las Vegas for the adventure in Laughlin.  I left $3 for housekeeping, as they did not service the room during my stay.

I had a four-night offer at Golden Gate, but I did go through my host, since I was booking two nights in September and two nights in October, and typically the casino mailer doesn’t allow you to do that.  I left $5 for housekeeping, as they did not service the room during my stay.

Dining:

I did not have any outdoor dining, and I never felt uncomfortable dining in.  All the restaurants seemed to have their tables spaced out, or limited seating.  Some of the restaurants had signage saying the tables were sanitized and I actively saw employees cleaning and spraying down tables.

09/25:  Lunch – Lunchable and a pack of Spree, BNA:  $7.47

09/25:  Dinner – Eureka Casino, Fat Choy:  $24.36, $5.64 tip

09/26:  Lunch – Ellis Island, Village Pub and Café:  $7.00 (-$6.99 coupon, -$6.47 comps, $3.49 tip)

09/27:  Breakfast – Peppermill:  AH treat

09/27:  Dinner – Harrah’s Laughlin, Beach Café:  $23.77 (comps), $5 tip

09/28:  Lunch – Riverside Casino, Riverside Restaurant:  $15.39, $5 tip

09/28:  Dinner – Minato:  $21.62, $4.32 tip

09/29:  Lunch – Amlee:  Justin treat

09/29:  Dinner – Four Queens, Chicago Brewing Co.:  Scott treat (comps), $10 tip

09/30:  Breakfast – Binion’s, Binion’s Café:  $13.48 (comps), $5 tip

09/30:  Lunch – Project BBQ, Golden Gate:  $14.00 (?) (comps)

09/30:  Dinner – The D, Andiamo:  ? (comps), $20 tip

10/01:  Breakfast - Binion’s, Binion’s Café:  $13.48 (comps), $5 tip

10/01:  Dinner – The D, Andiamo:  ? (comps), $22 tip

10/02:  Breakfast – Four Queens, Magnolia’s:  Scott treat (comps), $7 tip

10/02:  Dinner – Four Queens, Hugo’s Cellar:  Scott treat (comps), $20 tip

10/03:  Lunch – Longhorn Steakhouse, ATL:  $23.75 (incl tip)

I spent around $208.55 for 17 meals, that comes to $12.27/meal.  Many of them were comped, and I was treated to a few.  I did miss a few meals, but I never broke into the snack bag I brought (for the second time).

Drinks:

I didn’t drink too much on the casino floor, but I did get a fair amount of drinks at Prohibition and Vue.  It looks like I spent at least $57 on drink tips, typically tipping $2-$5 for my first drink and $1-$2 for the following ones.

Gambling:

It was a tale of two halves.  The first half of the trip, I didn’t really have any wins.  I did have the run at the beginning of my Laughlin trip, but ended up losing.  I did have opportunities to squirrel away wins, but lack of discipline kept me from doing so (starting with my first play at Eureka).  If I get any offers from the play I did, then it might make the play worthwhile, so we’ll see.

Hitting the $1,006 royal at Golden Gate brought me about even at the time.  Then with the free play I had a The D and Golden Gate, that really balanced my play at the two properties.  “Finding” the $100 free play at Four Queens balanced my play there.  I almost doubled my play at Four Queens from my prior play in January, so hopefully my offers will go up a bit (and I’ll receive them, now that I provided my updated address).

I did get some couponing in that I didn’t do in January.  I think I got good value out of my American Casino Guide and Las Vegas Advisor Member Rewards Book.

Finally:

Overall, it was a pleasant trip.  Although I considered it a “solo trip”, I only spent my first night and one day in Laughlin alone.  I guess the main consideration of the solo trip was I wasn’t sharing a room with anyone.  I was telling Valeria that I originally gambled alone, but now that I’ve had so many group trips and gambled with friends, gambling alone seems so strange.  I did get to spent time with AH and ZH at the beginning and Scott and then eliza at the end.  Would I go again during COVID?  Possibly, if the airfare and offers were there and it made sense.  Gambling-wise, I was probably down a few hundred, but I still have $175 in match plays to use.