Continued from Part 1:
Wednesday, March 23rd:
I just read that the WPT500 will be at Aria when I’m there. $565 buy-in, $1 million guarantee. SEVEN day one flights, starting on Monday, June 27th. Fourth of July will feature two last chance turbos, with day two on July 5th and the final table on July 6th. While I probably wouldn’t have entered anyway, I can’t enter since I’m flying back July 1st. But it will be interesting to see if this affects the daily tournaments. I was planning on playing at least one of those since I’m staying at Aria. I would think since it’s the WPT, it might be in a convention room. Maybe I’ll swing by and watch some of the action.
Monday, April 4th:
90 days from today is July 3rd. Why is this important? Because the MyVegas rewards need to be used within 90 days of purchase and I’ll be coming back July 1st. So I can get my MyVegas rewards now and get that out of the way. It’s important to do it now because sometimes they are sold out of certain rewards. Since I want to make sure I get the rewards I want, I’m going to start ‘buying’ them today with my LPs which I earned by playing free slots on Facebook.
First up, a free Aria dinner buffet. 39,000 points. Boom…done. There’s one dinner while I’m out there.
Next, a free Mandalay Bay dinner buffet for 23,000 points. Another dinner down.
Add in a 3-day monorail pass…buy one, get one free (so, two 3-day passes) for 14,000 points.
And now the chase…I also want the $50 in free play at Aria. But it’s sold out right now so I’ll have to keep checking back from time to time and snag it when it’s available. I also might pick up the breakfast buffet for MGM. I don’t have the points right now but should earn them before the end of June. But you can only use three rewards per trip (monorail doesn’t count). I might have two dinner buffets, the breakfast buffet, and the $50 free play when I get out there. But what you don’t use, you can return and get the points back. I’ll probably get the breakfast buffet reward so I’ll have some flexibility on where / what I want to eat and return whatever I don’t use when I get back home. But the Aria buffet and free play are definites.
Friday, April 8th:
Quick update. Scored the $50 in free slot play this morning. That was the one that was sold out when I ‘bought’ the other rewards. So I’m set with my MyVegas stuff and am wiped out on my loyalty points. We’ll see if I can earn enough before June 25th to stock up on other rewards before I go (although I can only use up to three on any one trip).
Tuesday, April 19th
Some updates:
I’ve decided I am going to get the MGM breakfast buffet reward through MyVegas. Went out to the site today and it was sold out. So I’ll have to check back every couple of days. I also think I’m going to get the buy one get one alcoholic milkshakes at Monte Carlo. I don’t know if they’re any good, but if it’s BOGO at least that will cut the price in half. Oh, and I don’t think I’ll have trouble drinking two milkshakes. I doubt they will have much alcohol in them either. At any rate, that would give me five rewards and I can only use three.
I keep checking the flights and room, but neither has dropped in price.
And I almost forgot…I print out a lot of crap and take it with me…my notes, etc. I almost forgot that since I’ll be out of a job at the end of April, I won’t have access to a printer in June (unless I go to Staples or something). So I gotta take my crap to work before the end of the month and rip off the company by printing it out there.
Sorta looking forward to the trip, sorta not. I easily overheat and can’t cool down. And it seems to get worse for me every year. I added to my To Do list to finally go to the world famous Las Vegas sign. My notes say it’s about 1.4 miles from MGM. I used MGM as a starting point because at the time I was planning on staying at Harrah’s or Flamingo (ended up at the Linq) and I always take the monorail. MGM is the last stop. But the sign is about half a mile from Mandalay Bay. Since I’m at Aria, I could walk up to Excalibur, excuse myself to the Men’s room to freshen up, take the tram to Mandalay Bay, and then walk to the sign. I put on my ‘bring’ list a big travel mug so I can fill it with water and bring it with me (it will be filled with alcohol at all other times). I also wrote “Go to Vegas sign!!! It will kill you but go!!!!!”
Wednesday, May 11th
I have been unemployed for a week and a half now. Sometimes it’s boring, sometimes it’s not. I still set my alarm but I set it for 10am instead of 5:45am. I don’t want to get caught up into that ‘sleep all day’ routine.
The trip is still a month and a half away and I’m getting anxious. I just want to be there already. I’ve still been checking the flight and room prices pretty much every day. The flight price has gone up like $15, and the room just started climbing this week. The total for six nights has gone up like $500 in the past couple days. I said it before and I really think it now…I’m locked in with what I spent. I don’t see either room or flight dropping below what I paid in the next month and a half. Only going to go up from here.
You know how sometimes you buy something and you think maybe it’s a little too much money but you do it anyway and you kinda feel OK with the price once you actually bought it? But then later you look over your bills and you’re like WTF!!!?!? Kinda feel that way about the room at the Aria. Went all out (as much as I could) and got a one bedroom suite with a Strip view that will be around $2,500 for six nights. I was hesitant at first, then decided since this is supposed to be my blow out, celebrate 50th birthday, might be my last trip for a while trip, I’d book it. And I did. And I was OK with it.
But now, I’m like WTF?!?!??!! TWENTY FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!?!?!?! FOR A HOTEL ROOM??? WHEN I’M UNEMPLOYED??!!?? I’m trying not to think about it too much. It’s done. And to be honest, Caesar’s Entertainment keeps sending me special room rates and I almost went to see what it would cost to book a room at the Linq or somewhere else for the week. But I don’t.
It could be a once in a lifetime stay. Aria emailed me instructions on where to find my limo driver at the airport…he will have a sign with my name on it and I want so bad to take a picture of it. But I don’t want to seem like an ass or some hick that’s hitting the big city for the first time. “Yinz wouldn’t believe what they gosh dumb got there, Hazel…a car with a back seat as big as our house!” I’ll have to play it by ear. If he seems cool, I’ll ask if I can take a photo. But I will NOT get a selfie stick and take one of both of us. I also get a ride to the airport at the end of my stay.
I mentioned other amenities earlier:
Our own entry with personal curbside welcome (let those poor people use the regular entrance)
Private check-in (again, the poor normal people have to stand in the public line)
Private elevator (good…no commoners)
Panoramic Corner View of the Strip
Enhanced turn down service (undecided if I’m going to get this…I hear the chocolates they give you are awesome)
Two HD TVs (living room and bedroom) (adding this in later when I got home…it had a small TV in the bathroom too)
10″ tablet that controls everything in the room (lights, temperature, etc.)
Free laptop or iPad to use during my stay
No-Wait Line Pass to The Buffet and ARIA Café
ARIA Sky Pool & ARIA Fitness Center (don’t laugh about the fitness center…I’m once again trying to lose weight so I might actually use it)
And maybe my favorite:
Secluded Lounge with Complimentary Food and Beverage, including a Daily Wine and Cheese Pairing
I don’t drink wine but I love cheese. And the food and beverages are more like snack things and soda, from what I read online. But I think it will be neat to hang out there if I need to recharge, nibble a bit, and not have to buy Mountain Dew and store it in my fridge.
So I need to stop thinking about the money and enjoy myself.
Monday, June 20th:
No updates in a while since I haven’t done much. Just checking the flight and room prices on a regular basis, but they never dropped below what I paid.
One thing did happen recently that might hamper my enjoyment in Las Vegas. I go upstairs one evening and check my email…there are two emails from Chase asking about two declined charges on my Southwest credit card. Both at Foot Locker…one for $175, one for $90. Fuck. Great. Nope, not mine.
At first I thought it might be a scam because the email said to click one of the buttons…yes they’re mine, no they’re not mine. Seemed fishy. So I called the number on the back of the card. Sure enough, my credit card numbers were used. While I was calling and speaking to them, I brought up my account online. There was another $20’ish charge at some place (forget the name). I googled it…it’s a sports bar in the Bronx. Nope, not mine.
So while I was talking to the credit card chick, she mentioned the sports bar charge too and I said it wasn’t mine. She could see all my charges are from the Pittsburgh area so it clearly wasn’t me. She closed that account so there wouldn’t be any more charges and I won’t be responsible for any charges, so that’s cool.
But they will have to send me out a new card with a new account number. This happened on June 14th, 12 days (eight business days) before my Vegas trip. I’m not too worried about getting the new card before I leave. Eight business days should be enough. I’m worried that they’ll see all these Las Vegas charges on a brand new card from a customer who just had issues, and they’ll freeze my account. According to Aria, I have to pay the balance of my room (like $1,500) when I get there…not when I leave. So suddenly there’s a $1,500 charge from Vegas on a brand new card. I have other credit cards, but I use my Southwest one to get the miles to fly to Las Vegas.
I mentioned this to the Chase chick. She said she’ll make a note about that in my file and that I should remind them when I call to activate the card. Later, I was poking around the Chase web site setting up text alerts (because if I didn’t happen to check my email until the following day, it could have been worse) and I see there’s a form you can fill out before you travel. So I’ll probably call to remind them, and fill out the form. It’s been three business days (not counting today because the mail isn’t here yet) and no card yet.
Wednesday, June 22nd:
Just a couple days away!
I think I might actually go downtown this year. I haven’t before because a taxi would be too expensive. There’s a web site where you can find out how much a taxi trip will cost. From Aria to Golden Nugget, it would be around $27, plus tip!! There’s a bus that goes back and forth…I forget how much it is, but it isn’t a lot. But it makes a lot of stops so it takes a while to get downtown.
One of the people I follow on Twitter (@blackchipdiary) is in Las Vegas right now and he tweeted that he took Lyft downtown. Of course! Lyft/Uber! I think they started operating in Las Vegas last year. I had downloaded the Lyft app when I went to Atlantic City once in case I wanted to go over to Showboat. I asked him how much it cost. He said around $11. Well, that’s much better than $27! Plus, I have a bunch of $5 discounts on my account that I got when I signed up. They expire next month. So if they work, could be around $6 each way. Sweet.
Now I’m thinking I should take a day and head downtown. The Golden Nugget has a great poker series the same time as the World Series of Poker but it was always too much of a pain (meaning expensive (to me)) to get there. Now I can. They have a daily No Limit tournament w/$20k guaranteed for $150. 15,000 chips and 30 minute levels. Good structure too. I should plan on playing in that tournament and maybe get some $1 chips from some of the casinos down there for my collection.
Over the next two days, I’ll start packing.
Saturday, June 25th:
It’s here! I fly out to Las Vegas this afternoon at 1:10 from the Pittsburgh airport, scheduled to arrive in Las Vegas at 2:45 their time. Finally here. I spend some time packing the last minute things, the toiletries, etc. I have two bags…my regular suitcase thing and a book bag. The book bag is my carry-on and it has all my important stuff…DVD player, Nook, etc. Stuff to keep me busy during the flight and/or things I don’t want out of my sight. The book bag fits nicely under the seat so I don’t have to deal with the overhead bins.
I’m one of those people who like to get to some places extremely early, like hockey games, etc. And the airport falls into that category. Plus they’ve been warning people to get to the airport early due to increased security. I haven’t had a problem on any of my other trips but I’d rather get there early and hang out eating lunch and reading instead of rushing around because I decided to leave late and ran into a problem.
My girlfriend drives me to the airport each year and it’s about a 25-30 minute drive. She thinks it’s crazy I want to get to the airport so early every year and doesn’t bat an eye when I tell her I want to leave around 10 for a 1:10 flight. That should give me about 2.5 hours to get my bags checked and go through security.
We’re off a little after ten and there’s no traffic issues during the trip to the airport. That’s a good thing because one little thing goes wrong on the Parkways here in Pittsburgh and you could be sitting for hours. She drops me off in front of the Southwest baggage check and I get a nice hug and kiss after I yank my luggage out of the car.
Only one person in front of me at the check-in stand so I quickly have my one bag checked in. I know Southwest is offering you the ability to check in your own bags inside the airport now through a kiosk, but I don’t trust myself to do it right. Plus, there’s no line out here. I’m usually all about avoiding human contact, but this is one of my exceptions. Tip the guy $3 and I’m off to security.
There’s a ‘secret’ security checkpoint at the Pittsburgh International Airport and I will not tell you where it is. But it’s often a hell of a lot less crowded/quicker than the main checkpoint. Which is why I won’t tell you where it is. Last year there was one couple in front of me when I got to the checkpoint. This year, I was following a family of five (I mean, I wasn’t stalking them…we were just going in the same direction) to the secret checkpoint and there was NOBODY in line. The family of five just walked right up. While I walk to the checkpoint, Idiscreetly take my money out of my pocket and put it into the book bag.
I was next. No issues with the security guy who checked my license and boarding pass. Southwest lets you store your boarding pass on your phone and I did have that with me. But when I check in my bags out front, they always give me a paper one so I just use that one.
Over to the conveyor belt and the family of five is still unloading their stuff into the bins, the parents taking off their shoes, etc. I ask if it was OK to jump ahead of them and they said sure. I throw my book bag into one bin, and my sneakers, belt, and boarding pass go in another since you’re not supposed to carry anything but your ID into the little spiny chamber that checks you out.
I climb into the spiny chamber, the thing spins around, and I walk out. Pause for a second with my feet on the two yellow footsteps that are marked on the floor mat until I get the OK from the TSA agent that I’m good. Last year I joked with the agent that I wish that was the trip. Jump in, it spins, boom…you’re in Las Vegas in seconds. One day…one day.
I retrieve my book bag, etc., from the conveyor belt with no issues. I’m always a little concerned because of the electronics I have in there. They never say anything but I’m afraid they’re going to tell me one year that I can’t bring a portable DVD player on the plane. Then what would I do? Trust them to check it? Leave it behind? My girlfriend would be well on her way home and it’s not like I can just hand it to her anyway. I worry too much. I did ask the TSA agent the first time I took it with me and she said it was OK, but I still worry.
I walk over to some chairs, put my belt back on, take a seat and put my shoes on. Once again, I got tons of time to kill. So I slowly walk to the tram that takes you from the landside terminal to the airside terminal. People are rushing by me but I got nothing but time. Usually I walk kinda fast but no need today.
I get on the tram/people mover/whatever you want to call it and arrive at the airside terminal. I stop at the Villa Italian Kitchen for my usual Las Vegas trip airport meal of a Stromboli and a Mountain Dew. This place used to be a Sbarro but changed to a Villa Italian Kitchen. But I can’t tell the difference. They both sell the same crap. And I think this will be my last time going here. I order a Stromboli, pick up a bottle of Dew as the chick puts my meal in the oven to heat it up, and we meet at the register so I can pay. I pay and there’s another worker handing me my Stromboli. That was quick. Usually I have to wait a minute or two.
I take a seat at one of the tables and check out my meal. Yeah, service was too quick. It’s barely warm. Although I have the time, I decide not to go back and get it reheated. They were on shaky ground with me before so this kinda sealed their fate.
While I eat, I try to get on the airport’s free WIFI. It says I’m connected but I can’t do anything. Nothing (Twitter, email) is loading. Stuff like this really ticks me off so I just stop trying. Work used to pay for my phone so I never had to worry about data. But then they laid me off and let me keep the phone so now I do worry about data. I’m still trying to figure out how much I can comfortably do and not keep checking my data usage. Because of that, I’m trying not to use too much data since I’m not sure how much I’ll use in Las Vegas through tweeting updates and pictures.
Usually while eating my lunch, it’s a good time to people watch. I like watching the families eat…the frustrated and frazzled look of the father, the ‘I don’t want to be here and HATE you’ look of the teenage daughter. But there’s nothing good this year. Just people eating. I finish my meal and head to my gate…slowly.
At the gate, I have a seat and pull out a couple of Sports Illustrateds. I have no job, the magazine only comes once a week, and I really don’t read much of it. Yet they tend to pile up so I thought this would be a good chance to rip through some and then leave them behind so someone else could read an outdated sports magazine.
While I’m reading, the Southwest chick announces that they are overbooked by one and are looking for a volunteer to take the next flight, some four hours away. I usually set an over/under on how much it would take for me to be bumped from a flight since this Las Vegas flight is almost always full (or a little over). I’m a solo traveler and other than having to email Aria to tell them a new airport pick up time, I have no commitments. But then I’d have to kill four more hours and I would worry about them getting my luggage off that plane and onto the next one. Plus, I spent $15 on the early bird pass…what happens to that and what group/number would I be on the other flight?
She says they’re offering $300 and the purchase price of this leg of the trip back in the form of a voucher for future travel. I don’t care about the voucher. I only fly once a year, to Las Vegas. But $300. Hmm. I’d leave the airport already up for the trip! I text a friend and my girlfriend. What should I do? Friend never texted back (what’s up with that?). Girlfriend says stay the course and not to give up my seat.
She announces again…looking for one person. But this time she says it’s $300 in vouchers, not cash. Either I misunderstood her the first time or she did say cash. Or maybe that’s what I wanted to hear. Like I said, the vouchers don’t mean much to me. I mean, I could use them to take another Las Vegas trip or the GF and I could go somewhere for a nice vacation.
I go over to the counter and ask…is it $300 cash or $300 voucher? She says voucher. Well, that seals it. Not volunteering. A little later, I saw an older gentleman at the counter. He might have taken the offer as she never announced again that they needed one person to be bumped. $300 cash…I think I would have done it.
Finally, they announce they are getting ready to board. Wasn’t really that hard killing the time. Went kinda fast. I did the early bird thing on Southwest and am A-23. What kills me every time is as soon as they announce they’ll be boarding soon, almost everyone in the “A” group jumps up and gets in line. It’s going to be like another ten minutes…relax. I stay in my seat and wait until they say they’re getting ready to board the “A” group.
I walk onto the plane and get my preferred seat…window seat before the wing. I have never used an airplane bathroom (and want to keep the streak going) so I’m fine in a window seat. And I like to be before the wing in case I want to watch a movie as it tends to be a little louder in the plane behind the jets. I have noise canceling headphones but every little bit helps. Book bag under the seat in front of me and I take a seat.
We’re told it’s a full flight. So far, nobody has sat next to me and it looks like we’re getting close to being done with boarding. Since it’s a full flight, I know someone is going to. And who is it? A little freakin’ kid and his mother. DAMN IT! Oh, and she has a little baby strapped to her chest. Great. If this kid isn’t quiet, he’s gonna get a quick elbow to the head to knock him out…know what I mean? Guess I can’t do anything about the baby as the kid is next to me and she has the aisle seat. Lucky for the baby.
Soon we’re off and lucky me…serious this time, not being sarcastic. The two kids and the mom all quickly fall asleep. Cool. I want to get stuff from my book bag but don’t dare try as it’s a tight squeeze getting it out and I don’t want to bump the kid and wake him up. I’m kinda tired myself but I decide not to try to nap on the plane. But I’m thinking a nap once I get to the hotel sounds good. Then maybe a trip over to the ABC store for supplies, or maybe the Sky Pool. Oh, and gambling. Yeah, gambling.
Eventually, the little family next to me wakes up. He’s kinda fidgety, but not too bad. Not nearly as bad as it could have been. The baby cries here and there, but again…could have been worse. During the flight the mom is entertaining the kid, showing him pictures of animals in a book and asking what they are. I totally knew the answer every time but let him answer. Somewhere during the flight, I watch Rounders on my portable DVD player. In the poker game of life, women are the rake man. They are the fuckin’ rake!
We land…another uneventful flight. And of course as soon as we pull up to the gate, almost everybody stands up. Even the people in the back. RELAX! The freakin’ door isn’t even open yet! Where do you think you’re going? I sit in my seat and wait for my aisle’s time to go.
Stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow!
