Las Vegas go hard or go home thread

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

New York, NY - Earlier this evening during the 2020 NFL Draft, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the NFL will be recommitting to Las Vegas for the 87th annual NFL Draft in 2022. This comes after the 2020 public Draft events in Las Vegas were canceled due to COVID-19.

"I'm pleased to announce that Las Vegas will host the 2022 NFL Draft, where we look forward to holding an even bigger and better event than we could have ever imagined this year," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, "Congratulations to Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the Raiders' organization and Raider Nation."

"We're thrilled the NFL has given us the opportunity to host the Draft in Las Vegas in 2022. While disappointed we were unable to bring this exciting event to life this year," said Steve Hill, Chief Executive Officer and President, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), "We plan to make the 87th annual NFL Draft an ONLY VEGAS experience football fans will never forget."
The location plans previously announced for the 2020 Draft will remain in place for 2022. Additional elements and plans for the 2022 Draft will be revealed at a later date.

Caesars Entertainment, as the Official Casino Sponsor of the NFL, will host the NFL Draft Main Stage which will be constructed next to the Caesars Forum Conference Center.
Caesars Forum, located adjacent to the High Roller observation wheel on the Las Vegas Strip, will be host to Selection Square.

Located adjacent to the NFL Draft Main Stage, the NFL Draft Experience will be a free, three-day football festival highlighted by interactive games, the Vince Lombardi Trophy, autograph sessions with NFL players and Legends, brand activations, giveaways and the NFL Shop presented by Visa.

The previously announced plans for the Draft Red Carpet remain in place for 2022, with prospects ferried to and from the stage via boat on the famed Fountains of Bellagio.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

MGM raised some debt yesterday and info posted in their filing:


MGM also told investors it has seen a high level of hotel room and convention cancellations into September, but that some of this demand is now moving into the last three months of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

Reason #37 not to go to Vegas in July; Southwest notified me this morning that our direct flights now have connectors.  The return flight has two; 1 in Phoenix and the other in Lubbock.

It's a uneventful 2 hour flight normally, but now it's gonna be a 8 hour slog both ways.

[Angry Gorilla 1766]

Not sure where you are flying out of, but AA still has direct flights for $72 roundtrip out of DFW.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

MGM Resorts International has automatically canceled all reservations between May 1 and May 21.

 

The company’s website showed no open booking dates until June 1 as of Friday afternoon. As recently as Thursday morning, the company was allowing bookings beginning May 1 for its Las Vegas properties.

 

MGM spokesman Brian Ahern said on Friday afternoon, the company notified guests who had reservations between May 1 and May 21 that their bookings were automatically canceled. There are no cancellations beyond May 21 at this time.

[RPM 26318]

7 hours ago, Angry Gorilla said:

AA still has direct flights for $72 roundtrip out of DFW

Say what? That's insanely cheap. But where would you stay/go?

I love Vegas and really want to go to a Raiders game, but you couldn't melt me down and pour me there right now.

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

https://vitalvegas.com/mgm-resorts-survey-gives-insights-into-what-may-lie-ahead/

 

The survey question about only allowing resort guests on the premises is....interesting.  As is the all-inclusive pricing.

 

Quote

A survey sent to MGM Resorts loyalty club customers provides fascinating insights into the opportunities and challenges ahead for Las Vegas casino companies.

The survey apparently went to the company’s highest loyalty club tier levels, Platinum and Noir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by Francisco 2.0

[Guest Lobo]

Free parking during your stay?  That's what they opened the survey with?  First of all, has anyone on here even driven in Las Vegas?  I'm shitfaced drunk from the time my outbound flight is wheels up until 48 hours after I arrive back home.  Who the fuck drives in Las Vegas besides the locals or maybe folks from Los Angeles in for the weekend.  And saving $30/night on parking wouldn't be enough to get me to visit ground zero for Covid-19.2

Edited April 27, 2020 by Lobo

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

Free parking during your stay?  That's what they opened the survey with?  First of all, has anyone on here even driven in Las Vegas?  I'm shitfaced drunk from the time my outbound flight is wheels up until 48 hours after I arrive back home.  Who the fuck drives in Las Vegas besides the locals or maybe folks from Los Angeles in for the weekend.  And saving $30/night on parking wouldn't be enough to get me to visit ground zero for Covid-19.2

20-25% of all Vegas visitors come from California and a fuckton drive. That said, free parking alone is by far not the main tool Vegas will use get people back.

[Guest Lobo]

Well, I mentioned Los Angeles in my post but certainly did not realize 25% of visitors were from California.  Makes sense.  

I didn't think free parking alone would be their main tool.  Which is why I thought it strange that they led off the survey with that question.  Half of survey takers decide whether to continue or not just based on the first question.  I know I tuned out.  They should have led with either something about sanitizing/health/safety or hot chicks/blow.  They get to that shit but until the very end of the survey.  This survey seems like it was written for Branson.  

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

The reason parking was prominent is that air capacity is drastically reduced right now by the major airlines that service LV. The casinos are guessing that the first visitors to come back inside the casinos will be locals and people who can drive there, which a huge chunk of that is from CA.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

June re opening possibility still out there

[Napoleon 8674]

4 hours ago, Lobo said:

Free parking during your stay?  That's what they opened the survey with?  First of all, has anyone on here even driven in Las Vegas?  I'm shitfaced drunk from the time my outbound flight is wheels up until 48 hours after I arrive back home.  Who the fuck drives in Las Vegas besides the locals or maybe folks from Los Angeles in for the weekend.  And saving $30/night on parking wouldn't be enough to get me to visit ground zero for Covid-19.2

 

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

Well, I mentioned Los Angeles in my post but certainly did not realize 25% of visitors were from California.  Makes sense.  

I didn't think free parking alone would be their main tool.  Which is why I thought it strange that they led off the survey with that question.  Half of survey takers decide whether to continue or not just based on the first question.  I know I tuned out.  They should have led with either something about sanitizing/health/safety or hot chicks/blow.  They get to that shit but until the very end of the survey.  This survey seems like it was written for Branson.  

I've only flown to Vegas ~twice. All the rest of the times I've driven. (Usually I was driving in from LA, but on a few other occasions I was passing through going to/from Colorado from/to SoCal.)

The Raiders moving to Vegas gets them about 2 to 3 hours closer to their massive LA fanbase (maybe more). More people drive to Vegas on impulse from SoCal than Austin area college guys drive to Nuevo Laredo on impulse.

Traffic back to LA on Sunday afternoons SSSSUUUUCCCCKKKKKSSSSS AAAAAASSSSSSSSSSS !!!

[Upgrayedd 5810]

36 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

 

Traffic back to LA on Sunday afternoons SSSSUUUUCCCCKKKKKSSSSS AAAAAASSSSSSSSSSS !!!

Friday afternoon/evening drive there SSSSUUUUCCCCKKKKSSSSS DDDDOOOONNNNKKKKEEEEYYYY DDDDDIIIIIICCCCCKKKKSSSSS

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

One of the more hilarious traffic reports is local Vegas TV on Friday afternoon of EDC weekend.

And the traffic is backed up to . . . Cali

[Incredulity 11667]

19 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

Frank Horrigan : Mm. Pure window dressing.

Lilly Raines : Excuse me?

Frank Horrigan : Window dressing. About 125 out of a little over 2,000. They have you all around so that the President can look good to his feminist voters.

Lilly Raines : Do you make an effort to be obnoxious, or is it a gift?

Frank Horrigan : It's a gift. Let's face it, half the things we do are window dressing. Take running alongside that limousine: it'd take an anti-tank missile to put a dent in that damn thing. There we are, out for show, trying to make the President look more presidential.

[Incredulity 11667]

19 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

Frank Horrigan : Mm. Pure window dressing.

Lilly Raines : Excuse me?

Frank Horrigan : Window dressing. About 125 out of a little over 2,000. They have you all around so that the President can look good to his feminist voters.

Lilly Raines : Do you make an effort to be obnoxious, or is it a gift?

Frank Horrigan : It's a gift. Let's face it, half the things we do are window dressing. Take running alongside that limousine: it'd take an anti-tank missile to put a dent in that damn thing. There we are, out for show, trying to make the President look more presidential.

[Armybrat 40832]

Before the screw job of charging for parking at the resorts, we used to rent a car so we could drive around looking at sights like Red Rock Canyon & Valley of Fire. Cheaper than cabs with no waiting in a line.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

https://twitter.com/lasvegaslocally/status/1255197829384962049?s=21

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Two times

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Tapa triple wtf

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Venetian plan is out:


https://www.venetian.com/policy/venetian-clean.html

[RPM 26318]

2 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

Seems to be some discrepancy

 

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Nice. These gossip feeds get stuff wrong all the time.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[Brew 3049]

On 4/27/2020 at 12:55 PM, Lobo said:

Free parking during your stay?  That's what they opened the survey with?  First of all, has anyone on here even driven in Las Vegas?  I'm shitfaced drunk from the time my outbound flight is wheels up until 48 hours after I arrive back home.  Who the fuck drives in Las Vegas besides the locals or maybe folks from Los Angeles in for the weekend.  And saving $30/night on parking wouldn't be enough to get me to visit ground zero for Covid-19.2

In 10-12 years of going to Vegas, I’ve rarely ever not rented a car. Valet was always easier than dealing with the cab lines or getting a ride. We also always do something outside of the Strip in each trip. Zion, Hoover, etc, hell we drove to LA one trip for the day.

[Incredulity 11667]

15 hours ago, Brew said:

In 10-12 years of going to Vegas, I’ve rarely ever not rented a car. Valet was always easier than dealing with the cab lines or getting a ride. We also always do something outside of the Strip in each trip. Zion, Hoover, etc, hell we drove to LA one trip for the day.

[Brew 3049]

Wife had not been and wanted to go. We couldn’t come up with anything else we wanted to do that year, so we left at 6 am or so and got back around 2 am. We pretty much did a city tour of the most touristy places in LA you could think of.

[Incredulity 11667]

1 hour ago, Brew said:

Wife had not been and wanted to go. We couldn’t come up with anything else we wanted to do that year, so we left at 6 am or so and got back around 2 am. We pretty much did a city tour of the most touristy places in LA you could think of.

I just hate that drive.  

Hate is really too kind of a word.  

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

It’s a pretty great drive the day after your team wins the National Championship and you stop in Barstow for In and Out burger and sing the Eyes of Texas with a bunch of other Longhorns inside the restaurant, knowing you are headed back to Vegas to collect all your winning bets and to celebrate. But yeah I wouldn’t want to do it too often.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Another tapa double

[Jimbaround 975]

In 10-12 years of going to Vegas, I’ve rarely ever not rented a car. Valet was always easier than dealing with the cab lines or getting a ride. We also always do something outside of the Strip in each trip. Zion, Hoover, etc, hell we drove to LA one trip for the day.

I’ve rented a car the last few times I’ve gone. It’s nice to be able to hit some of the farther out golf courses without paying $100 each way for a ride.

We headed out to Wolf Creek one year and I would not have done that trip without my own car to drive.

[shakahorn 1645]

2 hours ago, Incredulity said:

I just hate that drive.  

Hate is really too kind of a word.  

It's not too bad if you go in off hours, which is what it sounds like he did, provided that was a weekday.  Buddy and I once went from LAX to downtown Vegas in 3.5 hours, without even really trying.  I set it in cruise at 89 for most of the way.  Only took it over 100 a couple time just...because. Of course, that was a Weds at like 530a.

[Guest Lobo]

I drove to Las Vegas once while living in the East Bay 20 years ago, that probably explains why I've never even remotely entertained driving in Las Vegas since then.  I wish them and their covid-buffets all the luck in the world.  

I do remember always finding it odd that the visitors from Asia would sometimes wear facemasks and/or gloves while playing, but would have absolutely zero issue with hovering right over your personal space.  You're sitting 3b at the table, and there they are, hovering right on top of your right shoulder with a mask on but still able to sweat on to you and they're drink right next to your fucking elbow.  I hadn't thought about that until 7 weeks ago, now I think about that weird paradox every single time I'm in public now. 

[T-shirt Sip 2100]

Harrah’s flew us for free to Laughlin with free rooms on a Sunday to Thursday trip. We gambled that night there then we rented a car and drove to Vegas the next day. Used the rewards points to stay at Planet Hollywood for free then drove back Thursday morning to fly back that afternoon. Not a bad trip. 

[Incredulity 11667]

1 hour ago, T-shirt Sip said:

Harrah’s flew us for free to Laughlin with free rooms on a Sunday to Thursday trip. We gambled that night there then we rented a car and drove to Vegas the next day. Used the rewards points to stay at Planet Hollywood for free then drove back Thursday morning to fly back that afternoon. Not a bad trip. 

Is this a humble brag or a confession? So many questions.

[Brew 3049]

4 hours ago, Incredulity said:

I just hate that drive.  

Hate is really too kind of a word.  

We did it on Sunday at those times. It wasn’t a bad drive, but I sure wouldn’t want to do it often. We managed to avoid traffic on that drive as well as around LA, so we actually saw quite a bit for being there about 10 hours total.

[conVINCEd 21469]

4 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

It’s a pretty great drive the day after your team wins the National Championship and you stop in Barstow for In and Out burger and sing the Eyes of Texas with a bunch of other Longhorns inside the restaurant, knowing you are headed back to Vegas to collect all your winning bets and to celebrate. But yeah I wouldn’t want to do it too often.

We just stayed in Vegas. Decent-sized group.  Hired a bus with a driver, left for the game the morning of, and returned after 2-3 hours of post game celebrations in LA.  Every cent of what was a pretty extravagant trip was paid for by the gambling proceeds.

[ChiTownDoc 21152]

On 4/24/2020 at 11:44 AM, Francisco 2.0 said:

Reason #37 not to go to Vegas in July; Southwest notified me this morning that our direct flights now have connectors.  The return flight has two; 1 in Phoenix and the other in Lubbock.

It's a uneventful 2 hour flight normally, but now it's gonna be a 8 hour slog both ways.

Yeah that trip coming back would  be pure hell.  I take the direct back to Chicago or Miami.  And when that fucker lands in Chicago, I always wish it was a longer flight.  Hell, half the time even when we land in Miami, I'm wishing it was a couple hours longer.  I can't imagine trying to make a connection in the shape I'm usually in...

[Landomatic 3813]

15 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

I can't imagine trying to make a connection in the shape I'm usually in...

Yeah I can barely make the connection between the house car and the airport checkin.  Fuck I really need a private jet.

[Guest Lobo]

22 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

It’s a pretty great drive the day after your team wins the National Championship and you stop in Barstow for In and Out burger and sing the Eyes of Texas with a bunch of other Longhorns inside the restaurant, knowing you are headed back to Vegas to collect all your winning bets and to celebrate. But yeah I wouldn’t want to do it too often.

We really pimped it up after the national title game.  We walked back to the Courtyard by Marriott in Pasadena (where we had a standard room) and the next morning got a Blue Shuttle to the Burbank Airport for a coach flight back to Austin.  Those were the days though, eh?  

[shakahorn 1645]

21 hours ago, T-shirt Sip said:

Harrah’s flew us for free to Laughlin with free rooms on a Sunday to Thursday trip. We gambled that night there then we rented a car and drove to Vegas the next day. Used the rewards points to stay at Planet Hollywood for free then drove back Thursday morning to fly back that afternoon. Not a bad trip. 

Didn't know Laughlin had an airport.

[Armybrat 40832]

Just booked a SWA vacation deal from DFW to Las Vegas - depart July 6, return July 9 - nonstop flights both ways - Cosmopolitan Hotel in a Wraparound Suite ftw.
Being a poors who doesn’t get comped diddly shit, that is a great deal for $728 total for two. The Wraparound Suites are pretty nice.

About $300 cheaper than booking it from Austin.

[T-shirt Sip 2100]

1 hour ago, shakahorn said:

Didn't know Laughlin had an airport.

It’s actually across the river in Bullhead Arizona. 

[bigcigar 1164]

When is too early to go back?

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Couple of tidbits from the MGM earnings call today:

 

- on the Strip, they anticipate opening 2 or 3 properties initially (depending on demand) and focusing on NYNY and Bellagio as the first two. Why Bellagio? High rollers were the last to leave and they anticipate a few back on the first day they re-open.

 

- Mississippi may open first (Tunica + Biloxi)

 

- Aria and Park MGM getting new carpet now

 

- No big or bigger type events for awhile (concerts, shows, sports with fans). Not planning the Raiders tailgating event for Mandalay Bay parking area.

 

- Reiterated that opening dates will be based on decisions from elected officials

 

- They constantly speak with the airlines and feel like Southwest might be the first to ramp back up their capacity in Vegas vs the other majors

[Armybrat 40832]

46 minutes ago, bigcigar said:

When is too early to go back?

The old folks & women should be forewarned that all shows at the MGM properties are closed until June 30th.