Sooooooo... My trip to Vegas has turned into an unfortunate thing apparently. I've shared my overly obsessive trips to Vegas before and the deals and bargains I find. It's become kind of a thing for me. But there is also a new challenge to this year's trip and that is covid-19. Which has become more a focus then my usual bargain hunting. But since it's been brought up I would first like to explain my mindset concerning our current pandemic. As we all know I was the first to bring the pandemic to the attention of the forum. I was also the first to not only warn everyone that this could be a serious event but to also put my money where my mouth was and purchase things like face masks and PPE. Also I have tried to focus on ways to help this forum community and the community I live in during this pandemic. While I have only mentioned it twice at the height of the pandemic and the beginning of the lockdown I made posts in this forum and in the Portland forum of reddit asking if anyone needed help. That led to me spending hundreds of hours volunteering my time and effort that included delivering groceries, prescriptions, taking people to doctor's appointments, I set up zoom conferences for funerals, loaded and showed old people how to use delivery apps on phones and computers, and even got someone into a battered women's shelter after they had tested positive for covid. I have also helped a few privately in the forum that have had problems caused by the pandemic. I'm not saying to get any praise, I'm merely pointing this out to show that from the beginning and throughout I have taken this pandemic seriously and have tried to help others. It has also made me very used to properly wearing PPE and effective sanitation which is very important during this.
And the offers started rolling in.... So in May when the governor of nevada announced when the casinos and resorts could reopen I started to get a flood of vacation offers. Offers that were very very tempting to a poker dog. And I signed up for a whole bunch of them even if I wasn't sure if I was going to use them.
Tahoe baby! The first offer I grabbed was for Tahoe. 3 free nights, a little free play and resort credits for food and drinks. I actually got it twice so I signed up for two different stays. That started my OCD, lol. Did you know there are 6 different web cams in the Lake Tahoe area. Do you know who had 6 different tabs open keeping a close eye on crowd sizes and mask wearing of people? Who was watching the infection and cumulative test positivity rates for Washoe county? It was was me at my obsessive best and worst, lol. And as shown above I ended up cancelling both trips.
Thank you for all your effort! You rock dog! My granddaughters have recovered in San Luis Obispo but not without problems...youngest is having shortness of breath..I try to stay up on the research ..stay safe.
Las Vegas, baby! At the same time I also grabbed offers for Vegas. Now in years past I normally like going in October. The weather is perfect and as part of my bargain and deal hunting ways it's also my birthday month so I get added perks. But this year I wanted to go when it was warmer for covid reasons. In looking at the calendar I picked 6 nights, 7 days in September starting on Labor day. The thinking was that is the traditional end of the summer vacation season so there should be fewer people there. I got a really tempting offer for a free stay at a high end hotel I've never been to before, a free stay at a Caesars resort mid strip, and I had earned enough for two free nights at a hotel downtown Vegas that we like. So 6 nights, 3 resorts/casinos, all free! FREE!
Now that started my obsessive Vegas research. Web cams, recent trip reviews from people on the different vacation sites, and the weekly governor of Nevada's state of the virus report. And concern and worry quickly followed... Mrs SPD and I really love the old school charm of downtown Las Vegas. The strip is great too, we just like spending time in both places. It quickly turned out that the dates we selected for downtown was a huge mistake! HUGE! The weekend crowds from California were flooding Vegas on the weekends and the weekend was when we were planning to stay there. The more I screen captured shots of the webcams the more I knew this was not a good idea. A Sunday night two weeks ago: A Saturday night from two weeks ago: Last night: And last Wednesday: I may be crazy but not that crazy. I do not want to be anywhere near that shit on a weekend. So 2 days just got chopped off the trip.
So our 7 day / 6 night trip is now a 5 day/ 4 night but I'm sure if I want want to stay directly on Fremont street. This is where my experience at Vegas hustling comes into play. Some of the bigger resorts on the Vegas strip have boutique hotels on their property along with their big hotel. Mandalay Bay has two such hotels in addition to their huge hotel. My offer was for a suite at Delano that includes $20 a day free gambling money and $50 a day food and beverage! (By the way, $20 a day free money shows just how low roller I am when it comes to gambling, lol) So I called up a downtown hotel that is just so happening to do a soft opening of their brand new tower and asked if they would match Delano's offer. They did. So now I have a suite in a brand new hotel tower and $50 food and beverage for two days for free! FREE! (I intentionally didn't mention the tiny free money I was offered by Delano because they would have known I'm not the high rolling poker dog they're hoping I am.)
A few random things that I forgot to add... The governor of Nevada has set the occupancy of hotels at 50%. During the weekdays both hotels at I'm staying at have been under 20%. Weekends look to be at the 50%. Me no like 50%. The cumulative test positivity is at 11.63% That is high but two weeks ago it was at 14.33% so it is trending downwards and that is with the crazy weekends. I'm not justifying I'm just trying to show that I'm getting as much information as possible to make an informed decision.
Also fun fact: Everyone has different mask requirements and I have them all memorized. PDX is different than SW Air. Delano is different than Downtown Grand. Some don't allow masks with side vents, some don't allow face shields, some allow face shields but only if you also where a mask. I've got PPE for the flight, different PPE for hiking in the desert, different PPE for wearing in the resorts and casinos, and different PPE for lounging at the pool. Yes, I'm weird and compulsive. AND EVEN WORSE YET, I BOUGHT A MURSE TO HOLD THIS SHIT! A MURSE! (I feel like @EL PRESIDENTE, lol.
So I have multiple ones like this. Do I need something different on the plane? I have just been using this style everywhere.
