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Post Mortem, August 2025.

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Well then. That...could have been better. High and low lights: Flights: Fine. Got to SFO way to early for the in flight, had to wait an hour for TSA to even open, but both flights on time and no issues. Strip: After all the gloom and doom reports I expected to see myself, a couple locals, a busker and a ravenous coyote on the strip, in reality it was a normal, busy weekend. The Monday tailed off a bit on traffic but the media can basically go fuck itself. It's still Vegas. Room/Resort: Bellagio. Nuff said, really. Nice room, same as in April, a little lower floor but still had an oblique fountain view. Quiet, comfortable, well located. Resort boring and crowded as always. Gambling/Rewards: Ass. Lost $2400, all at MGM resorts. Out of a budget of $4K that's not horrible, I guess, but aside from a few 4OAKS I hit nothing all trip. Didn't gamble a penny outside of MGM, maybe I should have, but I stuck to the plan at least. Rewards went pretty well, racked up good bump from gamb...
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K Gonna Vegas Nao K Bai!

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Bed in an hour, Vegas in the morning.  Just dropped a sleeping pill and going to try to get something like 7 hours, then up and out of here way the damn hell early. Boarding by 5a and in Vegas by 7:30a. All is ready. Good room, normal save, some snow, some shrooms, hopefully a little luck and maybe even a little grabass. But probably naw. Bellagio awaits and I'll see all 1.5 of you (per post!) when I get back, if I get back. Peace out bitches.
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It's a MGM, MGM, MGM, MGM World.

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  I've squawked about it before, but this trip is...THE MGM TRIP. In past years, even when I've been able to scrape into MGM Gold during a year, I still spread a lot of other spend around the strip. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, the strip is a big, great place and I want to be able to enjoy as much of it as I can.  But with "spreading the love around", I also minimize the rewards earning potential. While on most trips the bulk of gambling spend is at MGM resorts (maybe 60 MGM, 40 elsewhere), I do and always have dabbled little bits here and there...a couple hundred at Caesars, a hundred at Venetian, $300 at Fontainebleau. That's getting me nowhere in their programs, and that's all spend that can get me even better rewards at MGM. With the new Iconic card being here, the reformed benefit package from Rewards itself, and just the landscape of Vegas I'm in now, it's time to really double down on the MGM ecosystem, once and for all. The benefits ...
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Plan Post, August 2025.

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T-minus 9 days to Vegas...plan post, IT'S THE LAW. Have some actual things to do on this trip, though it's mainly food-related. Which is a good thing, as food apparently soaks up alcohol. Or so I've been told. Friday: EARLY wake up call as I have a 5:45 in the motherfucking AM flight. The price I'm paying to have a $39 in flight. No Priority Pass lounges or terminal bars open that early, so I'll just drive in, park, get through security and hang out in the gate area I guess. Maybe get one of the myriad coffees I will need to get through the day. Then assuming all goes well with the flight, it's on the ground around 7:30a, to Bellagio by 8a, drop the bag and head off to find breakfast and a mimosa. Probably at an MGM spot to start the pointsmaxxing early. I will have checked in on the app, so hopefully can be in the room by around 10-11a, dump everything, freshen up, do a bump and head off to start drinking. I have the full first day's spend too so some MGM g...
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Bees! Bees! Bies! August Freebies and Discounts.

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Discounts and freebies pile for August Vegas thing in 16 days thing thing. -4 nights at Bellagio in a Resort Tower King: $74 all in booking through MGM Rewards with MGM Gold resort fee removal. The room is no longer available to book but last time I was able to see the room it was $1575 rack rate, so let's call it an even $1500 saved. -$259 in RC total from Iconic welcome reward and booking package: $209. -$181 in slot dollars + $50 from the booking package: $231 in Freeplay. Le Grand Total: $1940 less than a filthy, rancid no-MGM-status untermensch. Good! And with the pretty solid airline deals I got ($112 round trip), and not having to park the car this time, my overhead will also be crazy low. Even after long term parking at SFO it's only $200 total. So yeah. Not bad savings, again for a low roller.
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Iconic

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  Upgrade. I'm getting the foo-foo new "Iconic" MGM Rewards card. Figured it only makes sense, the benefits far outweigh the $249 annual fee. Bennies below. -10,000 Tier Credits after spending $5,000 in the first 3 billing cycles of account opening. -6x points and tier credits per $1 spent at MGM Rewards Destinations; 2x points and tier credits per $1 spent at hotels, dining, gas stations, and grocery stores; and 1x points and tier credits on all other purchases. -$200 resort credit upon account opening and annually on card anniversary. -Annual award night of up to $250 in value when you spend $25,000 on the card in the previous year. -10,000 Tier Credit bonus annually at card anniversary with $25,000 in card spend during the previous year. -Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, available every 4 years. -Priority Pass lounge membership. -Trip delay insurance, no foreign transaction fees, and more. Plus all the normal benefits that came with the standard card. Pretty solid ...
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T-Minus 30.

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A countdown begins. A countdown to a VEGASM, ya bish! 30 days until I wake up at the ass crack of dawn to spend 4 days in the desert assaulting my liver and wallet. No change in the plan, it's still Bellagio and it will remain so. The deals I'm getting from MGM, especially since I don't pay resort fees this year, are just literally unbeatable. This being a weekend trip and paying less than $80 all in for an elevated room at Bellagio? No one else has a chance. I'm still getting very low nightly rates at Caesars group but when you add the resort fees on it's in the hundreds, and it sure as shit isn't at Bellagio-level resorts. This is what I worked hard for last year and I'm reaping. Hard. Money should be fine, I'm hovering around $2K saved now and still have 3 checks to finish off the save. $1K a day cash and the ability to put a couple grand on the CC, as usual. I do have to be more circumspect about where I gamble this time, I put too much in last time ...
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