It's Not A Bender, It's A Lifestyle.

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.

  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 ...

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...