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

Not much of a list. Not playing myVegas anymore makes these posts pretty minimal. But fuck myVegas. - 4 Nights in a Delano King Suite at Delano - $137, would be $634 if I was an MGM nobody, savings of $497. $150 VIP package cuts that a bit, but eh, VIP PACKAGE. - Mlife Express Comp value from Mlife CC- $100. -Mlife Resort Credit from booking package - $50. - Allegiant flight, would be $219 normally, booked early and used flight voucher so only paid $81, saved $138. $635 less than a Vegas newbie would pay. Maybe one of the smaller free/dis hauls ever but I'm really not about maximizing savings anymore. I could have been fully comped with RC and FP at several other, lesser MGM resorts in far lesser rooms. I could have flown dead basic with no carry-on or seat selection. But I'm willing now, unlike in earlier years, to drop some funds on the overhead and maximize comfort and style (within reason). Not saying I'll never stay in a basic room again, but my days of c...

Winding down to about a month out before Vegas numero uno of the decade, so time to plan the plan. This is just a relative quick-y, only on the ground for 4 full days so not going to overdo the plan piece. If all goes well with the flight I'll be on Nevada soil by around 10a that Sunday morning, so it'll be the VIP (!) limo to Delano to the VIP (!) lounge to check in, then drop off the bags in the suite and head out nice and early into the Vegas spring. Time for a couple drinks somewhere nearby and probably a light lunch. Last day of the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney that day so it may be livelier in the bars, sure I can find somewhere peaceful to hang out though. Afternoon, evening, no wind up day as it's a shorter trip so I will have a full day's spend and I can get right into the gambledrink. Will be smart this trip and will NOT be spreading my affections around on the gambling. It's all Mlife all the time, trying to secure Mlife Gold by September last on...

Took steps recently to get myself clear of some high interest debt in the short term, and debt altogether in the mid-term. Due to my hard work getting my FICO score to a great place over the last couple years, I've been getting some really good offers for various credit cards. I got an offer for a Citi Diamond Preferred balance transfer card, and took them up on it. $8500 limit, 0% interest for 18 months on transfers and purchases and no annual fee. The card arrived today and I immediately put it to use. I did a balance transfer on my Discover card, getting rid of a 24.5% interest rate, and am sending a check tomorrow to my car finance company to pay off my car loan, getting rid of 13% interest on that. So altogether I'm transferring around $5500 of interest-sucking debt and turning it into 0% debt, for 18 months. So I have 18 months to pay off $5500 of debt while having no interest on it, that works out to a $305/month payment for those 18 months. I was already paying...

Still a bit of a piece off, but semi closing on Vegas numero uno of the new decade. T-minus 60 days. Barring anything weird I'm locked into the King Suite at Delano with VIP package for the trip. Great rate, great perks and more than enough room for a single boy. Can't afford the Cosmo on every trip (boo) and this allows me to maximize the Mlife usage by pinging it for the hotel and any gambling. Did the math on that topic today. Mixing in what I will earn monthly in tier credits, and factoring in just two trips as it stands between now and the Mlife cut off date of 9/30, I will have to accumulate around 20K points on each of those two trips to get to Gold. Doable, but no more spreading my play around like a cheap whore like I did on the last trip. It's all Mlife all day - eating, drinking, play, as much as possible. Looks like I'll be spending some quality time in the various VP bars of the MGM south strip resorts in March. Hopefully my luck will improve from la...

Whew, that was a trip then, wunnit? Some ups and some downs on this one. Will eschew the normal daily blow by blow because it was a 7-day trip and it would take a week to write this post, and ain't nobody need that. Will go with ups and downs. Ups: Food - ate well on this trip and only one bad meal had. Lunch at Jaleo great as always, had the filet at the newly reopened Delmonico, always awesome. Had a surprisingly good Bolognese at Il Fornaio in NYNY, and another good pasta dish in the lobster ravioli at Carbone. Also went downscale but good a few times with the buffalo chicken nachos at Nacho Daddy, the very good tenders at Twin Peaks and Yardhouse and finally made it into Secret Pizza at Cosmo which was pretty solid. The only not great meal was the supposed to be best one at Jean George, had the lamb chops and they were a fatty gristly mess. Other than that well done on the foodz. Rooms - Mirage for 2 nights was serviceable if bland as always but the room at Cosmo was fr...

Back to town in March. Not much chance for a birthday April trip this year as the bunch of broadcaster assholes have their convention that week again this year so I'm cutting a month off the wait and going back in the last week of March. Going in early on a Sunday and leaving evening on Thursday so 4 days off of work but I'll have the PTO well built up by then. Good timing as I'll have a month or 6 weeks to recover financially from the Xmas trip before having to start saving for this one, and with any luck I'll have some tax refund income to put toward it as well. No slam dunk on that this year as it was a weird tax year last year but hopefully there'll be something. Getting back on the Mlife train and have a Delano King Suite. Unreal rate for the room, a little over $34/night, which is crazy for that suite. One bedroom, huge bathroom, posh resort. Plus I get to check Delano off my "never stayed" list. Way more room than I need but if I'm only...

Just about set for Xmas Vegas fun time.  Little over 24 hours before wheels down. Have pre-checked in to the room at Mirage, was offered an upgrade to a view room but being I'm only there two nights I figure it's not worth the expense. I got a comped room there for a reason, might as well make the most of it by saving the $40 for the rest of the trip. In any case the real main event happens Sunday when I check into Cosmopolitan for 5 nights. Pulled four days worth of cash out of the bank today, need to make a run to the BoW in South City near work tomorrow at some point to get the rest. Hit all targets, and even a little better, as expected. Plenty of dosh available for the festivities.  I get to check into the flight in a few hours. Hopefully, even though it's a hellishly busy flying day, my flight is late enough that I'll miss the crowds and delays. I should be leaving work around 3-3:30p, Uber to San Bruno BART, and probably be at OAK by 5p-ish. Plen...