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

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.

  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 ...

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 ...

Oh hi. Yeah, guess it's been a minute. The April trip happened, as I suppose you've figured out by now. I didn't die, as you may have suspected, but nearly every $100 bill I took with me did. It was bad. This trip itself was fine, nothing really out of the ordinary. But the gambling was an all-timer. Lost $5K+. Yep. But not going to dwell. I stayed within the gambling budget, I'm recovered from it, I'm over it. I'm getting good at getting over bad gambling trips. So, on to the next. Back to Vegas again in mid August. Just a 4-nighter, over a weekend. Friday-Monday out Tuesday. Got another great deal in the same room at Bellagio, the Resort Tower King, less than $75 all in. Would be $1575 with no MGM Rewards. Crazy. Flights locked, PTO approved, it's a done deal.  I'll fill in the deets as we get closer but I'm kinda Vegas-averse right now in terms of hype or interest, so look for more as we get into July.

In one week I will be tits deep in Vegas. Everything is in place. I'll hit my number for the save plus a little, probably about $5500. It will leave me skint until my next paycheck but at least I won't have to massacre the CC like on past trips. Hopefully I'll hit at least something in the first couple days to take the cash pressure off. Hitting at least one four aces and a handpay on the trip will be all I really need. That way I can come back with a couple grand and pay that forward to a summer trip. Fingers crossed. If not I'm going to try not to stress. It's a gambling budget for a reason. I scored some good devil's dandruff for the trip, and will have some shroom gummies too, so I'll be able to alter reality at will during the festivities. Always makes things more groovy. Sports will be in order to some extent over the week, there are SF Giants games every day, and Masters Sunday is the day I arrive. Something to watch while waiting to get into my room....

All the amazing April savings I will luxuriate in on my April trip, happening in April. -5 nights at Freddie's Bellagio in a Resort Tower King: All in price $253, would be...unknown! The Resort Tower King is no longer available to book as of 4/2. Closest is probably the Strip View Spa King at $2285 all in, though my room would probably be more, but we'll give the unwashed masses a break. Call it a $2000 even price break from rack rate. -$50/$50 FP/RC as part of the booking package, $100 value. -$100 RC for getting to Gold last year, plus $30 in standard accrued RC, $130 value. -$157 in Slot Dollars, $157 value. $2387 in savings from a non-MGM'er. I fought hard to get to Gold again for this year and it's for trips like this. Having literally a positive comp to cash outlay ratio for an elevated room in a 5-Star is insane for a low roller like me. My overhead is basically a one-way flight in. Is gud. 10 days.

I got a new car. And oh yeah, Vegas is close. Subaru kept bugging me about the lease equity in my Crosstrek. I only had about $6K left on my lease, and they knew they could sell it for literally MORE than the purchase price I agreed to lease it on. I resisted them for a while. I don't need a new car, I hardly drive as it is and the 'Trek was fine as a commuter. I had the upper hand in the negotiation, so I used it. I gave them a number, told them no down, no drive off for a new WRX. I thought it was a long shot... ...but they met it. And I drove off with 120+ more HP than I had driven in with. Model, year and color in the pic above. I'm proper happy with it, so much more fun to drive and it makes the commute far more bearable. I never looked forward to driving the 'Trek. This thing...oh yeah. AND I'm saving myself over $120/month on the lease payment. I robbed a Subaru dealership, and I'm not proud. $4 dollars more a month on insurance. Yes I take on more and ...