I wrote a previous article on comps. That article is more of a primer on comps and the benefits. This article will give you some more information and perspective on comps and how to start maximizing them. So once you have been to Las Vegas, and you are planning a return trip, this is when you should try a tactic to get more comps. The first thing you should do is to call Casino Marketing to book your room. You can find this phone number on the back of your Players card, which you should have signed up for on your last trip. This is usually an 800 number. When you call you can give them your players card number and the dates you hope to visit. They can then possibly give you a better rate based on your account activity. That means how much you gamble and spend when you visit one of their properties. This is why it is so important to get a players card and to use it. Using it means that you book your room through Casino Marketing or directly through the casino/hotel rather than a budget website.

I know I have backed budget websites such as www.kayak.com or www.lasvegas.com, but if you are looking for comps, you are better off booking through the hotel itself. If you are a one time or first time Vegas visitor, those budget sites are great.

You also need to make sure that when you eat at a restaurant you charge it to your room, which is linked to your account. Also, you can get show tickets right through the concierge or ticket office in the hotel. That also works if you are seeing a show at a sister property, you can charge that to your room as well. I know I have also backed discount, same-day, ticket brokers and I still do, especially if the show is not at one of hotels sister properties. Remember, this article is about how to maximize comps. If you would rather save the money because you are not spending much otherwise at your hotel, go ahead and use a discount ticket seller.

My husband and I go to Vegas frequently enough that we now try to patronize the hotel that we are staying at for all of our meals and entertainment. We also charge absolutely everything to the room, from shopping, to eating, to spas, to shows. We also have both of our players card linked to each other and always use our players cards at card tables and slot machines. Then the night before we check out, and when we’re pretty much done spending, we go to the players card desk and ask them to analyze our spending patterns. They in turn call the front desk so that when we check out the next morning, we will have some spending comped, usually in the form of food and beverage credit. That means they just deduct that amount off of our bill. We have to check out at the front desk, rather than using express checkout, but hey, it’s worth it.

If you like to drink, and you enjoy quirky British humor, then I have the perfect night out for you. 1 – consume ample amounts of Sake laced martinis at Okada at the Wynn. 2 – Hobble down to the Wynn Theater to enjoy Spamalot. This is what I did recently. I advise trying it.
Now, you might think that you could do without the alcohol, but let me assure you, being a little goofy beforehand will add to your enjoyment of this show.

If you know anything about Monty Python, then you already know that the humor is borderline idiotic. Skits are silly and leave you shaking your head. You should also know that most people either love this humor or hate it. I haven’t met many people who are in between. So, if you already know you like Monty Python, you should check out this show. If you know nothing about Monty Python, I can’t even presume to predict what you will think about the show. Be forewarned, there is not much original material in the show, at least, not as much as I expected. Of course, a few songs and skits are new and unique, but you will find plenty of material directly ripped off from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They even claim right on the website that it is “ripped off” from the movie. The most popular scenes from the movie are included, such as “the knights who say nee”, and “I will fart in your general direction” to the argument about African Swallows. They were still funny, even if you were familiar with them. The woman who played Guinevere pleasantly surprised me. Her voice was amazing and she was quite entertaining. She has this one scene, all to herself that was pretty funny, having to do with her being disgruntled with her role in the show. I don’t want to spoil too much, but I will say that I did enjoy the show after a few drinks, and I suppose you may do the same.
One note, the seats are not extremely roomy. So if you are a normal sized person, you’ll be fine, but if larger people surround you, you may be snug. Also the theater is fairly small so there really wasn’t a bad seat. Though if I were you, I’d try to get seat D101.

Staying at the Wynn is definitely something that I would advise you to do. Often touted as the most luxurious hotel on the strip, staying there just might make you think that your normal life sucks. My husband and I stayed at the Wynn in August of 2007 because of a promotion that was mailed to us through the Red Card program, aka, casino marketing. The deal was a Resort Room (their basic room, hah! basic!) for $239 per night Friday and Saturday night. If you think that’s steep, you should know that the Resort Room we ended up with was going for $700 per night that weekend without the promotional price. While I ‘m not sure I could justify spending $1400 to stay there for two nights, I am delighted with what my $500 got me.

We began our experience by trying the “give the check-in person 20 bucks trick”. It worked. He glanced down at the $20 tucked between the credit card and the ID, and by the time we asked if any upgrades were available, he replied, “I’ve already taken care of it, you will have a great view of the fountain show.” Score. Our room was on the 29th floor (amazingly, they have 60 floors!) with a floor to ceiling plate glass window overlooking the Venetian and Treasure Island. The strip view is slightly blocked by the new Palazzo tower at the Venetian, but I am not complaining. We also looked down into the Water and Light show that the Wynn has. The funny thing about that show is that it is for guests only. You can’t enjoy it from the outside in general public areas. You actually have to be in the hotel or on their verandas to see it. I thought that was kind of nifty. Anyhow, the room was very spacious, with a very comfortable bed. There is a nice couch and footstool, a desk, a wet bar and mini-fridge, 3 phones, and even an electronic panel to open and close the curtains. It was, duh, very clean and nicely decorated. Bathrobes were provided as well as cute little complimentary slippers. The bathroom was great. There were dual sinks, a sit down vanity, deep single person jet tub, separate toilet room, and a large marble shower. The bathroom toiletries were awesome. My hair was like silk after using the shampoo. Another neat thing about the hotel is that when you get off the elevators and are walking to your room, you can sense the curvature of the hotel as you look down the hallway.

The pools are very nice. My husband and I ate breakfast overlooking the Tower Suites VIP pool from Tableau, a great restaurant. Then later on Saturday, we swam and sipped expensive alcoholic concoctions at the main pool. If you look at a map of the property, you can see that this pool is shaped like a long dumbbell. There were a lot of people in it, It is August in Vegas after all, but we didn’t feel too crowded. We stayed at the shady end of the dumbbell. The sunnier end, near the poolside cabana bar was much busier with young people seeing and being seen. It was a little bit tricky finding a lounge chair, since people that have left will leave their towels on the chairs and make them appear occupied. In my opinion, they should have cleaned the chairs off quicker, but that’s a pretty small complaint overall. For the most part, the service at this hotel is amazing.
For example, we went to the Terrace Point Café late Friday night after we arrived. It was something like 10:00pm. We were really hungry for fresh berries with crème fraiche and a smoked salmon plate that we usually order off of the breakfast menu. Even though it was not on the evening menu, we asked. The waitress said she would check, and sure enough, satisfied our cravings. That is the kind of thing that at many other places, you would hear “we don’t have that at night” and if you have a polite server, ”sorry”.

My husband and I used the concierge, via the telephone in our room, to reserve dinner at Okada and tickets to Spamalot. They were very helpful, and allowed us to pick up the tickets at the concierge desk rather than waiting in the box office line, which in my experience, is usually long. Okada is the Wynn’s Japanese restaurant and it was very good. I’ll write more in a future article. But let me say, if you like sushi, this place carries OhToro and ChuToro. It’s fatty tuna for you non-sushi-lovers, and it’s awesome. Spamalot was also a good show if you are suitably inebriated and a Monthy Python disciple. I’ll also write more about that in a future article.
So, if you feel like living the high life for a few days, check out the Wynn. Try on some Manolo Blahniks at one of the only two north American stores, shop for a Rolex, buy a $300 La Perla Bra, sip expensive drinks while floating in paradise, laugh at ultra cheesy songs in Spamalot, lay around in a divine hotel room all day, or shop for a Maserati, no a Ferrari. Oh, decisions…. Whatever it is you choose to do at the Wynn, I’m guessing you will enjoy it.

Ka is different from most Cirque du Soleil shows in that it follows a story line. Well, my husband didn’t think so (“it’s a bunch of people jumping and flying around”), but Cirque advertises it as such. We saw it in July of 2007 at the MGM Grand. Having seen Mystere, O, LOVE, and Zumanity, all Cirque shows, I felt that this one was ranked 3rd out of the 5.
I was amazed, as always, by the ability of the performers, especially the crazy, evil dudes on the big wheel. (You’ll see what I mean if you go.) There was even some comedy in this one. One of the scenes was with some really good shadow puppets, while another had a giant turtle, and sand crab.
The story is essentially two royal brats, I mean children, a brother and sister, who are celebrating their birthday and their kingdom gets attacked. They get separated. The rest of the show is about what they go through trying to fight off the attackers and getting back to each other. They each find love, though I much prefer the brother’s story. The sister falls for some tree-hugging hippie in a glittery body suit, in some weird industrial rain forest looking set. The brother’s girlfriend at least has some depth.
The sets are the best thing about this show. It is quite obvious that the theatres are now built for the shows, rather than the shows fitting into an old theatre. There were many different “props” that became really cool sets. The same huge platform is used in many scenes, but in completely different ways. It is very impressive. This show ranks first in set design out of the 5 shows.
Ticket prices for this show are quite expensive. And unfortunately, they are not available at the half price ticket vendor. We paid about $160 each for ours, which was in, I think, the 12th row, just off center. Once we arrived in the theatre, however, I determined that there really weren’t any bad seats. The theatre is small, yet very spacious, if that makes any sense.
To sort of understand Ka, you should know that it does try to represent the four natural elements; first water, then air, then earth, then fire, via scenes in the show. If you know what you are looking for, you will see it. If not, you will see “people jumping and flying through the air”. Also, you should know that Ka represents duality in life or the life force. The ancient Egyptians actually thought you died when your ka left you. The duality aspect is more represented in this show, with the twins, and the obvious battle between good and evil.
In a nutshell, yes, it is worth seeing. Yes, it is a good show. But O, and LOVE are a little bit better. This show would have been better, in my opinion if I had know the story or understand the elements before I saw it.

Wow! I just got back from the Cirque du Soleil Show, Love, based on the Beatles songs. My husband and I sat in the 3rd row, and the way the theater is set up, think 4 quadrant wedges, we felt like we were in the show. Check out the seating chart to see what I mean. It was awesome.

This show seems to follow a timeline of sorts through history. It begins with World War II and progresses through what seems to be about 1970, which is actually when the band broke up. My husband didn’t really notice the timeline, but a few themes made it seem chronological to me.

I really don’t want to give too many details away, since I liked going into it not knowing what to expect, but I’ll tell a few things. First, get a seat in the first 4 or 5 rows in sections 103, 104, 105, or 106. You will feel like you are on part of the stage. You also get to see the faces, and details of the sets much better. The way it is set up is quite clever and makes the whole theater feel intimate. Imagine a circular theater (Love is in the round), then cut a huge plus sign through all of the seats to cut it into quadrants. The first row of each quadrant has 2 seats, the second row has 3 seats, the third row has 4 seats… you get the point. The stage also comes right up next to seat #1, at least in our section, 103. My husband was in this seat and actually got grazed on his melon by a prop ribbon thing. No harm done.

Second, prepare to be overwhelmed. During many scenes, especially at the beginning, there were so many things going on, it was hard to know what to focus on. Do I look at the people on the ropes, the weirdo with the flowers, the acrobats on the floor, the weird priest guy…? You’ll see when you see the show.

Last, be prepared to be overwhelmed by the price. The seats my husband & I had sell for $181.50 each. Yes, each. We actually used the Tickets2nite discount seller in the Coke Bottle that I wrote about before. We stopped by at 2:00pm today, a Saturday, and he picked up the tickets, in the 3rd row no less, for $168 each. So it still cost us $336, but it was worth every penny. Every penny.

To summarize, I was very pleasantly surprised. I think, dare I say, that I liked this show better than “O” at the Bellagio. Love, by the way is the only show in Vegas that employs child performers. From the speakers in each seat, to the way the songs fit the mood of each Beatles song, to the amazing set design, this is a show that absolutely should not be missed.

Here’s a handy tip. If you want to see a show while in Vegas, which I highly recommend, you should check out a discount ticket seller. One of the ones I like to use is called tickets2nite. Tickets 2Nite; The web site is fairly useless, but at least you can find out where they are at. This business is located near the M & M Factory in the huge Coke bottle. This is just North of the MGM Grand, or across from the New York New York. (By the way, they don’t open until noon.) Essentially, what happens is, you go there and ask for the show you are interested in, say Spamalot at the Wynn. They will tell you if they have any tickets for it and what they are asking for them. I have found some really great deals here. Once we found two 2nd row center seats to the Beatles inspired show, LOVE, at the Mirage. They were slightly under face value. We didn’t end up getting them, but we were surprised at the quality of the seats. We did get 3rd row Jay Leno tickets at the Mirage about 6 hours before the show. We also almost bought some Spamalot tickets the day of the show. In that case, I would order them over the phone. In order to get them, I would have had to get myself down to the Coke bottle, then take a voucher to the Wynn, and the Wynn would print the tickets with exact seat numbers. Those tickets were only guaranteeing a lower level seat. For the Leno show, we knew our exact seat location immediately.
You can generally expect to pay anywhere from about 60% - 90% of the original ticket price. Premium seats may be more, based on availability, but if you are looking at the last minute, this is once of your best chances to get seats at all.
There are other discount vendors. There is one near the front door (facing the Wynn) of the Fashion Show Mall. If you want guaranteed seats, and you have days or weeks until your trip, go ahead and order them online on the hotel’s website. If you are spontaneous, or need last minute tickets, check out these options. Also Click Here for a $2 coupon.

Las Vegas is known for its’ shows almost as much as the gambling. The best show I have seen thus far has to be “O” by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio. I saw this a few years ago and ever since, every other Cirque show is compared to it, for me. Yes, I had a few drinks, so maybe I was easy to impress, but still… This show is one you have to see to believe.

If you’ve never been to a Cirque show, imagine really buff, flexible, young gymnasts dancing and posing in strange costumes, all set to music. Often, there is no obvious storyline, you just sit there and enjoy the awesome ability of the performers. The thing that makes “O” special is that its’ set includes a huge pool. The characters dive, jump and twist into the water and somehow don’t kill themselves. All Cirque shows have that circus element, “are they going to fall?!”, but this show defies logic. There must be some really impressive mechanicals below the stage. The floor (bottom of the pool) lifts and falls throughout the show. Just when you think it must be shallow, someone dives in from 20 feet above and goes in effortlessly. They must know the audience is on the edge of their seat, because they have quite a lighthearted intermission. They send a silly clown out on his raft to float around and make the audience laugh. I don’t want to give away too many details. You should go and enjoy the show yourself. I highly recommend it. And a few drinks will make it even better.

O is at the Bellagio. Tickets are expensive. They range from about $105 - $165. Splurge.

The Bellagio

One of the quintessential activities in Las Vegas is walking the Strip. It’s a great way to see all the casinos, get exercise, people watch, and see the free attractions that some of the casinos have.

Three of the major Casinos on the strip have free, live scheduled “shows” that are offered on the strip in front of the resort. Treasure Island has the ‘Sirens of ti’ show which has what my husband calls “some hot chicks wearing some torn clothes on pirate ships”. The Mirage has an exploding volcano, and the Bellagio has the famous fountains. In downtown Vegas on Fremont Street, they have erected a giant canopy over the street that they run a giant LED light show on at night. It really is hokey, like the casinos down there and not worth a trip just to see it.

The ‘Sirens of ti’ show used to be strictly about pirates, had a different name and was an artifact of the days that Las Vegas was targeting entire families. Nowadays, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” has transformed the show into more of an adult theme. Hot, wet girls and apparently some dudes who pump iron as pirates on a ship. I have not been able to see this show yet, due to the fact that the crowds are immense. Also I know that I will be back again soon. This show runs nightly at 7:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m., and 11:30 p.m. Sirens of ti

The Volcano in front of the Mirage is also very popular. You must see this at least once. It is essentially an erupting volcano complete with rumbling, and fire. I always wonder how much natural gas they burn through each show. They also use water with red lighting to simulate lava. It’s well done. After seeing it a couple times, it’s not something that you crave to see every time you’re in Vegas, however. This show runs daily on the hour. Spring Hours 7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Summer Hours 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Winter Hours 6:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Mirage Volcano

The ‘Fountains of Bellagio’ is another story. My absolute all time favorite thing in Vegas is the fountains. They are an absolute marvel. The fountains move and dance with light all choreographed to music and even shoot up to 200 feet in air. The programs range from the blithe “Luck be a Lady” by Frank Sinatra to the poignant “Time to say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman (that’s my personal favorite). That program has brought many folks to tears. If you ever go to Vegas, even for just a few hours, DO NOT MISS THIS!! This show runs: