SinglePapa2

From Googling, I'm getting impression my first impression was wrong: there is no direct match. Only via Wyndham, which is suspended. Anyone?

mikeyfly

There's probably a better / other forum for discussing these things.....

SinglePapa2

True. What other deals may be available for the rest of August? or is the Strip totally dead

Silver Fox

I really think that you should start your own thread now so that you can be more specific as to the sorts of deals you are looking for. A lot of people will ignore this thread due to its title and if they know of any deals they are more likely to look at and follow a thread that does not have the c-word in its title. You seem to know what sort of deals you do/don't want, so suggest you bait the title towards to hook people on this forum as a starter.

Zorak

Agreed. Check out the Gaming Loyalty Programs forum:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/gami...-programs-651/

e.g. there's a thread specific to the Wyndham/Caesars partnership and matching: Status Match between Caesars Total Rewards and Wyndham Rewards

and although this thread is nominally about getting Caesars Diamond via FoundersCard there, some of the benefits discussion may be generically useful:

Caesars (Total Rewards) Diamond Status from FoundersCard

SinglePapa2

TY Zorak! Since it appears my AMEX Platinum, Marriott and Hilton Gold are all useless during this Aug.14-29 stay, I'm beyond the match subject. I feel this thread is the leader re: Strip deals in the near-term. It's all so fluid right now, and unfolding lol

iluv2fly

[QUOTE=Zorak;32597452]Agreed. Check out the Gaming Loyalty Programs forum:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/gami...-programs-651/

e.g. there's a thread specific to the Wyndham/Caesars partnership and matching: Status Match between Caesars Total Rewards and Wyndham Rewards

and although this thread is nominally about getting Caesars Diamond via FoundersCard there, some of the benefits discussion may be generically useful:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/gami...tml[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the links. Let's discuss this topic in the cited threads or start one in the Gaming Loyalty Forum. Thanks for your cooperation.
iluv2fly
Moderator, Las Vegas

sbrower

No shows in Las Vegas (NONE) in August. Many restaurants closed (many say "permanent"). BUT PARKING IS FREE (I hated that change). Was in Bellagio 2 nights ago, everyone has masks in the lobby (I wasn't staying there), the garden area was too crowded for my preference, watched the fountains from the higher level railing (no one near us) because the lower railing was closely spaced (but only a single layer thick).

I have been going to Vegas for 45 years (saw S&R at the Frontier(?), miss the Caesar's Salad at Desert Inn, I still like to walk in Caesar's, I played the $100/hand tables in 1978 (when I was a student - never got as much as a free buffet because I didn't know to ask), went to Comdex (when it was 250,000 people), etc. So let me give you my conclusion - Vegas will NEVER come back. Will it still be a destination for some people? Yes. But I can't imagine a return to the days of glory. (Please feel free to make fun of me in 5 years if I am wrong.)

nnn

Curious why you think so.

lindaiah

I think if they can't regain the convention business they will definitely have a problem, but if they can get that going again, Vegas will be back. Better than ever. I'll certainly do my part!

sbrower

As I said, I was there Sunday night/Monday morning for a business meeting. Dinner on Sunday at Fogo, Lunch on Monday at Momofuko (Cosmo). That is the first time in 6-8 months, because now I only get there about twice a year, although, as I mentioned, in the 78-84 area I was visiting pretty often (more than 10 times/yr), and have continued to visit a few times a year since then. So I have seen the end of old vegas, and the "we love real gamblers" and the "we love families" and the "what happens stays" phases. I think that the pandemic is going to have a major effect on leisure travel. The airlines are changing, the hotels are changing, the car rental is changing, the restaurants are changing. Vegas was the "high end" of fake glitz and glamour, but it costs a lot of money to build facades. And the mega-convention business (involving a significant volume of international travel) is going to take quite some time to return to normal. The "flexible changes" for hotels (and convention centers) are going to become somewhat less flexible, and before you get a few hundred conventions involving 10,000+ people attending each one, it is going to be a while. And factories (restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues) which were built to be VERY profitable at 90% capacity are not necessarily even paying the bills at 70% (or less) capacity.

So, I assume there will be some big winners (the venues which survive and remain at high capacity). But how do you replace hundreds of conventions/meetings? Will nice restaurants become available in other venues (or even in other countries)?

When you see Vegas looking the way it looked on Monday of this week, it makes you wonder. Is there really enough promotional money left to restore Vegas?

Silver Fox

The only way Vegas survives is to get back to normal. Some watered down version of it will not bring the money in. Most of the podcasts I listen to, and words I have read, say that although they get the current reality, it sucks. Certainly I have no intention of going back until it returns to normal. If it doesn't, well it's been a good ride.

Boraxo

From these reports Sounds like Vegas is closer to normal than many of the metro areas that feed Vegas. Here in NorCal and SoCal metro areas there is very little indoor dining (not permitted in most counties), no indoor bars (and few outdoor ones) no crowds, no indoor group activities, no sports or concerts, nada. By contrast I see reports that Vegas is open for business - indoor dining and buffets open, gambling open, hotels open, pools open, activities (ie gun ranges) open, etc.

I realize it is not 100% pre-COVID normal but it is closer to normal than the metro areas that feed customers and clearly attracting many people who don’t seem to care about the risks. Personally I will not visit until there is a vaccine but that’s because I do not want to risk exposure - not because it is not 100% normal. In fact I kind of prefer it without smoke and with distance from the riff riff.

nnn

The current Vegas may not be sustainable over the long term. But if we can get past COVID, or at least find a way to manage it, I don't doubt that Vegas will be back. I remember visiting Vegas during the economic downturn 10 or so years ago, and it felt like the city was left for dead. They were practically giving away condos at CityCenter (wish I had bought one...). Vegas obviously rebounded from that. People like the product.

As for safety, we went last month for pools and outdoor dining, and had a great time. I don't want to catch Covid either, but I think the dangerous situations can be reasonably avoided. Won't hesitate to go back.

mtofell

"Vegas will never be back?" - Bahhh..... As long as there are bachelor parties, girl's weekends, guys looking for extra-marital sex, sports betting, conventions, tourists from US and overseas, and good old American gluttony, Vegas will ALWAYS survive in some fashion.

Sure, it may be toned down for a few years like it has been many times before but booz, sex and lights always wins out in the end. At least history says so.