Las Vegas Budget & Cost Analysis

Las Vegas at Night

Originally I wanted to go to Las Vegas after seeing deals on bookit.com but when we actually were ready to book, they didn’t seem to have the best deals. I was lucky in the fact that my friend Heather has arranged travel for government agencies and quickly and easily helped plan a good deal of this trip!

Airfare: $181.40
We decided on $80 one way fares through Southwest. With Taxes and Fees my total became: $181.40.

Hotel: $ 110.74
We wanted to do Vegas cheaply, and knew we wouldn’t be spending a ton of time in the hotel room. So our requirements for a hotel was that it had a decent pool. We decided to stay in Fremont so we could spend the money we saved towards Spa treatments. The best pool in the Fremont area we found is the Golden Nugget. Heather negotiated a deal and got VIP service. VIP service is $25 dollars, and guarantees your choice of room reservation, as well as access to the “VIP Lounge” with snacks and drinks, and line passes to the buffet. I would definitely recommend doing the VIP pass.
Total Room Rates: $171
Total Room Tax: $25.21
VIP Pass: $25
My half of the cost is: $110.74 or around $36.71 a night!

Ground Transportation: $39
Before we left we bought a $20 dollar 3 day Deuce Bus pass, which we decided to activate on our 2nd day. At the airport we bought a 24 hour pass for $5 dollars to get to the hotel for that first day. The bus worked surprisingly well and I would definitely recommend it! I pictured a dirty seedy bus, but these were brand new and clean.
On our third day we walked the entire strip, and were very tired after 12 hours of walking, so we ended up taking a short cab ride to the theater, $10.50+tip= 14 dollars.

Spa: $150
We really wanted to treat ourselves and decided on The Venetian’s Canyon Ranch Spa for massages. We decided on going Thursday as prices inflate Friday through Sunday.

Entertainment: $131.85
$16 for Gondola ride at The Venetian, a lot of fun and close to the real deal!
$26 for Titanic, because the inner historian in me couldn’t pass that up. Next year is the 100th anniversary of the sinking. We had a coupon for this, so it was a few bucks cheaper.
$45.95 for Stripper101 classes, because hey, we’re in Vegas baby! We are a bit angry though that they wouldn’t honor a coupon we had, and that most of the classes were full.
$26.90 for American Storm. We had a “Free Ticket” to go, but they required you to pay a box office fee and buy two drinks (10.95 each). The Free Ticket is a bit of a rip off, as you end up paying 11 dollars for drinks that typically cost 4 bucks, as they limit what your “Free Drink” option can be. If you have to pay 11 dollars for it, it aint free and I should be able to order whatever cocktail I want.
$17 for Secret Garden at the Mirage to see dolphins and white tigers. Magical and I’m so glad we did it!

Food & Drinks: $179.87
Dinner at DIA Rock Bottom (Delicious Club Sandwich and fries plus tip): $11.49
Souvenir Pina Colada from Golden Nugget (Tasted awful and broke quickly): $15.50
Cosmo at The Griffin with tip (Awesome place, definitely recommend): $10
Breakfast buffet at the Golden Nugget plus tip: 12.38
Local Steak Special at Ellis Island (not really anything special small dry steak, beer, salad, green beans, baked potato) plus tip $12.60
Breakfast/Lunch buffet at the Golden Nugget plus tip (and 1/2 off coupon): 6.94
Drinks at the Stripper Bar, plus tips: $11
Drink and half of appetizer platter at Planet Hollywood inside Caesars Forum Shops plus tip: $22.53
Apple Tart Dessert with gelato, and a Almond Joy shot at Stratta (inside The Wynn) plus tip: $33.27
Mirage “Cravings” Champagne Brunch buffet (Breakfast, Asian, seafood, Mexican, desserts): $28.05
Water Bottle at Las Vegas Air Port: $4.99
Chicken Sandwich, drink, and fries at Burger King in airport: $11.12

Shopping: $255.05
Magazine and water at DIA: $6.40
Walgreen off of Fremont for water and sunscreen: $16.87
Asci Berry Chap-stick at The Venetian Spa: $4.86
Singing Dog and Shot Glass at Gondola store: $35.37
Magnet from Venice at Il Prato: $6.49
Sugar Factory Artisan Carmel Apple: $10.80
Shot Glasses, Necklaces, Magnets, Ornament, and Snow Globe at ABC store off of Fremont: $66.55
Stripper101 Panties: $16.20
Chocolate at Ethel M’s Chocolate (fashion show mall location): $18
Sweatshirt, T-shirt, and magnet at Secret Garden: $73.51

Gambling: Lost $15 dollars
Didn’t do too bad, but I think a lot of that was because I never bet more than $1 dollar per machine, and a lot of the Player’s Cards gave you 5 to 10 dollars in free slot play, and I typically won money off of these free play options. I signed up for 4 players cards. $10 dollars at TI (very hard to redeem and never used. Lame) Ellis Island, even more lame, had to wait 24 hours for credit so ended up never using it. Total Rewards $5 dollars at Paris, A shot glass at Planet Hollywood, and a medallion at Caesars Palace. $5 dollars in fee slot play at Golden Nugget (and I won some money here to! Up 17 dollars at one point!)

Tipping:
Since I did cash for Tipping and Gambling, I cannot recall exactly how much I tipped. I did tip between 1-2 dollars for free drinks, 2-3 on paid drinks. 3 Dollars for a short cab ride. 2-5 Dollars on food. Tip was already included in the price of the Spa.

Grand Total: A little less than $1100 for this trip!