Budget Travel is a series devoted to inexpensive travel ideas and recommendations based on my first hand experience.  Last week I partied hard in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I managed to find a hotel room on the strip at Harrah’s, for $143.03 for 3 nights (Tuesday-Friday), all taxes and resort fees included!

Our midweek, off-season timing helped us snag this rockstar price for prime location

I signed up for the Total Rewards program as soon as we got there, which helped us save money and accrue points at every Caesar’s property.

That night we dined at Harrah’s own KGB burger and vodka bar. The burgers were somewhat overpriced, though incredibly delicious, and still probably one of the better deals on the strip for a sit down restaurant.

We stuck to water, which seriously helped with our costs; after all, you can drink in the casino for FREE!

We spent that night and the next two days implementing our cheap drinking/gambling strategy.  Playing penny machines (slots, poker, whatever) with the minimum bet and while enjoying free casino drinks.

Sure, we probably spent about 10-15 dollars on the machines throughout the three days, but we drank like fish all day every day. Three days of all you can drink for $15 works for me.

Anyway, back to night one. We were able to get free tickets to see the Cirque show LOVE at the Mirage, through a friend who works at the show.

Not only that, our free tickets were upgraded to the third row.  AND the show was a blast!

The next day we went “hotel hopping.” Window-shopping in Caesar’s, marveling at the Christmas display and fountains of the Bellagio, and strolling through the menagerie at the Flamingo.  All the while implementing our cheap drinking and gambling strategy.

We also sprung for the Buffet of Buffets through Total Rewards, which grants you 24-hour access to the all-you-can-eat Buffets at Harrah’s, the Paris, Planet Hollywood, The Flamingo and Rio for $59.99 per person plus tax Sun-Thurs ($74.99 per person plus tax during weekends and holidays).

We timed it so that we could do Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, and Lunch again within our 24 hour time limit, making each all-you-can eat meal come out to around $15!  Yeah, we ate our faces off! (The Rio was our favorite).

Our biggest expenses, hotel and buffet costs, came out to $263.03 for two people over three days.

The rest of it came out to less than a $100. Making our total trip under $200 per person.

I was thrilled with our Vegas budgeting.  We didn’t win big at the machines (we were playing pennies after all), but we found a way to make our budget work without sacrificing any of the Vegas experience.

 

How do you save in Vegas?