I love to go to Las Vegas and I especially love to go when I can find a great deal!! After booking a Vegas trip last night and getting a free room night at the Cosmopolitan, 2 free dinner buffet passes for Wicked Spoon, & a $100 gift card to use in the Cosmopolitan hotel on the strip in Las Vegas and sharing about it on facebook with my friends, I was begged to share my secrets, How do I do this? Well, in all honesty, if I had booked 5 nights instead of the four I booked, I could have also had 2 tickets to the hot new show in the Cosmopolitan, “Rose, Rabbit, Lie” & a $100 dining card as well. The excitement of my friends and fans about the idea of all of these Vegas freebies inspired me to write this article today!
This is part 1 in a 2 part series. This first part is about the important items you need to look into before you go to Vegas when in the booking process in order to save the most money. Part 2 discusses the items you need to take into consideration when you arrive in Vegas so you can save the most money and have the best trip! You can read Part 2 here –> PART 2 – Once You arrive in Vegas.
In my opinion, there are a couple of necessary items to go through on a check off list for Las Vegas before simply becoming impulsive and just booking a hotel right away. I will go through my list of items so that when you go to Vegas, you can be sure to also go through the same checklist and get the best deals possible!
The first thing I would recommend doing prior to booking is to research prices on the internet to stay at your favorite resorts. Some of my personal regular suspects in which I visit for Vegas include www.Vegas.com www.bookit.com & www.Kayak.com These three sites are really fabulous in that if you are booking a full package with a hotel, car, and flight or even only one or two of those options, sometimes these sites have a great deal. Make a note of the prices you find and then go on to my next piece of advice before booking.
My next item on my checklist is to individually look at separate airfares and the individual websites for each hotel you desire. So many people think that they will get a better deal with a package, such as vegas.com or trip advisor and while this is totally possible, sometimes the resorts themselves have much cheaper prices and even freebies they sometimes throw in to entice someone to book, such as $20 off a night or free show tickets or even buy three nights, get one free. Do not leave any stone unturned when looking for the best deal! Sometimes separate airfare and hotel booking with the hotel is the way to go!! I have seen this to be true regularly when I visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras!! You can read about how to hit Mardi Gras in New Orleans on a Budget as well…right here –> NOLA & Mardi Gras on a Budget.
Another recommendation that I think people do not take seriously enough is signing up for email lists. Of course we all have those annoying emails that turn spammy from different restaurants or places we like to shop, but there is nothing more valuable than belonging to email lists for your favorite resorts in Las Vegas!!! I always open every email I receive from the Venetian, the Wynn and the Cosmopolitan because those are my personal favorite places to stay in Vegas and they are always emailing me special offers and get this….I DO NOT GAMBLE and yes I am always still offered freebies.:) The emails from the resorts usually come prior to each season from the trends I have seen, so if a deal does not strike you or you want to go at a different time of year, just wait a bit…something will eventually show up in your inbox!
Prior to booking a flight for your trip, you can also put on an airfare watch to see the trends of if airfare is increasing or decreasing for your destination. I believe I have done this before with Trip Advisor, so if you are using a flight to get to your destination, make sure you put Las Vegas or any other place you want to travel on watch.:)
Prior to booking on any website, at any time I am travelling, I always take the time to go to www.RetailMeNot.com to see if they have any promotional codes I can use with the website I am booking with. Many a times when I have booked travel, I have gotten at least $25 off just by clicking on their site and finding a code!
Before you travel, visit group couponing websites, such as Groupon & Travelzoo Local Deals to see if they have any dynamic deals for the area you will be travelling to. Sometimes there are some great deals for restaurant or show offerings or even nightclubs. They even sometimes have hotel deals! It never hurts to look. 🙂
Last, but definitely not least…make sure that you have taken advantage of any deals you have received through rewards card memberships and that you accrue all of your rewards points when booking by giving your membership id number. If this is unfamiliar territory and you do not yet have rewards cards to accrue points and get freebies, see Part 2 about the importance of acquiring these cards upon arrival in Vegas and how they will play a part in massive savings for you in the future when visiting the “City of Lost Wages.” 🙂
Please read my PART 2 ARTICLE for how to Visit Vegas on a budget in which I discuss everything you need to do once you arrive in Las Vegas to get the most bang for your buck and to enjoy as much as possible without breaking the bank! Have fun and if you have any other Vegas tips to share, please do so below.
To subscribe to my blog to get weekly deals like these and other dynamic ways to save and to live champagne dreams on a beer budget, simply scroll down & enter your email address where it says to follow blog via email. You will then receive an email asking you to confirm subscription. Simply confirm subscription and you will be subscribed. 🙂 Thank you for your time and feel free to spread the word to others that want to learn all different kinds of ways to save money on food, travel, shopping, and products:) Please feel free to like my facebook page, Dani’s Decadent Deals as well to get daily deals everyday for everything from clothing, travel, restaurants, activities, adult events and kids’ events. 🙂 Have fun saving!!!
Dani's Decadent Deals 
Wow! These are great tips – thank you so much for sharing them. I can’t wait to see Part 2!
Thank you so much:) Glad you enjoyed! Stay tuned:)
Wow, this is great! You have provided a lot of great advice and tips for visiting Las Vegas on a budget. I never knew about keeping certain flights on watch, but I can definitely see getting the best deal by doing so. Thank you!
Thanks so much:) I am glad you enjoyed my post about Vegas and I hope some of those tips will help you when you visit in the future:)
Great tips!! It looks like you had a blast!!! Will be returning for part 2!! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much:) Part 2 is up:) Enjoy!!
I have never been to Las Vegas but would really love to go. Looks like you had a blast
You must go and when you do, my posts will come in handy! Vegas is always a blast!! 🙂
How awesome, I am happy for you.
Would you teach us all on how to find great feals?
Great feals??? I only teach how to find great deals:)
Ohmygosh now I want to go to the buffet at the Wynn!! YUM! (and EXTREMELY gluten-free and dairy-free friendly)
I love buffets:) You should check out the Wicked Spoon in Cosmo & also the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars:)
Wow this is a really great write up of how we save money in Vegas. I love saving money in Vegas
Thanks Tom.
Thank you for sharing these tips. I love Kayak!
Awesome!!! Kayak does rock!!:)
I will be heading there soon and need all the cost savings tips I can get, so much appreciated!
Awesome Traci!!! Where will you be staying? Vegas is such a fun place;) we will be there at beginning of June:)
Great tips. I now see that Vegas is more than gambling and can be fun.
Oh yes! I do not like to gamble, but I LOVE Vegas:)
I see you tried the sampler at the World of Coke. How did you like the Beverly?
Was that the nasty bitter one I could not handle? Most likely I am assuming…There was one that tasted like poison and beverly sounds familiar… 🙂
Kayak, priceline and booking are some great sites but they don’t offer the best deals every time. There are many other sites that might save you a lot of money from a trip to Vegas. Have you heard of http://www.reservationcounter.com/hotel/las-vegas/ ? They have a best price guarantee for all the offers on the site so if you find them cheaper anywhere else they will refund you money.
Thanks for the tip! I will definitely check them out next time! 🙂 Have a good one!