Mini TR- May 25- June 1, comped room, free play, cheapo trip

Hi all,

I usually don%26#39;t write TR, (enjoy reading them), mostly because I visit Vegas quite often (every 6 week or so) and feel like mine%26#39;s really a cheapo trip than everyone else%26#39;s.. but this time I decided to share my experience. Will post as a reply.

Mini TR- May 25- June 1, comped room, free play, cheapo trip

Ok, so I have a thick file of comp offers from various casinos/ hotels, and I usually compare them all and take the best one. This trip, I wanted to stay at either Bally%26#39;s or Rio (using the total rewards offers) but my dates were partially sold out because of the memorial day weekend crowds rolling in.

I still wanted to go, so I decided to go with the Circus Circus offer. YES, I do know it%26#39;s Circus, but the offer was free nights stay in the one bedroom suite, $100 in dining credit, and $100 free slot play every day of my stay. Plus I had $150 more in free credit, and my boyfriend had some comp dollars that can be used toward dining. So we decided to take this offer.

I was a bit skeptical of their %26#39;one bedroom suite%26#39;- they don%26#39;t show any pictures of the suites on their website, it doesn%26#39;t even show up under the %26#39;reservation%26#39;. Then I googled it, tried to find anything about their suites.. nothing. I looked at the traveler pictures on TA, again, nothing but complaints and people reporting how awful it was to stay there.

When we checked in, we were sent to a VIP services, they already had our room keys, paper vouchers and everything taken care of. And the room-- was spacious! Huge bedroom with big bathroom, his and her sinks, separate living area with a wet bar. And it was a corner room and it seemed like not many people were on our floor, so it was very quiet throughout our stay. I know, it is still Circus, yes, there were hundreds of thousands of kids and adults running and screaming, but I usually prefer square footage. Maybe it%26#39;s just me.

About free slot play- I had this offer from them ';$100 free play, every day'; and it seems like you can use it all summer long (if you%26#39;re there), the amount is based on your previous play, so I got $100 every day and my boyfriend got $25 (he plays tables and I play slots). BUT, of course there%26#39;s a catch-- free credit is good ONLY during certain time of the day (of course), and this is how it works. 1/2 of the credit is good between 10am-2pm, and the rest is good between 6pm-10pm. Ah, I felt like they%26#39;re trying to trick us into %26#39;don%26#39;t leave our property%26#39; scheme. However, we managed to use the morning one BEFORE we headed out to lunch, and the evening one BEFORE we went to dinner. Without being forced to stay in the casino. To get to the strip we had to go through the casino anyways.. so it wasn%26#39;t really a problem for us.

$100 each day for this duration of the trip, I got to %26#39;try out%26#39; the machines I always wanted to try, without putting my own money. Yes, I repeat, I know it%26#39;s Circus, and a lot of people here would shred that offer saying I%26#39;ll never stay at Circus Circus!-- I used to think that way, and still, if I were to pay to stay here I probably won%26#39;t. But I got to try many machines for free ($50 each time and I counted my spins, and cashed out the winnings)- and we both had good days, one afternoon we hit bonus after bonus, and using my $50 credit I cashed out $360, other days I cashed out $230, $158, etc, not a jackpot, but I think it was a pretty good run for free play.

We mainly used our dining credit at the steak house. The food was good, and pretty pricy-- good that we had the dining credit! We didn%26#39;t go to the buffet, read the horrible reviews and quite honestly I%26#39;d rather go to Rio%26#39;s buffet and pay for it..

We did most of our gambling in downtown, and some at the slots-a-fun.

Overall we really enjoyed the trip. We were both skeptical and a bit nervous about staying at the Circus.. and yes it was very crowded for the holiday, (but it died down after Tuesday)- but we truly enjoyed it, and the best of all, it was a cheapo trip :)

Mini TR- May 25- June 1, comped room, free play, cheapo trip

Sorry I should have broken it down- I just noticed that I wrote a lot in one column. I do apologize.

Glad you enjoyed your trip, you got a great deal and most of all you had a great time! I too, find it important to have the extra room in a suite, I love it when I come in late and am not quite ready to fall into bed that I am not disturbing DH, or when he gets up extra early and does not disturb my sleep!! I know a lot of people just want a room to sleep and shower but to me that’s a very important part of my vacation. Also very nice when it’s a comp!! Good for you if it worked out to your expectations.

Hey there!

You know what, I don%26#39;t blame you. Free nights in Vegas are a good thing, regardless of where they are (with some very important exceptions...!) - and as people always say, how often are you really in the room anyway? Sounds like you ended up having a pretty good experience at Circus Circus, so good for you! Vegas is what you make it - you make it something different every 6 weeks?!? Lucky you! I get out there every 3 months or so - if I could swing it every 6 weeks you bet your bottom dollar I would - even if it was at Circus Circus :)

Frugaltraveler2008 - sounds like it was a good deal and you converted your free play to take home cash.

I%26#39;ve been reading several posts on TA lately of people get quite a bit in free play $. Either 1) I%26#39;m not getting the offers, 2) the mailman is keeping my offers, or 3) I%26#39;m just not living right.

Can I ask if you get that in the US mail OR via email?

Thanks all for your comments!!

I totally agree. I think the most important thing is to be able to say %26#39;I truly enjoyed my trip%26#39;- regardless of what your budget was, where you ate, and where you stayed. Because of the horrible reviews posted, we had our expectations really, really low. I prefer to have lower expectations and be surprised.

Yes, we get to go there quite often :) I noticed that many people take their annual trip, or a long vacation to the US from Europe or Australia, and I do know how important it is to have those special trips to be nice and perfect (I see a lot of people staying at the Wynn, Venetian, Mandalay etc). But for this trip we wanted to maximize the %26#39;comp%26#39;. And the winning using the free play actually paid for the trip. I have no complaints.

And to answer the question above, I received the Circus offer via email. They used to send me a postcard with promotions, but it seems like they switched to email offers. The email promo did contain my name and the player%26#39;s card # on it, and I did have to print it out and bring it with me.

All the other offers, (non-Circus offers) still come in the snail mail form. Hope this helps.

Hopefully you can post some pics of the suite so if someone actually might stay in that room they can see what it looks like! thats awesome and congrats on your successful cheapo trip! Good TR :o)

I wish I could post the pictures.. there was something wrong with the flash, and all the pics came out dark.. I do have a photoshop, so hopefully I can fix the problem.

Forgot to mention a couple of things:

I also had a dining credit at El Cortez, since we were going to downtown for late night gambling anyways, so we stopped by and used the dining credit at their steakhouse. Nothing spectacular, but it met my needs. It was a comped meal anyways, and it was way better than I expected. Also I had a coupon mailed to me from EC %26#39;free klondike bars%26#39;- I know it sounds silly but hey I%26#39;ll take them.. I did have $15 in free play there, and within 5 minutes they were gone. I took it as a sign and we walked out, headed toward the GN and 4Q for some gambling.

Did most of the gambling late night, mostly in downtown- with the exception of the Hilton Sportsbook. They call it Superbook for a reason-- I totally loved it there! Since I was there anyways, I played some slots there as well, well, I didn%26#39;t win (broke even after a couple of hours), but their drinks were pretty good, and cocktaik waitresses did come by often. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Quark%26#39;s! Will probably stay at the Hilton next time, they have been sending me the free room offers (and sometimes I do get calls from them too.. recorded messages about free stays and other offers, has anyone gotten calls from the Hilton?).

So, I hate you. OK, hate is a strong word.... Hate it you can drive there. Love your TR, thanks for shraring.................

What a great, inexpensive trip! I would have stayed for the free nights also. I recently received an offer for 5 free nights at the Golden Gate, and I am toying with the idea of staying there for my November trip if I get the offer again. I know it%26#39;s not the best place, but I only sleep in the room I have and can%26#39;t see spending a lot of money on a room just to sleep.