Secret Vegas Hacks to Drastically Cut the Cost of Your Next Visit

Posted on: January 1, 2025, 07:55h. 

Last updated on: December 31, 2024, 03:32h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

Remember when you could visit Las Vegas without refinancing your home?

While you can’t turn back the clock to the days of cheap buffets, free parking and comped hotel rooms for gambling $100, there are some money-saving hacks that most tourist don’t know about — and that most resorts want to keep that way.

This Elon Musk-looking dude is artificially generated, but you can jump for joy for real in your deeply discounted Las Vegas resort penthouse — if you play your cards right. Oh, and notice the coffeemaker at the edge of the bed? That comes into play, too. (Image: GROK2)

Reserve the cheapest room you can afford at the nicest resort.

Book directly through the hotel’s website, checking the “deals & offers” tab for discounts and/or beverage and food credits. Do this as far in advance as you can for the best price.

Once you get to the resort, ask the check-in agent, very sweetly, if you can possibly pay for an upgrade. Whatever price you are quoted will be significantly lower than if you booked the nicer room in advance. (As we’ve warned you before, the $20-sandwich room upgrade trick is just a myth.)

AI imagines thousands of National Finals Rodeo attendees waiting to check into a Las Vegas resort. (Image: GROK2)

On a crazy-busy weekend, this hack won’t work, of course, which brings us to…

Avoid peak travel times.

Check for the dates of any huge events, like National Finals Rodeo, or conventions. Competing for the same 150K hotel rooms on the Strip with the more than 115K attendees of CES in January, for instance, will not place you in the power seat.

Buy your own water, snacks and alcohol.

Shopping at one of the six Walgreens or seven CVS stores located on the Strip can save you hundreds — as much as $8.75 on every $9 water bottle you might have purchased at the Resorts World gift shop.

Depending on where on the Strip you’re situation, saving $8.75 per bottle of water requires crossing the street. (Image: GROK2)

But don’t make the mistake of storing any of your booty in your room’s mini-bar fridge. Believe it or not, resorts now charge for that “service.” MGM Resorts properties — including Aria, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay now ding you $50 for using their mini-fridge to store personal items. (Yes, they can tell.) Instead, go down the hall and fill up your ice bucket. (They haven’t grown the cajones to charge for that yet.)

Bonus for those with no issues lying through your teeth: If one bucket isn’t big enough for all your new perishables, hide the bucket in your room and tell the front desk you never received it. Or — and this is truly evil — request a separate fridge at check-in. If you say it’s to store your insulin, they won’t dare check or charge you. But you didn’t get that one from us!

Pack a single-cup Keurig coffeemaker and K-Cups.

This is obviously only for those who plan to check bags. Coffeemakers, once standard in all Vegas resorts, are now only offered exclusively in the most expensive accommodations.

If you ask, a staff member is likely to explain this recent policy change as cleanliness issue. The truth is that it drives up profits when caffeine-starved zombies are willing to pay $10 for a cup inside the resort.

Never hook more than two devices up to Wi-Fi.

Two is all you get for free. However, most smartphones now come with their own free hotspot. Go into your settings and turn it on, then hook up any extra devices to it.

Deuce buses are nice, clean and packed with other frugal travelers. (Image: Wikipedia)

Ride the Deuce.

This bus specializes in the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Vegas, and it beats the heck out of the price of Ubers — especially during surge-pricing. The two-story coaches are clean and they pick up and drop off in front of all the casinos, which is more convenient that walking two miles to the monorail stop out back. An all-day pass costs only $8 per person, or $20 for three days. For info, click here.

Drink (and eat) at happy hours.

These always offer the best deals. For instance, draft beers at 424 at Grand Canal Shops cost $6 from noon to 3 p.m. The same beer in a casino bar will usually be double tht price. And the Scotch 80 Prime steakhouse in the Palms takes 50% off select menu items – including an 8 oz. filet mignon – on weekendays between 5-6:30 p.m.

Check Yelp for bar and restaurant check-in offers.

Many will offer free entrees or drinks, or small discounts off your entire bill, some of which you can redeem on that visit.

This list, courtesy of Vital Vegas, names all the bars and restaurants who charge a CNF (or similar fee) as of September 2024. (Image: Scott Roeben/Vital Vegas)

Look for (and challenge) the CNF fee.

Some bars and restaurants — mostly those in the Caesars Entertainment empire — will try to weasel a deceptive and discretionary charge called “CNF” (concession and franchise) onto your bill. Most people either won’t notice or won’t complain, which translates into a regular income stream. If you politely ask your server to remove it, they most likely will oblige — hoping that you will tip them more for that service.

Buy entertainment tickets at the last minute.

This hack relies purely on supply and demand, which is not always predictable. But if you pick two or three shows and/or concerts that really want to see, check Stubhub an hour or so before each one starts for the cheapest tickets. More often than not, dozens of greedy people who were hoping to make a profit selling their tickets for too much are now likely to have abandoned those hopes. If you’re enough of a risk-taker, then wait minutes before showtime. Any tickets that remain will now sell a fraction of the price.

The “Lake of Dreams” takes place on a 3 acre lake at the Wynn. Hidden from Strip viewing, it features 5,500 LED lights that illuminate a 90-foot artificial waterfall, which serves as a projection screen. (Image: PR Newswire)

Enjoy the Wynn’s “Lake of Dreams” water show for free.

You can view one of the coolest water shows on the Strip without having to pay for dinner at the pricey (though most who can afford it say worth-it) Wynn restaurants SW Steakhouse and Riola Mare (set to open early this year in the space previously occupied by Lakeside).

Just make your way to the North Terrace on second floor. Shows run every half hour nightly at 7 pm.

Request player discounts.

Finally, if you gambled during your stay, the night before you leave, find a casino host. Let them know you had a great time and can’t wait to return and then — again, very sweetly — ask if any of your playing made you eligible for any discounts or hotel fee waivers.