Vegas Reopening Travel Hack
Since the beginning of the closures in March we have followed the ups and downs of Las Vegas and COVID-19. The city and its tourism industry have been devastated by the pandemic, but hope is returning as many of the iconic Las Vegas Strip casinos will reopen on June 4, 2020.
And while the Vegas that is returning is far from the Vegas we all knew and loved, it will be nice to see the city I call home return to a shade of normalcy. The Las Vegas Strip has never been closed in such a way for this long, so it will be a historic reopening and one I want to capture here on Miles to Memories. But I had to find a way to hack it! 🙂
Utilizing My Caesars Diamond Status
As many long time readers know I have Caesars Rewards Diamond status (waived resort fees) through Founderscard and the Wyndham/Caesars Match. When booking myself a hotel room for opening night I used that status along with some intuition to score me a good deal.
A couple of weeks ago Caesars Entertainment announced that they would only reopen Flamingo and Caesars Palace whenever they were allowed to. Despite the announcement, they kept taking reservations for all of their hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. I used this to my advantage.
Booking A Vegas Reopening Night Hotel Room
When I searched the Caesars Rewards site I was presented with a number of options. Caesars Palace was priced at $70 and the Flamingo at $15, but my goal was to get into Caesars for less money. So I looked up and down the rate list and found a couple of interesting options.
- Harrah’s & Linq – $10 night
- Rio – $10 per night
- Bally’s $25 per night
- Planet Hollywood – $27 per night
- Paris Las Vegas – $49 per night
Keep in mind Flamingo was $15 per night if I just wanted to book there, but I really wanted to get into Caesars Palace. Immediately my eyes went straight for Planey Hollywood. I figured the lower end properties would get moved to Flamingo, so I “gambled” on the $27 per night offering from Planet Hollywood. Surely Planet Hollywood bookings would get moved “up” to Caesars Palace and not “down” to Flamingo.
Vegas Reopening Hack Success
A couple of days ago when the news of the June 4 reopening date dropped I still hadn’t heard from Caesars about my reservation at the closed hotel. In fact, after the announcement they were still selling rooms at all of their Vegas casinos. Then, they blocked out the closed casinos and finally yesterday I received the email I had been waiting for.
Success! Just as predicted my $27 reservation from Planet Hollywood is being switched over to Caesars Palace!
Is This Hack Still Helpful?
While they have blocked out the closed hotels for opening week, I do think there is still some opportunity if you are visiting Vegas during the early weeks of opening. Let’s look at the rate calendar.
Beginning on June 12, 2020 all of Caesars properties are taking bookings. Will they all be open by then? I doubt it, but I suspect the company is taking a wait and see approach. If you are coming in the middle of June, it could be wise to book something cheap with the hopes of getting moved to a better hotel depending on their opening schedule during your visit.
You could also look for cheap upgraded rooms or suites at one hotel that will translate to a much nicer room at the hotel you are moved to. This is a limited time opportunity and of course it isn’t guaranteed to work, but it could be fun trying to see how good of a room you could get for as little money as possible.
Should I Visit the Strip?
Before closing I want to address something about my visit to the Strip for opening night. I feel it’s important and necessary to cover this, however I’ll be limiting my times indoors, will be practicing social distancing and will be wearing my VIDA mask with a PM2.5 filter. Las Vegas needs to reopen because so many people depend on tourism for their livelihood. I hope the reopening goes well and that tons of people are able to enjoy Vegas in a healthy and happy way.
Vegas Reopening Travel Hack – Bottom Line
It’s always fun when you think of a cool little trick and everything works out as planned. For anyone looking to visit Vegas in the short term there might still be some opportunity to take advantage of this, but either way I suspect this won’t be the last great Vegas deal we’ll be covering this year.
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Watch out some of the rooms at Caesar’s Palace are on par with the lower end properties (the Forum rooms for example). We had a comp a few years ago and were deeply disappointed
Definitely. I think they have renovated the last of their towers finally, but all rooms there are not created equally. Planet Hollywood is an amazing hotel for $27 and I would have been happy to stay there if it were open. I’m hoping my Diamond status can get me something a little nicer for opening night. We will see.
I HAD BEEN A VERY LOYAL PATRON OF CEASARS ENTERTAINMENT FOR APPROX, 35 YEARS AND WORKED MY WAY UP THE LADDER AS FAR AS STATUS GOES FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS ENJOYING ALL OF THE TREATMENT OF A SEVEN STAR CARD HOLDER. UNTIL I GOT BARRED FROM ALL CEASARS PROPERTYS FOR LIFE. I TOLD A STORY TO A DEALER WHO EVIDENTLY DIDN’T CARE FOR IT AND REPORTED ME TO SECURITY AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW I WAS ASKED TO LEAVE WITH A 30 DAY SUSPENSION. TWO WEEKS LATER I GOT A LETTER FROM THE CASINOS CHIEF OF SECURITY TELLING ME I WAS BARRED FOR EVER. THATS WHAT I GET FOR OPENING MY BIG MOUTH. I WASN’T DRUNK BECAUSE I DON’T DRINK I DIDN’T THREATEN ANYONE AND I WASN’T PHYSICAL WITH ANYONE. I JUST KEEPING ASKING WHY BUT NEVER GET ANY ANSWERS. WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS BE CAREFUL ON HACKING YOUR DOING NOTHING WRONG YOU MAY HAVE GOTTEN IT ANYWAY BY ASKING FOR AN UPGRADE DUE TO YOUR DIAMOND STATUS BECAUSE WHAT YOU MAY DO NO MATTER HOW INNOCENT MAY GET YOU IN HOT WATER. GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY YOUR TIME AT CEASARS I ALWAYS PREFERED PARIS TO MUCH WALKING FROM THE ROOMS TO THE CASINOS AT CEASARS.
I wouldn’t go if it was free. Enjoy your stay.
It’s all fun and games until they tell you to bend over and give it to you with resort fees.
Brace yourself. 😀
no resort fee for diamond status
Shawn,
Since you live in Vegas why are you staying at a hotel in the current situation?
i would, esp. at high-end place like caesar’s palace; never know that diamond member may get upgraded to a suite if a few is still vacant… also to see what it’s like or what the changes
Shawn, after the visit post some pix if possible
Congrats! That’s a great hack and way to go thinking ahead. Hopefully there are some restaurants and stuff open to go to. Shows will probably be a while before they open up. Do you have any insights on when shows might open? What about the Celebration dinner restaurants. Do you think you will be able to utilize them? I still have mine to use for 2020 and hope I can soon.