Hi, first post on the board. I got tired on the censorship on VMB and decided to give this board a try.

Southwest out of Milwaukee, non-stop on Friday afternoon. Check-in and TSA were a breeze. We were at an airport bar 17 minutes after the parking shuttle dropped us off at ticketing. We paid the $15 for SWA EB, but got A40 & A41. Two years ago we also bought the TSA Pre-Check for $85 for 5 years and it has been worth every penny.

One interesting note on our SW flight. I had two wines, my wife and two beers and the FA never collected our tickets. Winning already!

We wanted to change things up a bit and not stay at Main Street Station this trip, so when I got a 3 night comp mailer offer from Suncoast, I checked their airport shuttle times vs. our flight times and booked it. The WAX is an option, but my wife doesn’t like schlepping luggage on the WAX, even though they have luggage racks.

My mailer also included $40 per day in Freeplay. OK, not as nice as having the Gold Card downtown, but like I said we wanted a change.

When we lived in Vegas, Suncoast was one of our favorite places. We were probably went there three days a week. Not necessarily to gamble, but we went to the senior day movie special once a week. Maybe SC Steakhouse a couple of times a month and also Salavatore’s. Anyway, you can’t just go to a movie etc without at least running a $20 or so through the bartop VP, right?

TGI Fridays is now gone and has been replaced by The Game, a Boyd operated sports bar and they completely closed off the back dining area, so it is just a bar with about 12 tables, but maybe 30 monitors? The café has been replaced by DuPar’s, not a Boyd operation and very pricy. $14.50 for an omelet. $9 for the short stack of two pancakes. The Mexican restaurant is also gone. I think replaced by Brigg’s Oyster Bar. It just didn’t look like an inviting atmosphere for dining. Lots of stainless steel and bright lights.

We were staying for four nights so I contacted a host to see if she would comp the fourth night. Reply I got back: It looks like we have plenty of rooms. However, the night of 6/6 will be at an Emerald room rate of $68.00 +tax@12%. We can revisit your play at the end of your stay and adjust it accordingly. I’m sorry I can’t give you a suite, unfortunately our comp policies are a bit stricter than some of our other properties.

OK, fine we booked it anyway. With the amount of coin-in we play, I didn’t think the 4th night would be a problem getting it comped.

Anyway, the SC shuttle leaves the airport every two hours beginning at 9 AM. Our flight arrived on time at 4:20 PM and the SC shuttle leaves the airport at 5PM. That all went well. The shuttle stop is at Level Zero, same area as the WAX, then non-stop to Suncoast. As we were driving, I noticed we took the 215, kind of an out of way route. I asked the driver about it afterwards and he says they never take the 15/95 route. Too many accidents.

Because of the host telling me they had plenty of rooms, for the first time ever I tried the $20 trick at check-in to see if we could get a suite and also a golf course view. Damn did it work! We ended up on the top floor with a huge suite. Kitchen, microwave, wet bar, 4 bar stools. A living room with two leather chairs and a couch. Then a dining room table with 6 chairs. Then on to the bedroom area. Queen bed, two door, full closet. Full size bathroom with large vanity with drawers, 5 ft walk in shower, a large soaking tub and a separate toilet area with door. Both rooms had floor to ceiling windows overlooking Angel Park Golf Course. Oh yea, 4 TVs. Kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom.

Got unpacked and headed down for bartop VP. SC has no bartop JOB, so my wife plays quarter 8/5 Bonus. My game is dollar 9/6 DDB. Because of time difference, alcohol and lack of sleep, we only made it to midnight. But, in that time, I was DEALT TWO 4oak with the kicker, each for $800. B Connected Points playing only on my card 7,420.

The plan was Angel Park golf on Saturday. It’s an easy walk to the clubhouse from SC. I can’t golf after my second hand surgery, but my wife rented clubs on the 12 hole, par 3, course and I walked with her. $38 to rent the clubs and the pull cart. Not bad and the rental clubs were a brand new set of Taylor Made. They also included a junky 2 iron to hit out of the desert areas. It is an Interesting concept. Each par 3 is a replica of famous par 3 courses on the PGA tour. After golf, we had a hotdog at the deli in SC. Pretty good. Sure beats the one at the D.

Saturday night we had dinner at Salvatore’s. I’m no Westie, but we both thought it was very good. I paid with points for the 40% discount.

The pool was a also a big consideration in choosing SC, but as plans in Vegas tend to go, we never made it to the pool the entire stay. We just saw it out our room windows.

WX hot even for Vegas in early June. 101 on Fri, 102 Sat, 108 on Sunday and Monday.

Sunday my brother and SIL arrived and they were using my 3 night comp at 4Q so we took the 6:45 AM WAX from Suncoast to check them in under my name and also get my $150 in freeplay. We had breakfast at Magnolia’s for the first time paying with points. Very good! We also put points on my card to collect some of their giveaway prices. I really wanted that souvenir keychain for earning 50 points on the card! We also earned enough points for a free T. It has to be the thinnest T I have ever seen and you can literally see through it.

After we got them checked in, we headed back to SC on the noon WAX. We tried the new Game sportsbar at Suncoast for a light dinner that night. I don’t know. It wasn’t bad, but I thought TGIFridays was better.

Sunday gambling: My wife continued her losing ways, but I hit my second 4A with the kicker (holding 3) for $2,000! BC points for the day: 21,887 and they had a Sunday only promotion going 10x points on reels and 6x on VP. We have never put 21,000 points on a card in a day before. I guess that’s what happens when you are out in the boonies with only one other casino kind of close by. That being Rampart, but with the heat, we never took that walk. Otherwise downtown we give 4Q, Grand and others some play and usually average about $11,000 on B Connected.

Monday, my brother and his wife took the Wax from 4Q to SC and we all dined at SC Steakhouse. Plenty of B Connected points, so we treated. Everybody was happy with their meals.

Monday gambling: Earlier in the day I was once again dealt 4oak with the kicker. $800. After dinner, I was dealt 4A, but no kicker on the draw. $800. Monday points on the card: 21,021.

Tuesday was checkout day. I went to check with a host about that 4th night and no problem, it was comped. We got up way too early and were sitting around the room and said screw it. Lets go down, get a drink and gamble for an hour but not put our cards in. I don’t want to ruin the daily average. Now on the absolute perfect trip, this is where I tell you about the handpay. But no, one drink each and $20 each gone.

Returning home, our flight was at 1 PM, so we caught the 10 AM shuttle from SC. A little early getting to McCarran, but with all the media scare about TSA lines, we figured that was the best option. And that’s what the cheap drinks at the airport are for, right? $14 glass of wine, Jeez! Just a little longer wait than normal at the secret C Gate,TSA pre checkpoint. Maybe 10 people ahead of us.

Once again not ideal SW Early Bird boarding. A41 & A42. Row 8, window and my wife being a trooper always takes the middle so we can watch movies on our player. Anyway, we push away from the gate on time at 1 PM and sit. Not sure how much time went by, but they pull us back to the gate, open the door and now a mechanic comes onboard. OH CRAP!!! Please don’t make us change planes. Here we sit in 108 degree weather. Tick, tick tick. Mechanic on and off the plane 3 times. Finally they close the door and we push back again. One hour late in leaving, but only half hour late on arrival. Maybe because of the delay, but FA never collected for my two drinks.

Summary: My wife’s losses playing quarter Bonus $900. She usually gets a couple of straight flushes each trip. This time nada for both of us. Playing Bonus, she hit 4A once the entire trip and no Royal.

My total + $4,800

B Connected Card points: 65,950.

 

That a very SOLID all around trip. And, with the large suite for $20 extra! Not too shabby!

Good to have you over here. This place is much more inviting.

 

Joe, great to see you over here! You will find the changes to be worth the time you spend here!

 

nice recap. Good to hear that you are trying out new properties! I thought they were going to name a bartop stool for you over at MSS!

 

Sounds like a great trip and I'm thinking if I don't decide to change my "home base" to Cosmo from the Venetian/Palazzo after my next trip, that I just may try something radically different and book a downtown or GVR stay and completely change where I play. I'm hoping I am happy with Cosmo as a new place to build my tier but time will tell. Congrats on the winning trip for you and sounds like you know your way around all of Vegas pretty well. If I decide to head off strip I'll hit you up for recommendations. Maybe I'll actually win something for once too! Lol

 

Nice win! Sounds like a great trip : D

 

Hi, Joe.

 

Good quick trip and nice win! Thanks for sharing.

 

Hi Joe, nice to see you over here. After a trip like that maybe your name should be AceJoe jk. I have never been out to Vegas in the summer heat and I never thought of the plane sitting with the door open in the heat. Good to hear you took some SC $$ home. Thanks for the write up

 

Joe, enjoyed reading your TR. Got any Vegas trips planned before Thanksgiving?