Pretty Good Vegas Deal

I scored a pretty good deal on my recent trip to Las Vegas, one that resulted in substantial savings.

It’s a good thing I went to the Vacations Hawaii office to make my reservation. The night before, I’d tried to book one of their Vegas packages online, but the website told me either to call or to come on down. Since I had planned to be at Ala Moana Center for a haircut anyway, I could contemplate whether I really wanted to go on the trip … as I sat captive in the barber’s chair.

See, booking through Vacations Hawaii can save you money … the packages includes round-trip airfare for a direct HNL-LAS flight on Omni International Airlines with onboard meals, transportation and baggage handling to and from the hotel, five nights at one of the Boyd hotels, and three meals a day.

For an extra $500, I could upgrade to first-class seats – in and of itself not bad; usually one pays that much each way. Plus through the end of the year, there are no baggage fees.

So, I decided to go. If I’d booked it all myself, I would have had to spend at least double what it would have cost me to book with Vacations Hawaii, even with a first-class upgrade.

The nice young lady at the counter suggested I move my trip up by 10 days because there was a sale going on, and my savings would be an additional $300 (almost covering the first-class seat upgrade). I’m no fool. I jump at chances like that.

Of course, I didn’t stay in a top-tier hotel on the Strip. I had my choice of the California, the Fremont, the Orleans, or Main Street Station. I stayed at the California, which is a block from Fremont Street, where all the action is. The restaurants at the California are good; I also could walk across to the Main Street Station in their enclosed walkway and keep out of the cold. The Main Street’s restaurants are not bad either.

It was fun. I hadn’t stayed downtown in at least three years, and I got a chance to re-explore the area.

Now let’s see … when will I go back? We’ll just have to see about that.