Low Roller Visit Aug 2026

August 2026: the 60th Star Trek anniversary convention at the Rio—I got my weekend tickets!

I bought my plane tickets from Southwest in late March, and I noticed now in early May that my fare dropped from $330 round trip San Jose to Vegas to $256 (I got a fare credit). I wish I had checked the fare on the Friday before Spirit airlines shut down—I wonder if it was even less.

Tracking rental cars: Hertz had a $505 rate (prepaid) for a five-day medium SUV, and that's gone down to $476.

I booked five nights at a one-bedroom panoramic view suite at Palms Place for $1350 ($270/night). That rate is still the same.

After all these years, I've never stepped foot in The Palms, so I'm excited to see what I've been missing. They've had some good influencer videos about how they've been the top-rated casino hotel in Las Vegas the past two years, so I'm curious if that checks out!

Quote: smoothgrh

August 2026: the 60th Star Trek anniversary convention at the Rio—I got my weekend tickets!

I bought my plane tickets from Southwest in late March, and I noticed now in early May that my fare dropped from $330 round trip San Jose to Vegas to $256 (I got a fare credit). I wish I had checked the fare on the Friday before Spirit airlines shut down—I wonder if it was even less.

Tracking rental cars: Hertz had a $505 rate (prepaid) for a five-day medium SUV, and that's gone down to $476.

I booked five nights at a one-bedroom panoramic view suite at Palms Place for $1350 ($270/night). That rate is still the same.

After all these years, I've never stepped foot in The Palms, so I'm excited to see what I've been missing. They've had some good influencer videos about how they've been the top-rated casino hotel in Las Vegas the past two years, so I'm curious if that checks out!
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I think most low and medium rollers like the Palms casino.

$53 prime rib and snow crab Friday buffet sounds interesting. Haven’t had a decadent dinner in Vegas in quite some time.

Oh boy! Vegas vacation starts tomorrow!

After tracking the 5-day car rental rate for Hertz Gold members, I see for my dates that I should have waited for a last-minute reservation!

Nissan Rogue
$503 as of 3/26
$476 as of 5/8
$451 as of 5/27

Mecedes GLE
$445 as of 6/3 (reserved; pre-paid)
$403 as of 6/13
$406 as of 7/3
$437 as of 7/26
$399 as of 8/4

Is there a resort fee in addition to the $270 per night? Have a great trip.

Quote: smoothgrh

Oh boy! Vegas vacation starts tomorrow!

You're in luck - there's a cooling trend! It will only be 110 on Wednesday, and 109 on Thursday.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: smoothgrh

Oh boy! Vegas vacation starts tomorrow!

You're in luck - there's a cooling trend! It will only be 110 on Wednesday, and 109 on Thursday.
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It's a dry heat. If you avoid direct sunlight, it doesn't feel much more than 95 with no humidity.

No resort fee! I saw that a studio room (basically half the size of my one-bedroom room) for the same dates is about $130/night (with no resort fee)!

It’s a nice space. Really happy with the room. Supposedly if you book it as a hotel room, the balcony stays locked. But we booked it through Strip View Suites, so it’s open. The Mrs. loves the jacuzzi tub in the bedroom! Was disappointed the washer/dryer was locked, but that’s because I watched a real estate agent tour of the room. No housekeeping or fresh towels unless you pay extra.

Went downstairs to break some bills, and was pleased at the offerings: a movie theater, food court options (McDonald’s, Hawaiian, coffee/tea, donuts, etc.), a summer camp themed bar/restaurant with live music. Was surprised that it’s a smaller casino, but it has enough to feel “intimate.”

We got players club cards and they said new players getting 500 points earns a free buffet Monday through Friday. We went to the high limit bar and played $1 full-pay Bonus Poker and both quickly lost $100 while earning only about 150 points. Not as easy as we were led to believe!

The bartender’s recommendations for interesting whiskies was Angel’s Envy rye. I like their regular whisky, but don’t care for rye as much. He then recommended Buffalo Trace, which I really enjoyed. Smooth start and spicy finish. For my next round, I had a local whiskey—High West. A little flat. Buffalo Trace was better.

With $2.50 left in the machine, I switched to 8-6 Bonus Poker Deluxe Spin Poker at the 25 cents denom. I played one line at five credits and eventually got four aces! I noticed that I could get full-pay Bonus Poker at 25 cents by playing Spin Poker (it says so right in vpfree2—duh!), so played and got quad-4s. Finished up $67! The Mrs. also won her $100 back playing table games.

Off to Durango for some Shang Noodles. No wait. Cucumber salad and beef stew with knife-cut noodles. And that brings me here. When I’m done, it’s off to the full-pay machines to try for a royal flush!

I got $10 comp dollars from my February visit applied to the Durango dinner. 😄

I’m playing BIG this trip! 5x$1 9-6 Jacks or Better! I got three quads and was up $225 at one point in my quest for a royal flush. But I seemed to quickly drain away, and decided to quit winners with only $60 profit in this session.

Now I think I should have dropped down to the quarter denom when I was up so much.

I am heading back to visit Vegas next month. It has been almost two years since I have been back. It will be a boring trip as I do not anticipate stepping into a single casino.

Quote: smoothgrh

August 2026: the 60th Star Trek anniversary convention at the Rio—I got my weekend tickets!
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Report on that! during the weekend.

Mike would be pleased to know that Gates McFadden, who played Dr. Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, rode a unicycle around the studio lot!