A March 2015 Trip Question

Hi Folks,

We've stayed at the Wynn the last 5 years running. They give us a discounted room offer, but the previous two years the offer ended at the end of February and I e-mailed them and asked them to extend the offer into March. They've managed to come through and extend the offer to cover our trip in March.

March Break in 2015 falls on the week of March 16th. I understand the NCAA Basketball tournament starts March 19th in 2015. I suspect the Wynn will be very reluctant to extend us a discount room offer this time.

I've already booked the flights as WestJet had a deal on flights at the end of May so I'm committed to going.

I do not have a casino host as I'm a small stakes gambler. When I called them in the past they claimed my offers were coming from the marketing department. Do the folks here have any advice to cajole an offer out of the Wynn for my March 2015 trip?

--helpmespock

Stayed at the Encore this year for March Madness they gave me 3 free nights plus a $225 credit and a free upgrade to a suite. I would call and ask but March Madness is far off so you might not be able to get a great just yet.

Quote: Isitingood

Stayed at the Encore this year for March Madness they gave me 3 free nights plus a $225 credit and a free upgrade to a suite. I would call and ask but March Madness is far off so you might not be able to get a great just yet.

Thanks for the reply, but it sounds like you gamble more (both in money and in time) than I do. I'm a pretty small time gambler. I play about an hour a day of $15 blackjack at the Wynn and maybe a couple one-hour sessions of $10 minimum craps. I typically play 9/6 Jacks or better, but to get that game at the Wynn it's $5 per coin. I typically play $0.25 or $0.50 per coin so $5 is way to rich for me.

The last time I asked the casino people about the level of play I would need for a free room they told me $50 per hand of blackjack for 4 hours a day. Again this is way beyond my capabilities.

As a result of all of the above, the best I think I can hope for with the Wynn is some form of discount room offer. The trick this time is it will be close to March Madness so they might not extend an offer to me figuring that they'll be plenty busy.

--helpmespock

How many nights will you be staying there? Mar 16 - ???

If indeed your dates fall over the opening weekend of March Madness, you will be SOL in regards to offers.

With MLife, I know that weekend is blacked out every year even if you have offers for that time period. I'm sure most places are like that.

My advice would be to just look for the best deal online and take it, cause that will be a busy weekend.

Quote: ams288

How many nights will you be staying there? Mar 16 - ???

If indeed your dates fall over the opening weekend of March Madness, you will be SOL in regards to offers.

With MLife, I know that weekend is blacked out every year even if you have offers for that time period. I'm sure most places are like that.

My advice would be to just look for the best deal online and take it, cause that will be a busy weekend.

We'll be staying 4 nights until the Thursday. I understand the tournament begins on that Thursday. I have a little hope, but not much. The Wynn typically mails us the winter offer in early December so we'll see. I suspect I'll have to do as you say and take the best deal I can find on-line.

--helpmespock

Hi Folks,

Just a follow-up.

Wynn mailed out their "Winter Getaway" offer in mid-November which is a bit earlier than usual, but of course it didn't cover the time we want to go -- March 15-19. The offer ended at the end of February.

Then, to my surprise, just before American Thanksgiving they sent another e-mail saying that they'd extended the offer into April.

Excited I logged in to my Red Card account only to find that they'll give us a break on the room for the Sunday night, but all the other nights look to be regular rate i.e.; $499 per night.

They might change the offer again, but just in case I've booked an alternative (TI which is close by) through Expedia that has free cancellation.

Last time this happened they relented in mid-January and had the offer cover our time, but I'm not holding out much hope this time.

It's a shame too. We've stayed at the Wynn every year since 2009.

--helpmespock

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has been sending me two nights Sunday-Thursday lately. Great property, in my opinion beats the WynnCore.

I had a look at the Cosmopolitan. I wouldn't mind staying, but at the time Expedia had them at $190/night and TI was $97/night.

I have gambled at the Cosmopolitan and enjoyed it, but the crowd there seems too young and hip for me. 8-)

I actually don't mind the slightly slower pace felt around the Wynn.

--helpmespock

Hello Folks,

The Wynn never modified the offer again so I called the Wynn today to see what they could do. The contact number on the Red Card website didn't work so I ended up calling the main switchboard and asked for Resort Marketing. I thought it was Resort Marketing that was giving me the offer, but it turns out that it was Room Reservations that extended me the offer. I have no idea what the difference is between those two groups.

I asked Room Reservations why the rates were so high for the week of March 15-19th and they said that a large group was staying at the Wynn that week. There was no possibility of getting a discounted room at the Wynn for that time.

They instead offered me a room at the Encore for effectively the same deal -- an average of $138 per night plus resort fees and taxes for the four nights however the offer does not include two free buffets that were part of the original deal. Instead they're offering $20 off tickets for their two shows. The room had to be pre-paid and there is no cancellation or transfer allowed either. I'm fine with that.

My understanding is that the rooms are a little larger at Encore and the layout is slightly different. Encore is just that much further than the Wynn from the centre of the strip so we'll see how that goes. It'll be a few more minutes to get to my early morning craps sessions at Casino Royale. 8-)

I cancelled the reservation at TI. Probably things would have been fine if we had stayed at TI, but I had some concern over screaming drunken frat boys wandering the halls at 3AM. I'm sure things will be quieter at the Encore.

--helpmespock

I think you will be happy with your decision. If you go only once a year, you might as well go to the casino that fits your 'style', and the price seems very reasonable.

Quote: SOOPOO

I think you will be happy with your decision. If you go only once a year, you might as well go to the casino that fits your 'style', and the price seems very reasonable.

We're comfortable there for sure although the Canadian dollar going into the toilet against the U.S. dollar doesn't help on costs, but that's not the Wynn's problem.

Off-hand I'd heard a report that almost 2 million Canadians visit Las Vegas each year. The drop in the Canadian dollar will probably put a dent in that in 2015.

--helpmespock