Planning a trip and saving money in Las Vegas with multiple people is more complex when trying to coordinate. Saving money is still very possible! While traveling with more people is more fun, you just may not get the best deal on flights.
Why is that? When you’re ready to purchase your plane ticket, the others in your party may not be ready yet. Unless you fly separately then you’re going to have to wait until they’re ready to buy. I wanted to make sure I was traveling with my party because I was traveling with my family.
Saving Money In Las Vegas With a Travel Credit Card
However, I don’t allow group travel to stop me from saving money in Las Vegas. With this trip, I accomplished this feat by using my Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card.
The credit card has no annual fee which is a huge plus. Its bonus threshold was a nice dollar amount of $200. I had to spend $1,000 within the first three months to earn a 20,000-point bonus. 20,000 points equals $200.
When the day came to purchase my plane ticket, I accumulated over 20,000 points. My plane ticket totaled around $572 on JetBlue. It was the cheapest main cabin price I found compared to the other airlines. After I purchased my plane ticket, I waited for the purchase to post to my credit card. I redeemed all of my points which brought the total amount of my plane ticket under $300.
This was a huge success as compared to previous Las Vegas trips. My total round-trip flight price had always floated around the $400 price range. Now, as mentioned earlier I had talked about the trade-offs of traveling with people. Had I been traveling alone, my plane ticket would have cost around $400. I want you to understand what can happen when traveling in groups. However, you can still save money and make your travel plans work for you.
Saving Money on Checked Bags
Once I was at the airport, I knew that I didn’t want to check in a bag. If you’re not flying a “Blue Plus” or “Blue Flex” fare, you’re going to pay a checked bag fee. This goes for most airlines except for Southwest Airlines.
I knew I could have one bag as a carry-on and one personal item. I had my roller bag and a backpack.
At the gate, there was an announcement offering passengers the option to check in their bags. It’s a complimentary gesture by the airline to save space in the overhead bins. I received the same offer when I was flying home, too. That’s a savings of $50! Additionally, I only had my backpack on the plane with me. I prefer traveling lightly because I can get off the plane quicker rather than shuffling through overhead bins.
I have seen complimentary check-in offered more than once before. It’s not just on JetBlue as I have experienced this on Delta too. You shouldn’t feel compelled to check in your bag prior to TSA security if you’re looking to save money. Now, don’t expect this offer every single time you have to go to the airport. If I don’t get to check in my bag at the gate, I don’t mind bringing it on the plane.
The Best Way To Get To Your Hotel
Once in Las Vegas, there are multiple options to arrive at your hotel. There are shuttles which I don’t recommend. They make stops at multiple hotels and yours has a high probability of not being first on the list. Second, there are taxis that I would not recommend either. I’ve heard taxis at the airport will take the “long way”. This will result in a higher price for your fare from the airport to your hotel. The final option I know about that I take all the time now is using the ride-sharing service Lyft. I’ve compared prices to Uber before, but Lyft has always been the best rate for saving money in Las Vegas. You know your total right off the bat compared to taking a taxi.
I only take Lyft at this point after having done the shuttle in the past. I don’t want to waste any of my time in Las Vegas waiting to get to my destination.
At this point, I’m at the hotel and I chose to stay at The LINQ. They offered the best rates when compared to the other Caesars properties. Personally, I like staying on the strip when visiting Las Vegas. Considering I was also staying there during March Madness, the prices were higher than normal. The demand for rooms during this time in March is higher. So, that’s something to keep in mind when going to Vegas. For the cheapest rates consider November (around Thanksgiving), December (around Christmas), and July / August (when it’s super hot). That’s when hotels lower their rates just to get people in because that’s their slow time during the year.
Saving Money on Las Vegas Entertainment
We saved money collectively when it came to shows by using the Tix 4 Tonight booths on the strip. They offer tickets up to 50% off the regular price. I recommend you avoid purchasing tickets from the hotel website or at the hotel itself. You’ll pay the full retail price. We used Tix For Tonight for our tour of the Hoover Dam, too. We also used Vegas.com which always has discounted show tickets. They offer various discounts that can go up or down depending on the show you want to see. The final option used was Half Price Shows to get Laugh Factory tickets at The Tropicana. If you’d like to hear about the shows I saw while in Vegas, read my full Las Vegas review.
Depending on the hotel you’re staying at, they may offer discount coupons. In some cases, you’ll get a coupon book just for signing up for their rewards program. Doing so is free to do. I recommend to inquire about this when checking in at the registration desk.
Saving Money On Your Hotel Bill
When it came time to pay the hotel bill, I saved money by sharing the room and splitting the total. This is one option for saving money in Las Vegas. If you’re staying during a busy time like a CES convention or March Madness it’s even more vital. While I don’t own it anymore, you can sign up for the no-annual-fee Total Rewards credit card. It’s owned by Caesars Entertainment. At the time, I had accumulated over 20,000 points. This equated to a little over $200 off the bill and then divided the remainder by three people. This means we each paid less than $200 per person. When you pay with your Total Rewards credit card at any Caesars-owned hotel, you’ll get 5 times the rewards credits.