Free tickets in Vegas aren’t a thing of the past. You don’t have to know a guy. You also don’t have to be a high roller or a big spender. In fact, a clever combination of My Vegas Rewards and Groupon allowed Mr. P and I the opportunity to take in a show and spend a day out in the desert for $75 total. Here’s how:
Cirque du Soliel Show Tickets – $0 including tax
Mr. P and I saw our second Cirque show in Vegas on this last trip (you know, the one that only cost $250). Both times, we paid a whopping $0 thanks to MyVegas Rewards. True, it does take time to earn rewards. But I set my mobile app to auto-spin and away it goes while I’m doing other tasks (like writing this blog post). If you tend to the app fairly regularly, you’ll be amazed at how quickly the chips add up.
Once you earn enough rewards, you’ll have to check the fine print to see if there are blackout dates that won’t play nice with MyVegas Rewards. You will also want to make sure that your stay does not coincide with days on which the show is dark. True story: It took a month for us to both get tickets to LOVE, since it “sells” out almost instantly on the app. Once we finished our celebratory whoop for having secured a second ticket, we realized that the show was dark on the two nights that we were on the Strip. Sad face.
While LOVE was dark, Ka was not. Using MLife, we chose the date and time and redeemed our voucher. It was simple and painless. Because we redeemed the voucher online, we did not have to pay a single fee. Not only that, but we sat in the second row. The fire in the pre-show practically melted my face. IT WAS AWESOME.
Our seats weren’t quite that close when we saw Zarkana (RIP) last year. But sitting in the 10th row for free is nothing to turn your nose up at. Truly, there are no bad seats* in Cirque theaters since they are built to accommodate that show and that show alone. On each trip, the show tickets would have cost over $100 each at face value. While it’s true that you can sometimes score discount show tickets, free is better than cheap. Plus, no standing in line to score discount tickets and no dealing with scalpers. I’ll take it.
Hoover Dam – $75 + tip for two
If you’re contemplating leaving the Strip, make friends with Groupon. I had so many people implore us to rent a car to drive out to the Hoover Dam. I’m so glad we didn’t. Not only are MLife properties starting to charge for parking in their garages, but there’s really nothing that I could have done in a car that I wasn’t able to do on a guided tour.
In a little more than five hours round trip, we were able to walk the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, tour the power plant, and walk from Nevada to Arizona along the dam. We had more than two hours in two different locations to take self-guided tours, learn from docents, snap photos, and confront a fear of heights that I didn’t realize I had. You also have to clear Homeland Security when you travel to Lake Mead, and I’m really thankful we were with a pro for that. Don’t get me wrong. The Homeland Security officers were totally nice just doing their jobs terrifying. As near as I can tell, a professional tour was completely worth it.
Since we booked through Groupon, the tour for two clocked in at $75. The regular price would have put us somewhere between $125-$150. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have a fairy godmother who sends gift cards for my birthday and Christmas. I squirrel them away for occasions like this, so I actually had a $100 Visa gift card to completely cover the cost of our excursion. We simply paid the tip at the end.
BYOB – $12
You want to call me cheap? Here’s your ammo. In addition to packing breakfast in our suitcase, we also bring a bottle of booze. While it’s true that you can drink for free tips in the casinos, I spend about ten minutes at a slot machine before I get mad that I’m losing or distracted by something shiny and am on to another machine casino. Seriously. Everything is so shiny in Vegas.
So I’m more than happy to mix a few drinks in my room. Sometimes, I even make myself a to-go cup. Because Vegas is an open container town. Don’t worry. I’m still usually one of the soberest people on the Strip. Thanks to this hack, I also probably have way more money in my bank account than most people. $24 for a margarita, I think not Fat Tuesday.
So Tell Me…Do you play My Vegas Slots? Do you have any travel hacks? Are we no longer vitual friends now that you know I probably have a bottle of booze in my suitcase at any given moment?
SO glad to hear we are not the only ones who pack booze on our trips (or stop and get a bottle on the way to the destination!) Yep – virtual friends for sure! Thanks for the tips about Vegas. We have never been there and it is in the “two year” plan when our youngest goes off to college! Checking out that My Vegas Rewards right now…
Your Vegas blog posts have me considering going, something I had pretty much dismissed for the first 40-some years of my life. (Well, that and my obsession with TV chef cuisine)
Oh my gosh! I love it…probably too much. It’s so wonderfully bizarre. And oh the post ideas you will get! It can be very affordable.
Great tips, and we loved Ka too!
Sometimes there are free comedy or magic shows too, and we can spend hours looking at the gorgeous flowers and the different hotel themes.
I think I will do a free things to do post! There are just so many options. You are right about the flowers. The Wynn and the Bellagio are out of this world! We were also really surprised at all the art pieces that are everywhere. I love spotting Chihuly glass all around.
Sounds fantastic! I’d like to get to Vegas one of these days, so these tips are really helpful. Believe it or not I enjoy playing online slots (the kind with no real money involved), so I think the MyVegas app would be perfect for me.
You should totally do it! It’s really fun. I think it’s more fun because I’m not actually losing my money. Of course, they give you the option to buy chips. No thank you! 🙂
I definitely pack booze for some trips. Or pop out of our hotel for a bottle of wine that does not have hotel bar markups.
I also use Groupon and Living Social to find deals in places I’m traveling.
Wow, this is awesome!
I’ve only been to Vegas once when I tagged along on my husband’s business trip. The highlight for me was the trip I took to the Hoover Dam!