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 Veteran
Posts: 253
 
Location: Back Creek Valley!!! | Looking to go to NFR in 2019 maybe stay for 3 rounds.
What can anyone tell me about best bang for the buck on air, lodging and tickets and good eats and must sees.
Thanks in Advance!!
Edited by wendinbha1 2018-09-25 9:50 PM
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Location: Not Where I Want to Be | wendinbha1 - 2018-09-25 10:49 PM Looking to go to NFR in 2019 maybe stay for 3 rounds. What can anyone tell me about best bang for the buck on air, lodging and tickets and good eats and must sees. Thanks in Advance!!
1. Go to one perf then find a bar to watch the rest
2. Book flights early, shop around and go with what ever is cheapest.
3. Buy tickets to the one perf when you get there. Shop around and find somone that has them and can't use them or a contestant with extras. There are several clearing house type deals for tickets in vegas.
4. Food is totally garbage in Vegas, used to not be the case but over the last decade it's become way more about the hype than anything else. There are some decent resturants but nothing amazing and all overpriced for what they are. Know that going in and eat what you like.
5. My approach to Vegas has always been this. I go in knowing that Vegas in general sucks beals and we go hard for 48-72 hours then go home.
6. Lodging. If you use the approach listed in 5 your going to be in a room to sleep and wash the funk off your butt, find someting centerally located and the cheapest you can find. I always use points so I never "acutally" pay for it. Usually have free nights at the Aria, Winn or The Hotel. Sort of one end middle and other end of the strip.
Edited by 1DSoon 2018-09-26 6:49 AM
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 Hugs to You
Posts: 7550
 
Location: In The Land of Cotton | 1DSoon - 2018-09-26 7:48 AM wendinbha1 - 2018-09-25 10:49 PM Looking to go to NFR in 2019 maybe stay for 3 rounds. What can anyone tell me about best bang for the buck on air, lodging and tickets and good eats and must sees. Thanks in Advance!!
2. Book flights early, shop around and go with what ever is cheapest.
3. Buy tickets to the one perf when you get there. Shop around and find somone that has them and can't use them or a contestant with extras. There are several clearing house type deals for tickets in vegas.
4. Food is totally garbage in Vegas, used to not be the case but over the last decade it's become way more about the hype than anything else. There are some decent resturants but nothing amazing and all overpriced for what they are. Know that going in and eat what you like.
5. My approach to Vegas has always been this. I go in knowing that Vegas in general sucks beals and we go hard for 48-72 hours then go home.
6. Lodging. If you use the approach listed in 5 your going to be in a room to sleep and wash the funk off your butt, find someting centerally located and the cheapest you can find. I always use points so I never "acutally" pay for it. Usually have free nights at the Aria, Winn or The Hotel. Sort of one end middle and other end of the strip.
We did this last year. And it worked. I had to use "real money" to get a room though. I went through NRS - and got a room at the Signature for $89/night - a suite actually along with air fare from GA to NV for $303 a person. We were there 4 days. You can walk in 5 mintues to where they have huge parties and lots of places to watch the rodeo at.
And, they are right, the food is way over priced. There was a CVS across the street where we got water, fresh fruit, snacks etc. There is no casino in there, which also makes it quiet. We did not get a rental car and used Lyft for all of our travels. We spent $10/one way at the most to go to South Point.
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| Agree with most posted.
We went to the NFR our last night there, bought tickets that same day. I wouldn't wait that long as we didn't get great deals and they were literally the last row in the T&M. We watched the rodeo every other night from a bar and it was a blast with good country bands.
We stayed at Harrahs which I liked. The location was nice, some good bars/restaurants inside and very reasonable room rates.
We didn't rent a car, just Uber or Lyft everywhere which saved us money and hassle.
If you are going to "party" we bought booze and mixed our drinks in our room. Saved us money and you can have them on the strip or wherever you go. We also bought some snacks so we weren't eating out every meal. We didn't do any fancy dinners, went out to lunch a few times but mainly stuck with burger joints or chipotle as the food is nothing to brag about.
I flew spirit down and sun country home. My total airfare was around $150.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 883
Location: Southern Indiana | I am going this year finally! I have never been, but I have been to Vegas 1 other time. A couple girls from our area qualified for the Junior NFR, so we are going to watch them as well!. We are staying at the Tropicana again. Its pretty cheap, has good reviews, and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for wifi, parking etc. They do have a resort fee, which is something to look into when booking a hotel. Definitely check all the fees and fine print! Southwest has direct flights! I have never flown with them before, but we are going to try it. They had really good prices.
I think I am going to purchase monorail passes to get around this time. We never took it when we went last, but everyone says its great to get around. The buffet at the Wynn was amazing. I have a whole list of food I want to try. I agree about the snacks and going to CVS or Walmart to buy stuff. (Walmart is just down from the Thomas & Mack).
Cirque du Solei is a must see, but think I'm gonna put my money into NFR tickets. I'm not sure I want to wait to get them. I need to start saving some money for the shopping! | |
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 Expert
Posts: 1514
Location: Illinois | I've never gone during NFR time, but have gone for St Patty's Day and some other random trips. We buy the American Casino Guide for the year, so 2018 this year. It's usually around $20, there's probably $1,000 worth of coupons in it and if you like to gamble there's a lot of coupons for free slot play. BOGO buffet coupons, drink coupons, food coupons, attraction coupons. We usually get BOGO on the ride up the eiffel tower or up the stratosphere, stuff like that. If you're going to do a lot of activities check it out, you can preview the coupons on the website for the book to see if you want to buy. We kept tabs our first year on the things we got free and after the 5 days we had gotten over $300 of free items.
As far as food we like going a block or 2 off strip, much better prices and easily walkable. Ellis Island isn't the most attractive place but they have super cheap drinks and pretty good food, breakfast is what we normally go for there. There's a little Italian place kind of behind Paris that's really good and very reasonable. I do really like Hard Rock so we usually go there, but it's not awful for pricing. There's some great places on Fremont St as well that are reasonable. We found a lot of the little places just by asking the locals where they recommend. If you have car access The M Resort in Henderson is absolutely worth the trip out there, it's just a couple miles it's not a long drive. The items on the buffet aren't our standard, it's a lot of things you'd expect from fine dining places. it does have some of the basic buffet staples too. We go often. If you're going to stay on the strip, find the places that sell the yard drinks and buy one. Keep the cup and continue to refill it with your own alcohol at your room. Because you can walk pretty much anywhere with it and if it fits in your suitcase keep it and bring it with on your next trip.
Hotel aspect I can't help, we have a timeshare right next to south point and have never had to stay at an actual hotel. | |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 545
Location: Texas | Like others have said, go to the rodeo for at least one perf. Make sure you get a decent set of tickets or it's better to watch somewhere else. At the Cowboy Christmas gift shows you can usually buy them for close to face value and if you do the Ticket Exchange at the Convention Center they are face value plus like $3 service charge. Be careful buying from anyone on the street because there are some fake tickets out there and defintely lots that are marked way up. I say if you aren't watching at the Thomas and Mack go to the South Point and watch in the Ram Room upstairs in the ballroom. The screens are awesome, there are snack foods and drinks to purchase, comfortable chairs, and just overall a great experience I think. Also you're right there for the Gold Buckle ceremony which is fun to watch at least once. It's a very small ballroom in the front of the casino, so you'll have to go and get a seat and wait for awhile for it start but it's worth it. There is usually a singer/band afterward who is good too. South Point has several good eating places too-Coronado Cafe, Steak and Shake, Silverado Steakhouse, decent Mexican food, and a few others. I say rent a car, it will save you a ton on taxis. Some people don't like driving there, but it's no worse than driving in a large city. All casinos have self parking garages or valet so it's great. It gives you a chance to get off the strip to eat and not be stuck walking or paying high cab fares. If you don't rent a car, do Lyft. We stay at South Point every year, but have stayed other places too. I say choose somewhere that's affordable and clean but don't worry about staying at the highest price place because you won't be there much. There are Cowboy Christmases at South Point, Las Vegas Convention Center, Sands, and Mandalay Bay which have TONS of booths. The Convention Center has an arena upstairs with different events going on throughout the two weeks. We also like to go to the Hooey Party at Brooklyn Bowl. We love to do the High Roller at the Linq. Do it at night because the views are amazing and if you do the ticket that is all you can drink, it's fun to have drinks on the way around. It takes about 30 minutes to make it all the way around and if you get a group together it's a lot of fun. Also we love Cirque de Soliel shows and go see one of those every year and even though Le Reve isn't a Cirque show, it was awesome too.
Edited to add: Freemont Street is fun to see too. It's definitely an experience and there are some wild things down there, but the lighted/LED top is super neat, Golden Nugget has a slide that is surrounded by a shark tank so it looks as though you're going through the tank into the swimming pool, and there are several "old" Vegas signs down there. Also I haven't done this, but would love to do the zip line down Freemont.
Edited by TXBarrelRacer84 2018-09-26 3:20 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1514
Location: Illinois | TXBarrelRacer84 - 2018-09-26 2:00 PM
Like others have said, go to the rodeo for at least one perf. Make sure you get a decent set of tickets or it's better to watch somewhere else. At the Cowboy Christmas gift shows you can usually buy them for close to face value and if you do the Ticket Exchange at the Convention Center they are face value plus like $3 service charge. Be careful buying from anyone on the street because there are some fake tickets out there and defintely lots that are marked way up. I say if you aren't watching at the Thomas and Mack go to the South Point and watch in the Ram Room upstairs in the ballroom. The screens are awesome, there are snack foods and drinks to purchase, comfortable chairs, and just overall a great experience I think. Also you're right there for the Gold Buckle ceremony which is fun to watch at least once. It's a very small ballroom in the front of the casino, so you'll have to go and get a seat and wait for awhile for it start but it's worth it. There is usually a singer/band afterward who is good too. South Point has several good eating places too-Coronado Cafe, Steak and Shake, Silverado Steakhouse, decent Mexican food, and a few others. I say rent a car, it will save you a ton on taxis. Some people don't like driving there, but it's no worse than driving in a large city. All casinos have self parking garages or valet so it's great. It gives you a chance to get off the strip to eat and not be stuck walking or paying high cab fares. If you don't rent a car, do Lyft. We stay at South Point every year, but have stayed other places too. I say choose somewhere that's affordable and clean but don't worry about staying at the highest price place because you won't be there much. There are Cowboy Christmases at South Point, Las Vegas Convention Center, Sands, and Mandalay Bay which have TONS of booths. The Convention Center has an arena upstairs with different events going on throughout the two weeks. We also like to go to the Hooey Party at Brooklyn Bowl. We love to do the High Roller at the Linq. Do it at night because the views are amazing and if you do the ticket that is all you can drink, it's fun to have drinks on the way around. It takes about 30 minutes to make it all the way around and if you get a group together it's a lot of fun. Also we love Cirque de Soliel shows and go see one of those every year and even though Le Reve isn't a Cirque show, it was awesome too.
I think Le Reve is better than any of the cirque shows, we see it every time we're there | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 545
Location: Texas | JLazyT_perf_horses - 2018-09-26 2:18 PM TXBarrelRacer84 - 2018-09-26 2:00 PM Like others have said, go to the rodeo for at least one perf. Make sure you get a decent set of tickets or it's better to watch somewhere else. At the Cowboy Christmas gift shows you can usually buy them for close to face value and if you do the Ticket Exchange at the Convention Center they are face value plus like $3 service charge. Be careful buying from anyone on the street because there are some fake tickets out there and defintely lots that are marked way up. I say if you aren't watching at the Thomas and Mack go to the South Point and watch in the Ram Room upstairs in the ballroom. The screens are awesome, there are snack foods and drinks to purchase, comfortable chairs, and just overall a great experience I think. Also you're right there for the Gold Buckle ceremony which is fun to watch at least once. It's a very small ballroom in the front of the casino, so you'll have to go and get a seat and wait for awhile for it start but it's worth it. There is usually a singer/band afterward who is good too. South Point has several good eating places too-Coronado Cafe, Steak and Shake, Silverado Steakhouse, decent Mexican food, and a few others. I say rent a car, it will save you a ton on taxis. Some people don't like driving there, but it's no worse than driving in a large city. All casinos have self parking garages or valet so it's great. It gives you a chance to get off the strip to eat and not be stuck walking or paying high cab fares. If you don't rent a car, do Lyft. We stay at South Point every year, but have stayed other places too. I say choose somewhere that's affordable and clean but don't worry about staying at the highest price place because you won't be there much. There are Cowboy Christmases at South Point, Las Vegas Convention Center, Sands, and Mandalay Bay which have TONS of booths. The Convention Center has an arena upstairs with different events going on throughout the two weeks. We also like to go to the Hooey Party at Brooklyn Bowl. We love to do the High Roller at the Linq. Do it at night because the views are amazing and if you do the ticket that is all you can drink, it's fun to have drinks on the way around. It takes about 30 minutes to make it all the way around and if you get a group together it's a lot of fun. Also we love Cirque de Soliel shows and go see one of those every year and even though Le Reve isn't a Cirque show, it was awesome too. I think Le Reve is better than any of the cirque shows, we see it every time we're there
We did the VIP tour and got to go backstage, to the pool level, and where they make the costumes. It was sooo neat to see all of that and then watch the show. Definitely one to go to!
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Veteran
Posts: 253
Location: Back Creek Valley!!! | Thanks Everyone. Its just so overwelming. We have wanted to go for years now and when we finally take the leap we want to be sure not to miss anything.
We are WV girls. So its a long way for home. and expensive traveling.
But well worth it!!!
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  Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | We usually stay on the strip. Last year we stayed in Treasure Island, pretty smal easy to get around and close to some of the shopping. You will most likely only sleep and shower in the room anyway, so we are not really hung up on where to stay.
We made it a habit to go to Fremont street at least once per trip. The D hotel has a great Italian steakhouse (Andiamo) where we always go to eat. And then across the street from the D there is a tent set up where they have a couple of big screens set up to watch the rodeo. There is live entertainment also.
Check it out: https://dlvec.com/downtown-watch-zone/nfr/
We get around town walking or with a cab. Most times it is 5 of us and that is the limit they let in a cab, so works great.
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Bump | |
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