Vegas Strip Charge for Parking - does it change your behavior?

d_in_la

Not so in LA.
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On one hand, I get it, I know people in Vegas who park at the MGM and take a cheap cab over to McCarron.

On the other hand ... oh hell no!! I'm already going to gamble, so now I have to pay to park so you can then take my money?! I get it, gambling revenues are supposedly lower, but free parking is one of the last perks left to the common guy.

If the other casinos also follow, my days of gambling on the strip are numbered. Will this affect you?

"MGM Resorts will charge parking fees at all its Strip resorts. The company operates nine Strip developments, including the CityCenter complex, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage and Circus Circus. The Signature Towers and the Crystals and Mandalay Bay Place shopping malls will be exempt."

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/mgm-resorts-charge-parking-las-vegas-strip-casinos
 
On one hand, I get it, I know people in Vegas who park at the MGM and take a cheap cab over to McCarron.

On the other hand ... oh hell no!! I'm already going to gamble, so now I have to pay to park so you can then take my money?! I get it, gambling revenues are supposedly lower, but free parking is one of the last perks left to the common guy.

If the other casinos also follow, my days of gambling on the strip are numbered. Will this affect you?

"MGM Resorts will charge parking fees at all its Strip resorts. The company operates nine Strip developments, including the CityCenter complex, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage and Circus Circus. The Signature Towers and the Crystals and Mandalay Bay Place shopping malls will be exempt."

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/mgm-resorts-charge-parking-las-vegas-strip-casinos

Parking at TI was free as of last week so I am sure there will be some places still to avoid the fees.
 
Does this include if you actually have a room at the hotel? Maybe there are parking issues that impact guest that are staying over night. I know the last I went, I had to "find" parking in the hotel parking lot.
 
Don't they justify the cost of this new fee in the article? I mean i guess that when you are used to not paying, it sucks, but based on what they say they are doing, i don't see a huge problem with it. Fancy parking ramps cost money!
 
I guess if I drove to Vegas I wouldn't want to pay to park. But I know there will be casinos that won't charge for Parking
 
Vegas Strip Charge for Parking - does it change your behavior?

My friend David Schwartz is mentioned in the article. When I see him later I'll get more details.

The best way to avoid paying the fee or park for a lesser price would be to valet. No charge just tip and a dollar for them goes a long way. The valets make good pay.
 
Parking at TI was free as of last week so I am sure there will be some places still to avoid the fees.

My thread title wasn't particularly good. I agree, I'd imagine many will not, but I can see a time where charging becomes the norm. Maybe as a denizen of LA, even if I don't go as much as I used to, the free parking was nice knowing you could park if you made a random drive there.
 
Yes, it will change my behavior. I will stay at / park at properties that don't charge.
 
AC charges, so I don't know any different. I fly in to Vegas anyways, so it won't affect me.
 
I park a lot when I am in Vegas. This will affect my behavior, although not for every trip.

Not going to lie, this bothers me.
 
Would affect my decisions on long stays there.
 
A lot of the hotels have self parking
 
I guess if I drove to Vegas I wouldn't want to pay to park. But I know there will be casinos that won't charge for Parking
I'm with you Panda. Not much of an issue for me as I've never had a car there.

They charge for parking at the Casino in downtown Cleveland but you can get free parking if you earn enough points gambling. Maybe they will go in that direction.
 
I think it's a bad idea for the M-Life group. Caesars, et al., will make a big deal out of it.

Unless I'm staying at an M-Life hotel, I see zero need to park there. Heck, with uber in Las Vegas, I'm not sure I'd have a car anyway.
 
Vegas Strip Charge for Parking - does it change your behavior?

It won't affect me as I'm a 9 hour drive vs a 50 minute flight away. I think it's pretty out of order though, especially considering the astronomical charges some of the MGM hotels charge in resort fees a night! Ditch the car and ride the Deuce!
 
As a former VEGAS resident, former casino employee and former MGM resort employee, I think it is a bad choice. Yes people will use their garages after they make you pay. But I would rather go to a place that isn't trying to nickel and dime me. Raise the room cost by 1$ a day and make more money. If they are hurting for money there are places to get it. I don't think this is the right one.


Dan
Divot Diggers Golf

Sharing the love of golf through those that suck at it
 
one more reason not to go to Las Vegas
 
So I spoke to my friend David Schwartz, who was mentioned in the article and he told me that they're playing hard ball even with locals meaning that nobody will get a break, unless you sign up for their playing card (M-Life) and gamble at their resorts. No validations for restaurants, like they do at downtown Las Vegas casinos.

I originally thought that maybe using valet will save you some money, he said no and that he feels bad for the valet persons because now MGM Resorts will be charging $17 per car to valet. And none of that $17, like maybe $2 per car, as some thought will go to valet. All the monies go to MGM and the valets will have to work for the $3 tip if they get a twenty dollar bill. He said people are not going to even think about tipping because $17 is a lot for valet. He went on to say that the $10 parking fee does not allow for in-and-out privileges at least at this point.

So if someone was to go to drop something off at a casino, even for 15 minutes, it can possibly cost $10 to do so.

He thinks it's a very bad idea, but understands why they are doing it. I asked him if others will follow suit and he said it's just a matter of time before everyone will start charging. When and how much is left to be determined. But since MGM pretty much owns everything on the south end of the strip, people will no longer park at those resorts so they can walk the strip.

Only time will tell if this move by MGM Resorts will work or fail.

After talking with him, as a local, it will definitely change my behavior about going to the strip...he already told me he has.
 
If I was a local, I would just uber back and forth. Price couldn't be that much more than $17 round trip.

if I was an uber driver in Vegas, I'd park at other casinos and be on the lookout for people parking and getting a ride to M-Life properties. I bet there will be a market for that.
 
So I spoke to my friend David Schwartz, who was mentioned in the article and he told me that they're playing hard ball even with locals meaning that nobody will get a break, unless you sign up for their playing card (M-Life) and gamble at their resorts. No validations for restaurants, like they do at downtown Las Vegas casinos.
This part makes it not so horribly bad to me, depending on their rules around gambling. If I head to one of their properties to park I'm likely to sit at a poker table or drop $20 in a slot machine or table game anyway. If that does the trick then mostly no harm no foul for me, though it will still alter my behavior - I'll make a point of parking at non-charging properties and give them my business.
 
If I was a local, I would just uber back and forth. Price couldn't be that much more than $17 round trip.

if I was an uber driver in Vegas, I'd park at other casinos and be on the lookout for people parking and getting a ride to M-Life properties. I bet there will be a market for that.

So I have a few friends who are Uber drivers, most stay away from the strip because of the drunks. Many Uber only locals. I was talking to a friend who was saying that taxis will soon have an app like Uber so they can pick up passengers too for the strip. Uber has perfected the app for pick ups and now the taxis will have one too.

This part makes it not so horribly bad to me, depending on their rules around gambling. If I head to one of their properties to park I'm likely to sit at a poker table or drop $20 in a slot machine or table game anyway. If that does the trick then mostly no harm no foul for me, though it will still alter my behavior - I'll make a point of parking at non-charging properties and give them my business.

I don't think it will be that easy to get free parking. They may require a certain level of points, not based on dollars bet. In other words, I cannot go to MGM, have dinner and then play $1 in the slots to get free parking. I'm sure all details on how it will work (or not) in the next few weeks.
 
I don't think it will be that easy to get free parking. They may require a certain level of points, not based on dollars bet. In other words, I cannot go to MGM, have dinner and then play $1 in the slots to get free parking. I'm sure all details on how it will work (or not) in the next few weeks.
Yeah, well that sucks. If we come down to a property we are having a nice meal and seeing a show. So we are dropping some coin at their property, just not necessarily gambling a lot.
 
So I have a few friends who are Uber drivers, most stay away from the strip because of the drunks. Many Uber only locals. I was talking to a friend who was saying that taxis will soon have an app like Uber so they can pick up passengers too for the strip. Uber has perfected the app for pick ups and now the taxis will have one too.


Not to thread jack the discussion. But, the problem with cabs in Vegas is not that they lack an app. They are more expensive and nickel and dime you to death. Tips, surcharges for fuel and using a credit card or debit card instead of cash. It's ridiculous.

On my last trip out there (December), I took a cab from airport to Ceasar's. Cost was about $35 with tip, etc. I then realized that uber was in Vegas, so I used it for the rest of the trip. Uber from Ceasar's back to airport was about $15. Only trick was that you couldn't be picked up in the regular taxi line. You had to pick up on the other side of the property.

Still -- as long as uber is there, I'll likely not have a car and just uber everywhere. Parking fees for casinos would just solidify that.
 
If it is adopted broadly, it will make renting a car no longer a value proposition. When I fly I often look at renting a car because they are so cheap; sometimes the taxi cost to/from McCarran is close to the rental cost for a weekend. But if this catches on I won't do that anymore. $17 valet charge? Nuts!

I'll be curious to see what they do for mLife cardholders. My guess is they'll use this as a way to bleed off point balances for small players like me.
 
Won't really change my behavior. When booking I'll just tell them I want free parking or I'm going to one of the competitors that has free parking. Most things with Vegas rooms are negotiable.

I will never get into a cab in Vegas again. Last time we took a cab in Vegas we learned: the cab driver had been drinking earlier that day, he'd gotten out of prison not too long ago, how he felt about women and, particularly, Asian women (he'd clearly learned some new vocabulary in prison), and that a 10 year old Ford Windstar can in fact do 90+ MPH. Time before that: talking to the driver we learned he was Syrian and hated Jews...the four of us were all Jewish...
 
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