Pre-trip Prep: The Itinerary

So... what do I plan to do for six days, you may wonder?

The answer to that is...whatever the hell I want..lol.

That said, I do have a few things planned. I don't like to cram my trips with too much just because I love hanging out and people watching, and there's usually a few attractions in Vegas I almost always end up visiting anyway.

Wednesday:

• Fly out of JFK at 8am.
• Arrive in Vegas at 11am local time more or less.
• Pick up rental car.
• Check in time at my first hotel (The El Cortez) is at 2 pm, so I'll usually grab lunch at In-n-Out Burger. I like the one by UNLV.
• Head to the El Cortez and get checked in.
• Head to Target to grab whatever I need.
• Might check out someplace Downtown for dinner...I was thinking maybe going to The Griffin for Happy Hour. The good thing is that there are plenty of choices in Fremont East and Fremont Street Experience.

Thursday:

• Wake up at 8am.
• Drive to San Diego - estimated arrival by noon
• Lunch at Urban Mo's in Hillcrest, since check-in at my second hotel isn't until 3pm. My friend also recommended a taco place in  the same neighborhood, so I'm open to either one.
• Check into hotel.
• Explore Downtown San Diego and Gaslamp District
• Dinner at a place TBD.
• Check out the sunset in Mission Beach.

Friday:

• Go on Hornblower Harbor Cruise at 11am, take photos.
• Lunch in Old Town
•  

Trip Report: Sin City and a side of Tinseltown 2014

Sin City and a side of Tinseltown 2014

Flight: Scored a "free" round trip ticket thanks to Delta SkyMiles and American Express...flew out of JFK on 9/4/2014, a Thursday morning around 10:30am. Pretty uneventful flight to say the least. Landed a few minutes early around 1pm Vegas time. I had spent 32,500 miles along with $11.20 which consisted of the September 11th security fee and other taxes. I also had to spend $17.20 to transfer my American Express Membership Rewards points to Delta SkyMiles.

Car Rental: As I'm an Executive Emerald Club member with National, I rented with them again this trip. I was able to score a nice base rate on a Midsize of $19.04 per day, and was able to use a Free Weekend Day coupon that I got from Visa. You can pick your own car with National, but around the time I had arrived, there was not much to choose from in the Executive Selection section. I picked a 6-cylinder Chrysler 300, which is classified as a Premium Special car. My total with the taxes and fees came up to around $88, not bad at all! I love the expedited check-out process and no hard push on insurance! I was out of the facility in less than half-an-hour...but most of that time was waiting to see if they would bring in better cars!

Hotel: Having stayed Downtown a few times before, I figured I'd give it a go again. This time I booked a room at the El Cortez Cabana Suites, one of the newer properties in the growing Fremont East Entertainment District. The area itself has changed a lot over the past few years...on past trips I've passed by the area but never really explored it. It's definitely grown with several bars, restaurants, and other venues.

The Cabana Suites are in a separate building across from the main El Cortez hotel and casino - where you will actually check in. Once checked in, you can schlep your way through the back entrance and then cross Ogden. Ogden Avenue is a block away from the Fremont Street Experience and is pretty quiet. The building itself was staffed with both a receptionist and security guard, and a room key was required for entry into the lobby. There's a back entrance to the main hotel across Ogden, and you can easily get to Fremont from there.

I paid $90 for 4 nights, and that was after a $150 loyalty coupon from Expedia that I had, but before a $9.95 a night "amenities" fee which added another $43 or so to the total. [For those interested, the "amenities" fee covers parking, WiFi, two small bottles of water, and entry into a daily slot tournament.] It would've still been a great value even without the coupon, but I still find it annoying that this "resort fee" business is continuing to creep into Downtown from the Strip. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do... 

I have posted more pics of the room in my Flickr set.

My room was a Junior Suite, 6311 on the 3rd Floor. After touching the new RFID room key to the sensor, it beeped and clicked, allowing me access.

When you enter, there's a handy little ledge to your right hand side. It was a convenient place to dump the contents of your pockets.

To my left was the entry to the bathroom, as well as a closet area where the safe, iron and ironing board were stored. Step a little further in and then look to your left...

The room was mostly done in the pale/Kermit green shade, with white and black accents. A bit trippy but handsome none the less. The room itself had a 42" HDTV, mini fridge, large shower, a pedestal like sink in the bathroom, and an in room coffeemaker. While there was no minibar, there was a tray on the desk area (I couldn't tell if it was weighted or not) that had the usual overpriced snacks and water. Two smaller bottles of water are included in the daily resort fee.

Things I did - Thursday: It was around lunch time and I was hungry, since I had only had a light breakfast before I left New York. First order of business after checking into the hotel:

A 3x3 with chopped grilled onions, well done fries and a Black and White shake from the In-n-Out on Maryland Parkway by UNLV. I like that location better than the one on Tropicana and Dean Martin because there's ample parking and it's not as busy. They have some competition now as a Smashburger has opened up next to them. 

After getting needed supplies at my favorite Target on Flamingo and Maryland, I took a ride over to Red Rock.

A little later, I was in the mood for TGI Friday's for some strange reason. I took a ride over to Gold Coast across from the Palms. I'd lost my B-Connected card, so I figured it'd be a good opportunity to get a new one. Played a few slots here and won a fair bit. The TGI Friday's there had a full bar, so I went and got a beer. It was Happy Hour and they were offering half-price appetizers, so I went for the Mozzarella Sticks. As an entree, I went for the Jack Daniel's Steak and Shrimp which hit the spot (that Jack Daniel's sauce is good.) With a Budweiser, the tab comes up to $32. Left the bartender $6 as a tip. 

After getting back to my hotel and getting dressed for the evening, I took a stroll around the El Cortez. It definitely had that old Vegas vibe. The clerk at check in gave me a coupon to claim for a Fun Book at the Player's Club, so I signed up for a card there and got $5 Free Slot Play. Of course, you can only use such free play at certain machines with a sticker, and those were rare. After winning $75, I decided I wanted to go explore a bit, so I cashed out.

As I mentioned earlier, Fremont East has been going through something of a renaissance as of late. I remember feeling sketched out about this area when I first started coming to Vegas in 2010, and that was around the time they started redeveloping it - there just wasn't much around here then. Now, there are several restaurants such as Radio City Pizza, The Commonwealth, Le Thai, a host of bars, and the District's centerpiece, Downtown Container Park.

One of the venues that interested me was a place called Insert Coins. Who can go wrong with booze and tacky '80's and '90's video games?

All the classics were naturally taken...I settled for a couple rounds of the old Simpsons game.

After a couple drinks here, I took a walk over to the Fremont Street Experience. Once reaching the Experience, my first move is usually to go to the ABC stores and grab a pack of cigs and a couple beers. Not this time, since apparently the City of Las Vegas passed a ordinance earlier this year banning glass bottles on the Experience. What a load of crap! 

Any booze you buy from those stores has to be in a closed bag with a receipt stapled to it, and Metro police can fine you up to $250 if you're caught opening it. You can still buy bottled booze in the casinos, but they have to be emptied into plastic cups before you leave (they provide a dispenser/trash can at the entrances). I'm sure the casinos are loving this because it forces people on the Experience to buy booze from them. A lot of the time, people would buy booze from the stores because they were usually half the price. We'll see how long this ban lasts but people aren't feeling too optimistic. For now, you'll see a lot of creative workarounds and a lot of large McDonald's sweet tea cups being used to hold booze. LOL.

After a couple of hours of hanging out on the Experience, I was starting to get tired, especially since I'd been up since 5am Eastern time. I bought a couple beers to take back to the hotel, made my way back over to Ogden, swiped into the Cabana Suites, and retreated to my room. Relaxed with a beer, my tablet, a couple of snacks and eventually fell asleep...

Friday: After getting a good night's rest on the comfortable bed, I had woken up around 8:00. The plan was to drive to LA for the day, and I had booked a room over at the Doubletree by Hilton Los Angeles - Westside. I loaded up on Starbucks, topped off my gas tank, and then started making my way down I-15.

It took about four hours to get to Culver City where the hotel was. There I checked in and got a room on the top floor, with an awesome view of the immediate area. 

I spent the rest of the day exploring Downtown LA, Hollywood, Universal City, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. I used LA's light rail, subway and bus system to get around, since there was a station with a huge park and ride lot in Culver City, about a 10 minute ride from the hotel. A day pass on Metro is $5, and I figured it'd be easier instead of dealing with the growing traffic that was happening on a Friday afternoon and evening. 

Pictures of my day in Los Angeles are in my Flickr set.

Car Rental Review: 2014 Ford Fusion Titanium

National's 2014 Ford Fusion Titanium

• Rented From: Las Vegas (McCarran International Airport) - Executive Selection
• Car Class: Full Size (FCAR)
• Miles Out: 3
• Miles In: 266
• Fuel Economy: 22 city/33 highway with 2.0L EcoBoost turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and 6 speed automatic
• MSRP as rented: $30,600

Pros:

• Nicely equipped with all of my favorite features: Push button start, aluminum pedals, 12-speaker Sony stereo, MyFordTouch, heated power leather seats, etc.
• Only had 3 miles on the odometer...still had that new car smell.
• Had a working SiriusXM subscription.
• Great fuel economy with peppy acceleration.
• Paid mid-size rate of $36.00 a day...definitely one of the best values for your rental dollar!

Cons:

• Not enough Titaniums in rental fleets.
• Would've loved a sunroof to top off the package.
• Needs premium fuel to get the best fuel economy numbers from the EcoBoost engine.

Having rented a Fusion SE Luxury last year, I was excited to have the opportunity to rent an almost-fully-loaded Fusion Titanium while on a trip to Las Vegas earlier this year. As an Executive member of the Emerald Club, I get to use what's called the "Executive Selection" part of the garage at the rental car center. Cars here are usually Full-Size and higher, and are usually nicer trimmed variants. They had two Titaniums in the row, and I picked this one that was brand new with only 3 miles on the clock. Registration paperwork indicated that it had just been tagged three days before.

As I entered this Orange-ish (Ford calls the color "Bronze Fire") Fusion, it's plush charcoal black leather interior greeted me, and ambient lighting accented the cupholder area, foot well, and door handle areas. Aluminum accented pedals are a Titanium standard feature, and help give the interior a sporty look.

This particular Fusion was pretty much fully loaded, except for a moonroof, navigation, and other driver assistance features that are available as part of various option packages. Standard features on the Titanium trim include a 12 speaker Sony audio system with HD Radio & SiriusXM, Sync with MyFordTouch 2.0, customizable SmartGauge, paddle shifters, leather seating with fully wrapped steering wheel and shift lever, rear parking sensors and backup camera, 10-way heated power front seats with driver's lumbar support and 3 position memory, heated mirrors with integrated blind spot mirrors and turn signal blinkers, Intelligent Access with push-button ignition, remote start, and dual zone automatic climate control. Exterior features that distinguish the Titanium from other trims include chromed dual exhaust, a decklid spoiler, and 18 inch machined aluminum wheels.

The vehicle was a joy to drive. The EcoBoost engine provides awesome acceleration, allowing me to merge into highway traffic with ease. Turbo lag was minimal. Fuel economy was pretty decent - with averages in the high-20's with regular gas. EcoBoost engines do get better gas mileage with Premium fuel, so that's something to keep in mind. Race-inspired paddle shifters give the driver the opportunity to control the 6 speed transmission manually, and the transmission also offers a "Sport" mode for a slightly more exciting ride.

For the rate I paid - which was around $36 a day - this is probably one of the best rental values out there, that is, if you can find one. Lesser trimmed SE's are staples in rental fleets, while Titaniums are sometimes a rare find. With National, Titaniums are usually found in the Executive Selection. 

I'll be back in Las Vegas in two weeks...I certainly would not snagging another one of these. Fingers crossed!