It took a pandemic, but Las Vegas casino companies are finally realizing they need to dump paid parking to bring customers back to their resorts.
Caesars Entertainment confirmed it will “suspending fees for paid self-parking” at its Las Vegas resorts when they reopen following the COVID-19 shutdown.
All this wasted money on parking kiosks and signs and arms and bollards. Boo, meet hoo.
As is typical for Caesars Entertainment, the company’s announcement followed a similar fee suspension by MGM Resorts. Caesars lead from behind in starting to charge for parking after MGM Resorts got the WTF rolling in 2016.
We know that’s not what “lead from behind” means, but you get the drift.
Cosmopolitan also says it will nix paid parking when the resort comes back online. A trifecta of great news!
Rolling back paid parking at so many casinos is pretty much the textbook definition of a Las Vegas blog’s wet dream. Although, it’s fairly weird that would be in a textbook.
Caesars Entertainment finally confirmed our April scoop that Caesars Palace and Flamingo would be the first casinos in the company’s roster to open in Las Vegas.
We bring the boom.
No reopen date was given, but all eyes are on June 1.
Also opening when Caesars gets the green light, the Linq promenade shopping mall and High Roller observation wheel.
The next Caesars Entertainment casinos to open will be Harrah’s as well as Linq, although in the case of Linq, just the casino. Which is sort of the most important part, anyway. The timing of those openings will be based upon demand.
Caesars Entertainment answers a lot of questions on its official Web site. Please come back, though. We’re probably going to say something really embarrassing and you definitely don’t want to miss it.
On the MGM Resorts side, Bellagio and New York-New York will be the first casino resorts to open.
It’s becoming clearer there’s a lot of pent up demand for casinos right now and, surprisingly, it’s not all ours.
Let’s get these casinos open so we can Las Vegas again.
June 1 is the date. I think your buddy Steve announces it tomorrow. I can feel it in my pent up demand.
June 4, but you were close!
ABOUT TIME!
THANK YOU FOR REALIZING THAT
IT WAS NOT COOL TO CHARGE US
FOR PARKING!
DO NOT FORGET IT’S
LAS VEGAS!
FOREVER!
More “suspending fees” for paid parking. Nobody doubts for a minute that the bean counters are wet dreaming of the day they get to turn the fee boxes back on.
This is Great , Free Parking, What i thought was funny was the part of the sign when you enter their parking areas that says Under 1 hour free. Now who in the Wild WORLD OF SPORTS CAN DO THAT. Anyway i thought this is funny.
As more and more information comes out regarding COVID-19 transmission, it certainly appears that getting it from surfaces is extremely rare, but being near people who are contagious is the big danger… Its good and bad news for us gamblers, good that getting sick from our casino chips is highly unlikely, but very bad for live poker players who sit close to each other for long periods… I am puzzled by the High Roller observation wheel re-opening, although I have never been on it and I never will, it sure seems to be an enclosed space shared with people you dont know… Try to stay safe out there, if we stay apart we are way safer, if we make Las Vegas safe we can enjoy it again, the casinos with high ceilings and good ventilation seem to be the call if you ask me…
Dittos on the high-roller–once was enough for me, even before this.
Now, Poker…
Here in PHX, some of the casinos are open with distancing between machines and reduced players at the table games–but so far, no poker.
OTOH, sports bar poker is very popular in PHX. One of our two bar leagues is reopening with limited players per table and distancing between tables. A novel interpretation, but so far they’re getting away with it. The other league is supposed to reopen in about two weeks. No details are available yet.
But in casino poker rooms, reducing the players-per-table: (a) cuts down the house earnings per table; and (b) changes the game experience for the players. With only six or seven players, the blinds come around faster, and you’re constantly short-handed. It would be like playing at the final table all the time.
It may be a while before casino poker returns in anything resembling its pre-pandemic form. Until then, I think I’ll stick to the sports bars.
There is no action in short poker games, I wont sit down unless there are at least seven players, I am the “rock” player who patiently waits for good cards to play… Now I will patiently wait for the pandemic to end, my bankroll is intact, no way I will let outside forces change my long term game plan…
OK gamblers, what are the odds Vegas casinos get rid of resort fees to try and lure customers back?
I don’t use the pool, gym, business office so resort fees bug me more than paying for parking.
And this is a real long shot, but will a casino go non-smoking after this? The early studies linked smoking to covid but haven’t seen much about that lately.
Stay safe everyone and hopefully we can eventually return to something resembling the Vegas that draws us there.
My guess is they’ll just roll the “free” parking into a raised resort fee.
RESORT FEES are what need to go, totally made up for services already provided. Keep parking fees as there are definitely people using that service. Kill resort fees. Won’t go back til these inflated fees are gone……..no reason for it. Price the room what it is.
Parking should have always been free,and resort fees never should have been charged.
Text from MGM host says June 4th for them.
Maybe the casinos should do away with resort fees too. I miss old Vegas, where casinos were fighting for our money. Cheap food, free drinks, and real shows are what’s missing. Sure drinks are free now, but it seems like the servers are doing you a favor waiting on you rather than it being their job.
Finally you realized that free parking is good for customers. We go to Vegas twice a year and we go to Boyd’s properties, e.g., The Orleans and free parking and no resorts fee. You want to have an enjoyable vacation not ripped off for staying st these big casinos. Lighten up MGM
Last time I checked, Orleans and Gold Coast both had resort fees.
Next thing u need to do is nice the resort fees. We don’t use
The pool , gym or WiFi . Give wrist bands for people who do
Finally you realized that free parking is good for customers. We go to Vegas twice a year and we go to Boyd’s properties, e.g., The Orleans and free parking and no resorts fee. You want to have an enjoyable vacation not ripped off for staying st these big casinos. Lighten up MGM
Now if we can rally to get them to get rid of resort fees! That would be another wish that should be considered!