Learn to travel for “free” utilizing the best credit card welcome offers. Travel to Vegas and anywhere else! Check out this free tool that we highly recommend.
Travel Freely –
Episode Description
This week a bombshell lawsuit was filed against #MGM, Caesars, #Wynn and TI accusing them of colluding to keep hotel prices high. We discuss the lawsuit and what might happen as it works through the courts. Is this why Vegas is so expensive lately?
In other #news we discuss the future of the MGM/Hyatt partnership following rumors that it may be coming to an end. Is MGM ending status matches altogether? We also discuss the removal of a beloved statue, the permanent closure of another buffet, a free behind the scenes tour at KA and the full expansion plans for Area15 including a 747 on the side of the freeway.
Produced & Edited by: Shawn Coomer
0:00 Harrah’s removes beloved Winnie & Buck statue
1:18 Is MGM’s partnership with Hyatt ending?
2:47 Are casino status matches too generous lately?
4:13 Green Valley Ranch buffet is officially gone
6:17 KA free backstage tour – 4 times weekly
8:55 Area15 announces full expansion plans including a 747 airplane
11:19 Caesars limiting bets without rewards card
13:21 BetFred sports book at Virgin Hotels finally approved
15:02 New Lawsuit alleges MGM, Caesars, Wynn & TI colluded to increase hotel prices
Relevant Links:
Winnie & Buck –
MGM/Hyatt –
GVR Buffet –
Area15 –
BetFred –
Lawsuit –
Social Media
Facebook Group –
Twitter –
Podcast –
Website –
Host – Shawn Coomer – @MtM_Vegas
Host – Mark Ostermann – @DetroitMark
Advertiser Disclosure: This site/channel is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site/channel (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers.
34 comments
Learn to travel for "free" utilizing the best credit card welcome offers. Travel to Vegas and anywhere else! Check out this free tool that we highly recommend.
Travel Freely – https://milestomemories.com/go/travel-freely-youtube/
My match from Mlife Gold is matched to Icon so don't know what the rumors on not matching. GOLD mlfe it's still matching as of today.
Just ran across this in New York magazine about how owners are colluding to keep rents high: "The app is RealPage Revenue Management Software, it’s made by the Texas-based company RealPage, and allegedly it works by collecting private pricing and inventory stats from competing building owners and then using that data to give them each recommendations for how to price their available apartments such that nobody undercuts the others."
Virgin Hotels will remain an empty Virgin. 😂😂 That hotel sucks
The hotels will just start saying the rooms are free, but they are raising the resort fees to $100 per night minimum with a sliding scale based on the type of room.
Speaking of statues, Caesars Palace replaced the bronze statue where you' could touch the finger (for luck?) with a much taller statue on a pedestal.
Speaking of 747 hulls, the Delta museum at the Atlanta airport has a retired plane with the side and floor panels removed to show the innards. Definitely something that's interesting to avgeeks.
I matched to MGM via Hyatt, so losing a casino match doesn't hurt for now. If Hyatt had their own property on the Strip I'd prefer that. Booking current MGM rooms with Hyatt points doesn't yield any of the Hyatt Globalist perks; no breakfast, and early-late checking is variable. No resort fees so far with Gold status.
I really do hope something comes of that class action lawsuit. I miss $79 rooms, free parking, and no resort fees!
I will for sure have a harder time laundering tens of thousands of dollars now that I have to use a rewards card.
if they really left it up to the free market you would have shootings inside casinos weekly. Prices keep the trash out
Are you kidding? KA is the BEST show in Vegas!! Ive seen it 3 times. Never knew about a tour, and its free? Be there in a few weeks!
suppress supply and raise prices? this is not just happening with with LV hotels……
vegas isnt cheap but people will still come i dont think its colution
Bring back the Buffets, They were part of the Vegas Mystiqe, We first went in 2013 we were going up the escalator at the Harley Davidson and there was this HUGE HARLEY DAVIDSON Sticking out the side of the building, i thot thats cool, Then we walked up to LUXOR seen this SPHINX And this Pyramid We thought WTF…. Visited Freemont St seen this lightshow with Queen And Bon Jovi it WOZ FANTASTICK……. Now the Zipliners have done that in, I Dont think you get the same vibe…We love Vegas Been 8 times in the last 10 years but Where i couuld come bak to my Workmates and sell them a vegas holiday I couldnt do it now…. KP up the Gd work… All the best from Scotland
1:18 the rumor mill was what one person ( who then corrected himself) said he was told by an agent. MGM match is good until at least June 30, 2023 , this is at least the 3rd time the MGM casino match has been extended since it began in 2020.
Waived resort fees cost MGM literally nothing as I'm sure I'm not the only person who wouldn't stay at MGM if not for the waived RF………..in fact we are staying at MGM grand in March……….first MGM stay in years because the waived RF and will do most of our gambling at MGM properties our entire 6 night stay.
You guys say Area 15 is so Vegas, but tbqh isn't it much more Burning Man (and heavily connected to the burn)? That being said, isn't the 747 they're bringing in the same one from the burn that was controversially left out there or at the very least highly inspired by that one? I think it's far more likely the the Area 15 747 will be utilized in some manner similar to large scale art/sound experiences than an aviation inspired eatery.
“Rainmaker” lol wow
I enjoy this channel a ton more than an actual casino visit. Caesars has become a predatory vulture (in my area), since Eldorado takeover.
Doubt the lawsuit goes anywhere for the obvious reason: all of these hotels offer FREE stays to a large number of their guests. I was at the PPAI show in Las Vegas, and as a member of MLife, I was given up to 4 complimentary nights to stay at any number at MGM properties, one of which was Mandalay Bay, host of the trade show at their convention center. I was just emailed an offer from Wynn yesterday – between now and July 31, I get up to 3 nights complimentary Sunday through Thursday. So calling these hotels "price fixers" is pretty much a joke. Based on any number of people like me, those bringing the suit will likely be laughed out of court, presuming it even makes it into court.
I loved the GVR buffet, eaten there many times, so sorry to see it is now totally gone. I had hoped it would reopen post Covid. No reason for me to go back out to GVR anymore.
11:20 One common RUMOR is that vegas will take crazy cash bets on anything on the board from anyone.
I have been limited on NFL and MLB win total bets at $1,000 before they move the number and/or odds.
These casinos want to know who is placing bets thus the awards card.
In play wagers make little sense as you really need to get those bets in ASAP before the odds move and thus going to a window won't cut it…….they already know who people are that are using the app as you have to give all sorts of info to sign up including your drivers license and social security number.
One other scenario is to track hedging, casinos don't like that and it's against the rules. For instance I have the Eagles at 11/1 to win the NFC from a bet I placed pre season , I also bet SF plus 3 minus $120 for $500 hoping for a middle where Philly wins by 3 ( 3 would push my point spread bet) or less but guaranteeing a profit. To avoid any issues I made the SF bet at a different book than where I placed Eagles futures bet .
Very interesting stories. Thanx for the info.
Wonder what will happen if the hotels lose in court? What would that settlement look like because I was in Vegas a few times between 2019 and now. Will we get a cut of it? Let me make sure my info is up to date incase I get a little slice of the settlement. Might use the money to see a Criss Angel show 😂😂😂
Green Valley's buffet got us in the door every trip. We honestly have not been back once since it closed. Their loss…
Sycuan Casino in San Diego expanded their slot area and added a pizza counter where the buffet used to be. I miss the Prime Rib that they had in the buffet.
How about Criss Angel setting up a 'busker' stage in that former Winnie & Buck area? Sorry, I just couldn't resist.🤣
My wife and I are devastated by the removal of the Buck and Winnie (and Chip the poodle) statue. We used it as a navigation waypoint when trying to find the keno lounge.
I'm sorry, but if you're willfully ignorant enough to pay a resort fee for things you almost certainly don't use, you kinda deserve to be subject to collusion. Considering how prices for just about everything on the Strip seem to rise in near-lockstep, I'd say the plaintiff has a pretty solid argument. I'm dying to see what kind of weaselly, screwball argument the casinos' bloodsucking lawyers devise as a defense. I'd love to see them shrivel in fear/horror if/when the judge says not only is it collusion, but also that the resort fees are part of it, and they must disappear immediately. If it did, during the next big holiday/party three-day weekend, I figure every Strip casino would be full, the hotel rooms would have 90% occupancy and the four big operators would clear more than they did in the prior two months combined. It would be the biggest wakeup call Vegas has ever seen!
It is sad to see the Winnie & Buck statue go. I got to see it last month when visiting Vegas & it is a cool statue. However I agree with the reasoning to remove it. Lastly when it comes to Caesars limiting bets without the rewards card, it's not just in Vegas where that applies as I recently was told by the staff at Muckleshoot Casino near Seattle that my sports bet (Caesars runs the sportsbook there) would be limited to $1000 max because I wasn't using my Caesars Rewards card (I only placed a $50 bet) & I wasn't allowed to place bets for other people unless I used my rewards card.
Yeah, the prices are getting nuts for rooms. I’m seeing hundreds of dollars a night for February at Park MGM.
I really do miss Vegas of Old. In the 90s $5.99 Buffets and 3 star $29 rooms. Even as recent as early 2000s $8.99 Buffets and $39 rooms. Now you gotta basically break the bank if you wanna stay more than 2 nights.
With the buffet disappearing, I tend to follow youtubers like Norma Geli for her videos showing where some of the cheap eats are. Alot of the big name chefs opening these restaurants on the strip with high prices and room prices going up, Norma's videos really help those who can't afford everything people want to do on a Vegas vacation. Most will have to find ways to cut corners.
I would like to go back to Las Vegas but it seems far too complicated so I watch MTM VEGAS, I haven’t been there for at least 20 years and I only live in Wa St. It almost seems as though Vegas wants people to stay away.
Sorry to hear about MGM getting in bed with Hyatt. The owner of Hyatt, J Pritzker, is the Governor of Illinois. He signed legislation that trashes the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution in Illinois a couple weeks ago. I have personally avoided all Hyatt properties for more than 30 years because of the tyrannical politics of the Pritzker family. Sounds like now I will have to do the same with MGM.
In town for Valentine’s. Adding Ka 360 to our to do.