The Monte Carlo Hotel Best Price Guarantee Review

HOW TO GET MONTE CARLO HOTEL FOR CHEAPER! 

So the girls decided on the renown Las Vegas Monte Carlo hotel for our 3 night stay. Let's see what this hotel is all about, sounds old school since it has been around a while but the rates are much cheaper than the Cosmopolitan (sigh). Monte Carlo is owned by MGM hotels who also owns and runs the Bellagio (2nd runner-up).

So, if Monte Carlo is already cheaper than The Cosmopolitan then why try to get a cheaper rate? Because I am always looking for the best deal and I know it is worth a try.

The room that I initially booked was:

Monte Carlo- Las Vegas 

Deluxe room- 2 Queen with a $35 food and beverage credit (very important detail)

1st night- $99

2nd night- $199

3rd night- $99

$397 Total

(I am not going to include tax and resort fee only to keep it simple because price match does not apply to that)

I went to www.vegas.com to book our Monte Carlo stay because they also offer a "Best Rate Guarantee" and more! 

See below:

BEST RATE GUARANTEE

We guarantee that we have the best rates on Las Vegas hotels. If you find a better price for your hotel stay (same hotel, dates of stay and room category) on a publicly available website in your country, contact us at 1-877-861-4402 within 24 hours of making your Vegas.com booking and we’ll give you double the difference.

DOUBLE THE DIFFERENCE! THE HUNT IS ON.... 

I go to my favorite hotel website (for now) www.hotelwiz.com and find the Monte Carlo for a better rate of 3 nights in the same room type for $338.09 Total. Now 397 to 338 is not much of a difference but when it is double the difference it sure is! FREE MONEY!!

Make sure the room information is exactly the same as the Monte Carlo room information as specific to even including the $35 food and beverage credit, make sure your cheaper rate is refundable, not prepaid, not a combined package with flight, car, etc. and no other additional corporate or group rates apply. Also a very important note is that the price has to be advertised, displayed and available to view. (No too low of a rate to list or name your own price crap...) 

I mentioned this already is my other post-

http://moneyaddic.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-cosmopolitan-hotel-best-price.html

So, the next step is to call the customer service number for Vegas.com and speak to a representative who confirms the better rate. In my case it was approved and $110.58 would be credited back to my account. WOW! Took less than 5 minutes to save $!

NOW I AM PAYING $286.42 for 3 nights in the same room at same hotel. 

At this point, it does not matter what the room per night ($ wise) would be, the best rate guarantee applies to the room total excluding all additional taxes, etc. If you must know what the additional are though, taxes are $47.65 for 3 nights.

Resort Fees, no way of discounting those... all MGM hotels charge per day. At Monte Carlo the resort fee is $25/day. I hope it is worth it with all the amenities they offer. I heard they have a fantastic pool! Split between 3 girls it is less than $150 each for the total stay. I am still daydreaming about The Cosmopolitan hotel.

You can still cancel the hotel up until the last 72 hours upon check-in. I hope we just stick to this reservation for now.

I hope this helps anyone with their hotel frugal search. 

If you think of any hotels that I may try please post a comment below!

LYFT- 50 ride challenge in Santa Rosa, CA

I signed up for Uber first and then I discovered LYFT. I signed up for both but LYFT was more financially reasonable for me. If you do not care what type of car it is then this should be your preferred ride.

Sonoma County/Napa Rates:
$1.00 safety charge
$2.25 pick up
$.27 a minute
$1.35 a mile

To see this rate sheet in more detail please visit: https://www.lyft.com/help/article/1574176

Do not plan on cancelling because it is $5 bucks. Although some may think it is JUST 5 DOLLARS, I just would rather throw a $5 bill out of the window for my enjoyment (I hope you get what I am saying).

My first ride was on Saturday July 19th:

Driver(s): Denis' pronounced as De' neese. Very nice french driver, great conversationalist.

11:00am pick up at home to take to lake ilsanjo     7 miles & 14 Minutes
1:50pm pick up at lake ilsanjo to take home     6.7 miles & 14 minutes & $4 tip
Note: On my first ride, I forgot to leave tip sorry! On the return ride it let me leave a $4 tip when the max tip for the free ride trial period is only $3.

2 rides: $16 + $20 = $36 total

I already planned out my structured week which turned out to be:

Monday July 21st

Driver(s): Denis' and Anne Marie. Anne Marie was my driver on last ride from food bank to home. she was very pleasant, initiated the fist bump and very easy going with a relaxed vibe. She loved my mom's garden :)

8:00am pick up at home to take to work     4.8 miles & 15 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up at work to take to the Food Bank     9.7 miles & 13 minutes & $3 tip
7:00pm pick up at Food Bank to take home     6.6 miles & 14 minutes & 3 tip

3 rides: $16 + $22 + $19 = $57 total

Tuesday July 22nd

Driver(s): Denis', Vasily and Tensae. 
Vasily was hard to understand and a jerky driver using the accelerator a couple times a minute, he did not drive fast but I did not feel the safest with him. I rated him 3 stars. Tensae was my driver on last ride from food bank to home, very good driver. 

8:00am pick up at home to take to work     4.9 miles & 11 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up from work to take to the Food Bank     10.4 miles & 17 minutes & $3 tip
7:00pm pick up at Food Bank to take home     7.3 miles & 16 minutes & $3 tip

3 rides: $15 + $24 + $20 = $59 total

Wednesday July 23rd

Driver: Denis'. I got very lucky to get the same driver all day!

8:00am pick up at home to take to work     5.3 miles & 13 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up from work to take to the Library    4.4 miles & 11 minutes & $3 tip
5:30pm pick up from Whole Foods to take home     1.9 miles & 6 minutes & $3 tip
Note: I walked from Library to Whole Foods which was across the way (no biggie)

3 rides: $16 + $15 + $10 = $41 total

Thursday July 24th

Driver: Denis'. Very prompt on time and even agreed to go through CVS Pharmacy drive thru when I asked if we could make a quick stop to pick up my prescription.

8:00am pick up at home to take to work     5.7 miles & 16 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up from work to take home     5.2 miles & 11 minutes & $3 tip

2 rides: $18 + $16 = $34 total

Friday July 25th

Driver: Denis'. I am so used to this driver that I am very comfortable.

8:00am pick up at home to take to work     5.4 miles & 13 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up from work to take home     9 miles & 10 minutes &3 tip

2 rides: $16 + $15 = $31 total

Saturday July 26th

The only LYFT I needed was to be picked up at an airport party. My friend that brought actually was a little bothered that I relied on LYFT than him. He was in good conversation and I did not want to bug him that I was ready to go home. Very convenient and not to take personal! :)

Driver: David. Very nice and professional. He even took down his pink mustache when we passed by some taxi's near the airport. LOL! (He did not want to get harassed!) Bereket was my second ride that night and was very pleasant and even stopped by Wells Fargo ATM and took me to my girlfriend's car to meet up. 

9:17pm pick up at Jet Center to take home     10.3 miles & 15 minutes & $3 tip
10:30pm pick up at home to take downtown 4th street    3.0 miles & 15 minutes & $3 tip

2 rides: $24 + $14 = $38 total

Monday July 28th

Driver(s): Denis' on the way to work- who I already feel a bond with. Anne Marie the rest of the 2 rides. Anne Marie is very chill and has good snacks! :)

8:00am pick up from home to take to work    5.4 miles & 11 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up at work to take to the Food Bank    10.0 miles & 15 minutes & $3 tip
6:30pm pick up at Food Bank to take home     8.4 miles & 16 minutes & $3 tip

3 rides: $16 + $23 + $21 = $60 total

Tuesday July 29th

Driver: Denis' on the way to work and to food bank. Anne Marie picked me up on the 3rd ride, she shared with me about raising her own chickens! Also, shared a nice lavender spray with me, My last ride was Mark who was really cool and handsome, was able to make a pit stop to pick up a gift certificate before going to Starbucks. 

8:00am pick up from home to take to work     4.9 miles & 11 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up at work to take to the Food Bank    10.3 miles & 19 minutes & $3 tip
7:00pm pick up at Food Bank to take home    7.9 miles & 15 minutes & $3 tip
7:55pm pick up at home to take to Starbucks    7.6 miles & 23 minutes & $3 tip

4 rides: $15 + $25 + $21 + $22 =$83 total

Wednesday July 30th

WARNING- THE 2ND/3RD RIDE WENT WEIRD... BUT WE ARE ALL HUMAN, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THAT.

8:00am pickup from home to take to work    4 miles & 12 minutes & $3 tip
Driver: Denise', very comfortable.

4:30pm pickup from work to take to nail appt.    2.3 miles & 14 minutes & $3 tip
4:50pm pickup from stop to nail appt.     2.4 miles & 7 minutes & NO tip

Driver: Mike picked me up. Things went weird when he went the long way downtown to catch freeway. In the process we were pulled over by the Police. For three things, he forced a turn on a red light but made a point that he was in process, did not use turn signal to change lanes and did not have front license plate. This was really inconvenient since I was going to be 10 minutes late to my nail appointment. He was nice to end the LYFT ride and then when the Police was done he started a new ride. Funny moment when we were pulled over, there were kids driving by that shouted, " Still give em' 5 stars!". I had to give him 5 stars to start the second leg on my ride but knew this would be our last ride together. We are all human and things happen, I felt safe but did not tip on the 2nd attempt to the nail salon and gave him 3 stars so I will not get him for a LYFT. (REALLY GOOD RATING FEATURE WITHOUT BEING HARSH- ANYTHING 3 STARS AND BELOW WILL NOT MATCH YOU WITH THAT DRIVER EVER AGAIN)

6:45pm pick up from nail appt. to home     2.6 miles & 9 minutes & $3 tip
Driver: Tensae, she is very nice and pleasant.

4 rides: $16 + $13 + $8 + $12 = $49 total

Thursday July 31st

Driver: Denise'. I got her the whole day! Yah, I really have a pleasant time, very safe and we are carpool buddies at this point. 

8:00am pick up from home to take to work     5.4 miles & 11 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up from work to take to therapy    6.1 miles & 24 minutes & $3 tip
Note: Denise' was nice enough to make a pit stop to the library so I may pick up my books! 
6:00pm pick up from therapy to take home     5.4 miles & 10 minutes & $3 tip

3 rides: $16 + $20 + $14 = $50 total

Friday August 1st

I am feeling a bit sad knowing my LYFT rides are coming to an end. My car will be ready to drive tomorrow Saturday August 2nd. I have created a bond with my LYFT driver Denise'. I will miss being a passenger, it was nice to relax and not have to worry about paying attention to the road for once :)

Driver(s): Denis' on the way to work, very pleasant. I had Devin pick me up from work and I had heard about him from Denis' what a great LYFTER he is working hard and all hours, great guy and even gave me an iphone charge during our short trip! For my final ride back home, I got Maxwell who was also very nice and prompt with pick up.

8:00am pick up from home to take to work     5.4 miles & 10 minutes & $3 tip
4:30pm pick up from work to take to Jacksons to have Happy Hour    2.6 miles & 5 Minutes & $3 tip
6:50pm pick up from Jacksons to home     2.7 miles & 8 minutes & $3 tip

3 rides: $18 + $11 + $11 = $40 total


TOTAL DAYS USING LYFT: 12

TOTAL LYFT RIDES: 34 

TOTAL ($) SPEND ON LYFT: $578

LYFT is such an amazing company and I would use them over a cab service in the future. I will miss it dearly now that I have to start driving again. I hope LYFT is able to prevent people from getting DUI's and helping people in a jam get to their destination. This is truly relying on our community again and I hope this really takes off between UBER and LYFT.

Thank you all LYFT drivers for being so normal and cool, just by being yourself and treating others how they would like to be treated is the key.

I still want to become a LYFT driver for early a.m weekends.. we will see. I have to obtain full cellular data on my cell phone first.