So!

As I got lucky and had some trade forms in hand when people were looking for hours, I decided to take a Jump to Vegas.

As I still have a few days where I'm still limited to my 'home' airline, I had to go via MSP - I opted for the 3pm from SEA, catching the 9PM to LAS. Flight was busy, but not full enough of Upgradables to knock me out of FC, so I arrived in Vegas in style!

I wandered down to the board, and picked a hotel (there are boatloads starting at round 40$ a night, but you can probably hotwire something nicer if you're planning to go and most of them have free shuttles to and from the APO) - it was a Ho-Jo that had decidedly seen better days, but the staff was awesome, and I got a good fresh cooked breakfast (the works) for around 7$

Took the free shuttle back to the airport (I could have waited until 1PM and got a free shuttle to the strip but I wanted to get there early) and bypassing the huge assed line for Greyline, and got another shuttle for 4$ less with no waiting (the only bear is, the booger did a no show later that night so I had to cab it back).

You can take the "Duce" and grab an all day pass for 5$ and go down the strip, but I ended up going from the Venetian to the Luxor, and hoofing it back (meandering) wandering through the various palaces (and not spending a dime on the slots! But I did get a free pull and 'won' 100 credits - I kept the ticket )

There's a TONNE to see and do (I should have opted for 'Bodies' instead of Titanic - but it was still cool) and the shops are a sight to behold (The Venetian is amazing).

You can't escape the slots, they are everywhere from the moment you get off the plane, but Vegas can be a rocking city!

Just be sure to leave a cushion to get there and back, and I really recommend the redyes mid week, and bring CASH - only one taxi takes credit cards (desert sands) and the shuttles don't...

Getting out - again, the red eyes are going to be your freind - once again I hit FC on the way out, and still managed to get my connecting flight home (even with a delay and an oversold flight - a mechanical got other people off loaded, and yours truly even snagged an exit row on the way home!

Be warned, vegas security IS a bitch - and I swear they have it in for non revs (at least some of them do) - one wiff of your id and all at once, you're almost guaranteed a bag search with the complete look of disdain...