48 Hours in Las Vegas: What I spent

May 15, 2024 /

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Two friends and I recently spent 48 hours in Las Vegas to see the Dita Las Vegas, the Dita Von Teese show currently running at the Horseshoe Las Vegas. To keep it more affordable I used a mix of points and cash. Here’s what I spent (and the new points I accrued) during that whirlwind trip.

Airfare

  • One-way cash (Southwest) $220.98 (booked on AmEx Platinum and earned 1,100 MR; earned 1,150 Southwest miles)
  • One-way cash on United 15k United miles + $5.60 cash (booked United card and earned 11 miles)

Hotel

  • Booked 2 nights at the Mandalay Bay through American Express Travel for $426.21 + plus $88.44 in resort fees = 514.65. Got my $200 FHR/HC credit, bringing the total down to $314.65. This was split 3 ways, my share was $105. Plus since I paid with my AmEx I earned 2,130 MR.

Dita Las Vegas Tickets

  • We splurged and got a table very close to the front. My ticket was $236 (Booked with my Savor One coded as entertainment and got 3% cash back) $228.92

Food

  • I’ve got to be honest here that I failed hard in tracking my food spending and since I paid for a lot of it in cash, I can’t do forensic accounting and figure it out! I’m going to ballpark $250 and I think that’s pretty realistic since we had a mix of cheap and less cheap meals. See what I ate in Vegas.

Tattoo

  • What happens in Vegas… stays permanently inked on your skin! I got a $10 tattoo at Koolsville Tattoo Las Vegas and with a tip it came to $20. Since the trip, I’ve had conversations with half a dozen people who have admired my new ink and are now looking forward to getting their own $10 tattoos on their next trip to Vegas!

Total Spent for 48 hours in Las Vegas $830.50 (plus 15k United Miles)

Could I have done it cheaper? Absolutely! There are more affordable hotels and cheaper dining options available and we could have chosen regular seats as opposed to a table for Dita Las Vegas. However, since the show (and eating delicious food) was our whole purpose for the trip, we chose to splurge on what was important to us. None of us are gamblers, so if we use girl math, the trip was even cheaper since we didn’t lose money gambling!

Points earned

  • United Miles: 11
  • Southwest Miles: 1,150
  • AmEx MR: 3,230
  • Cash Back: $7.08

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Hi, I’m Lori. But you can call me Lors. I’m a middle-aged New Jersey-born gal, currently based in Orlando, Florida. My background is in editorial travel photography and writing and I've been to more than 30 countries. I’m obsessed with tropical locales and my favorite city is Tokyo. Have camera, will travel! I’m a Disney adult, Lord of the Rings fan, certified crazy cat lady, and sushi addict! I hope this blog inspires your wanderlust. Feel free to follow me on Instagram for snippets of daily life on and off the road.