Neptune Aquatics

MACNA Sept 7-9 2018 Las Vegas

I found roundtrip tickets from SJC to vegas for 80 bucks. If you like poker or any of the table games, play at the Mirage or partnering hotel chains. If you are gold cardmember or higher, they end up giving free hotel nights and food complimentary for 3+ days. I bought the MACNA booth only two adult ticket pass that was 30 bucks. Im staying Saturday afternoon till Wednesday and it will only cost me 110 + any times I decide to eat at non-complimentary food spots.

For those traveling on a budget, I think its highly doable. Just takes a little searching for deals.


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Oh is it after Labor day? Oh well never mind that first comment then :D...

Nelson, well unfortunately I'm not a gold card member, so free food and lodging is out. And yeah if I absolutely wanted to stay cheaper in Vegas I could, get a Monday flight home for cheaper, hell we have multiple time shares in Vegas too (it's not free, and even if it was they're far away from the convention so uber/cab fares would factor in), I will say the "resort fee" is a hard thing to figure out since the mass search sites don't tend to list those in the "low price", and even finding out what they actually are at any resort takes a little more leg room.

But part of me feels a bit bad about ditching my wife for 3 days, although she said it was perfectly fine (and will get her own "ditch party" later) it is literally her birthday weekend and I'm not sure if the permission is a trap or not :D
 
Oh if your wife isnt tagging along, I wouldnt go and spend time doing whatever she wants! haha. I dont have a wife but my boss always says, “Happy wife, happy life.”


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NelsonCh said:
I found roundtrip tickets from SJC to vegas for 80 bucks. If you like poker or any of the table games, play at the Mirage or partnering hotel chains. If you are gold cardmember or higher, they end up giving free hotel nights and food complimentary for 3+ days. I bought the MACNA booth only two adult ticket pass that was 30 bucks. Im staying Saturday afternoon till Wednesday and it will only cost me 110 + any times I decide to eat at non-complimentary food spots.

For those traveling on a budget, I think its highly doable. Just takes a little searching for deals.


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Mirage (and the other poker rooms) usually logs your playing time in the poker room for comps although you can often get the poker room rate after the fact if you get a few hours a night in.
 
The San Diego MACNA was a couple months after my daughters accident and our month long hospital stay and so money was tight. The full MACNA pass gets you 2 dinners. Neptune for breakfast one day and we had ham sandwiches in the room from the grocery store. Total food cost was under 20 bucks.
 
San Diego MACNA was fun, my child was around 6 months old then, but I stayed with family in San Diego who also have kids (a 1.5 x 3.5 years older) but it was something to keep them happy and my cousin's place there has an absolutely beautiful view of the coast so there was something to keep my wife and kid happy. I don't mind spending money, I just don't want to do it all for me though... well except the actual tank that's all for me :D

One thing I noticed was that Friday was really busy, and then Sunday it was almost dead (I really like it that day), not sure what Saturday was, because I only went Fri/Sun.
 
Alright, I saw a last minute price drop in a returning ticket and I bought my tickets. Only going to be their Saturday but the plane leaves SFO at 7am, so should get there in plenty of time for the 10am opening, plane comes back at 7:50pm so again plenty of time when they kick me out at 5pm, possibly enough time to get some dinner, ultimately not need to rush to get to the airport. No baggage but the clothes I'm taking (and maybe a water bottle... sans water, and some snacks), and it's Southwest so if I do get anything I wont be hit with a b.s. $45 carry on baggage fee that the ultra cheap airlines tack on.

So if anyone wants to meet up, or take the obligatory BAR club group photo at the Neptune booth with our BAR member employee who may be working the event(?) let me know :D
 
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Yup Spirit is super cheap... but they also charge $45-65 for a carry on (not just luggage, actual carry on), so if you buy something and want to bring it back... that's another $45 surcharge :D
 
Yeah it's been a while since I've flow on a non-Southwest airlines and got a big sticker shock when I looked into flights, the whole "read the fine print" definitely applies, they're trying to nickle and dime the hell out of you, some are still ok, I think United lets you put a bag under the seat but if you want to use the overhead bin that'll cost ya, others just have a straight charge for any carry-on. It's like Las Vegas hotels and their "resort fee" horse crap regardless if you use those facilities they they claim you are getting benefits from, granted getting your room through the MACNA site at the Westgate already includes all the cost (except the hotel/bed tax). But yeah... too many companies in all industries throwing up the advertised price that is less than you actually will end up paying.
 
I ended up booking through expedia mainly because I could bundle the Westgate at a price $100.00 cheaper than even the Macna convention rate. The room for four nights ended up being $350.00 and the flight was $141.00.
 
Sweet deal! I think my 1 day affair, while not ideal, is a happy medium between keeping my wife happy by not ditching her on her birthday weekend for 3 days, and I still get to see some of the reef goodies and like many things in this hobby, I just won't think too much about the cost for what I'm getting out of it :D
 
I was excited when I saw Spirit flies out of Concord! But it carries an extra fee, plus $50 fees for carry on (if arranged in advance) and more for reserving two seats together, and my husband could not handle a non-reclining and cramped seat, so I had to go with Southwest. Fine for going there, but $$ returning. I thought Vegas had cheap flights for weekend getaways!
I am envious of you @Bruce Spiegelman Sounds like you secured a sweet deal.
I am really looking forward to MACNA and glad to hear some people are going!
 
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