Early this year, signed on for a junket from Monterey to Reno which turned
out to be a disaster as there was a 5-hr delay which is the time it took me to
drive there. Recently decided to try it again to save the 8 - 10 hrs (1-way)
of driving to LV or Laughlin.
Harrahs has a lot of junkets to various destinations such as Las Vegas,
Reno/Tahoe, Laughlin, New Orleans, etc. I also get frequent junket mailings from
several Laughlin casinos such as Riverside, Edgewater & Golden Nugget.
Many of these junkets are on a very infrequent schedule so it's hit or miss
as to whether it will fit your schedule.
Have recently taken 3 junkets; 1 to Las Vegas (Harrahs) & 2 to Laughlin
(Harrahs & Edgewater).
2 of the junkets matched my schedule perfectly so now I'm trying to find out
if there are any others from my area (Monterey/San Jose airports).
On last junket to Edgewater, about 150 people on the plane; 4 for Edgewater,
1 for Golden Nugget & rest were Riverside. Talked to Edgewater junket
coordinator & assumed they piggybacked on Riverside plane but she said the plane
was available to all casinos but Riverside is the only one that spends any
money advertising the junkets. The other casinos would be happy to book people
too but don't want to spend money on advertising.
The next trips from my area are 2 trips from San Jose in November.
Harrahs junket literature always shows the dates & length of stay whereas
the other Laughlin casinos are general info about airports served with no dates
or lengths of stay. Harrahs junkets are more frequent to the NV destinations
(almost once a month) whereas the others are about once a quarter or every
other month.
Observations:
As incovenient as flying has become with the inspections, delays, etc. it
was worth it to save 20 hrs of driving. Commented to my wife that we arrived so
much fresher & ready for gambling.
Service level on Harrahs junket is higher as they were prepared to meet
plane & our area rep flies with us & acts as a Harrahs host when we get there.
Edgewater had a host & shuttle waiting for the 4 that arrived but we pulled our
own luggage vs Harrahs practice is to collect all luggage from airport &
take it to hotel where it's delivered to room within 2 hrs. Riverside miscounted
the disabled & didn't have enough buses ready so their customers had some
waiting to do. Like the fact that Edgewater host helped the disabled even
though they were going to Riverside.
Something to check, although I've got diamond status, on the early Harrahs
junket, they provided temporary diamond status during the junket to all who
needed it. The diamond lounge at Harrahs Laughlin has an unhurried view of the
beach & is a respite from the cacophony of the casino. For me, it's a more
inviting feeling than the diamond lounges of LV or Lake Tahoe.
Even though Harrahs does it better, prefer staying at Edgewater for its
central location on the river. It was easy to walk to Riverside, Horizon Outlet
Center, River Palms. Staying at Riverside or Harrahs puts you at the far N or S
end of the casinos.
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