Atlantic City Hacks
July 20, 2011 1:40 PM Subscribe
I live in NYC and I have never been to Atlantic City, though an AC-bound jitney service stops in my neighborhood. I've heard about all sorts of insane deals that hotels and casinos roll out to lure customers; what's the best/cheapest way to take advantage of this in the next couple of months? I'd like to travel to AC with a partner and stay a couple days, paying for as little as humanly possible. Caveat: I'm only willing to do a little cheap, incidental gambling; mostly I'd like to do my own thing once I'm there.
This isn't specific to AC, but to most gambling areas:
As recommended above - get a junk email address and sign up for all the major AC casino / hotel programs. They are constantly comping or heavily discounting rooms, meals, events, etc. You should be able to get a card that tracks what you play (i.e. points) that tells each casino what you are worth to them, but if you are new, they will try to lure you to come on down and give them some of your hard-earned cash.
I live near Reno and don't really gamble that much, but I get offers for free accommodations in Atlantic City, Vegas, etc. I recently scored 2 nights free at a New Orleans Harrah's hotel too. I was pretty stoked (going rates if booked directly - $125 / night).
Ahem. I have heard of people who get these cards, and then if they are not gamblers themselves, will give them to family / friends who do gamble to earn points on their behalf. Therefore it LOOKS like you are a big gambler, but you aren't really. The only downside is if you are playing with the card tracking your points and if you happen to win more than $1200, they will ask for ID in order to send you tax stuff.
posted by HeyAllie at 2:04 PM on July 20, 2011
As recommended above - get a junk email address and sign up for all the major AC casino / hotel programs. They are constantly comping or heavily discounting rooms, meals, events, etc. You should be able to get a card that tracks what you play (i.e. points) that tells each casino what you are worth to them, but if you are new, they will try to lure you to come on down and give them some of your hard-earned cash.
I live near Reno and don't really gamble that much, but I get offers for free accommodations in Atlantic City, Vegas, etc. I recently scored 2 nights free at a New Orleans Harrah's hotel too. I was pretty stoked (going rates if booked directly - $125 / night).
Ahem. I have heard of people who get these cards, and then if they are not gamblers themselves, will give them to family / friends who do gamble to earn points on their behalf. Therefore it LOOKS like you are a big gambler, but you aren't really. The only downside is if you are playing with the card tracking your points and if you happen to win more than $1200, they will ask for ID in order to send you tax stuff.
posted by HeyAllie at 2:04 PM on July 20, 2011
You know what's awesome and free? Going to see Lucy the Elephant in nextdoor Margate.
posted by jph at 2:06 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by jph at 2:06 PM on July 20, 2011
Don't know about the jitney, but from Port Authority, you can take pretty much any AC-bound bus and get a voucher for the price of the ticket. Say the bus ticket is $25 and the bus drops you right at the Tropicana, you get a voucher for $25 and you can take that voucher to a coin changing machine inside the Trop, slide it in just like cash, and get $25 in quarters.
posted by mattbucher at 2:10 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by mattbucher at 2:10 PM on July 20, 2011
Basically what everyone else said but I dont think you are going to be able to get a free "couple of days" in the next few month though. You probably have to sign up for a rewards card and do a couple of "free" bus trips to get some recognition before they will start comping rooms. Then like others have said those rooms probably wont be available in the summer. I havent done this in a long time so I could be wrong with the economy and all.
posted by Busmick at 2:24 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by Busmick at 2:24 PM on July 20, 2011
Here's an example of an AC bus deal. (I've used Goldstar succesfully for concert tickets, but not for this kind of thing.)
posted by Jahaza at 2:33 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by Jahaza at 2:33 PM on July 20, 2011
Also in margate, get a cheesesteak from Dino's. It's like eating from the cheesesteak place they have in heaven. Very very busy during lunchtime. And get stickybuns from the Castle supermarket (if it's still there). The Margate beaches are nicer, but I think you need a tag on your bag, which you can only get I you rent a house from a local.
posted by about_time at 5:27 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by about_time at 5:27 PM on July 20, 2011
Cinnamon stick buns, I mean.
posted by about_time at 5:28 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by about_time at 5:28 PM on July 20, 2011
Jeez --- sticky buns, not stick-shaped buns...
posted by about_time at 5:28 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by about_time at 5:28 PM on July 20, 2011
Here's a good article about taking advantage of hotel/casino incentives in Las Vegas; it's likely just as applicable in AC.
posted by holterbarbour at 6:05 PM on July 20, 2011
posted by holterbarbour at 6:05 PM on July 20, 2011
I went to AC with my BF from the Port Authority last month. We used Academy Bus. It was a Tuesday - a Thursday. Going down (Tuesday afternoon, 3:30ish), there were 10 people on the bus. Coming home (Thursday afternoon, 5:30ish), it was packed. But the busses were all on time, clean, and the couple people that we dealt with were nice, so yay Academy. We happened to get a great deal on Orbitz, but it was before the busy season and midweek ($50/night at Trump Plaza, right in the middle of the boardwalk). Keep in mind that right now is their high season, so you're not gonna get cheap until after Labor Day.
Re: mattbucher's comment: Most busses/hotels do vouchers for slot play now. Our tickets to get there were $36 round trip and we got $25 in slot play. Don't make the mistake I made and cash out if you're under $25 - you'll get a slip for a dollar. However, if you play the slots and win (even a little) - cash out! My BF happened to get up to $82, but I say if you hit $25.50, hit cash out and be happy you got an $11 round trip ticket. If a hotel within walking distance to where you're staying gives a better deal than your hotel, get off the bus at the other hotel and walk (check the schedule, they all stop at different places).
The AC beach is free! And you can bring coolers and food onto the beach (or, at least, we saw other people with coolers and stuff.) Also Flames Restaurant on the boardwalk at S Carolina Ave had a $3.99 breakfast special and the food was awesome.
posted by AlisonM at 8:22 PM on July 20, 2011
Re: mattbucher's comment: Most busses/hotels do vouchers for slot play now. Our tickets to get there were $36 round trip and we got $25 in slot play. Don't make the mistake I made and cash out if you're under $25 - you'll get a slip for a dollar. However, if you play the slots and win (even a little) - cash out! My BF happened to get up to $82, but I say if you hit $25.50, hit cash out and be happy you got an $11 round trip ticket. If a hotel within walking distance to where you're staying gives a better deal than your hotel, get off the bus at the other hotel and walk (check the schedule, they all stop at different places).
The AC beach is free! And you can bring coolers and food onto the beach (or, at least, we saw other people with coolers and stuff.) Also Flames Restaurant on the boardwalk at S Carolina Ave had a $3.99 breakfast special and the food was awesome.
posted by AlisonM at 8:22 PM on July 20, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
That's pretty much how you do that without trying to do it on gambling comps (which, at least in my Las Vegas/Louisiana/Oklahoma experience, require a lot of gambling anymore). They're going to email out specials whenever rooms aren't filling up. You'll get a feel for what the best pricing is like within a couple of weeks of emails. (Well, it's summer, so not best-best, but late-summer best anyway. They probably have their best deals in, like, October and February.)
posted by Lyn Never at 1:53 PM on July 20, 2011