Yesterday, we began booking our upcoming road trip to Lake Las Vegas in 36 days. Need I say I am counting the days? I look forward to leaving for Nevada on December 14 and then on to Africa in 113 days from today. Wow! It’s almost hard to believe we’ll finally be on our way.
As a result, yesterday, we booked an SUV at Costco Travel, which we’ll drop off at the Las Vegas Airport two days after we arrive on December 18. During those two days, while we still have the rental car, we’ll do any necessary shopping, stop at our mailing service to pick up any remaining mail, and perhaps meet family for dinner.
From that date on, as mentioned, we’ll use Uber or Lyft for anything we want to do outside of the Village. The Village is within walking distance from our condo building in Lake Las Vegas, where shops and restaurants are plentiful. Most likely, due to the convenience of our location, we’ll probably dine out twice a week.
What prompts us to use Costco for travel needs and venues? As Costoco members, we receive special discounts and credits toward our annual rebate check and shop cards, which we can use at any Costco store in the country. They can be saved and used well into the future if we won’t be in the US for quite a while.
The annual rebate more than pays for our yearly membership and then some. We use our Costco Visa credit card for more points and petrol credits. Using Costco becomes a trifecta of perks, and the prices for cars, hotels, flights, and other travel-related purchases are hard to beat.
Today, we’re ordering takeaway for dinner. We’re ordering enough to last three nights. The total cost for both of us for the three dinners is $32.17 for Tom’s Chinese food and $35.57 for my healthy Bibibop Asian bowls, for a total of $67.74. Divided by three nights’ dinners, the avergae daily cost is $22.58. These prices include delivery and tips.
I add a few cups of romaine lettuce at the bottom of my plate to extend my double order to three nights. I ordered double portions of the spicy chicken for three nights’ dinners. Tom’s double order of sweet and sour pork is easily three large servings, so his two orders work perfectly.
The above-mentioned daily cost is less than we pay for groceries, so financially, it makes sense to place such orders once a week, knowing the food is good and enjoying the convenience and break from cooking. Mine is exceptionally healthy, while Tom’s is not as much. Then again, Tom wants what he wants and doesn’t strive for healthy dinners when we dine out.
I won’t order groceries again until Monday when I cook dinner again. We each are on our own for breakfast when Tom goes downstairs to the restaurant for the included breakfast while I have eggs or a Greek yogurt bowl with ground flaxseeds. Although breakfast at the hotel is included, I don’t care to eat processed scrambled eggs and their deep-fried bacon or sausages. Once we arrive in Nevada, I’ll make breakfast for both of us each day, usually bacon and eggs, certainly not processed or deep fried.
For more bookings, we contacted Marriott Bonvoy yesterday to extend our stay at the hotel from December 2 to December 14, the day we leave. We checked all other hotel booking sites for price comparison, but the cost was best through the Bonvoy rewards program.
We could easily have paid as much as $200 per night by booking it on our own, but we could have paid $2083 for the 12 extra nights, averaging $173.58 per night, including taxes and fees. However, this is much higher than we usually pay for hotel rooms because this location is only a few blocks from Cleveland Clinic, which results in higher prices.
Imagine we’ve had to pay this amount for 111 nights, by the time we leave here for $19,267.38. However, we will receive a credit when we check out on December 14, which will be around $1200 based on Cleveland’s 6.5% hotel tax. It’s a good thing we haven’t had a rental car while here, considering the parking fees and rental car costs, which would have been over $100 per day.
Most people come to Cleveland Clinic and spend a week or two at most. Based on our circumstances, it was an extended period.
Once we arrive in Las Vegas, our expenses will be considerably less when we received an excellent price for the condo, and we won’t need a car. We’ll share those costs later.
Well, that’s it for today, folks.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, November 8, 2014:
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