Hate to say I told you so... MGM properties to charge for parking.

[Daredevil]

Link to the Washington Times article confirming:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...-strip-buck-t/

Caesars will be next. Sad.

[Dan Druff]

I bet Caesars will take a wait-and-see attitude with this.

They're probably hoping that this backfires and they end up receiving some of MGM's business as a result.

[Daredevil]

Caesars will probably pull the same stunt they did with resort fees.
They'll heavily market the free parking aspect, for a time. Then they'll quietly switch to pay parking when they see how much money MGM is making off of it.

[TheXFactor]

This has been in the works for months, MGM resorts is just the first, by summer all the hotels will be charging for parking.

If these hotel executives think real hard they could charge for a lot more shit.

MGM Grand room rate: $85
Resort Fee: $30
VIP Parking: $20
Valet Parking: $15
Regular Parking: $10
Bellman Fee: $20
Drink Tab Fee: $10
Dining Tab Fee: $15
Show Ticket Fee: $12
Toilet Paper Fee: $24

Bottled Water: $10

Fee Wifi (dialup speed only)

High Speed Internet: $25 a day

Wait until the WSOP this year.
At the Rio, outside parking lot it will cost $10 per day. Inside parking lot $15 per day.

[Dan Druff]

This is a mistake.

Some are comparing this situation to resort fees about 5 years ago -- something that angered people initially, but eventually all major properties adopted, and now it's standard.

But that's a poor comparison.

Resort fees in Vegas are a trick to make the room show up cheaper in online listings.

In the old, non-resort-fee format, an $80 room would be listed on Expedia (or whatever) for $80.

In the new era of resort fees, an $80 room would be listed as $50, and you are paying the other $30 as a resort fee, which is stated in the fine print.

So the resort fees weren't really making the room more expensive. It was just being broken down differently.

CET tried to resist this, and in fact had a lengthy "no resort fees" ad campaign. However, the business they gained from the lack of resort fees was not enough to make up for the business they lost by falsely showing up as higher priced in online listings.

So New York New York was $90 with a $20 resort fee ($110 total), Planet Hollywood was $100 with no resort fee, and yet New York New York would show up cheaper in the listings.

CET then took a, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude at that point, and out came their resort fees.

So how is parking different?

The charge for parking is for ALL guests (excluding those with high-tier players club cards), so this isn't about hidden fees for the hotel and its listings online.

It's just a money grab, pure and simple. And it's a HUGE departure from the way Vegas has always treated parking. Even the downtown "pay for parking" lots have had validation for decades. The strip did away with that nonsense, and made parking completely free.

People aren't going to take to this well. I imagine that you're just going to see many people avoiding MGM properties altogether, rather than parking at a nearby lot and walking over. After all, a casino is a casino, and once you're already avoiding the MGM lot and parking somewhere else, you might as well just stay where you are.

I don't believe the $10/car they will collect will offset the loss of business. They are very much underestimating how people in Vegas spend money. Vegas is an impulse town. You walk into a casino, see a game you like, and decide to gamble. Or you decide to eat at a restaurant which grabs your attention. Or maybe buy tickets to a show you see is playing tonight. Sure, there are people who specifically plan things, but Vegas properties have always made lots of money from people who just walk in, start browsing, and then start spending. Charging for parking in Vegas would be like a Louis Vuitton store charging people $10 to come in and browse the merchandise. While the $10 wouldn't be much for anyone who can afford a Louis Vuitton purse, the simple annoyance factor of the charge would keep out a lot of browsers who would have otherwise bought something.

There's another factor that I don't see anyone discussing anywhere -- the inconvenience of the $10 fee. These Vegas lots are huge, with lots of cars coming and going. This $10 fee (presumably collected on the way out) will create backups when exiting, especially on busy nights. Can you imagine leaving Bellagio on Saturday night and spending 30 minutes in a pay-for-parking line? This might very well happen, and that will be another factor causing issues.

Keep in mind that, on my New Years trip to Caesars, the lot was already so busy that there was a small jam getting out, EVEN WITH NO FEES BEING CHARGED. Can you imagine if money was collected from each and every person leaving? Would be a nightmare.

I predict this will backfire, and will be rolled back.

CET and others clearly see it my way, and are just waiting this one out, hoping it backfires on MGM. If somehow this works out and MGM gains from it, then yes, we will see the other properties adopt it. But I think there will be too much resistance to this.

Resort fees were at least artificial, and hotel guests could at least rationalize that they were getting something for it (internet, gym, etc).

The parking will be seen as pure greed, and I think the backlash will be strong.

[cmoney]

This is a mistake.

Some are comparing this situation to resort fees about 5 years ago -- something that angered people initially, but eventually all major properties adopted, and now it's standard.

But that's a poor comparison.

Resort fees in Vegas are a trick to make the room show up cheaper in online listings.

In the old, non-resort-fee format, an $80 room would be listed on Expedia (or whatever) for $80.

In the new era of resort fees, an $80 room would be listed as $50, and you are paying the other $30 as a resort fee, which is stated in the fine print.

So the resort fees weren't really making the room more expensive. It was just being broken down differently.

CET tried to resist this, and in fact had a lengthy "no resort fees" ad campaign. However, the business they gained from the lack of resort fees was not enough to make up for the business they lost by falsely showing up as higher priced in online listings.

So New York New York was $90 with a $20 resort fee ($110 total), Planet Hollywood was $100 with no resort fee, and yet New York New York would show up cheaper in the listings.

CET then took a, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude at that point, and out came their resort fees.

So how is parking different?

The charge for parking is for ALL guests (excluding those with high-tier players club cards), so this isn't about hidden fees for the hotel and its listings online.

It's just a money grab, pure and simple. And it's a HUGE departure from the way Vegas has always treated parking. Even the downtown "pay for parking" lots have had validation for decades. The strip did away with that nonsense, and made parking completely free.

People aren't going to take to this well. I imagine that you're just going to see many people avoiding MGM properties altogether, rather than parking at a nearby lot and walking over. After all, a casino is a casino, and once you're already avoiding the MGM lot and parking somewhere else, you might as well just stay where you are.

I don't believe the $10/car they will collect will offset the loss of business. They are very much underestimating how people in Vegas spend money. Vegas is an impulse town. You walk into a casino, see a game you like, and decide to gamble. Or you decide to eat at a restaurant which grabs your attention. Or maybe buy tickets to a show you see is playing tonight. Sure, there are people who specifically plan things, but Vegas properties have always made lots of money from people who just walk in, start browsing, and then start spending. Charging for parking in Vegas would be like a Louis Vuitton store charging people $10 to come in and browse the merchandise. While the $10 wouldn't be much for anyone who can afford a Louis Vuitton purse, the simple annoyance factor of the charge would keep out a lot of browsers who would have otherwise bought something.

There's another factor that I don't see anyone discussing anywhere -- the inconvenience of the $10 fee. These Vegas lots are huge, with lots of cars coming and going. This $10 fee (presumably collected on the way out) will create backups when exiting, especially on busy nights. Can you imagine leaving Bellagio on Saturday night and spending 30 minutes in a pay-for-parking line? This might very well happen, and that will be another factor causing issues.

Keep in mind that, on my New Years trip to Caesars, the lot was already so busy that there was a small jam getting out, EVEN WITH NO FEES BEING CHARGED. Can you imagine if money was collected from each and every person leaving? Would be a nightmare.

I predict this will backfire, and will be rolled back.

CET and others clearly see it my way, and are just waiting this one out, hoping it backfires on MGM. If somehow this works out and MGM gains from it, then yes, we will see the other properties adopt it. But I think there will be too much resistance to this.

Resort fees were at least artificial, and hotel guests could at least rationalize that they were getting something for it (internet, gym, etc).

The parking will be seen as pure greed, and I think the backlash will be strong.

There is so much truth to this. The percentage of people that either go into a casino with no intention of spending money but do has to be ridiculously high. There are a number of factors involved from impulse control, but one of the biggest factors is you just dont feel like going anywhere else. Once you are at the casino, it is a pain in the ass (and can be expensive) to get to another casino so you generally stay where you are.

Also, great point about the payment line. How many times have we been at the airport or some other place and you have to wait in line to pay to get out of the lot? Either there isnt enough attendants or the person in front of you cant figure out how to use the automated machine. The Bellagio is a perfect example as it is one of the hardest properties to leave even when taking a cab! Now you add these machines and it is going to be a nightmare.