S Airways is making
it easier to get here from the Northeast. Starting Nov. 1, the
carrier will launch nonstop Saturday service to Las Vegas from
Boston and New York (LaGuardia).
Flights between Boston and Las Vegas, on Boeing 757 aircraft,
will depart Logan Airport at 5:45 p.m. and arrive in Las Vegas at
8:31 p.m.
Return flights will depart Las Vegas at 2:30 p.m. and arrive in
Boston at 10:26 p.m.
Airbus A321 aircraft will be used for the flights between
LaGuardia and McCarran Airport, which are scheduled to depart New
York at 6:15 p.m. and arrive in Las Vegas at 8:47 p.m.
Return service will leave Las Vegas at 3:30 p.m. and arrive at
LaGuardia at 11:15 p.m.
For more information, visit www.usairways.com.
• • •
Here's an interesting take on all those casino customer loyalty
programs: Harrah's Entertainment, which owns
and/or operates 25 casinos nationwide, including Harrah's Las Vegas
and the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, rolled out the second
generation of its Total Rewards program.
Trust us when we say this is definitely not your mother's
frequent-player program.
Members, who accumulate credits based on their combined slot and
table game play at any Harrah's property, can redeem their Total
Rewards II points for such exotic incentives as travel aboard a
private jet to the destination of their choice, a ride aboard a
float in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans or an Australian gaming
excursion.
Participants also can choose from more than 50 vacation
packages, including one that takes them to three Harrah's locations
-- Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and New Orleans -- in six days.
The company, which sponsors a Nascar race car, even offers Total
Rewards members the opportunity to serve as an honorary member of
Harrah's pit crew during a Nascar Winston Cup race or to own the
No. 14 Harrah's Dodge Intrepid driven by Larry Foyt.
For traditionalists, the usual perks such as free meals and
accommodations also will be available. For more details about the
program, visit www.harrahs.com.
• • •
For once, comedian David Brenner won't be
getting the last laugh. Instead, he'll be getting the first laughs
as the initial performer at the Westin Casuarina,
which is set to open sometime this fall.
Brenner is booked for a 44-week engagement scheduled to begin
shortly after the hotel's debut.
The comic will perform a 90-minute show nightly at 8 p.m. in the
hotel's 250-seat showroom. Tickets cost $50 each, plus tax; group
discounts are available.
The resort is accepting reservations for arrival on or after
Oct. 15, according to Starwood's Web site. They can be made online
at www.starwood.com or by calling (702) 836-9775.
Travelers wishing to make a reservation before that date are
advised to contact the hotel at (702) 784-5106.
• • •
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation named Sheldon Adelson,
chairman of the Las Vegas Sands, which owns the Venetian
Resort-Hotel-Casino, and his wife, Miriam, honorary members of the
foundation's International Director's Council.
The council is the Guggenheim Museum's primary
acquisition committee, devoted to increasing and strengthening the
contemporary collection in all media.
The Adelsons were recognized for their role in the success of
the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, which opened at the Venetian in
2001.
Public tours of the museum are offered most days at 5 p.m. and 7
p.m., while director's tours are conducted Fridays and Sundays at 2
p.m. Tours are free with paid admission.
For more information or a daily tour schedule, call (702)
414-2440.
Discounted admission also is available for groups of 10 or more
when reserved in advance. For details, contact the Guggenheim's
group sales department at (702) 414-2444.
• • •
For those who just can't get enough of the ABBA-revival musical
"Mamma Mia!," a Sunday-matinee performance has
been added.
Shows now are scheduled Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7
p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.; and
Sundays at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Tickets are priced at $45, $65 and $85 plus tax, and can be
purchased at the Mandalay Bay box office by calling (702) 632-7777
or visiting www.mandalaybay.com.
Some of the production's songs, by the way, are very appropriate
for Las Vegas. They include "The Winner Takes It All," "Money,
Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me."
• • •
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's (LVCVA) board
of directors has four new faces: Larry Brown, a Las Vegas
councilman; Michael Montandon, mayor of North Las Vegas; Mike
Pacini, a Boulder City councilman; and Anthony Sanfilippo, Western
Division president for Harrah's Entertainment.
The four were appointed to the 13-member board, which sets
policy for the LVCVA, operates the Las Vegas Convention Center and
the Cashman Center, and markets worldwide the entire region of
southern Nevada as a meetings and leisure destination.
• • •
It's not Le Cirque, but hey, when you're airborne and starving,
Northwest Airlines' coach cabin meals just might
be the ticket, even at $5 to $10 a pop.
The program -- which the carrier began Jan. 15 as a limited test
on 12 flights and expanded to 64 flights -- has been increased
again, this time to 135 domestic flights, including flights to
Las Vegas from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and
Milwaukee.
Menu descriptions are displayed in gate areas or on menu cards
distributed by flight attendants. Plans call for meal availability
and menu descriptions to be posted on the carrier's Web site, www.nwa.com; at
self-service check-in kiosks; and in computer reservations systems
at the time clients book their flights.
• • •
Thrill-seekers will have to wait until Oct. 30 to try out the
Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower's
X-Scream.
The opening of the property's third thrill ride, which had been
slated to occur in September, has been delayed because the
attraction has been changed.
Originally, the ride was supposed to send participants in an
open, floorless vehicle 27 feet over the edge of the Strato-sphere
tower's outdoor observation deck at 30 mph.
Now, plans call for the attraction to catapult riders 31 feet
over the tower's edge, which rises almost 900 feet above the Las
Vegas Strip.
This month, the ride, which is being constructed in Logan, Utah,
by Interactive Rides, will be positioned on the tower's observation
deck via commercial helicopters.
To contact reporter Amy Baratta, send e-mail to [email protected] .