Ziplines and Deals: Two Things (Perhaps the Only Things!) Las Vegas and Costa Rica Have in Common Right Now

I'll start with Costa Rica, as this is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sort of deal. It comes from STA Travel, and for today ONLY its dropping the already-reasonable cost of an 8-day tour there from $649 to just $325.

That price does not cover airfare or meals, but will get you where you're going within Costa Rica, cover the services of an experienced guide and 7-nights of guesthouse stays.

Interestingly, the tour heads to the less touristed Caribbean side of the country, which will mean nights of Reggae music and days of beach bumming and white water rafting (the tour loops from San Jose to Tortugero, Cuito and Purto Viejo). The group will be a maximum of 15 people, though most average 10. Departures are available about once a month from February through August (see the website above for specific dates).

Bookings must be made by end of day today!

Sin City Savings
I was alerted to the MGM Grand Resorts (TheTropicana, Ballys,  Planet Hollywood, Luxor, Aria, etc)  72 hour sale  by the Las Vegas Advisor. Again, this one's quick-as-a minute: the deals disappear at midnight tonight.

So should you jump to book? Maybe. As with many things in Vegas, its a gamble.

For example, through the official sale, the lowest rate I could get at the MGM Grand for a mid-January, mid-week room was $60. Through a third party site, however, I found the same room, same dates for $48. The Luxor, conversely, was offering an unbeatable $35 rate on the dates I booked. It was double that amount from outside sellers. The lowdown: look at the comparison site HotelsCombined.com before you book any of the MGM deals directly.

But its not just hotels on sale in this instance; MGM is also discounting its shows including such top-notch offerings as the Blue Man Group and Jersey Boys. For advance ticket sales, I haven't seen anything to beat what MGM's charging on these shows, though its certainly possible that these prices could be undercut by "day of" discounts at the Tix4Tonight booths on the Strip.

Oh, and in case you haven't heard: there's now a zipline at the Freemont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas (hence the headline).