Here we go again.....another mother son trip. This time Brooks and I are off to Vegas with the goal to fly home tomorrow on the new Boeing 737-800 Max.

As of today there are only two US carriers flying the Max....Southwest and American Airlines. After carefully mapping out our options to catch a ride we landed on this one. Louisville to Vegas tonight. Tomorrow we will fly Vegas to Chicago on the Max (hopefully) and then return home around midnight.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, we are already almost two plus hours delayed (that happened before I even started the blog) and there’s always the possibility that the Max will be replaced on the route tomorrow as it was last Saturday. Praying that doesn’t happen.

Hoping to show this boy a little (but not too much!) of Vegas while we are there.

On board and ready to go!

Brooks absolutely loves taking selfies...I’m not sure if that evident in his face. Don’t worry, I’m not letting it stop me. :)

Thankfully I survived the flight and even managed to get a tiny bit of sleep. I was so exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before I was in desperate need of a nap.

As soon as we boarded the plane I realized I was hungry. It wasn’t smart not getting dinner before we boarded but we were supposed to have left hours ago AND I was really hoping for Shake Shack in Vegas which unfortunately doesn’t look like it will happen due to its poor location.

Lucky me, the SWA flight attendants came through with lots of snack options for FREE! Fritos, cookies, pretzels, peanuts, crackers and popcorn. I snagged the most fillings thing i could find. In reality I wanted one of each.

Vdara Hotel and Spa

After a pleasant Uber ride we made it to our hotel. I should have expected that Greg booked us in a room with an amazing view. Too bad we are only here a couple hours to enjoy it.

After dinner it’s time to head back to the hotel. I could totally keep walking around but Brooks isn’t feeling well. He’s been battling a cold all week and his throat is hurting. So, we need to find \240a place to buy some Advil and call it a night.

Might as well soak up the sights on the way back!

Good night from Vdara!

I started watching the Olympics opening ceremony live on the plane. Lucky for me it’s now on here and I don’t think I missed that much. Ah, the benefits of traveling cross country.

More pics of the view, because why not.

Wow.....so much has happened today I don’t even know where to start. I woke up on easy coast time and was trying to be quiet so as not to wake Brooks. He woke up early as well and immediately checked flight aware to see what aircraft we were going to be on.

Not. The. Max.

Are you kidding me?

We start looking on Southwest’s website to try to see if we have any other options from Vegas to anywhere within reason on the Max. Brooks finds two options, one to Orlando and one to New Orleans. Some texts back and forth with Greg (as he attempted an elliptical workout) confirmed we could fly home on points from basically either.

So....I called Southwest and got the worst rep ever. After explaining our situation she put me on hold to talk with her supervisor. He said there was no difference between the Max and the 737.....what a rookie. Thankfully we know the difference and also what our options are.

Long story short without going into all the details, it was going to cost us a couple hundred dollars with no guarantee they wouldn’t switch the planes out on us before they left. My tears didn’t help at all. I get that mechanical issues can cause them to switch planes or major delays but neither of them caused our flight to be changed. It seems like Southwest obviously changes planes around for different reasons and I wanted them to give me some idea that it wouldn’t switch again on us. No such luck.

I hung up and cried some more. A call to Greg to discuss other options. We were running out of time and missing out on our chance to explore the city.

I decide to call back and got the nicest rep ever who actually knew what she was doing. She checked the flight numbers, tail numbers and overall Vegas schedule and said she felt really good that the New Orleans flight would be on the max. Sold. Sign me up.

Next question was about our early bird check in. We paid for priority boarding on the original flight, that of course didn’t transfer over. She tried to book us on business select but it was going to be 500.00....or not. She suggested we ask at the gate at the airport to see if we could upgrade for 40.00. Much better option.

Priority boarding is important so Brooks can try to get in the flight deck and also so that we can get good seats. If not, it’s not the end of the world but again would be nice.

Now we can breathe somewhat easy and go enjoy Vegas.

The Bellagio

Our first stop of the day was the Bellagio. Luckily we knew how to get there from our walk home from the tram last night. It’s an easy walk from the Vdara as it’s connected via walkways.

Paris

One of my favorite places!! So excited to see the “Eiffel Tower.”

Next stop Cesear’s Palace!!

Venetian

I love the Venetian but didn’t think we would have time to make it here. It’s about a mile away from our hotel. Since our flights changed, instead of an 11:30am departure we are leaving at 2:45pm so we have more time than anticipated.

Hello Venetian!

It’s coming up on the time when we need to be thinking about heading back to the hotel. We were able to get a late check out but only until 12. It’s about 10:45 as we are finishing up at the Venetian so we decide to start walking.

We have been debating a stop at In-N-Out since we got here. We passed a sign for one on the way to the Venetian but it was hard to tell how far away it was. And it was too early to eat.

This time when we pass the sign I decided to map it....900 feet away. Seems like a shame to be so close and not get one. Plus I find myself in a continuous debate with people about whether Shake Shack or In-N-Out is better and it’s been several years since I had one. Brooks and I decide we will split a cheeseburger and fry.

Diecast Airplane Shop is our next and final stop here in Vegas. This is a store that sells Gemini Jets that Brooks has had on his bucket list for quite some time. We couldn’t be this close and not go check it out.

Diecast Airplane Shop

We made it....Brooks is in heaven.

McCarran Airport

We have arrived with plenty of time to spare. First stop is for boarding passes and an attempt at upgrading to business select. We stop at a kiosk and a nice employee started talking to us. I asked her if I could upgrade to business select from the kiosk. Sure she said and helped us walk through the steps....until we got to the $250 per person step. Uh, no, not for that price I say. I mention that the phone rep said we could upgrade at the airport for 40.00 assuming there were upgrades available.

Oh yeah she said, go right over there to the desk and tell them what you want to do. It won’t be $250.

Perfect, we head over and tell that agent what we want to do. No problem she says.

Flight deck

After the pre-boards it’s our turn to board. I have strict instructions to try to get seats 3A and 3B. This has the best view of the engine and should also be on the side of the plane with a view of the Strip. (As I’ve mentioned before, traveling with Brooks has its advantages. This is one of them...knowing which side will have the view.)

Brooks asks to see the flight deck and the flight attendant responded with “of course.” I head back for the seat assignment. Success on both missions.

Im so happy Brooks is in the flight deck, I just wish I could be there to share in his excitement. It felt like he was there forever. Finally I see him coming my way with a big smile on his face.

This right here is why I’m willing to make a crazy trip with my son.

Wow! Southwest really turned our day around. Brooks decided he wanted to let the plane deboard so he could see the plane empty. The flight attendants were interested in what we were doing so we started chatting with them. I shared that we wanted to see the plane empty and that Brooks would stay all night if they would let him.

One of the flight attendants suggested he climb in an overhead bin. Really? I asked? He said oh yeah, people (employees) do it all the time.

Heck yeah!

Headed to the hotel!

We are on the shuttle headed to the hotel. Crazy enough the crew we just left all shared the shuttle with us. They joked about us stalking them....at least I hope it was a joke. We may seem like stalkers at this point.

They did say that they almost switched out the Max8 for that flight. Shew! Dodged a bullet!!

We are up and at em early here in New Orleans! Our alarm went off at 5:15am and we were down waiting for the shuttle by 5:40am. Ironically there was a group of girls coming in for the evening who were definitely in worse shape than me. So, that made me feel better about my state of being. Can’t say I expected Bourbon Street visitors to be staying out by the airport but apparently I was wrong.

After a long wait for the airport shuttle we arrived at the airport and made a roomie mistake of going through the wrong security checkpoint. These gates don’t connect. That line was a breeze. Unfortunately we had to go back out and head to the security line for the D gates.

We arrived and saw a HUGE line.

Final leg

Today has been smooth sailing so far. We left New Orleans on time. Arrived and visited the Centurion Lounge in the airport for a free breakfast (just what I needed after King cake.)

We left and made it to our gate early. Finally the boarding announcement was made. We are on a tiny plane so you go from the airport downstairs to a hallway where you walk to the tarmac.

Once we got to the gate they made an announcement that an armrest was loose so the mechanics were tightening it.

Next an announcement that the armrest was fixed but now there was an issue with the bathroom.

And now this...