Don’t always jump for ads promising "cheap" Las Vegas hotels. Actually, there are no more cheap hotels in Vegas. The days of $19-a-night rooms of ten years ago are long gone, along with the $2.99 all-you-can-eat buffets and 99 cent midnight ham and eggs.

Sin City just isn't that kind of super bargain any more, but with some wise research on the internet or with your favorite travel agent, you can keep your Vegas visit from breaking your travel budget.

You may find a $49.99 hotel room in some of the motels in the boonies, usually five miles away from the Strip or hugging the noisy airport. Prices at most downtown hotels start at about $60, while older hotels on the famed Strip go for $125 and up. The newest, most luxurious Strip resorts will let you have a room for $250, but only if you try to get it in midweek during a slow post-holiday season. Note that these are list prices, so if you do your homework thoroughly and find a real deal at the right time, you could cut those prices in half or better on your next Vegas visit.

The best months for lower prices are late September, October, early November and early December, late January, February, March and April. Even those months can be chancy if you try to book during one of Sin City's many major trade shows and conventions. Vegas is the world’s most popular town for those kinds of events; at least it was until recent business and political scandals caused some well-publicized convention cancellations.

Some big events, such as the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, can bring as many as two million attendees who jam the hotels and keep the prices high everywhere in town for a week or more. Also, you’ll find airfares and hotel rooms cheaper if you go to Vegas between late Sunday nights and Thursday afternoons.

A possible way to get a reduced room price is to buy a package, which includes airfare and hotel. That could knock as much as 25% off the list price of your hotel room . Do your math and make comparisons as you research. To keep your costs down from the highest, and if you have the flexibility of scheduling, fly and stay during mid-week. Weekend prices at Vegas hotels go up 100 percent or more from weekday prices.

Online travel agencies run frequent ads offering cheap rooms and packages in Vegas, so it’s a good idea to hit their sites frequently, and then when you’re planning your next Vegas visit, you could get an excellent price. However, choose a hotel you can afford, but if it is not directly on the Strip, you may be unhappy. You’ll have to hop bus or taxi to get anywhere.

There are also the comp (free items) deals you don’t find in other non-gambling resorts. We go to Vegas about four times a year, and stay at the same clean, upscale, but not super-resort hotel. After our original several visits and some relatively modest gambling, we always stay free for the next three-night stay. And the next, and the next, just as long as we do the minimum amount of gambling. If you plan to go to Vegas more than once, continuously search for ways to earn freebies and comps while there. They can be significant!

We've also bought packages from Southwest Airlines, with a schedule of daily non-stops to Vegas from our city. It offers a free flight for every eight paid, so at least once every two years we fly round trip to Vegas free. Before you book your Vegas venture, first contact airlines that offer flights, preferably non-stop, from your hometown. Ask about package prices, too. They'll vary according the season and quality of the hotel.

If you're planning an auto trip to Vegas, check first with the hotel for deals. We live 400 miles from Vegas, just an hour’s flight, and the highway clogs, Vegas traffic gridlocks and hotel parking get worse every year. We find it now no longer comfortable nor economical to drive there.