Every Time Someone Pays for Parking at The Strat, A Kitten Dies

I visited The Strat today for the first time since I moved from my Las Vegas residence in 2013 and was welcomed by their recently instituted paid self-parking garage. I miss the days of complimentary parking on The Strip, and The Strat was one of the last to convert to paid parking. Nobody likes to pay for parking when it used to be free, but The Strat takes the pain up to the next level with their uniquely idiotic system.

When you arrive at the self-parking garage, to enter, you need to scan a QR code on your mobile. Are your eyes rolling yet? The QR code directs you to send a three digit number via your phone’s messaging app. The text message will return a URL that you open in your mobile browser, where you must enter your credit card information for payment. Once you’ve completed those details, you can choose to exit the garage by texting another three digit code or by phone call. And, if you think all of this might cause significant delays entering and exiting the garage, then you are correct. Whilst it may take a <sarcasm> genius </sarcasm> to come up with such a convoluted system to operate a self parking garage, it does NOT take a genius to know that there will be plenty of people who don’t understand how to follow these directions, or who can’t get the bloody QR code to scan with their mobile device, and will take FOREVER whilst you queue behind them. Let’s face it; there are even some people who have trouble with the ‘normal’ automated parking garages where you simply need to take a ticket, and then pay at a pay station before exiting. And, the general public are expected to figure THIS out? I’m curious to know what happens if your phone dies before you try to leave.

To add insult to injury, there is generally no parking validation available, like at Resorts World where simply having a player’s card will get the parking fee waived. At The Strat, expect to pay unless you have higher level status in their rewards programme. For my visit, I was charged $6.00, plus a $0.99 service fee. Yep, there’s a service fee to use this amazing system, because the actual parking charge apparently isn’t enough. The entire experience is terrible and stupid, and since anything that starts with scanning a QR code kills kittens (and really cute ones, too), someone needs to remind me why I wanted to visit The Strat in the first place.