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Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2013
Comments
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Arrrrgh!!Spent an hour last night doing my trip report only to press the wrong button and loose it all into cyberspace!!Jetlag played a big part!Will try again tonight after my first day back in work(boo!)0
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nice one froggit, and depending on the dates you pick, the Delta direct flights show a lot more than £50 cheaper!
I just looked at 17th May for 2 weeks next year, and the direct price is £633 each, I think that's pretty good for that time of year! (VA is £767)
Not sure what to do now!! original plan was to keep a look out for Air New Zealand to drop to the £500 mark for a flight to LA......
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !0 -
Been back since Sunday. Had a great time, it was so hot and gambling-wise quite a disaster, but had a lot of fun. I will do a trip report when I am compos mentis.0
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Virgin sale price via netflights;
http://www.netflights.com/flight-results.aspx?depart=LGW&arrival=LAS&departdate=19%20-%2003%20-%202014&returndate=26%20-%2003%20-%202014&adults=1&children=0&infants=0&cabin=0&journeytype=R&airline=VS
£586 for dates next march is tempting (from LGW).
March/April is our favourite time to go, not least because our birthdays are both in March so we see it as more of our present to each other0 -
£510 direct from Gatwick!!!!!
Christ that is cheap. So tempted to book!
EDIT: even Saturday-Saturday flights are only £550 which would only mean 5 days off work.0 -
Las Vegas trip report 1st-8th July 2013
Ill set the scene, we are both in our mid 30s and were last on vegas 4yrs ago where nat found out she was pregnant, we never thought we would be back for a long while but due to this being our honeymoon and some very generous baby sitting by both sets of parents we managed to get out here for a short break,
Day one fly lhr-las
We are not fancy people, I always look for cheapest bargain but am very good with finding out deals and savings, due to a few fantastic offers through teso. Clubcard have managed to get a truck load of airmiles 3 years agoand added to them whenever I can using a credit card. As a result we were able to travel first class out and the total flight only cost me 200 pounds more than economy (1000£ plus miles per person)
What an experience this was for us - private check in,Concorde room in lhr is truly amazing,great food service and wine and is lovely to be away from hustle bustle of an airport. We had a pre flight massage included which wAs fab and drank my own body weight in champagne. Nearly missed our flight as had too much to do there,
Flight was brilliant with one hostess per 3 people, food amazing and slept for 5 hours on the bed. As a special something the captain and crew gave us a bottle of vintage champagne to take away as it was our honeymoon and signed a menu with good luck wishes. I can certainly see why flying first changes your travel experience as I would love to do that again and not care about my destination. I suspect we won't ever though! Certainly would pay what we laid but couldn't see it worth the 10k return per person price tag
First off flight fast track baggage arrived, no que at immigration out of airport in30 mins, taxi to mgm ( no tunnel )
Checked in mgmg one of my fav hotels by far so always like to stay here. We paid 170 pounds for 4 nights here, booked a few months ago, before we went i had emailed them saying it was our honeymoon and got a nice upgrade to strip view grand tower from the west wing rooms for free. Was suppress my resort fee was included for the £170 for 4 nights which was a nice surprise and so didnt push my luck with 20 dollar trick, bear in mind it works out42 pounds a night that includes 4th July! Fab offer
Got in to room, newly modeled rooms are nice, went for a walk to get a drink before bed
Wow it's hot here!
Only managed New York New York before heat got the better of us, went to get a drink
" ID please?" Oh yeah forgot this is the norm in USA! Didnt have any so went back and decided to have early night
Day 2
General chilling,
Up early as to excited, went for a walk to ph for breakfast using groupon, was bearable heat on the walk there but way back was already to hot, skyped back home free Internet fast enough for this found a lovely spot near poker room giving me 4 bars wifi and no noise
Chilled by what I consider to be the best pool in vegas for a bit but was to hot so booked a daybed for the next day to escape the heat
Did the csi experience ( voucher through vegaslocals on ebay cost me 12 dollars for 2 of us) was good at this price but would have been upset if paid full price, then monorail (3 day pass thanks to myvegas) to harrahs, caught big elvis which was fab and well worth it and did some karioke, big elvis was a really nice guy (though moist nat said) and spoke to us loads about our wedding
We then monorail to convention centre and dinner at envy with restaurant.com voucher for 75$ off. With this bill came to 150 $ inc tip tax and drinks. Nice steak but portions to big for us, server was fab and really chatty, got the meat sweats after the 28oz porterhouse so had to go home
Thought from today : I've never seen so many kids in vegas,most people here are families with young children, even saw some 10-14 year olds walking around the strip by themselves past 9pm with no parents, didnt seem safe to me and I felt really sad for the toddlers being. Carried around at 11pm at night in 45 degrees plus heat tired and grumpy and crying, glad i didn't bring mine as I felt it was cruel
Also saw a number of Muslims here which is a weird destination for a holiday for people who are prohibited from gambling drinking and must dress modestly. Only noticed as a few years ago when we were thinking getting married here i had a chat with one of my best friends to see if she would come she is a Muslim who said she would never come here due to the above.
Day 3: woke up 6:30 as couldn't sleep, decided to work off the meat from last night so left nat sleeping and made my way down to Mandalay bay
Frm there i walked to stratosphere all the way!
Have not done the strip walk for at least 10 years when I was you get and thinner and fitter, but still enjoyed. Got to souvineer shop by strat around 9:45am and got one tacky stuff for my sister to take home, felt sad seeing Sahara being demolished, as I spent a lot f time there when I was out here 10 yrs ago during my studies.
Heat was ok this time in morning and took monorail back, felt as except for a few drunks outside the peoppermill lounge
Went to our daybed by the pool deal was you had to spend 200$ and you got the bed free, it included 2 tube rentals, we used some wedding present money for this as was a bit extravigant for me. Had breakfast lunch and loads of beer/cocktails/diet cokes and bill came to 140$ so server brought us a few unopened buckets of beer to make it up to 200 some took to room and some we gave to people next to us. Worth it definitely and felt right fancy having one
Came back had a nap then over to touniment of kings ( free tickets myvegas) front row centre seats, absolutely loved it, proper cheese fun, drink prices good value and free medieval Pepsi. Food was as expected
Then monorail to ballys watched some fountains had ice ream watching show, stupidly walked back was too hot and v tired by time we got back
Again loads of tired tearful kids at fountains i fly sorry for
3 Days in and no gambling!?.
Tobe continued....0 -
My trip report, went from a Sunday-Thursday
Sunday
Set off for the 4 hour drive to Vegas from Bakersfield at 8am.
We stopped at peggy sues diner in Barstow. It was half 10 but didn't fancy breakfast, we both had the cheeseburger with curly fries. All ok, wouldn't say we would go again.
Arrived at Primm for the outlets around 1pm. Was pretty busy.
Spent two hours there, TH got a bargain tommy bahamas shirt and I picked up a couple of bits in hilfiger store. Hollister had bargains but full of small sizes.
We then set off for the Cosmo, arrived around 4pm via the bellagio fountains playing to time to say goodbye. We self parked on B3 and came up the west lift to check in.
Check in took 15 mins, was pretty busy and we noticed a lot of other Brits checking in the same time.
We upgraded to a fountain view for $30 a night extra. Room was 3121 and has amazing view and immaculate. Japanese soaking tub, balcony, and large living area was fab (How funny that puddycat ended up in room 3123 just after us.)
After a quick freshen up we head down to the casino and sign up for identity cards. No free play offers available.
We spend an hour or so at the Cosmo and I blow $40 in no time, playing wizard of oz and wheel of fortune. TH was $10 up straight away on the hangover and decided to walk away!
His luck continued on cheers. Drinks service very good here the whole trip.
We then head up to NYNY to pick up our mlife cards and I redeem two myvegas coupons. We then hit a few slots. Slow drinks service in here. Head over to hangover game just as we were about the leave and I win $6 straight away which I was happy with, TH gets the bonus round at the same time and hits Alan's progressive! $490! Woohoo!:j
We then head on to Excaliber, addicted the the hangover slot. I hit phils progressive on hangover in Excalibur $100! Woohoo!:beer:
Not much luck in Luxor, so head onto slice of vegas to use a rest.com voucher and were both starving so got a pizza each. TH got a curry one and I had buffalo. Both very nice.
Onto Mandalay bay after and I won $30ish on batman, decided to call it a day around 1am with $80 still in my kitty and $600 in our winning pot.We walked back from Mandalay bay, took about 35 mins.
Monday
Woke at 7, went down to the bamboo pool at 8:30. We got a bucket of 5 corona for $34.
Got to around 12 and was very hot, we headed back to room then headed out to Monte Carlo for a myvegas $50 credit.
We redeemed the voucher and had a quick play of pawn stars. TH won $56 on a bonus.
We headed to Diablos and both had the steak burrito for lunch. Was very nice. Had a strawberry frozen cocktail to hit nearer the $50.
We then went to Planet Hollywood and signed up for total rewards cards. Went over the hangover slots and both turned $10 into $20.
We then headed down to Westins for $3 BJ. Spent a while in there and walked away $20 down. Nice dealers on the BJ table, very quite when we were there.
Headed back through Ballys and Paris. No betting here but saw a nice low limit roulette machine section we were going to head back to but never did.
We headed back to the room to relax for a while & get changed, then headed out to NYNY via Aria. Played the Airplane slot and won $20. Really liked the feel of Aria.
Made our way to Sporting House in NYNY to redeem our $75 myvegas credit. Breaded courgette sticks to start(very nice) and I have steak and TH has pizza for main. Overall very nice. A cold was kicking in and throat really sore, so head back to room for midnight via CVS for vit c.
Tuesday
Get to bamboo pool for around 10, still lots of chairs. Stayed for a couple of hours then headed up to room and got changed. Midday sun was too much by the pool.
We head out to Bellagio for the buffet, another myvegas credit. Had a small win on family guy game at Cosmo on the way there.:T
The Buffet was very nice, roasted chicken, ribs, steak and shrimp was very good. And the deserts were plentiful! So much choice even sugar free cheesecake.
Stuffed we head out to play some slots. I win a bonus on Aladdin :-) $30 up.
TH wins a bonus on Kiss, breaks even overall.
We then head to caesars palace. I win on hangover again, and a small win on a roulette table.
Then over to flamingo and I win on Aladdin again, this time $55, I like this game :j
Head to planet hollywood as we have cash out vouchers from yesterday. I won a small amount on Aladdin but put it back in.
Woman next to TH on monopoly won a couple of hundred within a minute betting max :cool:
Head back to Cosmo for quick rest before heading out again.
We head to MGM and I kept winning on plants vs zombies. These machines were next to the old horse racing game that takes quarters, had a bit of fun playing that afterwards. Overall up another couple of hundred.
Then head over to NYNY, $150 myvegas credit at the bar, got there are 9:30, food just stopped being served!
We sat at the VP machines rather than pay the cover charge. The drinks service here was appalling, servers were not very interested and we had to wave them down to get another drink.Several drinks later ( i was on the cocktails and then JDs) and a small play at the casino we head back to the room via McDonald's!
Wednesday
Day we leave the cosmo and checkin to our tower suite at the mirage, another myvegas comp booked back in January when they still had the decent rooms for a bargain point redemption.
We sleep until 930, bit rough after last nights drinks, and check out of the cosmo at 11. We head over to the mirage via westins, TH cashes in a voucher he forgot to the other day. The drive there on the strip was very slow.
Mirage didn't have our room ready so we give in our bags and try to redeem a voucher for lobby bar drinks but its closed! We go to the vip checkin desk and a woman gives us $50 f&b credit for the inconvenience and tells us a room is now ready!
Head to the room and amazed by the view and the size of the suite. Will put some pics up on the Flickr site soon.
We head out via rhumbar, didnt fancy the cocktails so have a few beers and head over to explore casino royale, the quad and harrahs, TH has more luck here than me.
Eventually peckish so I have $1.99 hotdog in casino royale. TH had slice of pizza at the place next door.
Head to Venetian, lose! lose! lose!
Treasure island next, TH has good luck here. We then head back up and go to margaritaville for dinner. We get our favourite volcano nachos and wings, this time in the jerk sauce rather than buffalo - very nice. 15 minute wait for the table, and were only able to put a minor dent in the huge nachos.
Head back to the mirage and lose! My cold still around so I head back to the room at 11 for some vitamin c and watch the tv at the end of the bed.
TH stays out till 5am!
Thursday
I went to check out the pool at 9am, massive pool but i didn't like the chair arrangement, literally on top of each other. Came back to room at 12, TH rough from his night out! He said he spent a while at casino royale with the $1 beers and then moved around as he kept getting propositioned a lot! It opened his eyes a bit more being out on his own.
We get the tram to TI and walk to strip burger for around 2ish. I had mushroom swiss, TH had the chicken burger. We also got the pickle fries - very nice!. Really enjoyed it, definitely a lovely burger, would go again. Had a rest.com voucher so didn't have much to pay at the end.
Went round fashion show mall for a while and picked up a couple of bits in hollister.
Went to the wynn & lost $60, went to encore and won it back! Bonus on a CSI slot and then on roulette.
We then headed back to the room to relax for an hour and bring the shopping bags back. Head out at 9ish & had our lobby bar drink voucher, then headed to harrahs. Lost $40 on a roulette table which put me on a downer straight away. After a little walk round we found a lot more people were in Vegas for the EDC, much busier than the other nights, we were both shattered and in no mood for the extra crowds so we decided to grab food at chipotle and retire to our suite!
Friday
Check out day, onwards up to Zion. Visit the Secret Garden after checking out. A few people having dolphin experiences so we saw quite a bit of the dolphins. good selection of Lions etc at the back of the dolphin habitat. This was another myvegas comp! Not sure if its worth the full admission fee.
Before we leave Vegas we head to NYNY in the car and redeem our last myvegas voucher at NFI. I had the shepherds pie and TH had the irish stew. Both very good and huge portions. We stop by the North outlets on the way out but didn't catch any bargains here.
Overall a successful trip gambling. Came with.$2000 and left with $1400. As I said in an earlier post we would like to combine a future trip with Hawaii. Better get saving!:D0 -
thanks for the heads up on the Virgin prices - looks like booking direct with Virgin are about the same price - mostly £5 higher or lower for the dates we might be looking at in March so will be having a closer look at the weeked...for £5 more I would book direct with the airline but that's just me.Does remembering a time that a certain degree of personal responsibility was more or less standard means that I am officially old?0
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...for £5 more I would book direct with the airline but that's just me.
Me too previously.
However used netflights for our flights this year (March) which I booked last year.
The confirmation from them gave me the BA booking ref so was easily able to find on ba site, add our membership numbers etc.
A couple of the flights were not showing as they were with AA but a call to BA got us the AA ref and a few messages on twitter got us seat reservations for the AA legs (LAX/LAS, LAS/DFW and DFW/LHR) leaving me with just the Newcastle/LHR then LHR/LAX and LHR back home to sort online when it was available.
Separately we went for the option which gave us the least possible time in LA - in this case 2 hours. This ensured that we were given priority customs/security passes. I would not have liked to be in the queue which was at least a couple of hours long.0 -
just be aware of spring break and March madness in March/April...0
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