Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

tingtong

Fragments_Of_Sanity wrote: »

This ongoing support is brilliant.

To address a few points;

Nobody in the group has been to Vegas before, so I should factor in what Ferf1223 said. I know the bride wouldn't be at all put out if I stayed somewhere else because she herself suggested it to me when we discovered the problem.

I could say to them at night to meet up with me at my hotel lobby at an arranged time but you can't factor in any unforeseen delays that way. Would need to find out about the cost of calls while away, and you need a triband phone too, I'm sure. If I flew myself that would definitely be a must, or else use the hotel phone (costly probably).

I'm not hugely bothered about the hotel being amazing, because I'm one of those people who's trying to make it manageable cost-wise. I am aiming to keep the cost of the trip to about £700 before spending money for the week. Flights seem to be in the mid 300 to 400 point just now (flying from Manchester that is. I actually live near Glasgow so could price those up). My ideal would be for Thomas Cook to allow me to keep just the flight part of the package and cancel the accom bit, to avoid the uncertainties of a novice flying alone, but I don't know how they woud view this. Will speak to them this week about it.

Do you think I should push it about her basically being dishonest about the underoccupancy fee?

If I were you, I would do whatever I could to get out of staying at the Stratosphere (without paying cancellation fees). For the sort of money you are spending, you can get a lot better hotel (and in a much better location).

To be fair, I think as someone else pointed out, package deals do tend to have single occupancy surcharges, whereas when you book directly with the hotel, you simply pay a price for the room, whether there's one or two of you. Obviously if two people share a room, it then works out cheaper per person.

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Congratulations!!!

Fragments_Of_Sanity

tingtong wrote: »

If I were you, I would do whatever I could to get out of staying at the Stratosphere (without paying cancellation fees). For the sort of money you are spending, you can get a lot better hotel (and in a much better location).

To be fair, I think as someone else pointed out, package deals do tend to have single occupancy surcharges, whereas when you book directly with the hotel, you simply pay a price for the room, whether there's one or two of you. Obviously if two people share a room, it then works out cheaper per person.

Thanks for the advice on the hotel.

The main thing I'm annoyed about r.e her comments regarding the single occupancy were to dismiss the online price I had found and state that it would be subject to the charge also, so I wouldn't be saving any money at all. She said that she phoned the hotel and spoke to someone there who confirmed this.

She also stated that I would get a better room booking via thomas cook than by myself, which others have disputed.

I understand the travel agents have to make something from bookings but out and out lying and misleading customers is the wrong way to go about it.

tingtong

Fragments_Of_Sanity wrote: »

Thanks for the advice on the hotel.

The main thing I'm annoyed about r.e her comments regarding the single occupancy were to dismiss the online price I had found and state that it would be subject to the charge also, so I wouldn't be saving any money at all. She said that she phoned the hotel and spoke to someone there who confirmed this.

She also stated that I would get a better room booking via thomas cook than by myself, which others have disputed.

I understand the travel agents have to make something from bookings but out and out lying and misleading customers is the wrong way to go about it.

If you have paid the deposit on your credit card, you may be able to take it up with them (if it's over £100 I think). See how you get on with the travel agent first but that may be another option if you want your money back.

There's certainly no guarantee of getting a better room booking through a travel agent, unless of course you pay for a better room in advance.

pebblesmax

The Bellagio Fountains

Fragments Of Sanity

If you are travelling alone you will almost certainly get a far better deal direct instead of going for a package.

Granted, you may be better travelling with the rest of the people on a Thomas Cook flight, but PLEASE don't book your single hotel room with them. Anyone who posts on here will agree with that. Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask for more advice.

Fragments_Of_Sanity

Thanks guys.

I used my debit card, silly probably, I know, but I just changed CCs via balance transfer and didn't want to put anything on it which would negate the 0% rate. (Plus it was only 70 odd £ rather than 100 or over).

Anyway, I will keep you updated and let you know how my quest to get this sorted goes!

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Totally agree with everyone else that it will be far cheaper booking the hotel direct than through TC. Get the advice on Page 1 of this topic. We are going in just under 4 weeks and our cheapest hotel is the MGM Grand at $49 a night which is £35 and that for both of us, not each, as you pay for the room and not per person.

Perhaps you can put your deposit towards you flight with TC, but you should check the price of the flight online yourself first to make sure you are not ripped off.

Personally, if you still want to go through the TA so you don't lose your deposit, you should ask to deal with another agent and make the point that you don't want to deal with someone who blatantly lies to you.

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

Fragments_Of_Sanity wrote: »

I understand the travel agents have to make something from bookings but out and out lying and misleading customers is the wrong way to go about it.

I agree - though I suppose that being upfront and honest in cases like this would mean they would lose the booking...so they take the chance that the customer won't know any better.

You could perhaps say to her that you have personally researched the matter and determined that whatever information she was provided (and provided you) was absolutely false and that on the basis that the information she provided you was inaccurate and misleading, you would expect that she would work with you on sorting out the flight-only booking with the deposit you've already paid and release you from any obligation to the hotel portion.

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

sew109 wrote: »

I am pleased to say that all my trips to Las Vegas this year (and probably for several more) have been cancelled. We have just found out that Mrs Sew is expecting our first baby, we had no idea and she is 13 weeks into the term, all the scans look good and we have even worked out that we think that the little mite was concivied most likely at Encore ;-) I never thought that I would be glad to have to cancel Vegas trips but you bet I am now ;-)

Congratulations to you and Mrs Sew! How exciting for you both!

nvh

The Bellagio Fountains

2 things:

1) long shot, but has anyone tried new T&T (mexican restaurant) @ Luxor?
http://www.luxor.com/dining/dining_t_and_t.aspx

2) right then you April vegas nuts, the cirque 25% discount for April is now up - think we're going to try Mystere have fun!

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/lasvegas/en/promotions/index.asp


edit: argh! nuts!... we're splitting our trip between two hotels.

When we're up @ Paris, the Mystere (TI) offer isn't on for the dates we're there... but it is for when we're at MB!

So i thought, 'ok' Ka (MGM) instead for when we're down @ MB... and it's the opposite way round!! (offer only available when we're at Paris!) ... typical! argh! lol