Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009 part 2

nvh

little_jem wrote: »

A big Thanks to Trets77, Ferf1223 and wdyw for your replys to my above post, all much appreciated.

Have taken the plunge :j and booked our flights as am now sure we will find pleanty to amuse ourselves for two weeks. Here is what I am thinking:

Day 1 (7th oct) - Arrive vegas and stay for one night to recover from flight
Day 2 (8th oct) - head to death valley then onto tonopah to stay the night.
Day 3 (9th oct) - head to yosemite stay the night.
Day 4 (10th oct) - drive to LA stay the night.
Day 5 (11th oct) -la stay the night
day 6 (12th oct)- drive back to vegas, stay the night.
day 7 (13th oct) drive to flagstaff or williams (stay the night)
day 8 (14th oct) - drive to grand canyon (stay night)
day 9 (15th oct)- Explore grand canyon (stay night)
day 10 (16th oct) - drive back to vegas stay night
days 11 onwards (17th oct)to (21st oct) stay on strip in vegas

Would love a bit of feedback if you would be so kind, does this look reasonable?

many thanks in advance

that's some travelling but not as much as i thought... (ie. Yosemite -> LA is only around 5 or 6 hours... i thought it would be more than that )

You've probably already done this, but i've taken the liberty of putting your route / travel times in here
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Las+Vegas,+NV,+USA&daddr=Death+Valley+to:Tonopah,+NV,+USA+to:9039+Village+Dr,+Yosemite+Natl+Pk,+CA+95389,+United+States+(Yosemite+National+Park)+to:Los+Angeles,+CA,+USA+to:Flagstaff,+AZ,+USA+to:86023+to:Las+Vegas,+NV,+USA&geocode=%3BFfJKMgIddUsC-SFeeD3knVrDEA%3B%3BFVP7PwIdAkzf-CH6euX-dkxNDA%3B%3B%3B%3B&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=35.924645,-115.664062&sspn=7.755024,11.447754&ie=UTF8&ll=36.102376,-115.72998&spn=7.737611,11.447754&z=6

Here are the main Zip codes we use for Google Maps main 'areas' - take all directions / timings with a pinch of salt! :
92328 Death Valley
86023 Grand Canyon
89109 Vegas

94102 San Fran
91608 LA

i'd agree with ferf, you probably don't need all that time in and around Grand Canyon... i'd maybe substitute one of those days for an extra day in Vegas at the beginning, or more time @ Yosemite

i'd also have a look at what you want to do in each of the places before you dedicate time to them (ie. what will you do in LA?) - this can help with positioning of hotels etc and reducing travel within the cities

(incidently, we did Death Valley / GC / LA here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11875873&postcount=2306 )

toontoon4 wrote: »

Can anyone advise if flying with BA or Virgin would be better?

i think it's hard to say as BA aren't flying the routes yet so no-one knows what the planes will be like

ferf1223

October , November

nvh wrote: »

i think it's hard to say as BA aren't flying the routes yet so no-one knows what the planes will be like

My sentiments exactly...though I know a lot of people won't fly Virgin until they upgrade the planes on that route.

One thing that makes BA less attractive than Virgin for us is the flight times - especially the return flight not scheduled to land at LHR until 14:05...for us that would mean the cats staying in the kennel an extra night as unlikely we could pick them up on the day of our return.

I'm also not too keen on not arriving in Vegas until after 6pm if things go to schedule, later if they don't.

But that's just me. The flight times might be more attractive to others for various reasons.

nvh

hmm, they're good points ferf... i hadn't thought that BA went from LHR so with that in mind:

i prefer LHR (location wise) to LGW
BUT
I love twilight check-in @ LGW, i've never had in-flight entertainment problems (and like you, probably wouldn't bother me too much if i did as i go prepared)
I love getting to vegas just after lunch, I also love getting back to england around 10am'ish

with all that in mind, it probably comes down to cost for me (or difference in cost), and how the planes actually rate comfort (leg-room) wise and seating configuration

edit: don't forget BA are having 'troubles' at the moment so if you do go with them (or any carrier to be honest) make sure you book on Credit Card... I honestly can't for one second imagine anyone would let BA crumble to the ground but worth doing just in case!

ferf1223

October , November

nvh wrote: »

BUT
I love twilight check-in @ LGW!

And I hadn't even thought of that! also big fans of twilight check-in here, so yeah...I would really miss that if we went with BA.

For us, if we're going to go direct in the future, I still think we would go with Virgin for the scheduling and twilight check-in, even if the planes are generally a bit crap.

itm2

We're planning a visit to Vegas and San Diego next April (around Easter time). Does anyone have any tips for the most cost-effective way of planning the flights? Ideally we'd like London->Vegas->San Diego->London but this would involve 1-way flights so wouldn't be cheap.
Any ideas?

ferf1223

October , November

itm2 wrote: »

We're planning a visit to Vegas and San Diego next April (around Easter time). Does anyone have any tips for the most cost-effective way of planning the flights? Ideally we'd like London->Vegas->San Diego->London but this would involve 1-way flights so wouldn't be cheap.
Any ideas?

Go to Expedia or kayak.co.uk and check multi-city itineraries - you'll be able to see what airlines fly all those routes and they will usually be the least expensive (less expensive than doing several 1-way flights on different carriers)...just use Expedia to get an idea then check prices with the carriers directly and see how the prices compare.

You may be surprised - we found London ->Chicago->Vegas->London was not actually much more expensive than London->Vegas return - and generally less expensive than London->Chicago return.

Oh - and driving from Vegas to San Diego might be an option for you - it's about a 6 hour drive I think, but depending on flight times, etc. may make sense.

Also possible for you to book London->Vegas and San Diego->London as an open-jaw flight...then book your own flight for Vegas->San Diego if times/fares work out better.

Cand

September

Just found this one on Facebook for MGM...

http://www.mgmgrand.com/nfr/

luci

September

BA will be using 777's on the LAS route, but it remains to be seen how old they are, etc. They can't be that old as apparently they have AVOD.

The timings don't bother us. Getting into LAS at 18.30 is about the same as the best connecting flight we can get. Also the return gets us back to Aberdeen at the same time as a connecting flight, but we have the morning and afternoon in LV rather than having to leave early morning.

The problem we have is getting a flight down to any of the London airports early enough to catch a flight out.

CvPiper

May

I think the BA flight offers much better flight times, it means I HAVE to be awake at 18.00 - 21.00 on the day of arrival, so will get to bed normal time and get in time sooner. Where as when I go with Virgin I usually collapse late afternoon and am out of time for days.

Plus living where I do, its about a 4.30 am leave to get a Virgin flight, whereas the BA is a mid morning leave

I do like flying on 747 as they are just stunning (on the outside) but never flown on a 777, but apparently the seat pitches and lengths are the same on BA, but it should be quieter, and quicker to board and get off and through customs - this is a big plus.

CvPiper

May

P.s. We'll only know how good once someone gets a BA flight in October!