Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009 part 2

Steff

June

yorkie77 wrote: »

Thanks so much Steff, please could you let me know what companies I should be looking at.

Hi yorkie,
I can only tell you what I will be doing and bow to possible superior knowledge on this forum BUT,

MOST sale prices at the moment run up till end May, beginning of June, which doesnt suit either you or me. SO, what I am doing is checking the following sites daily for Sales/Special Offers for when I want to go in June/July - you do the same for September/October:-

American Airlines (but dont fly direct)
US Airways (not direct)
Delta (not direct)

AND

British Airways from Heathrow (new daily DIRECT route)
Thomas Cook (depending on feedback I may/may not get from this forum - sort of direct - for my dates they pick up in Glasgow BUT you cant get off the plane).

I have three years experience of booking flights for the time I want to go and have found that SOMETIMES AA and Delta have sales in November/December and (as trets advises on the first page of this thread) flights tend to be cheaper for next year if you book them BEFORE XMAS - but no-one can guarantee anything.

For me, if I can get a flight for two (either direct or non-direct) for between £780 and £850 I will be VERY HAPPY - having paid over £1k on my first trip, £880 on my second and £890 on my last trip.

ALSO - I have used this thread to ask the lovely folk to let me know if they come across anything during their own investigations and they have always helped me in the past - so fingers crossed!

Finally - I seem to think that flights to Vegas in September should be a little cheaper as its not peak summer season - but, again, maybe someone on here can agree/disagree with me!
Steff;)

wdyw

Steff wrote: »

Hi yorkie,
I second Kennys opinon - DEFINATELY better to book in advance (at least in my experience) I have never seen flights get cheaper closer to the time (short of the old My Travel very last second deals)

I am flying June/July 2010 and I would hope to have my flight booked in next two weeks to a month.

Steff;)

There still is the odd Mytravel bargain about Steff. There were flights from Manchester to Vegas around the £250 mark a few weeks ago.

Also, they do occasionally check up on the food! We've always got a free meal but last time when they were serving the food they told us that as we hadn't ordered any food we wouldn't be getting fed unless we paid then on the plane. We said fine, but don't know if they forgot or couldn't be bothered to collect the cash but either way we got them for free.

stoneman

September

yorkie77 wrote: »

The price is £1614.75 for 2 adults and 1 child.

:eek::eek:;)

ferf1223

October , November

yorkie77 wrote: »

Thanks for your replys Kenny and Steff. Flights are available to book now with Virgin. The price is £1614.75 for 2 adults and 1 child. Is this a good price? Thanks again for your much appreciated help

Personally, I would wait at least for a bit...if you look the week before the price is nearly £200 less for the 3 of you. Part of me thinks it's that you are so very, very close to the dates that have been released and it's impacting the prices.

And we've regularly seen prices come down after first checking - they do fluctuate quite a lot...I'm always looking at flights for possible dates we might consider. We normally book 6-9 months out, never during school holidays, and I can't remember any time that we've regretted waiting until then in terms of price. Then again, all kinds of stuff in the travel industry has been changing over the last year or so...so what's happened in the past won't necessarily happen in the future.

If it were me booking it, I'd wait to see if they did a sale in the new year...but that's just me - obviously others suggest booking shortly. Ultimately so long as you're happy with the price that's what matters.

Oh - and on other airlines, we recently connected in Chicago with AA and it was great - the planes are much nicer than Virgin and while I thought I would hate making a connection, it wasn't too bad - we left quite a lot of room between flights though. One nice thing about Chicago is you arrive and leave from the same terminal...and while it's a big terminal, it's easy to navigate and plenty of food options, etc.

davidmcg2u

September

Steff wrote: »

Hi,
Anyone on here flown on the new Thomas Cook planes from Manchester to Vegas (either via Glasgow or not?) I have checked their prices for my dates next year and they are currently coming out at £968 for two.

They DONT include any checked luggage in the fare - you have to pay £70 for one case each way (20kg each) and £17.50 for meals.

QUESTION: Has anyone who has flown with them NOT paid for meal and luggage and still got it? I know NEVER to pay for a meal as they dont check BUT I imagine they do with the luggage part OR am I wrong?

If anyone can advise then please let me know. Cheers!

ALSO - I seem to recall that people on here thought the TC planes were greatly superior to the old My Travel planes - can anyone tell me if that is the case?
Steff

Hi,

We have used TC twice from Manchester - April 08 (£720) & Mar 09 (£1060). 2008 was standard seats booked approx. 4 weeks before we went - maybe less than that and 2009 was upgraded seats booked well in advance as it was a pressie.

If I remember right the config was either 2-4-2 or 2-3-2 - any both times we sat on the 2 seats at the side. The seats were fine in both areas but obviously the upgraded 1s were a little bigger & wider.

In terms of luggage & meals I think you get what you pay for so if you need 20kg then pay as you'll get shafted at the airport. The same goes for meals I'd guess.

Hope this helps.

PS - I'm positive Glasgow flights are Jun/Jul only.

yorkie77

October , November

Thanks ferf. It looks like it isn't going to get any worse if I hang fire for a few weeks.

hayels25

hey

we are staying at the Mirage next June for 7 nights but had a question around eating on a budget. Any recommendations where we could go for breakfast in the mornings? I'm not concerned about evenings as we will be trying out different places but for something quick and cheap..what is avaiklable?

Thanks

carolann215

December ( including Xmas and New Year )

yorkie77 wrote: »

Hi all, I am hoping someone can help me please. I am looking to go to Vegas 30 September 2010. I am only looking at direct flights from anywhere in England. I know I can starting looking at prices in the next few days but is it better to wait and if so when is it best to book. Many thanks in advance.

Hi Yorkie
I went this September and started looking at flights in January. For the first 3 weeks the Virgin direct flight was around £400 and then they suddenly went up to £500 about the 20th Jan. Didn't see it come down much below that and the next sale they had on didn't go as far as September.
Carol

luci

September

There is a Denny's directly across from Mirage at Casino Royale. However it is extremely busy (in fact we were told by a waitress that works there that it is the busiest in the US) and there are always long queues for breakfast.

There is also a small food court between Harrah's and Casino Royale with a McDonald's.

There is always Cravings buffet at the Mirage where breakfast is around $13.99-$14.99.

ferf1223

October , November

hayels25 wrote: »

hey

we are staying at the Mirage next June for 7 nights but had a question around eating on a budget. Any recommendations where we could go for breakfast in the mornings? I'm not concerned about evenings as we will be trying out different places but for something quick and cheap..what is avaiklable?

Thanks

There are plenty of options, really. If you're OK with American fast food breakfast there's a Burger King in O'Shea's which is not far. Ellis Island (one block off the strip just off Flamingo) is said to do great breakfasts for not a lot of money - we say every trip we'll try it and we never seem to make it. You can usually find vouchers for money off various buffets online to print before you go, etc. There's also the Denny's at Casino Royale more or less across the street from Mirage.

Luci beat me to most.

The Gold Coast breakfast buffet used to be really good - and it's pretty cheap - $7 or so from what I recall. Main Street Station's breakfast buffet downtown is really good and you can regularly find a 2-for-1 coupon online.