Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

WestHamDaz

June

has anyone had any experience booking hotels via the high street travel agents?

The reason i ask is that last night I price up 3 nights at Luxor, 3 at golden nugget and 6 at the encore and at todays prices on the hotels websites and it worked out at roughly £970 based on an exchange rate of 1.60 $/£

Tonight, pricing up the same hotels for the same dates on thomson.co.uk they are quoting £818, but we're unsure as to whether there we would be hit with any other resort fees/tax after booking.through them,

I know we are going in june and prices could change as more deals come out but the encore at that price (£544 for 6 nights) is better than booking direct ($1053) at encore's website

ultimate_shopaholic

August

WestHamDaz wrote: »

has anyone had any experience booking hotels via the high street travel agents?

The reason i ask is that last night I price up 3 nights at Luxor, 3 at golden nugget and 6 at the encore and at todays prices on the hotels websites and it worked out at roughly £970 based on an exchange rate of 1.60 $/£

Tonight, pricing up the same hotels for the same dates on thomson.co.uk they are quoting £818, but we're unsure as to whether there we would be hit with any other resort fees/tax after booking.through them,

I know we are going in june and prices could change as more deals come out but the encore at that price (£544 for 6 nights) is better than booking direct ($1053) at encore's website

Did you try the promotion that Encore is offering atm where you get 25% off? I found that Travelrepublic.co.uk is sometimes good for hotels! I have found booking with the hotel direct is generally the cheapest if you can find promotion codes especially, plus with most hotels although you pay a deposit if you find a better promo code you have the freedom to change your booking.

WestHamDaz

June

ultimate_shopaholic wrote: »

Did you try the promotion that Encore is offering atm where you get 25% off? I found that Travelrepublic.co.uk is sometimes good for hotels! I have found booking with the hotel direct is generally the cheapest if you can find promotion codes especially, plus with most hotels although you pay a deposit if you find a better promo code you have the freedom to change your booking.

i did, through the encores website, using the promo code EARLYBOOKING it took our 6 nights down to $1053 from an initial $1700 i think it was. Looking on thomson.co.uk tonight they are quoting £544 for the same dates but it isnt clear if there are any resort fees/tax to pay when we get out there.

ferf1223

April

WestHamDaz wrote: »

I know we are going in june and prices could change as more deals come out but the encore at that price (£544 for 6 nights) is better than booking direct ($1053) at encore's website

No experience with booking this way - but this would make me a bit nervous - from the T&Cs.

2. The price you pay
All prices we advertise are accurate at the date published, but we reserve the right to change any of those prices from time to time. Prices can go up or down. We will be able to tell you or your travel agent the up-to-date price of your chosen accommodation advertised by us before confirming your booking.

We reserve the right to increase the price of your accommodation after you have booked but no later than 30 days before the arrival date stipulated and will forward an Amendment Invoice reflecting any changes made. After a Confirmation Invoice has been sent to you, any increase to your accommodation price will be as the result of changes in our costs of supplying your accommodation resulting from currency fluctuations and government action. An administration charge and any relevant travel agent’s commission is included within these amounts.

Another thing to consider - it looks like you have to pay the full amount up front and face cancellation penalties should you have to cancel. Booking direct you pay the first night deposit and can cancel 24-72 hours before arrival (depending on the hotel) and get a refund.

WestHamDaz

June

ferf1223 wrote: »

No experience with booking this way - but this would make me a bit nervous - from the T&Cs.

2. The price you pay
All prices we advertise are accurate at the date published, but we reserve the right to change any of those prices from time to time. Prices can go up or down. We will be able to tell you or your travel agent the up-to-date price of your chosen accommodation advertised by us before confirming your booking.

We reserve the right to increase the price of your accommodation after you have booked but no later than 30 days before the arrival date stipulated and will forward an Amendment Invoice reflecting any changes made. After a Confirmation Invoice has been sent to you, any increase to your accommodation price will be as the result of changes in our costs of supplying your accommodation resulting from currency fluctuations and government action. An administration charge and any relevant travel agent’s commission is included within these amounts.

Another thing to consider - it looks like you have to pay the full amount up front and face cancellation penalties should you have to cancel. Booking direct you pay the first night deposit and can cancel 24-72 hours before arrival (depending on the hotel) and get a refund.

we must have been on the same page at the same time ferf as ive just read that. basically they will up the price if they felt like it/£/$ rate worsens but im damn certain they wouldnt lower the price if the exchange rate improves!

Also with the encore deal i think i read its non refundable and changes cant be made although i may be confused as ive looked at so many offers now since we decided we're going back to vegas!

ultimate_shopaholic

August

WestHamDaz wrote: »

we must have been on the same page at the same time ferf as ive just read that. basically they will up the price if they felt like it/£/$ rate worsens but im damn certain they wouldnt lower the price if the exchange rate improves!

Also with the encore deal i think i read its non refundable and changes cant be made although i may be confused as ive looked at so many offers now since we decided we're going back to vegas!

I think you're probably right, whenever I've looked at booking hotels anywhere other than direct with the hotel it tends to be non refundable, as you say. Even if you book through Encore direct and you see it cheaper on Thomson before you depart you can always cancel and rebook the cheaper option.

mattwallisuk

Regarding Virgin flights, personally I much prefer a 3 or 4 hour shorter travel time and just deal with a slightly more uncomfortable seat. Other than it being a slightly older plane/seat the service is as good as BA/etc and your saving over 8 hours there and back in time in the air, as well as hassle at connecting airports in the states, which can be a real pain in the bum.

pennylane99

June

WestHamDaz wrote: »

has anyone had any experience booking hotels via the high street travel agents?

The reason i ask is that last night I price up 3 nights at Luxor, 3 at golden nugget and 6 at the encore and at todays prices on the hotels websites and it worked out at roughly £970 based on an exchange rate of 1.60 $/£

Tonight, pricing up the same hotels for the same dates on thomson.co.uk they are quoting £818, but we're unsure as to whether there we would be hit with any other resort fees/tax after booking.through them,

I know we are going in june and prices could change as more deals come out but the encore at that price (£544 for 6 nights) is better than booking direct ($1053) at encore's website

have a look at cityandshow.com, they often have good deals on.
I have used them a number of times with no problem, and several others on here have used them too.

That 25% discount offer direct with Encore is non refundable, non changeable and you have to pay in full at booking.

Dowsy

April

Hello people!

Still been trying to keep up to date with the thread since we last went to LV last April. We have now booked our flights to go back there in April this evening ( £473.80 each with Virgin ) so all very exciting again! :j Now just need to sort out where we want to stay. We are thinking of staying at 3 different hotels this time, maybe have 2 nights then 3 nights as it will be Friday,Saturday and Sunday then 2 nights. For the weekend 3 nights we might do a cheap hotel to keep the cost down as from memory weekend rates in Vegas are a lot higher than weekdays even with promotions. In the past we have stayed at Luxor,MGM and The Wynn. Ideally we would like to try 3 different hotels and possibly experiencing down town for a couple of nights. Ive seen a number of negative posts about staying down town, does anyone have any positive recommendations?

WestHamDaz

June

pennylane99 wrote: »

have a look at cityandshow.com, they often have good deals on.
I have used them a number of times with no problem, and several others on here have used them too.

thanks, i'll take a look. the missus has been on travel republic's website and prices are even better on there at the moment.