Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

stoneman

September

indiegirl wrote: »

I wonder if PH's merger will allow existing A-List players to merge their cards with a TR, or even better in my case (A-List holder from my stay at PH last year, but no TR card), allow my A-List card to give me offers in the other HET properties.

One can dream.....

I am somewhat worried about this. We are both A list gold card holders, we get double points, free access to the spa even if we are not staying there, priority valet, free upgrade if staying there, and special offers. what happens to us?? Unfortunately we seem to have lost our cards so don't know our numbers to log in to A list to see if there is any info.
Edit: Just phoned them and doesn't look good. the A list card will no longer exist and it will just be merged with our existing TR card. the lady at the A list desk does not at this time know what HET will offer us if anything at all.

luci

May

With all this talk of checking rates with HET, I thought I'd check our rates with Bally's again.

The rates for our 4 nights have dropped and with the REWARDS code I have managed to save another $50. Sweet!

tingtong

TangoBunny wrote: »

Ok I signed in with total rewards
as an example I just put in my last 4 days for comparison
Harrah's
Luxury...$330.............without TR..........$420
Deluxe...$370......................................$460

Flamingo
Deluxe...$280...............NO TR............$380

Bally's
South Tower.....$275......no TR............$344
North Tower.....$395...........................$464

Quite a saving bearing in mind we have never gambled and only stayed in HET hotels 3 times on previous trips...twice at IP booked at a cheaper rate through a casino host friend and once at the Flamingo

Wow, I just tried this too - spent very little on our last trip and this is what I get:

7 nights, Flamingo
Deluxe - $365 ($570 not logged in)
Go Deluxe - $645 ($850 " " ")

Even offered IP for $195 for a whole week (the weekday nights were $15 each) !

Amazing saving really, just goes to show how important it is to join the players clubs, even if you hardly gamble like us. Sure I've read here about upgrading from Deluxe to Go room (for a charge). Is it something like $25 a night at check-in ?

Alt

April

luci wrote: »

With all this talk of checking rates with HET, I thought I'd check our rates with Bally's again.

The rates for our 4 nights have dropped and with the REWARDS code I have managed to save another $50. Sweet!

Is there a reason why all you vegas veterans book direct? I have checked my rates direct and via 3rd party sites (Hotels.com and Expedia) and I found the latter cheaper based on today's exchange rate not to mention the 10% cashback you get via Quidco

BTW... there is a good offer today posted on Fatwallet site for MGM rooms from $55 but I was not sure if I am allowed to cut and paste here

tingtong

Alt wrote: »

Is there a reason why all you vegas veterans book direct? I have checked my rates direct and via 3rd party sites (Hotels.com and Expedia) and I found the latter cheaper based on today's exchange rate not to mention the 10% cashback you get via Quidco

BTW... there is a good offer today posted on Fatwallet site for MGM rooms from $55 but I was not sure if I am allowed to cut and paste here

It's down to the flexibility of booking direct. Most direct bookings can be cancelled without charge right up to the day before travel, whereas 3rd party bookings tend to have cancellation charges, or cannot be cancelled (not all of them though).

If you see a better deal at the same hotel, you can normally call the hotel and they will amend your existing booking to the better rate.

Alt

April

tingtong wrote: »

It's down to the flexibility of booking direct. Most direct bookings can be cancelled without charge right up to the day before travel, whereas 3rd party bookings tend to have cancellation charges, or cannot be cancelled (not all of them though).

If you see a better deal at the same hotel, you can normally call the hotel and they will amend your existing booking to the better rate.

ok, thanks for the info. Unless I have misunderstood the t&C for expedia and hotels.com, both will allow free cancellation upto around 2-3 days before start date.

tingtong

Alt wrote: »

ok, thanks for the info. Unless I have misunderstood the t&C for expedia and hotels.com, both will allow free cancellation upto around 2-3 days before start date.

If that's the case then book with Expedia / Hotels.com. BUT, keep checking for better deals every week or so, something else will almost certainly come up in the meantime.

Also, make yourself aware of the resort fees that some hotels charge, so you can cost out the booking properly:

http://www.vegas.com/incl/resortfees.html

As far as I am aware, these will apply regardless whether you book direct or with a 3rd party (can someone please confirm this ?).

Alt

April

tingtong wrote: »

As far as I am aware, these will apply regardless whether you book direct or with a 3rd party (can someone please confirm this ?).

Oh I can confirm that however my booking is with Bally's and my current booking for 4 weekdays classic room is for £121 a/i

tingtong

Alt wrote: »

Oh I can confirm that however my booking is with Bally's and my current booking for 4 weekdays classic room is for £121 a/i

Forgot to add, one other benefit of booking direct with the hotel is that they normally only charge the 1st night as a deposit - Expedia etc expect you to pay the whole amount up front.

EDIT: Found another list of resort fees (seems up to date), personally I find this easier to see 'at-a-glance' what everywhere charges:
http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50749

For me, resort fees are just another way of hotels being able to advertise 'attention grabbing' prices, which no-one will actually pay, as the extra fees are not optional. Reminds me somewhat of Ryanair (although their fees can just about be avoided), perhaps O'Leary has been over to Vegas !

luci

May

Alt wrote: »

Is there a reason why all you vegas veterans book direct? I have checked my rates direct and via 3rd party sites (Hotels.com and Expedia) and I found the latter cheaper based on today's exchange rate not to mention the 10% cashback you get via Quidco

BTW... there is a good offer today posted on Fatwallet site for MGM rooms from $55 but I was not sure if I am allowed to cut and paste here

Which dates are you going?

I just checked my dates booking direct with Bally's v Hotels.com and Expedia

Bally's - $36/night
Hotels.com - £46/night or $72
Expedia.com - $72

It's a no-brainer for my dates.