Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

photome

TangoBunny wrote: »

that link didn't work for me neither did the promo code when I entered it from the Flamingo reservations

Link works fine for me, I thought that looks a great deal $50 fo a go room with food credit, so I tried a couple of random midweek nights in Oct and they were $200 a night,,,at the Flamingo!!!! they are having a laugh, dont get me wrong I love the place but not at that price.

ferf1223

April

photome wrote: »

Link works fine for me, I thought that looks a great deal $50 fo a go room with food credit, so I tried a couple of random midweek nights in Oct and they were $200 a night,,,at the Flamingo!!!! they are having a laugh, dont get me wrong I love the place but not at that price.

That's the thing with a lot offers that include food credit at HET properties I think...sometimes they seem to jack the rates up - though could be down to various events in Vegas at the time. I always think it's good to compare a HET promo against the hot deal rates for the same dates...a lot of times the promo ends up more expensive - at least when I've tried.

Because I'm bored, I checked 13-17 October on the offer the Deluxe room is $730...Hot Deals rate is $645...the deal includes an upgrade to a GO room but it's based on availablility at check in, not when booked...so if you take the package price less the $50 food credit, you get $680...so best case you're paying $35 for the upgrade if it's available...worst case you're paying $35 more than had you booked the hot deal rate. That's not to say that the deal works out better for other dates though...always worth checking.

Froggitt

Just checked-in online for my Delta flight tomorrow (not Vegas ) with my shiny new updated ESTA in hand.......but theres nowhere to enter it on their site. Ive got boarding card, skipping checkin, and theyve not checked I have an ESTA.

How does that work then?

Isnt it a check to stop bad men from getting on board a plane? Even if they ask for it at the gate, along with 300 other people (!!!), and enter it into some system, theyre not going to be able to submit it to Uncle Sam and get the numbers checked before the flight leaves......are they? Do they slow down the boarding to collect ESTA numbers?

Another question......on checkin there was an option to enter my Virgin Flying Club number.....but then it wouldnt accept it. Can you earn miles flying Delta with VS, and if so how many?

photome

ESTA is electronic, so as soon as your passport is scanned they will know wether or not you have been approved for ESTA or not.

OOps I see you are skipping check in, I guess they know online by your passport details or they will when at some point your passport is scanned before you board

Dont know the answer to the other ?

georgecostanza_2

October , November

georgecostanza wrote: »

Helicopter trips !

Am looking to do a helicopter trip that will take in the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam , no more then 3 hours door to door . Did one a few years back ( cannot remember who) and am taking the GF this time who would like to see the sites. Not looking at landing in the canyon or white water rafting etc.

Any suggestions on what company is best ? And any discounts too ?

Have found a good sounding and reasonable deal on the site viator.com

Anyone used these chaps before ?

ferf1223

April

photome wrote: »

ESTA is electronic, so as soon as your passport is scanned they will know wether or not you have been approved for ESTA or not.

OOps I see you are skipping check in, I guess they know online by your passport details or they will when at some point your passport is scanned before you board

You have to give your passport number as part of the API details...so I would think that you're right - their system would flag if there was no approved ESTA against that passport.

indiegirl_2

September

I've tried to edit this down as much as possible, but I couldn't trim too much off! S & I got married (well, Civil Partnered) four days before we flew to Vegas, so Vegas for us this time was a sort-of honeymoon and an excuse to spend plenty and be rather carefree...

Tuesday 7th September
Woke relatively early (6am) but had been staying in the Jurys Inn at Heathrow. Had planned to get the tube to Heathrow from Hatton Cross, but there was a 24hr tube strike which meant that we paid £8 one way to take the Heathrow Hopper (H9) bus from the hotel to the terminal.

The seats in economy on American Airlines offered as much comfort and pitch as economy plus on United, in fact we’d go as far to say that American was better. We were fed a couple of hours into the flight, then given snacks/chocolate after about 6 hours, and then a pizza snack around 1.5hrs before landing. They definitely feed you more on American than United, that’s for sure.
Arrived in LA at 2pm local time, and picked our bags up and did customs and security. Went through to wait for Vegas flight. As soon as we boarded the plane to Vegas I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until we were coming in to land in LV. Very unlike me who can’t ever sleep...

We were very lucky with our baggage in LV, the last time we waited nearly an hour but our bags were with us within 20mins of landing; so we hopped out and grabbed a taxi. Forgot to tell the woman not to take the tunnel. Arrived at the Aria. On check-in, I tried with $30 to see if upgrades were available, but there was nothing available; the girl said she’d put a note on the system but we never heard anything after that... so my $30 remained in my pocket. Her loss.

Once unpacked we decided to shower and walk out to get some water and something to snack on; we were feeling very tired at this point but wandered down to CVS (behind Mandarin Oriental) and picked up some bits ‘n pieces. We returned to the room and practically collapsed into bed; this was about 9pm Vegas time.

Wednesday 8th September
I woke up at 1.35am and thought I was wide awake, but soon fell back to sleep. Woke again at 3.45am; but then fell back asleep again. I woke briefly at 7am but fell asleep once more and woke up properly around 9.20am.

Jumped on the tram to Bellagio and wandered through, before crossing over to our old haunt Planet Hollywood, where we exchanged our AList card for a Total Rewards card and played some slots. We were going to have an Earl of Sandwich option for lunch but the queue was snaking back into the casino, so we decided to choose an all-day breakfast from Planet Dailies. The only thing that spoiled it was the waitress’ choice to pop a “international guests often ask us how much to tip” card in, so she got her tip in quarters.

We walked back to Bellagio and got the tram to Monte Carlo. I’d never been in but the ‘Street of Dreams’ from Aria to MC is actually really nice; we felt very comfortable there. We gambled a little in MC but lost it all so wandered back to CVS to pick up some water and drinks for the room. Had $75 resort credit on the Aria offer I booked - counted against anything except one shop and the casino, so used it for internet access and breakfast one morning.

In the evening, we decided to play some slots in Monte Carlo, so headed down there and spent a couple of hours slot-hopping. Had a snack from Rubio’s in the food court in Monte Carlo. Eventually, headed back to our room and crashed out.

Thursday, 9th September 2010
3.45am... awake. WIDE awake. Waited until a more respectable hour then headed over to the food court by the M&M Store for breakfast. We headed into MGM Grand and S played on the Sex & The City machines (first of many - she got hooked). Wandered across to NYNY and over towards Excalibur to take the tram to Mandalay Bay. We’d never been in MB before, and there wasn’t anything that made us want to go back again in a rush. S didn’t fancy the Shark Reef so we took a taxi to the Southern Outlet shops.

As our taxi driver pointed out, compared to the Premium Outlets these are indoor and air conditioned. We spent about 2-2.5hrs there, and had lunch at Sbarro before taking a taxi back to Aria where I crashed for a while. In the evening, we walked over to Planet Hollywood to go to PF Changs for dinner – as usual we over ate! Honey shrimp, Mongolian Beef, twice-fried noodles. So nice but so much! Waddled back to the hotel and crashed again.

Friday 10th September 2010
Walked to Caesars Palace, and through the Forum shops before heading over to gamble in Flamingo, and then onto Bills. Walked back through Bellagio and got tram back to Aria.

S said she couldn’t open the safe in the room on return, and when we looked it had not locked properly. We took our stuff out and I reported it to housekeeping – they had someone call us back and a janitor was with us within 20mins. However, he agreed that the lid is not properly seated, and a new one is needed, (they couldn’t replace that day). We decided not to risk the safe again and to lock our items in our case instead.

Walked to Hard Rock Cafe store by M&Ms – S wanted a mug for a work colleague but they didn’t have anything suitable so she decided against it. We walked down to Fatburger and had an early dinner/lateish lunch – I was very impressed with Fatburger and would go again. We walked over to MGM Grand to see the lions (S decided not to hold a cub even though she’d wanted to.)
We went into NYNY and paid our money to ride the rollercoaster. The photo was so bad S said she wasn’t buying it! We then walked back up the Strip to Aria via CVS for water.

It was much busier today on the strip but especially in the casinos – you can clearly tell that at the weekend the Vegas kids come to play. I’m looking forward to Monday when it will hopefully calm down again; I like Vegas when it’s middling-busy, not heaving.
In the evening we took a stroll back to Monte Carlo and played some slots, S doubled her money on the SATC slots. We then had our biggest win on the slots to date, $50 on the Wheel of Fortune (not bad for a few dollars). Deciding to quit while our luck was in we cashed out and wandered back to Aria where we had a quick go on Reel Millions and Da Vinci Diamonds before calling it a night.

Saturday 11th September 2010
Last night in the Aria!

Went to Paris & Paris shops, briefly stopped in Ballys before wandering up to Harrahs, then over to the Flamingo again. Went into Forum Shops, over to Cheesecake Factory - had the lunch specials, still couldn’t finish them! Then onto the cheesecake - S had Fresh Banana Cream, I opted for the 30th Anniversary (been waiting nearly a year to try it!). Waddled back to room for a few hours, then in the evening went to NYNY – had a pint in Nine Fine Irishmen and bought a Big Chill drink. Headed over to the M&Ms store – bought personalised M&Ms to celebrate our time in Vegas. Went back to the Aria, gambled a little but won nothing of note.

Sunday 12th September
Awake relatively early, I wandered to Monte Carlo's food court and grabbed a McDonalds & a monster Starbucks tea for breakfast (we are both big tea drinkers at home). Checked out from the Aria around 11am, took a taxi to Encore which was about $12 + tip. Checked in at 11.45 - placed $40 in our passport, but it was no good - there were no upgrades available and the woman apologised and returned our money but promised to give us as high a room as possible - we had a 27th floor room (couldn't complain about it at all).

Wandered over to the Fashion Show Mall and had lunch (Nathans Hotdogs) before wandering into the Apple Store (had to stop S from buying an iPad). Mooched around Bloomingdales, Macys etc before popping back to the Food Court and grabbing a Haagan Dazs (one has to treat oneself).

In the evening, we headed to Mirage as we had tickets for Love - a tip here; I bought the tickets back on the $55 offer and picked the highest section (3rd level) - when we got there it wasn't full and they 'upgraded' us to the front section seats and closed off the third section. I think it offered less of a view but was better as we were closer to the dancers. Really enjoyed Love but not sure we'd do another Cirque show as the music was as important as the acts.

Prior to Love, we stopped in the diner place (I wrote it down as a "strange Jewish diner place"), which was a bit odd - food was OK, nothing special but seemed to cater more for sandwiches than hot foods. ETA: Carnegie Deli - thanks for the reminder Ferf!

Monday 13th September
Decided to explore and grabbed some Deuce tickets - $7 each for 24hrs (machine extremely easy to use but you must buy before you board). We took the Gold Line to the Premium Outlets. The journey was quite long - about 45mins in all and through some not-so-salubrious places beyond the Strip. Spent a fortune, and took the Gold line back to Fashion Show Mall

Went to the NY Pizza Place in Wynn shops for dinner - very quiet in there but the pizza was lovely.

In the evening, took advantage of the Deuce 24hr passes and took the Gold line to Freemont Street (Gold Line is so much quicker than the Deuce, and nowhere near as crowded). Went in 4 Queens (S won $71 on Indiana Jones), quite loose slots generally we found.
It looks like they've changed the times of the shows as last year we were in Fremont later and saw American Pie - this year (again) we caught American Pie at 8pm and The Doors at 9pm. In my opinion The Doors was not worth bothering with.

Went back to Wynn – more gambling – but no cocktail waitresses to be seen anywhere, so we moved into Encore – nearly died of thirst there – even less waitresses. V disappointing and the only downer on the Encore/Wynn for us.

Tuesday 14th September
Up & out and on the Deuce to Stratopshere - went to Roxys Diner for breakfast. The waitress forgot to order S’s shake, then three waitresses failed to deliver it and I had to complain to the manager. Eventually got the shake comped off the bill. Food generally good but don't go for the garlic grits with the breakfast - I'd not had them before so tried them - can only describe them as garlic savoury porridge.

Went to the top of the tower, decided against the rides up there but watched and videoed one brave soul doing the Sky Jump; went outside and it was so windy we were glad that we'd opted against the rides!

From the Strat we went onto Sahara, Circus Circus (and Slots A Fun) and Rivieria. Decided to gamble in each to get a cashout voucher.

Headed back down the Strip to the Wynn stop and had lunch in Fashion Show Mall – ‘great wraps’ – they were v nice too.
Dinner in Wynn buffet – comped on Red Card (for both) – astonished that we'd earned a comp so early but very very impressed with Wynn buffet - lots and lots of choice and desserts were lovely.

Wednesday 15th September
Breakfast in Wynn Buffet (S so impressed with dinner she wanted to try breakfast) – paid this time and it did not disappoint again.

Took the Deuce to Excalibur, gambled, Luxor, gambled, watched the Arsenal vs Braga Champions League game (I am a Gooner, sad to say), walked through to Mandalay Bay, took the tram back to Excalibur, walked over to MGM Grand, took the Gold Line to Paris and walked back to Planet Hollywood. Gambled a little, walked through the Miracle Mile shops, watched the rainstorm.

Deuce v crammed & hot – UK Health & Safety would have a fit at the amount of people they cram onto those buses. I so wish they'd put more buses on; or bigger ones. The Gold line was rarely busy by comparison and we noticed that security were at the bus stops encouraging people onto the Gold Line instead.

In the evening, we wanted to catch Deuce to Peppermill, waited 40mins for a Deuce and the driver missed the stop so had to get off at Riviera, before walking back to Peppermill. S had scampi, rice and veg, me New York steak med-well done and lovely too. Really impressed with Peppermill; everything that's been said about it on this forum is true and we will go back when we return.

Thursday 16th September
Started the day in TI, before walking over to Palazzo and Venetian, gambled in Venetian (didn’t need to gamble in Palazzo as the two are linked). Stopped in the David & Goliath store in Venetian shops – dangerous – the Amex was flexed!
Back via Fashion Show Mall, lunch at Zac and Ray’s – sandwiches were lovely.

Back to room – arrived to a handyman working in the bathroom as the maid had reported that the drain wasn’t clearing (impressed at proactivity of housekeeping in Encore). Dropped some bits off and gambled for an hour or so in Encore – I made $20 last all that time and still cashed out $15.70. S checked with Red Card desk and we have enough points for another 2 comped meals so added 2 buffets to the card for the evening. Went back over to the LV souvenir shop and bought some cheesy presents before returning to the room. Started packing – sniff.

After the buffet, we returned to Encore for the evening - more cocktail waitresses around and we managed to get a drink. S had our biggest win of the holiday - she was down to $4 on her cashout voucher and we stuck it into a dollar machine; she bet the max bet ($3) and got into the instant spin win bonus. The wheel spun... and she ended up with $125 from a $3 stake. Cashed that out pretty quick and didn't return to that machine!

Chilled out for the rest of the evening before retiring to bed early.

Friday 17th September
Up relatively early; finished packing and got a taxi to the Aiport. Used the free Wifi in the airport to Skype home quickly, then caught the morning flight to Chicago. Going out we did LHR-LAX-LAS which is lovely because the last flight is just 45mins or so, but coming home LAS-ORD-LHR was perhaps better because the first portion of the flight (3hrs) wasn't too bad at all, and it meant that the flight back to LHR from Chicago was only 7hrs, so total flying time was 10hrs.

---

So that was that... we did the bigger sites and trips last year when we went (helicopter to GC, etc), and this was a much more chilled holiday (even though we are not pool-lovers, we chill out by spending money!!); although if anyone has any Qs I'll be happy to answer them.

gracie10

May

georgecostanza wrote: »

Have found a good sounding and reasonable deal on the site viator.com

Anyone used these chaps before ?

I booked throught these when we went in May, had no problem,would recomment them, but don't think I read the smallprint about the extra tax we had to pay on the day of the trip which kind of pushed the price up.

ferf1223

April

indiegirl wrote: »

Prior to Love, we stopped in the diner place (I wrote it down as a "strange Jewish diner place"), which was a bit odd - food was OK, nothing special but seemed to cater more for sandwiches than hot foods.

Carnegie Deli? Were the sandwiches absolutely huge? It gets great reviews but I wasn't that keen on it...but at the time didn't want a sandwich and went with one of the only hot options - burger - which was pretty much the worst burger I've ever had in Vegas. It wasn't bad, but it was just 'eh'.

Loved reading your trip report and congrats on your marriage (prefer to call it what it really is) - I think we are going to try to use the Gold/Ace bus a bit more next trip...only tried it once to go downtown after years of refusing to take any bus in Vegas...I still refuse to ride the Deuce, but the Ace, I'm thinking we may try a day of getting around via the bus...just to see.

TangoBunny

September

ferf1223 wrote: »

How weird, it works ok for me...maybe try clearing your cache and trying again (no idea if it would help, it's just the first thing I try when I'm having problems).

Did that but still wouldn't work initially....however just managed to get it up and hey presto....they don't have rooms available on that package for my dates....hmmmmm