Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

duchy

May

samphe wrote: »

Im about to take the plunge and book my Vegas trip. There is a2% charge for paying by credit card. I dont have to pay by credit card as i have the funds available, but i wondered if there is any advantage to doing this for the cover i would get from the credit card company? Bearing in mind 2% is approx £50.00 i'm not sure its worth it.

If the travel company were to go bust, is this something that holiday insurance would cover anyway. The travel company is ABTA bonded.

Any suggestions welcome!

If it's ABTA bonded I'd save the 2% you'll be fine with insurance and ABTA bonding if it's a complete package. Flight only is a little less clear cut though.

samphe

May

Following on from my earlier question i now have another!

From what i can gather the widescreen rooms in the Excalibur are the refurbished rooms. Its an extra £117 (in total for the 9 nights for 4 people)to upgrade to these when i book. Is it worth doing and do you think it would be cheaper to upgrade directly with the Excalibur.
If it is cheaper to do it directly, could this be done before i go or once i get there?

Sorry so many questions!

duchy

May

OK I get it-It's the cocktail waitresses

I always thought it looked really nice but I don't "do" driving in Vegas -I've heard the M is great.

I like the Orleans for the good CWs -genuinely nice and fast. Although my criteria of "nice" is maybe different to yours :rotfl::rotfl:

My friends were horrified I refused to join them for a stay in March-they reckoned it was "In Vegas" I explained I don't regard the SunCoast as in Vegas and without a car and no desire to play golf -it wasn't for me LOL

Spursman180 wrote: »

I've played in the South point quite a few times and it's the cocktail waitresses!!! No seriously it's the cocktail waitresses....Doh.

Seriously (proper) It is on Las Vegas Boulevard a few miles south of the Mirage. I always hire a car so it is ideally located for what I want to do. The Outlet centre is a short drive as is Frys electronics (serious boys toys and gadgets)

A few miles further south is the Mresort ooh! my favourite place in Vegas. I pretty much refuse to gamble on the strip itself as the casinos stiff you on the odds they pay out on the table games and machines. Both South point and the M have what is described as full pay machines.

It is easy to hit the I15 to go downtown my second favourite place is the Golden Nugget, although they are tightening up on blackjack. If I want to go to the Rio/ Orleans/ Gold coast/ Strat etc again an easy run avoiding the strip itself.

Obviously a car is a must as it is beyond the range of the Deuce and taxi fares will seriously add up so a hire car works out cheaper.

Other points are that it has a massive sports book and a close by deli where you order things one dish at a time, order a sandwich or hot dog and a slice of cake and your screwed, decent security who whilst they don't mess about are at least able to interact with you using words other than Freeze MoFo etc.

Oh yeah did I mention the cocktail waitresses?

duchy

May

Here's my plan for my May trip

Tuesday Fly London Vegas -not decided which airline yet -probably Continental or United as I have status with them. Seems to work out cheaper to buy a ticket to LAX and then switch to SouthWest on their $19 specials as LAX is much cheaper to fly to than LAS although need to balance that out against the misconnect risk. Won't be booking til end of January probably so still chewing that over

1 night booked at C Palace-comped -Forum room so for one night not too fussed about an upgrade .

Next morning hit the ground running and fly up to Idaho Falls where a friend is having a benefit concert and a marathon. In a MAD moment I agreed not only to help out but also to run . Flights already booked on an award ticket as Idaho Falls is expensive to fly to-was cheaper to fly to Salt Lake City then get the shuttle but as that is a four hour road trip -I'd rather burn the miles !!

Sunday hobble out of Dodge...er I mean Idaho and fly back to Vegas for some much needed R&R -am on an early morning flight but hoping to switch that for a midday flight when award availability opens up.

My reward for all the training and hopefully completing the marathon (It's for a great cause -supplying hearing aids to kids in third world countries ) is three nights in Vegas back at C Palace -again comped and hopefully the $20 trick will work as well as last time and move me from the Forum tower into Augustus. Not going to be a busy trip-bit of gambling-bit of sun and just one or two shows-thinking Human Nature and Donny and Marie -so won't be going far from mid-strip -even if I'm capable of walking LOL Maybe a massage on the Sunday -I'll need it !!!!

delwynshd

I doubt it would be cheaper to upgrade on arrival at the hotel

Its only about £3 a day


Thanks
Del

samphe wrote: »

Following on from my earlier question i now have another!

From what i can gather the widescreen rooms in the Excalibur are the refurbished rooms. Its an extra £117 (in total for the 9 nights for 4 people)to upgrade to these when i book. Is it worth doing and do you think it would be cheaper to upgrade directly with the Excalibur.
If it is cheaper to do it directly, could this be done before i go or once i get there?

Sorry so many questions!

delwynshd

Is the company your booking with ATOL bonded too?

Thanks
Del

samphe wrote: »

Im about to take the plunge and book my Vegas trip. There is a2% charge for paying by credit card. I dont have to pay by credit card as i have the funds available, but i wondered if there is any advantage to doing this for the cover i would get from the credit card company? Bearing in mind 2% is approx £50.00 i'm not sure its worth it.

If the travel company were to go bust, is this something that holiday insurance would cover anyway. The travel company is ABTA bonded.

Any suggestions welcome!

mookybargirl

March

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with Venetian, for now at least, and hope to better the price. In all honesty, I'd still stay there at the price, so we'll see what else comes up.
I do love Bellagio as a hotel, but the rooms are just a little disappointing. No doubt, I'll have changed things a dozen times in the next 12 weeks. A few trips ago, I changed all our bookings the day before our flights due to a great offer. Hubby thought I was crazy.....:rotfl:

Oh, thanks for the reminder about M. I've not visited there yet, so that's on my to-do list. We'll have a car for a few days anyway, so I suspect it's pretty straight forward to get to....

samphe

May

delwynsholidaydeals wrote: »

I doubt it would be cheaper to upgrade on arrival at the hotel

Its only about £3 a day


Thanks
Del

£3 a day? By that do you mean per person per day?
Aren't room upgrade prices usually quoted per room not per person?

pebblesmax

November / December

From memory, it was $20 per room per day to upgrade to a widescreen room at Excal last May. We didn't bother. The "upgraded rooms aren't all that much better than the standard. They have slightly different furniture, and a flat screen telly.

samphe

May

pebblesmax wrote: »

From memory, it was $20 per room per day to upgrade to a widescreen room at Excal last May. We didn't bother. The "upgraded rooms aren't all that much better than the standard. They have slightly different furniture, and a flat screen telly.

Thanks for the info pebblesmax. Out of curiosity, do the "upgraded" rooms have a better view?