Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

Ruth_honey

spike2012 wrote: »

Argh suitcase buying is so frustrating, you see something reviewed as half decent but then someone says "actual measurements much smaller than advertised on site" grr

Partner and I each need a main case and a hand luggage case.
Saw a nice small case on Argos, much below Virgins limit of 56 x 36 x 23, but theres a 6kg limit anyway, so can pack small heavier things in that one

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2863881/Trail/searchtext%3ESUIT+CASE.htm#pdpFullProductInformation

Need a main case each without paying over the odds. Can anyone recommend? our max weight is 23kg each case.
Spike

Do you have a TJ Hughes nearby? I've bought some decent cases from there before. I won't spend a fortune on cases but they have to have good wheels & be expandable. They have a website too, but with cases it's nice to see in person if you can. Also worth buying some lugguage scales & taking them with you. Ours were a couple of quid from Home Bargains.

am05

October

Guys

After you all raving about it you have persuaded me to buy a restaurant.com voucher for Stripburger. I wanted to get the $50 cert. On the t & c it says minimum spend $100 dollars? What does this mean? Plus do i have to pay gratuity at stripburger? Also is paypal safe to pay for this?

Thanks

Am

Froggitt

It means you will be very full.

ferf1223

March

am05 wrote: »

Guys

After you all raving about it you have persuaded me to buy a restaurant.com voucher for Stripburger. I wanted to get the $50 cert. On the t & c it says minimum spend $100 dollars? What does this mean? Plus do i have to pay gratuity at stripburger? Also is paypal safe to pay for this?

Thanks

Am

I giggled at Froggit's reply.

The minimum spend in order to use the $50 voucher is $100 - if there are two of you, I would imagine that would be impossible unless you bulk it up with several expensive drinks which may defeat the purpose...I know some have opted to go this way - so for some it may make sense, for us it wouldn't.

Arguably, you should pay a gratuity at any restaurant unless there is a compelling reason not to...but the terms of the r.com certificate for Stripburger indicate that "18% Gratuity added prior to discount". The tip cannot form part of the $100 minimum spend.

So you will pay a minimum of $68 at the restaurant if you go for that voucher - $100 minimum spend + $18 gratuity - $50 voucher.

Edited to add: I actually can't recall Stripburger adding the gratuity automatically...some restaurants stick to the terms, some don't in this respect...if they don't add it to the bill, you should leave a tip as normal on the full value of the meal - pre-discount...the waiter/waitress shouldn't get less of a tip because a voucher was used...the voucher will remind you of this.

I've used PayPal exclusively for restaurant.com purchases and have never had a problem.

killiegirl_2

June

Hi, long time lurker on this thread, off to Vegas for the first time next month and can't wait!
We're staying at the Bellagio and definitely want to try the $20 trick! Does it matter that we're booked through a 3rd party? We booked through Travelocity, so would they only be able to put us in a designated Travelocity room?
I only ask because I was in New York a few years ago and had a terrible room, right next to the service elevator so it was really noisy all night. We asked to be moved (not upgraded, just moved) but were told they couldn't do it as we were booked through Hotelopia and all of the Hotelopia rooms were occupied. (Admittedly we weren't savvy enough to include a tip when we asked!)

Also there are 6 of us so 3 rooms to potentially upgrade. They were all booked together but would our chances of an upgrade be better if the 3 couples checked in separately? I'll be very obviously pregnant so hoping to play the sympathy card! ;-)

Thanks!

photome

August

spike2012 wrote: »

Argh suitcase buying is so frustrating, you see something reviewed as half decent but then someone says "actual measurements much smaller than advertised on site" grr

Partner and I each need a main case and a hand luggage case.
Saw a nice small case on Argos, much below Virgins limit of 56 x 36 x 23, but theres a 6kg limit anyway, so can pack small heavier things in that one

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2863881/Trail/searchtext%3ESUIT+CASE.htm#pdpFullProductInformation

Need a main case each without paying over the odds. Can anyone recommend? our max weight is 23kg each case.
Spike

Have a look at Tripp luggage either on their own website or on/in Debenhams, great quality, good prices as always in sales and a long gtee ,I swopped one without any bother after a couple of years without a receipt and it only had a broken lock

photome

August

killiegirl wrote: »

Hi, long time lurker on this thread, off to Vegas for the first time next month and can't wait!
We're staying at the Bellagio and definitely want to try the $20 trick! Does it matter that we're booked through a 3rd party? We booked through Travelocity, so would they only be able to put us in a designated Travelocity room?
I only ask because I was in New York a few years ago and had a terrible room, right next to the service elevator so it was really noisy all night. We asked to be moved (not upgraded, just moved) but were told they couldn't do it as we were booked through Hotelopia and all of the Hotelopia rooms were occupied. (Admittedly we weren't savvy enough to include a tip when we asked!)

Also there are 6 of us so 3 rooms to potentially upgrade. They were all booked together but would our chances of an upgrade be better if the 3 couples checked in separately? I'll be very obviously pregnant so hoping to play the sympathy card! ;-)

Thanks!

Do you know what room you want? if asking for an upgrade you need to know what to ask for.

How long are you staying, if its a week, you have no chance of an upgrade if you are considering $20 for 3 rooms for a week.

You surely will be checking in seperately though anyway (wont you) in which case a $50 maybe better for each room if its a week

Booking through a 3rd party shouldnt make any difference

ferf1223

March

photome wrote: »

Do you know what room you want? if asking for an upgrade you need to know what to ask for.

I agree with this - even if you just ask for a generic complimentary upgrade, it's good to know what options may be offered to you so you can make a decision - we have had it before where they've said we have A or B, which would you prefer? And while the desk agent can explain the differences to you, the people queuing behind you will most certainly be grateful not to stand there while the agent goes through all the details.

If you guys will be wanting rooms near each other (the only reason I could think you might want to check in together - unless I guess if you booked all 3 rooms on the same reservation?) I would think that would reduce your chances of an upgrade...so I guess it depends on what your priority is - upgrades for those who can nab them, or rooms close together...the two may be mutually exclusive to some extent.

Bellagio has over 3000 rooms - I don't know if they designate any to 3rd party bookings or not...but would guess that they would be less likely to do so than a hotel with a couple hundred rooms...I do think that booking through a 3rd party can sometimes impact your chances if they are quite full, but have read of people being upgraded on 3rd party bookings before so it's not impossible.

luci

May

ferf1223 wrote: »

it means you can't use any of the discount codes that may be about - so you have to pay full price for the voucher for those restaurants that don't allow promo codes to be used.

Still means that you can get a $25 voucher for $10 (if that's what they normally cost)...but when you used to be able to get it for $2 with an 80% off code, it's not as good of a deal as it was.

They now charge $20 for a $25 cert for Stripburger that you could get for $10 with a promo code. If you can no longer use the code for Stripburger then it won't be worth the effort. However they may dropp the cost of the cert, but that remains to be seen.

luci

May

I've been using a Vegas Dine4Less card. It is only valid at a small selection of restaurants and gives you 20% off. Luckily I could use it at Alize and the Steakhouse at Camelot so the saving paid for the tip.

It costs $29.95 and you can get it at the Info Desk in the Miracle Mile. However I got mine free for ordering tickets through Best of Vegas.