Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

bubble113

August

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![/QUOTE]

We have booked hotels through a third party and direct before and have had 2 or 3 rooms booked. We stay for a week and always check in together so that we get the same room type. Would be disappointing if 1 was upgraded without other, have had success with $20 sometimes a bit more trick everytime ($20 per room but have given up to $100 for 3 rooms)
Paris, all 3 'P' rooms but on different floors. 2 rooms at Mandalay went from a 550 to a 750, the check in clerk asked what type of room we wanted and we had looked before so knew what to ask for. This was a good tip we picked up from this forum, know which rooms they have. Several upgrades at other strip hotels but not stayed at Bellagio.

We find being nice and polite with tip works well for us and yes I would play the pregnancy card!

killiegirl_2

June

ferf1223 wrote: »

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.

Yes they were all on the same reservation, and we all have the same surname, my sister and I even have the same first initial, so I just didn't want to confuse matters!

Of course we wouldn't expect $20 to cover 3 rooms, I was thinking more like $100 if we all checked in together, or maybe more? And i'd probably give them $50 just for our one room if we check in separately, I only use the term "$20 trick" as I've heard a lot of people call it that.

We're booked into "deluxe" rooms which I'm guessing are just the most basic ones? What kind of room would you recommend asking for an upgrade to? No need to have the rooms near each other.

trets77

ferf1223 wrote: »

whenever I see that, I wonder if the measurements included the handle/wheels...which the airline will...so maybe they aren't smaller than advertised, but the reviewer is measuring from the wrong place?

luggage is something I like to see and feel and test out before buying, but the link you posted to the hand-luggage sized one does get good reviews...seems quite inexpensive though so I would wonder how long it would hold up...we're quite happy with what we bought at a Samsonite outlet - though they weren't cheap, we feel they were good value and will last ages...we would never go back to 2 wheels now that we've been spoiled by 4.

if you can get a Samsonite for cheap then grab one . we got ours from a Samsonite outlet store . was in the discount bit cause it had scratches down it , but they were just cosmetic .

really good suitcase , very light but very tough . they are too pricey to buy full price in this country though IMO .

ferf1223

March

luci wrote: »

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.

I agree that Stripburger will no longer be worth it if they won't let you use promo codes - at present you still can (at least it's not showing that they are one that are not allowing discounts), I just wondered with El Segundo Sol not allowing the discounts to be used, if Stripburger would go the same way - but I'd forgotten that the price of a Stripburger voucher had gone up so much. I still have one left from when they were $10 before discount...we do really like the place, but we'd probably go somewhere else if it weren't for the r.com vouchers.

ferf1223

March

trets77 wrote: »

if you can get a Samsonite for cheap then grab one . we got ours from a Samsonite outlet store . was in the discount bit cause it had scratches down it , but they were just cosmetic .

really good suitcase , very light but very tough . they are too pricey to buy full price in this country though IMO .

We didn't even go for actual Samsonite, went for American Tourister but sold at Samsonite outlet (think AT is owned by Samsonite)...but I tell you, the four wheeled thing is just a travelling revelation.

bubble113

August

I'd like to ask an insurance question but not sure if I dare!!

I always have travel insurance and have used it.....couldn't fly home from Australia because of a burst ear drum, had to stay an extra 2 weeks.....it was tough but I coped! Insurance paid out for all my extra costs with no probs so I am in the always have insurance camp.

My question however is to do with car hire insurance. On a seperate trip to Aus we were recommended and took out a car hire insurance policy with www.insurance4hirecar.com at £65 for the year, this covered a trip to Vegas in the same year. We had to claim from the Aus trip as they said we had marked the car (we stupidly hadn't looked it over first and certainly don't remember marking it) so we had to pay up front and claim back approx £350, insurance paid out no prob.
This was with europcar, I cannot remember if any basic ins was included with hire. Do all carhire companies have to give you basic ins then give you an option to take out extra? We didn't take much notice as yearly policy said to refuse ins offered at carhire desk.

We use netflights in Vegas usually dollar.

So my question is, is it worth paying £65 for this policy for our Vegas trip? Will only probably be going once. Do people just take basic ins that comes with booking the car. I know they always offer upgrade ins at desk but because of policy we have previously refused. There will be more than one driver.

Thanks and I really don't want to stir the whole insurance debate up but would appreciate constructive replies.:)

ferf1223

March

Hi bubble - it looks like that is primiarly excess insurance - it's not a full insurance policy or anything...we don't bother with it ourselves...of course we've never had a reason to claim back an excess due to the car hire company.

Covers Excess on damage to the rental vehicle including the undercarriage, Excess on theft, and damage to windows and tyres

I checked and our last rental (Dollar through CH3000) had zero excess.

Your rental includes Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection with zero excess.


The T&Cs of my rental voucher also said:

Please note in common with most car rental policies there are exceptions to cover which may include windscreens, tires, the underside or interior of the vehicle, towing charges & replacement keys. Please check your agreement fully at the time of renting for exact exclusions.

I really don't know what was excluded from the rental itself - tbh, I never check on these finer points as they are what they are - but suspect all of the above...so from what I gather, the only benefit of the policy you mentioned would be possibly for tires, windows, underside, etc.

Of course, if for example I had a windscreen shatter due to something I had done - and it was excluded from the coverage I had - it would cost me more than £65 to replace it...so I suppose that for some the peace of mind would be worth it...we now just book through a UK 3rd party with 'full' coverage and leave it at that...but that's just us. I suppose if you consider that we've been travelling to the US for 10 years, we've saved £650 in not buying this insurance, so we have that pot to call on if something ever did happen, I guess?

bubble113

August

Thanks for the reply Ferf.

I thought that might be the case, will probably book through UK party and check T and C's.

I have used netflights before seemed to be cheaper than car3000. Do you pay extra for more than one driver?

Thanks

ferf1223

March

yes, if you have more than one driver it may be better to upgrade to the premium/platinum package when you book - whatever they call it think it differs between netflights and CH3000 - which will normally include extra drivers and a tank of fuel...otherwise I think you will need to pay for extra drivers locally - though I suppose that the only time it becomes an issue is if you have an accident and the undeclared driver was driving...I'm paranoid and wouldn't risk it myself.

spike2012

September

ferf1223 wrote: »

tax is 12% on hotels...prices in the US aren't inclusive of taxes but usually on the reservations screen it gives the total for your stay, taxes, and grand total - ...most hotels will put a daily deposit hold on your card unless they give the option to pay a cash deposit or decline room charging priviledges - it's a standard thing.

We have booked through Thomas Cook, for a package of flights and hotel. Will we be charged extra or need a CC for the room? This is something we may struggle with... Just means paying a chunk of CC off to allow for £X per day if this is the case! :eek: Not too much of a problem but would rather not.
Spike