Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

Gollom

duchy wrote: »

My turn to comment on Virgin

Seats are three across so if you are an even numbered group you will have a stranger next to you

Planes are tired rather than old and seats are very uncomfortable -I'd rate them worst out of all the carriers I've flown to this US in the last couple of years -AA Delta Continental are all more comfortable.

If you are travelling near a bank holiday or a weekend you may find the direct flight attracts stag groups-they can range from mildly annoying to totally obnoxious and it isn't unknown for LVPD to be waiting for them on arrival to arrest them (I'd imagine BA has a lower tolerence level than VS as I've seen VS let people board already completely sozzled -and then continue to serve them booze)

Oh yes booze-if having a few drinks is important to you-be aware Virgin routinely "run out " mid flight and then only soft drinks are served. Running out appears to be in direct relation to passenger behaviour (see Stag groups above) so it appears that rather than refuse service to those who've had too much they penalize the whole of economy.

Virgin food on board is nothing to write home about-but then economy airline food isn't anyway -I'd put them somewhere in the middle-not the best but not the worst either.

Crew are young easy on the eye but inexperienced. I had the FA from hell -full of hair flicking and eye rolling at passengers on my last trip -the last straw was when she started making comments about passengers in their hearing to other FAs. Very fourten year old school girl. I asked for a comment card and the CSA gave me the card and without me saying what I wanted to comment on -gave me the name of the FA-so it was very noticable to other cabin crew as well as passengers.

For me I prefer to fly the US carriers and go indirect -rather than fly Virgin. Adds a couple of hours but I quite like changing planes -stretching my legs and getting customs and immigration out of the way so when I get to Vegas I just grab my bags and go rather than join another queue. Also Virgin is more UK passengers so everyone is in the aliens immigration line-US carriers it's more Americans so you get through much faster as the lines are shorter for non US residents.

For some the ease of a direct flight wipes out the other issues -or others -it doesn't. Very much a personal decision.

These comments are ONLY about the Virgin Vegas service-the LA flight is entirely different. Better planes more professional staff (a lot of the more experienced crew won't bid for Vegas because it's a very demanding flight so it's staffed by the newest FAs routinely) seating in twos etc. Virgin treat Vegas as a "holiday" flight-it has more in common with a charter to Ibiza than a long haul scheduled flight- except it lasts nine hours ! If I *had* to fly Virgin for some reason-I'd fly to LA and drive to Vegas or pick up a cheap flight to LAS from there (at present it's as cheap as £20 with tax with SouthWest)

Won't that mean you end up with a lower luggage allowance as you are using an internal flight?

graciesmummy

July

does anyone know what will happen if the virgin pilots do strike?
i'm due to fly out from manchester on the 14th of july,how will it work if they strike on that day?will my holiday be cancelled?will it be posponed?
I also have yet to buy travel insurance(am in the process of this),would i be covered for an event like this with travel insurace?
i'm really no clued up about this type of situation so any advice would be greatfully recieved

duchy

May

Gollom wrote: »

Won't that mean you end up with a lower luggage allowance as you are using an internal flight?

Internal flights in the US routinely charge for baggage anyway -it has no impact on your transatlantic baggage allowance .

If you mean would it add to the total cost if you flew indirect........it depends. If you flew on a through fare (say AA Heathrow Chicago Las Vegas) -the same day then no there would be no charge for the domestic flight bag. If you changed carriers and it was ticketed as two seperate transactions-say VS LHR LAX and then Delta LAX LAS then yes there would be a bag charge for the domestic.

I don't pay bag charges as I have frequent flyer status with the airlines I fly with-but even if I didn't I'd consider $50 return a good investment to avoid the VS LGW LAS flight

duchy

May

cloudy_nines wrote: »

We paid £485 for 4 nights at the Cosmo in a premium view terrace, fri 23rd Sept until Tues 26th via netflights.....just reinput the dates again now via net flights as if I was booking again and the cost now shows £769 :eek:

Hope they do honour the mis-price, big difference! I thought we got a good deal but not that good!!

It may not be a mis-price -Vegas hotels vary all the time. I've seen room prices legitimately change from less than $100 to over $300 over the course of a month for the same date/room. I've just cancelled a booking at the Flamingo for July that I got for $75 -it's now over $300 as there is a big fight that weekend in Vegas (which hadn't been announced when I first booked). If you have it confirmed in writing-it'll be honoured

duchy

May

graciesmummy wrote: »

does anyone know what will happen if the virgin pilots do strike?
i'm due to fly out from manchester on the 14th of july,how will it work if they strike on that day?will my holiday be cancelled?will it be posponed?
I also have yet to buy travel insurance(am in the process of this),would i be covered for an event like this with travel insurace?
i'm really no clued up about this type of situation so any advice would be greatfully recieved

Be careful-insurance will only cover unexpected risks. If you insure before a possible strike is announced you are covered-if you take out a policy after it is announced -you won't be .

Usually an airline will get you out on "the next available" flight-obviously at the beginning of the school holidays flights are fully booked so it may not be the next day-or may not be direct. Usually you keep your return date as it was originally booked (although it's always worth asking to change at no cost but it isn't a given). Sometimes you'll get the option to rebook the whole thing for a later date -but you'll still get stung for any hotel cancellation charges -for example most hotels will not refund your first night's deposit if you cancel within 72/48 hours however often a phonecall to the hotel can get that waived during a strike-depends on the hotel.

duchy

May

Playing catch up here ......

NatWest are a PITA abroad. They don't have a "notify in advance" policy and every trip they block my card at some point and I have to call and get it unblocked. They've even blocked it when I've bought tickets by phone from home from Delta (showed up as a US transaction to them) and then used it an hour later in the UK. System says I can't be in both places at once so blocks it. Sometimes they are fast to block (first US transaction) othertimes they block after I've used it for several days. Yet I can book show tickets with Harrahs etc by phone and that never blocks-no real pattern to it. I've just got used to making sure the number is in my mobile and making a quick call as soon as it happens now.

graciesmummy

July

duchy wrote: »

Be careful-insurance will only cover unexpected risks. If you insure before a possible strike is announced you are covered-if you take out a policy after it is announced -you won't be .

Usually an airline will get you out on "the next available" flight-obviously at the beginning of the school holidays flights are fully booked so it may not be the next day-or may not be direct. Usually you keep your return date as it was originally booked (although it's always worth asking to change at no cost but it isn't a given). Sometimes you'll get the option to rebook the whole thing for a later date -but you'll still get stung for any hotel cancellation charges -for example most hotels will not refund your first night's deposit if you cancel within 72/48 hours however often a phonecall to the hotel can get that waived during a strike-depends on the hotel.

that doesnt sound good to me as we are only going for a long weekend.

WestHamDaz

morning all,

im writing this from our bedroom at the cosmopolitan, on the 29th floor overlooking the fountains. If there's a better view than this in Vegas then it's gotta be pretty bloody fantastic cos this bloody awesome. Didnt pay for a premium view room when booking online but upgraded at check in for $25 a night which is much cheaper than paying for it when ordering.

Quick update on things so far, we're on day 5 of 18 so far:

Flight -BA 747-400 flying WT+ flight was fine, grateful of the extra bit of space, food was usual airplane crap. WT+ was full as was pretty much every other class, even first was busy.

Hotel 1 - Golden Nugget - was in a room in the gold tower. wasnt a bad room, maybe a little dated in the decor but was clean, tidy and spacious. Golden Nugget is a nice place, pool area and shark tank were good but it did get busy down there.

Hotel 2 - Cosmopolitan - moved here last night. WOW, what a place, fantastic hotel. the room is great, although im slightly more impressed by controlling the whole suite from the tv remote than I am by the view of the strip from the balcony.

Gambling has been ok, not too many losses. played poker at the nugget a few nights ago and won a decent amount of cocky american kids thinking they are better than what they are. played tight, maybe 2-3 hands an hour and won every won. Highlight of the night was pushing all in against a bloke who apparently plays full time. had trip aces, messed around with my betting, confused him and pushed all in on the river taking him for about $300. That pleased me. A few hands later i hit trip aces again and im heads up against him once more. thought i was gonna wipe him out for good but he had A4 and luckily hit a full house and he won $100 back.

Roulette hasnt been too bad either, probably down $100 over all which isnt bad for 5 days play.

Weather - hot! although it cooled yesterday to mid 90s its gonna hit 103 today and up to 110 by thusday.

bubble113

August

Looking at Texas de Brazil restaurant at Town Square but can't seem to find a price. Anybody been recently? Think Luci mentioned it. Also did anybody get any discount coupons for it?

Thanks x

adamg

August

bubble113 wrote: »

Looking at Texas de Brazil restaurant at Town Square but can't seem to find a price. Anybody been recently? Think Luci mentioned it. Also did anybody get any discount coupons for it?

Thanks x

I have just booked it also from Luci's recomendation. I think $47 was price I saw, I have not seen any discounts and have spent a long time looking but have signed up to their email, Luci said you get a free meal in your birthday month.