Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

Froggitt

2ba3c wrote: »

Helloooo all,

Planning my first ever tirp to Vegas, in December - want to be there over Christmas and new years. BUT would also like to do it as cheaply as possible, of course!

Have read the guide, but am now confused as to how and where to book! What are YOUR secret tips!

Our flights are sorted, so just need hotel and car (is it worth having a car? We're going to do 2 weeks there and I think some trips way from the strip might be a good idea!) - is parking free for each hotel? I was going to book the car for the whole 2 weeks, if we get a good deal, so we have the flexibility of when we want to use it.

Thank you for any help!
Vegas Virgin

Hotels........Xmas cheap....new year prepare to be fleeced. From about 28th Dec onwards, prices will triple or more compared to Xmas. Sept or Oct you will see deals advertised for December. Vegas Hotels Online or Fatwallet are a couple of sites that generally post deals.

Car - I always have a car. carehire3000 always good and cheap. Parking is free on the strip for guests and visitors, although downtown may charge if youre not a resident there.

Perfectspace

August

stoneman wrote: »

Update on this. The app was called Ndrive, but for some reason it has disappeared from my phone and itunes. A bit of digging and I find out that Apple have pulled the plug on it and anyone who has it will have it whipped from their device when they sync

Shame - you nearly made my day!
Original question applies - anyone got advice on how to use an Iphone as cheaply as poss in the U.S.? Got ourselves a $12 payg phone for calls - but would still like to use the Iphone on our long road-trip drives between SD, Yosemite, Vegas and Denver.... (not long now til we go now!)

MariaC

October

Today's Surrey Groupon
VIP Entry to Executive Airport Lounges Plus One Year Membership for £12 with No.1 Traveller (£43 Value)

Similar offering as back in March (I think) - there are more "conditions of use" this time round!
Valid at Stansted, Gatwick North and South
Expires 31 December 2011
Valid: Stansted: all International flights & Gatwick: all flights post 11am
No booking required, just present voucher on entry to lounge.
Membership sign-up conducted on first use.

I am sure it will be of use to someone - we have ours from last time round.

StuieUK34

June

See, Tropicana is excellent, and as i said ages ago on here, Nicole has been great in sorting things out and doing 'customer service' proud!.
Keeping in mind, that when i booked the Trop, i went through Netflights.com , not direct so she didnt have to offer me anything, but what Nicole did give me was:
Paradise Suite in P Tower, and 5 VIP tickets to see Gladys Knight 3 weeks ago (fair play, she can still sing amazingly!)

Oh, and the No.1 Traveller Lounge at Gatwick South, i did that groupon, went on the 3rd june.....
It was nice, worth it for £12, any more than that i'd say no too!!

ferf1223

March

2ba3c wrote: »

Helloooo all,

Planning my first ever tirp to Vegas, in December - want to be there over Christmas and new years. BUT would also like to do it as cheaply as possible, of course!

the most expensive time of the year (over NYE) as cheaply as possible.

At least Christmas period is cheap so maybe it will balance out.

One thing to remember - on NYE, most (all?) strip hotels will limit entry to guests (or where they are having a NYE party, guests of that party)...from about 6pm? 7pm? maybe a bit later... I can't remember as it's been quite awhile....so while on the one hand, staying off-strip will save you money, if you want to be on the strip at midnight, you will have a period where you may be stuck outside for quite sometime...not ideal...it can be awful cold that time of year (and where do you go to pee? This worries me.)

for 2 weeks you may want to split your stay over 2 or more hotels...unfortunately, if you're going over Christmas and NYE you wil likely downgrade rather than upgrade through your trip...

As for secret tips - they're mostly on page 1...not really secret...you will need to do some research to narrow down where you want to stay, then maybe some more tailored suggestions can be made.

As for hire car - we always have one...we like it...some never have a car and use public transport, taxis, etc...it's just down to personal preference.

Froggitt

Perfectspace wrote: »

Shame - you nearly made my day!
Original question applies - anyone got advice on how to use an Iphone as cheaply as poss in the U.S.? Got ourselves a $12 payg phone for calls - but would still like to use the Iphone on our long road-trip drives between SD, Yosemite, Vegas and Denver.... (not long now til we go now!)

You cant. Data on iphone is really really chatty, with apps updating the weather every minute etc. Unless you switch off 3G data, youll end up with a few hundred quid bill when you get back, even though youve only read a few emails.

Listen to music, watch pre-downloaded movies, wifi in hotels, but thats it. And anyway, Im sure most of the Nevada desert doesnt have much of a signal anyway.

dontone

June

Perfectspace wrote: »

Shame - you nearly made my day!
Original question applies - anyone got advice on how to use an Iphone as cheaply as poss in the U.S.? Got ourselves a $12 payg phone for calls - but would still like to use the Iphone on our long road-trip drives between SD, Yosemite, Vegas and Denver.... (not long now til we go now!)

Don't know if this helps, but we went to Yosemite this time round as well as Vegas, and Yosemite Lodge gave us free wifi for the duration of our stay (also free breakfasts, which were brilliant :T.)
We had to pay for wifi while staying in the Wynn in Vegas.

dodger1

September

You can hire a satnav in England which covers the USA for about £35 per month. Plenty of sites doing it.

photome

August

Perfectspace wrote: »

Shame - you nearly made my day!
Original question applies - anyone got advice on how to use an Iphone as cheaply as poss in the U.S.? Got ourselves a $12 payg phone for calls - but would still like to use the Iphone on our long road-trip drives between SD, Yosemite, Vegas and Denver.... (not long now til we go now!)

Do you have or know anyone with an Android phone as I think Co pilot live USA (sat nav mapping) is still available on Android for about £3.

Perfectspace

August

Froggitt wrote: »

You cant. Data on iphone is really really chatty, with apps updating the weather every minute etc. Unless you switch off 3G data, youll end up with a few hundred quid bill when you get back, even though youve only read a few emails.

Thanks Froggit - will make sure 3G is turned off!

After a bit more searching I happened to find 'navfree' on the app store, which apparently doesn't need to connect while using. Don't know how good it is - will try it out give it a go.