Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

wdyw

Wizbit82 wrote: »

Currently sat in bed in Vegas after arriving yesterday...gotta love jetlag! Went to bed at 9.30 LV time, woke again at 2.30 so have given in and am eating cookies and drinking minute maid from the air conditioned luxury of the massive bed!!!!!

Flew Virgin direct from Manchester - had to sit on the tarmac for 2 hours in Manc due to running over some debris as we were about to take off. Flight was fairly non-eventful, we'd paid for the exit row seats in advance so had lots of lovely legroom, though I have to say the flight was far from full and there were many people in economy able to spread out and get a whole row of 4 to lie down on.

Our TV's didn't work (along with many others) so the flight was pretty boring, mainly sat and read my Kindle as just couldn't get comfy. In comparison to the BA flight we did last year I have to say that that wins in terms of service and IFE, also the seats seemed bigger?

Had a nice touch from crew on take off - they knew about the wedding so we got champagne and then later on an announcement (althought they called me Lorraine (!!) and got the date wrong!). Have to say crew seemed preety preoccupied and was mainly a young crew who spent most of their time talking about the night out they had planned that evening. Sorry Mr Branson, can't give more than 6/10.

x

Our TV's worked fine and like you say, the plane was really empty. They announced 292 pax with 15 cabin crew. Someone work out the load factor?

At the back of the plane only 6 of the 8 double seats had been taken and whole blocks of the middle 4 seats were empty.

Of the various brides to be - were you in the group who had a liking for G&T's? THe crew may have spent a long time talkng about what they were going to be doing, but they never stopped serving drinks to those who wanted one. Food was carp though.

Tried the Rush Room in the Golden Nugget for our only night in Vegas (until next week). Huge, excellent decor, though they had upgraded us to a suite which was nice, but would like to have seen what an ordinary room was like. Up there with the most luxurious rooms we have been in over the years. One downside - too noisy, very poor sound proofing from Freemont Street.

Currently at 10,000feet, suffering from a bit from altitude sickness (and jetlag I suppose) so taking it easy. No gym/running or biking until tomorrow.

Heading back to Vegas next week. Aria after the Cosmo. Glad to be going there after they found out about the Leggionaires rather than before!

doodle_bug

thehobbit wrote: »

I think i just didnt find the whole casino and all day drinking thing a novelty.

I go to casinos in the uk fairly often and apart from the size theres very little diffrence between the two.

Resturants were great in vegas.

Think our main dissapointment was the bars. We like a drink and some live music in a pub back home but we couldnt find anywhere like that in vegas. The bars seemed to be just bars with a few stools around them not pub type places like over here
Of course the crazy beer prices was off putting but we knew what to expect before getting there

We spent most of our time in Ballys at night because they had a live band on. The piano bar at NYNY was also fun.
I did enjoy walking around and people watching durring the day.

I suppose i just found it tedious having to work your way through 1000s of slot machines in the casinos just to get to a good restuarant or live show/bar.
I do quite a bit of gambling and enjoy casinos but after a few days id had enough of trying to work my way around them to find the other non gambling related stuff.

Cant fault the rooms in the Mirage though. Best hotel room we had durring our whole time in the US.

TBH we found vegas quite dull (i mean that in the nicest possible way) compared to San fran and Santa monica.
I was gutted that we didn like it, as it was the place we were most looking forward to and the reason we spent half our holiday there

I've lost count the times I've been to Vegas, I know what you are saying though, I don't get my kicks in Vegas in the same way as most on here, my ideal hol would be in the south of France. Vegas is pure Kitsch, even the concrete is fake but it is more than the sum of its parts.
I would recommend a trip to Brendans bar in the Orleans on thursday evening, they have a Beatles tribute act called The Fab, they are very good, nice atmosphere in there.
To be fair I prefer UK casinos,(No Smoking) and or internet casinos.

ferf1223

March

nvh wrote: »

Quick query regarding expiry of Players Card points - may as well utilise the existing knowledge here than go hunting around on websites!

Query is specifically re: !!!!!!, Wynncore & Hurrah's and their points expiry, so:
a) do the points expire XX months after they are earnt?
b) or XX months after the card is last used?

Presume its the latter but wanted to verify (re: expiry; !!!!!! & wynncore are 12 mths from memory and hurray's is 6 mths)

It's a I'm afraid. It took me way too long to figure out how you would use the card without earning points - but I guess you mean redeeming points? Afraid you can't keep the points alive by making a redemption. Timings are right for CET/HET and !!!!!! as far as I know...no idea on Red Card...I've never actually figured out what Red Card points are really worth - we've tried asking before how many points we need for, say, a free buffet...and with the exception of when they are doing a particular offer - they are just really vague. Once we were told 700...but were later told 'charge the buffet to your room and then see us before you check out - you aren't too far away'...not cool - as we don't want the buffet unless we know it's free.

ferf1223

March

thehobbit wrote: »

I think i just didnt find the whole casino and all day drinking thing a novelty.

I go to casinos in the uk fairly often and apart from the size theres very little diffrence between the two.

Thanks for sharing - it's always interesting to me to hear a different view.

On the second sentence - I think when you boil it down to basics...you're probably right...but, and it's a big but I think...the size makes for a completely different experience (we think better, you think worse - just different perspectives). We went to a casino in Scotland recently - because of the ridiculous laws here - the 20 'big jackpot machines' thing...we couldn't get on a machine we actually wanted to play...ended up just jumping on anything that came open so we could play something - because we really wanted to play something. To me that is not fun...in reality we should have just left...but being slot addicts we needed a fix...whereas in Vegas, with a few exceptions, you can take your pick - or move onto another casino where you can take your pick. The size contributes to the overall vibe as well we think...and the size (and revenue generated) means everything else in Vegas can exist.

We go to casinos in London fairly regularly...while the basics are the same, the scale of them just makes it a completely different experience for us...and Vegas would win hands down...but I can see why for some the opposite would be true for a variety of reasons. Maybe just because we're slot addicts we're practically giddy at the idea of casinos with 1000+ machines.

But we have long said we wouldn't go to Vegas nearly so often if all there was to do was gamble...it's the whole package for us.

I'm glad you found the lounge at Bally's - I love that band...I've never gone to the lounge (not my thing) but I have heard the band a zillion times. America doesn't really do pubs very well...maybe partly because that sort of a thing isn't such a big part of the way of life over there, not in most places anyway...there are other places for live music, though a mix of styles and all won't suit everyone.

It makes me sad when people don't love Vegas, but it's also really good to have a different perspective sometimes.

nvh

ferf1223 wrote: »

It's a I'm afraid. It took me way too long to figure out how you would use the card without earning points - but I guess you mean redeeming points? Afraid you can't keep the points alive by making a redemption. Timings are right for CET/HET and !!!!!! as far as I know...no idea on Red Card...I've never actually figured out what Red Card points are really worth - we've tried asking before how many points we need for, say, a free buffet...and with the exception of when they are doing a particular offer - they are just really vague. Once we were told 700...but were later told 'charge the buffet to your room and then see us before you check out - you aren't too far away'...not cool - as we don't want the buffet unless we know it's free.

For some reason, I'd always assumed (incorrectly) that points only ever died if the card had no usage for a year... So if I went Vegas every 11 months for 5 years and used my card every time I went, then I would have 5 years of points on the card. No idea why I'd thought that for so long but thanks for clarifying

So to confirm, on both !!!!!! and hurrahs the points expire 12months after they are initially earned. Cool.

As far as I'm aware, wynn is 700 points for buffet by the way

sew109

nvh wrote: »

For some reason, I'd always assumed (incorrectly) that points only ever died if the card had no usage for a year... So if I went Vegas every 11 months for 5 years and used my card every time I went, then I would have 5 years of points on the card. No idea why I'd thought that for so long but thanks for clarifying

So to confirm, on both !!!!!! and hurrahs the points expire 12months after they are initially earned. Cool.

As far as I'm aware, wynn is 700 points for buffet by the way

I got two buffets on my redcard for 1000 and a line pass in 2009

pennylane99

November / December

it was 1500 for 2 buffets when I was there in April. New sign-ups got a free buffet on 150 points

DeeLasVegas

I understand what people mean about not loving Vegas...everyone is different and wants different things. In my 15 years living in Vegas (Henderson) I have seen so many people move here, burn themselves out living the high life only to leave tail between their legs to where they originally came from.

I actually don't venture to the Strip from 1 year to the next (except work functions) and I only work about a 5 minute walk away. When guests come to visit me now I tell them the best places to go and let them loose. But when my parents visit I do enjoy sitting and people watching on Fremont Street. Some of our best times are spent at the 'off' Strip resorts. Red Rock, Green Valley etc.

All in all I love Vegas and still get a buzz everyday when I enter the freeway from Henderson and see the Valley/Strip in the distance Always makes me smile.

ferf1223

March

nvh wrote: »

For some reason, I'd always assumed (incorrectly) that points only ever died if the card had no usage for a year... So if I went Vegas every 11 months for 5 years and used my card every time I went, then I would have 5 years of points on the card. No idea why I'd thought that for so long but thanks for clarifying

So to confirm, on both !!!!!! and hurrahs the points expire 12months after they are initially earned. Cool.

As far as I'm aware, wynn is 700 points for buffet by the way

Sorry, I think I misunderstood your question.

Harrah's is 6 months, not 12...and the points don't expire if you earn more within that window...they only expire if you do not earn any new points within 6 months. I misunderstood what you meant by 'when the card is last used'.

So if we go in January and earn 100 points...go back in May and earn another 100 points...go in November and earn 100 points.

If then we go in February - we would have 300 points - assuming we haven't spent any.

But if we go in January and earn 100 points...go back in May and earn another 100 points...but don't go back until February - we will have no points.

And on the Wynn buffet - we thought 700 too...but we had 700 points and they still told us to charge to the room...it seems they change all the time - or different people tell you different things.

Wizbit82

July

Of the various brides to be - were you in the group who had a liking for G&T's? THe crew may have spent a long time talkng about what they were going to be doing, but they never stopped serving drinks to those who wanted one. Food was carp though.

No, that wasn't us :-) we were dotted about throughout the cabin, very quiet and mostly asleep.