cheap weekend in las vegas?

myself and a friend are looking to book a long weekend(3 nights)fri-mon,in las vegas.
we have a buget of about 600-700 pounds per person and are looking to travel anytime between the end of may to july,i'm struggling to find much in our price range and wondered if anyone has any recommendations for resonably priced travel firms/websites?

many thanks
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Comments

  • tarkytarks
    tarkytarks Posts: 289 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    To get the cheapest flights you'll probably need to go non-direct which means you're loosing out on time in vegas because of the travel. 3 nights isn't long, can you stretch it out a little? Maybe flying on the Thursday (cheaper flights than Fridays) for 4 or 5 nights you'll be able to get something for around £700. I looked on expedia dates 16th - 20th June and there are some options there that come in at budget. Make sure you look on the british airways site too, they have a "special offer" (might need to go to the offers page to find it) if you fly on certain dates - you might be able to get an affordable direct flight with hotel this way too :)
  • WolfSong2000
    WolfSong2000 Posts: 1,736 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    If I were you I'd try giving a company called Dial-A-Flight a call. I don't work for them, but I travel to the USA at least once a year (always different destinations), and although I always do a lot of research, they always come up cheapest for me, plus they're really, really helpful. What I tend to do is do my own research first, so I have a ballpark figure of how much I can get for my money, then see if they can beat it. A few years ago, they undercut the company I used to use (STA Travel) by quite a substantial amount - I was surprised! (and happy. lol).

    I'd also second what the other poster has said about staying longer...could you make it a week and maybe do some travelling outside of Vegas, to the Grand Canyon for example? It is just such a long way to go for just 3 days - you'll spend almost as much time travelling as you will actually in Vegas!

    Hotel wise, when I was in Vegas, I stayed in the Hilton (which isn't on the strip, but there is a service which links it which runs regularly) and that was very cheap, and then I stayed in the El Cortez hotel (oldest hotel in Vegas, apparently...not that that means much. lol). Again, nowhere near the strip (it's close to Fremont Street) and quite basic, but dirt cheap and perfectly respectable. Randomly it also had the most expensive toiletries I have ever seen in any hotel anywhere. lol. I still remember how surprised I was. lol.

    Never stayed in a hotel on the strip, so can't comment on that, but most of them usually have some kind of deal going, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a hotel on the cheap...finding flights may be a little trickier!
  • loobs40
    loobs40 Posts: 1,232 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Vegas is an expensive place, so you need to factor in your spending money.

    We were there for three nights in Dec 2010, really in order to visit the Grand Canyon and of all the places we went to on our trip, it was the most disappointing, in particular, the miles of endless casinos (admittedly, not our thing). We saw a couple of shows while we there, Penn and Teller & Cirque Du Soleil Ka, which were very good, but, again, expensive.

    It was the last leg of our six week honeymoon, so we may have been a little jaded, but with a £700 budget I could think of a lot better places to go to !
  • IMHO, if you are trying to do Vegas cheap, you aren't doing Vegas right. It's a city based on excess and to spend £600-700 in total is doing it a disservice.

    There are ways to keep costs down (stay in a strip hotel that's cheaper like the Luxor, go to the Sahara and grab a few $1 dollar beers as warm up drinks, go to the free attractions), BUT

    I would consider saving up for a few more months, going later in the year and hitting 5-7 days and doing it proper. You won't regret it!

    I like saving money but not at the loss of an experience - there are few things worse than going to a destination, telling someone you have been to that place, them asking you 'did you do this?or this? or this?' and you saying 'no'.
  • nw_man
    nw_man Posts: 739 Forumite
    3 nights to Vegas ?

    Insanity.
  • ferf1223
    ferf1223 Posts: 8,936 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    edited 25 April 2011 at 6:43PM
    go to the Sahara and grab a few $1 dollar beers as warm up drinks, go to the free attractions)

    Sahara is closing mid-May.

    I also think it's madness to go for a long weekend but know others do...it does seem an awful lot to spend for such a short time - and such a long way to go, but as a Vegas fanatic, if it was the only way I could do it due to other committments, I'm pretty darn sure I would. :)

    Vegas can be as cheap or expensive as you like once you get there - there are plenty of resources for discounts (Penn & Teller & Ka are regularly discounted, for example, to about $50 - not expensive to me)...you've already popped over to the Vegas thread to have a look and there's loads of info on the first page of where to start.

    I would try pricing flights and hotel separate - booking a UK package can see you effectively double paying for the room since rooms are usually sold in the UK per person per night, and booking direct with the hotel will be per room per night for double occupancy.

    For that short a trip I think staying downtown or off-strip is also not the best idea - you'll eat up too much of your limited time getting to the strip...check Caesars Hot Deals for Imperial Palace if you're not fussed about having a posh room and just want a place to crash...I have never stayed there and personally wouldn't as it's not our thing - but many find it to be perfectly suitable.
    Does remembering a time that a certain degree of personal responsibility was more or less standard means that I am officially old?
  • Alan_Bowen
    Alan_Bowen Posts: 4,910 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    For a weekend taking non direct flights is complete madness, its a long way to begin with and stopping on the way makes the journey unbearable for a three night stay. All hotels put up prices for Friday and Saturday night so if you can travel midweek the hotels will be cheaper, but if you don't stay over a Saturday the air fare will be higher! There are only two airlines flying to Las Vegas BA and Virgin, have a look at both their websites and see if they offer deals booking hotels with flights. I would stay on the Strip if you have never been before, Treasure Island is a reasonable 3 star hotel, don't stay 'downtown' as its incredibly tacky and its much better to stay on the Strip when you can walk from hotel to hotel
  • many thanks for your replies.

    Not an option to go for longer due to family commitments, but i understand why people are suggesting this,i have been for a long weekend before and yes it was full on but i would be more than happy to do it again.
    I have been to vegas quite a few times before so we wouldnt be looking to cram in all there is to see in the weekend just to do some shopping,eating out and gambling really.
    Last time we went for a long weekend we got a package with expedia and stayed at the mgm,i cant really find anything reasonably priced this time,i have found some deals with holidaygenie that are in our price range,is anyone familiar with this company?
  • poe.tuesday
    poe.tuesday Posts: 1,858 Forumite
    have you looked at last minute as you can go there on the 10th June for 3 nights - staying at the circus hotel for £641 each or at the hilton for £670 each or if you want 5* then there is the venician and bellagio for £765 each - that is indirect flights from gatwick

    as for holiday genie - do your research on this place as there have been some bad reviews in the past
  • have you looked at last minute as you can go there on the 10th June for 3 nights - staying at the circus hotel for £641 each or at the hilton for £670 each or if you want 5* then there is the venician and bellagio for £765 each - that is indirect flights from gatwick

    as for holiday genie - do your research on this place as there have been some bad reviews in the past
    thanks,i have just googled them and it doesnt look good
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