Las Vegas 2007 bargain hunt + tips

ferf1223

georgeville wrote: »

1st post so please be gentle!!
I plan to travel to Vegas with my wife and daughter next July. We will probably fly from Manchester as we live in Scotland. When is:
-the best time to book
- what price should we expect to pay
- best site to use (presently use travelsupermarket)
Any advice would be much appreciated
Thanks

I agree with everything Trets said...though I do sometimes use skyscrapers as a starting point just to get a general idea of what is 'normal' ...I never book through them and always go on to check with the airlines directly. One nice thing about sites like travelocity.co.uk and lastminute.com is that they have a 'my dates are flexible' option...click that and it brings up a grid where you can see any number of combinations around the dates you enter so you can see what savings may be had if you shift your dates around a bit...Virgin's website has a similar thing...not sure about BMI.

How old is your daughter? That may help decide whether paying the extra to fly direct would be worth it...I don't have kids, but as that is a long flight for anyone, it may be better to get it over as quickly as possible by flying direct if she's relatively young...then again, some like the whole getting off the plane to stretch your legs thing that comes with a connection...we don't as it extends the travel time and opens up possible tragedy (missed connections, lost luggage, etc.)

I do think that you would be pretty lucky to get a flight for less than £450 and if it were me, I would be expecting more around £600 to be the norm (we flew to Chicago last month and stalked prices for many months beforehand - settled on £580 which was a bit painful but never saw better)...though the earlier you fly in July the better chance of a deal you will have, I think...but you may be tied to your daughter's summer holidays from school.

Regardless, as Trets said there's really no substitute for some good advance research so you will know a good deal when you see it and can grab it...to an extent I always think it's best to figure out what you would be happy with and if you get a better price than that, book it...sure, there's a chance you will see a better deal come along afterwards, but nothing worse than waiting for a better deal and only seeing prices go up and up.

doodle_bug

I might have to book the mytravel flight on 12th sept for 11 nights for £381 it comes down to £364 by removing meals, why would I take off the meals though? surely you can't take food and drink on the plane with you and what kind of food would you take in with you, you'd need something on such a long flight. I've flown there 3 times with BMI and it was great, BMI were faultless and the meals(really nice I thought) were something to look forward to. First 2 times on BMI all the alcoholic drinks were thrown in, that was fill ya boots time.

Steff

trets77 wrote: »

first forget travel supermarket IMO or any other price compare site .we have never had anyone post saying "wow look at the fare i got from the screenscrapers ect " .. to get a good fare your going to have to do your own leg work and unfortuanlty there are no hard and fast rules for knowing when flights ( BMI and Virgin in particular) are at there lowest.

from Manchester you have 2 choices ( direct at least) BMI and My Travel.
July is popular month for UK travellers to Vegas it seems (even though there are much much better months to go in terms of price , and climate). as we have said a £300 direct fare (espically in popular time like July) is good going. to be honest though i would say £400 each is about a low as you you can expect to get without a real hold your nerve late booking. ( i may be wrong here but please post if you know different)

My Travel prices rarely dropped below £450 this July. and there were few late offers. you can chance it if you like but they only fly twice a week and may sell out ( everyone else thinks of June , July and August too) . how Happy are you with a £450-£500 fare ??? My Travel do fly out of Glasgow as well but only in the summer and not many flights a week , so you may not see much movement on current prices ect.

Hi - hope the quote (above) comes out ok. I just thought I would share my insight into two things:-
First of all - one of the reasons why fllights to Vegas in July are popular is because the World Series of Poker is held there each year in July time. I, myself travelled there this year. If I had a choice I would go to Vegas when it is cooler, but I couldnt miss the WSOP!! The main event alone draws approx 8,000 plus players and there are a few brits amoung them.

Secondly - Im not sure if everyone on this site knows this, BUT the My Travel "direct" flights to Vegas from Manchester STOP at GLASGOW and pick up!!! YET they are sold as direct flights - this is not the case out of manchester.... They DO NOT mention this when you book, nor does it appear on your invoice... I found this out the hard way AFTER I'd paid and didnt enjoy being sat on the tarmac in Scotland for 2.5 hours waiting for the glasgow passengers to board!!!!

On the way back the Glasgow passengers had to wait for the Manchester people to get off etc. AGAIN, THEY DO NOT TELL YOU THIS AND DO THEIR BEST TO HIDE THIS FACT!...

That said, they are still the cheapest out of Manchester to Vegas - I have never found a BMI direct flight available as yet..... And, also, I would most certainly put up with it again to get to my favourite place in the world!!

Hope this info helps someone.
Steff

trets77

it sure does !!!! :T :T :T

your right they have hid that little fact very well. this also explains why the June and July prices never drop either. you learn something everyday !!!

on the plus side the My travel site only shows flights from Glasgow for June 18th and 25th + July 2nd and 9th .

...to an extent I always think it's best to figure out what you would be happy with and if you get a better price than that, book it...sure, there's a chance you will see a better deal come along afterwards, but nothing worse than waiting for a better deal and only seeing prices go up and up.

2nd that . see it and are happy with it...book it and don,t look back .

click that and it brings up a grid where you can see any number of combinations around the dates you enter so you can see what savings may be had if you shift your dates around a bit...Virgin's website has a similar thing...not sure about BMI.

BMI do have this option ( appears as a X and Y grid of out and returns dates) .

might have to book the mytravel flight on 12th sept for 11 nights for £381 it comes down to £364 by removing meals, why would I take off the meals though? surely you can't take food and drink on the plane with you and what kind of food would you take in with you, you'd need something on such a long flight. I've flown there 3 times with BMI and it was great, BMI were faultless and the meals(really nice I thought) were something to look forward to. First 2 times on BMI all the alcoholic drinks were thrown in, that was fill ya boots time.

at £15 for processed mush you can count me out. get a foot long Subway sandwich down you before go . 100 times as nice and quarter of the price. then head out to Ellis island when you land for a $5 steak dinner . ( going to try it in Decemeber for sure this time !!!)

Virgin throw in free alcoholic drinks too . it helps you forget you feel like a sardine :rotfl: :rotfl: you have to keep going up to the drinks station to get your moneys worth though.

but when you you start to get a hang over 7 hours in with 3+ hours of tedium left ..... it's not nice ( espically on the way home ) . be warned i speak from experiance.

hope BMI seat pitch is better .... the config certainly is

trets77

hey all , i have decided to take up the challenge and attempt to write a MSE travel guide .
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=508302

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=508302

i sure would be glad of any input from the regulars here. if you guys think i i,m going down the wrong track with it or want to add something i have missed please feel free . it would of course be jointly credited to anyone who contributes.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=524984

this won,t mean the end of this thread far from it. i see it as a core of the best general advice in one place, with this thread ( and dare i mention a :eek: 2008 thread ) linked to it for all up to date deals. finds , specific questions , ect ect.



have only wrote a tiny bit of the opening text tonight ( i,m tired after 12 hours at work :rotfl: to be back in 12 ) . let me know your opinions

jaymac_2

great idea..but can I be pedantic( well, I used to be a teacher) and point out that you're using the comma key instead of the apostrophe:)

trets77

:rotfl: :rotfl: lol long time habit that i don't know how i got into .

piggeh

What would be the best time to book for a trip to Vegas in December? Still saving at the moment but may be able to afford it at the end of the month. Just wondering if it's advisable to wait until nearer the time, or get in early. What normally happens with xmas pricing?

ferf1223

Steff wrote: »

Secondly - Im not sure if everyone on this site knows this, BUT the My Travel "direct" flights to Vegas from Manchester STOP at GLASGOW and pick up!!! YET they are sold as direct flights - this is not the case out of manchester....

Surely this is fraud...or something very close to it?

We don't fly from Manchester but if we did, and if we booked 'direct' flights with MyTravel and that flight stopped to pick up passengers in Glasgow? Oh, there would be air rage.

That's just shocking...surely, SURELY they cannot advertise the flights as direct if they aren't? I suppose there may be a loophole if the Manchester passengers don't have to deboard the plane so it's 'direct' in the sense that you get on in Manchester and get off in Vegas...but egad, I can't believe they can do this without getting in a load of crap.

I'm really really wound up over something that is unlikely to ever have even the smallest impact on me...just thinking of all those folks with certain expectations that just weren't met at all...what a terrible way to start your holiday! And how many would have gone with BMI had they known?

Now I have to ask - what was the reaction from the passengers like on your flight? I'm sure a lot of people kept themselves in check not wanting to risk being thrown off the plane...but I have to think that people went absolutely insane.

ferf1223

trets77 wrote: »

have only wrote a tiny bit of the opening text tonight ( i,m tired after 12 hours at work :rotfl: to be back in 12 ) . let me know your opinions

Good luck trets! That's a pretty big job...hats off to you for giving it a go!

I think my fear would be that things seem to change every 37 seconds in Vegas so keeping it updated might be a bit difficult if you make too many specific references and it may end up being a pain to keep current...but sounds like a great idea overall...would be nice if you can sort of boil these pages down to something a bit more approachable - this thread probably scares some people off just because it's so long (and people like me are so long-winded!)...and then those folks probably go and book with Virgin Holidays, etc. and get ripped off.