Las Vegas 2007 bargain hunt + tips

mookybargirl

Hello everyone, I'm back from Vegas - boo hoo.

Had a fantastic time. Thought I'd share some bits and pieces. We were there for 10 days and decided on 3 hotels for our stay (we wanted to try different places and obviously avoid the high weekend prices too). We stayed at MGM, Bally and Paris. My OH was worried at moving twice but it was sooo easy. The 2nd move from Ballys to Paris was especially easy as the bell desk even moved our bags over to Paris so we didn't even need to walk through the connecting walkway with them.

We did tip at check in ($20 to $40) and it went really well. We got upgraded to a great suite at Ballys for $40. This one was our biggest tip and it was over a weekend so we thought it was worth £20! Our room had a steam room and a jacuzzi with a waterfall. My OH was worried about me trying this but has now said it would take a lot of rejection/embarassment before he'd stop trying this in future. We really did have a great room at Ballys and the other 2 tips went well too. Great strip/bellagio fountain views.

Our US Airways flight were all fine but BEWARE if you're going to Phili. It was nothing short of hell. From getting off the plane to getting through the customs and picking up your bags (to drop them off literally a minute's walk away) took just over 90 minutes. This was before we even wandered off to find our next gate. There were queues for eveything and they're just not prepared for the amount of people going through there so ensure your connections have LOTS of time.

I was disappointed in the Bellagio conservatory. Did anyone else go see this? I really thought it was rubbish! I expected a room made of flowers and spectacularly put together. Am I missing something here?

People have been talking about cabs while I've been gone. We were ripped off on our way back to the airport in 2005. I remember looking at my OH thinking "where is he taking us?!" I'm sure the far was about £30 (not dollars) but what can you do.

Oh, and take ID if you intend of going into a bar. My OH didn't have his ID and they wouldn't let us in and were very rude about it. He's 32 by the way and would NOT pass for under 25 let alone 21 so it got me thinking if our grandparents didn't have ID, would they get the same refusal?

We saw Ka, Dirk Arthurs Magic Show and Jubilee. Really enjoyed all of them and what a bargain those £25 Ka tickets at ticketmaster were

Now, when's my next trip :rotfl: Had to put in a new boiler and shower while I was away so looks like I'll need to save a while first...... :rolleyes:

ferf1223

mookybargirl wrote: »

Hello everyone, I'm back from Vegas - boo hoo.

Welcome back! Glad you had a great trip...the upgrade at Ballys sounds awesome and I hope I am brave enough to try it next trip...by the time we have gotten to check in before all I want is somewhere to dump our stuff and shower - it could be in a closet in the basement.

As for the conservatory - it's normally amazing...but just had a look and they just changed it the week of the 15th I think...so it may be that you hit it just as one display was coming to an end or something?

phill79

TangoBunny wrote: »

Breakfast question
Staying at IP,Tropicana and Flamingo
What are the breakfasts like in these properties

Flamingo is a brunch, so you do have a wider selection of food on offer and it doesn't cost a great deal more.

PandaPants_2

ferf1223 wrote: »

Me neither, but I know others who are happy to grin and bear it for the savings...which is fair enough...for us flights are something that we're willing to spend the extra money to know what we are getting...but plenty of other things we wouldn't spend the extra cash on where others would...so all down to what has value for you.

can't wait to hear how your Christmas flights are...we're flying MaxJet next March, but have Virgin flights for November...a bit afraid that once we fly MaxJet we will have difficulty going back to Virgin.

Im really excited about Maxjet! Ive read mixed reviews but my brother assures me the bad ones are by grumpy americans who usually travel Virgin Upper. My fiance is 6'8 and weighs around 20 stone so our Virgin economy flight was uncomfortable for him, to say the least and there wasnt much more room in PE.

photome

TangoBunny wrote: »

Breakfast question
Staying at IP,Tropicana and Flamingo
What are the breakfasts like in these properties

TRopicana..dont know

IP...wouldnt reccomend

Flamingo is great but is a brunch so costs more, about $16 a head from memory.

photome

mookybargirl wrote: »

Hello everyone, I'm back from Vegas - boo hoo.



We did tip at check in ($20 to $40) and it went really well. We got upgraded to a great suite at Ballys for $40. This one was our biggest tip and it was over a weekend so we thought it was worth £20! Our room had a steam room and a jacuzzi with a waterfall. My OH was worried about me trying this but has now said it would take a lot of rejection/embarassment before he'd stop trying this in future. We really did have a great room at Ballys and the other 2 tips went well too. Great strip/bellagio fountain views.

was disappointed in the Bellagio conservatory. Did anyone else go see this? I really thought it was rubbish! I expected a room made of flowers and spectacularly put together. Am I missing something here?


Glad the tips worked, my success rate is about 80%

The Bellagio conservatory has always been great when I have been and yes it is full of flowers, as ferf said maybe it was being changed??

doodle_bug

vix2000 wrote: »

What is classed as a cheap flight? I can never find anything much under £500. Are they last minute or am I looking in the wrong place?

I've just done some quick searches, eg. put in 30th sept til 11th oct 2007 on BMI and it is £436 that is their direct flight, that's not bad I think. Also tried dates in March 2008 and got £398 changing at Chicago. After going with Mytravel the slight inconvenience of changing at chicago would be bliss and it does split the journey up. Once got some very high class wine on the internal flight, left overs from 1st class. I've just about always booked BMI in January using ebookers, got my cheapest fares that way, cheaper than the BMI website.

trets77

vix2000 wrote: »

What is classed as a cheap flight? I can never find anything much under £500. Are they last minute or am I looking in the wrong place?

I've just done some quick searches, eg. put in 30th sept til 11th oct 2007 on BMI and it is £436 that is their direct flight, that's not bad I think. Also tried dates in March 2008 and got £398 changing at Chicago

of course i agree with Photome and Ferf1223 i.e £300 direct ( BMI and Virgin) is good going .and if your prepared to risk it and tolerarate the airline ( from the very negative posts about them here) a late booking with My travel could well be super cheap, if you pick your dates and time your booking carefully like wydw does.

Virgin Money and mile fares are easily searched for , Good BMI fares are a bit of lottery from my own searches ,
Maxjet ?, i,m just to much a tight wad to spend the money , but i understand those that do.

as for indirect there are just too many permitations to keep track of on here.

it,s monday it,s My Travel price check day .

travelling this wednesday = £179 (14nights)
this weekend = no availbilty
3rd Oct = £337
10th Oct = £303

trets77

Oh, and take ID if you intend of going into a bar. My OH didn't have his ID and they wouldn't let us in and were very rude about it. He's 32 by the way and would NOT pass for under 25 let alone 21 so it got me thinking if our grandparents didn't have ID, would they get the same refusal

silly boy , we have warned about this several times on the thread. under sixty years of age and intend ordering any alcohol beverages anywhere ....make sure you have photo ID. your passport will surfice, but a photo driving licsense is better

dwjohnno81

when is the cheapest time of te year to go to sin city?