Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2013

Dangermouse99

StuieUK34 wrote: »

My aim for Vegas (for the last bit being 8 nights) is to get the Aria hotel for 8 nights (May 25th) for under £600 inc resort fee...
Can it be done ? probably not..
Can i pull it off ? keep watching !

That's a stretch I'm guessing but I'd probably pay £700 for that. I'm looking at going next year, ideally for a fight but I'm not that fussy. My budget is £750 for around a week which includes hotel and flight.


You seem well clued up on all this, do you know when is the best time to book? I've no real preference in terms of dates, anytime in 2014 would be good.

StuieUK34

I work like this:
I know when i want to go, make a spreadsheet, record the info you have looked at for flights/accom or just flights and hotels seperate, car hire, etc etc etc....

Then day later or week later or month later, etc, do same thing and record info, start to compare and see how it works out....

This year, i booked my crazy !!! flights and Excalibur hotel with Expedia for our Max budget of £750 (very indirect! ), actual cost was £700 but allowed £50 each for resort fee.....
Using cheek, luck and something else, our total in the end came to £672 each, and that got us 3 nights Mandalay Bay, 2 nights Golden Nugget and 5 nights in Lux (cancelled the excal booking resulted in a refund for the expected amount...)

If you dont know dates of when you want to go, it might make it a bit harder in nailing down a good price....
Our direct flights with Virgin in May next year cost £596 each, that was luck and timing when i booked (Delta just announced publically about buying % of Virgin)

duchy

sirwiggum wrote: »

Las Vegas, great city.

Few observations:
- Taxis are expensive and our cab from the airport to Excalibur took us on a mystery tour via the freeway. You can organise shuttles to all hotels.
- Otherwise transport is excellent, there are buses up the strip called the "Deuce", and Tram-style buses which take you to the outlet centres. There is a Monorail which runs til the small hours which runs up and down the strip, as well as a seperate train between the Excalibur and Mandalay Bay.
- Drink in casinos is expensive. Some bars have happy hours eg. the Pub in Monte Carlo had a 2 for 1 on beers, the Italian bar in Excalibur had 2 dollar beers.
- If you feel the urge to gamble, I found Roulette to have the best odds, and could easily spend a few hours occasionally breaking even or making money. (But be careful - after all the Casino always makes money!) Also, most casinos will have cocktail waitresses with complimentary drinks.
- Many casinos have food courts which 'take away' style meals, ideal for a cheap breakfast, lunch or nighttime snack. We didn't try the buffets unfortunately.
- Excalibur we found to be a reasonably priced hotel, on the strip. Our view wasn't great though - literally a wall.
- 'Free shows' are usually a means to either extort a large tip or get you into a timeshare presentation

A few inaccuracies but a nice overview so thank you...... Have you read page 1 ?

duchy

pebblesmax wrote: »

We have just arrived home after the journey from hell. Virgin need to get their act together!

Aww no-what happened ? (Did I hear right Vegas had snow this week ?)

Welcome home ...just in time to pack to go away again (Hoping to hear about the Tuscany before you hop off again )

glitterpuss

paulharibo11 wrote: »

Hi

Can anybody recommend a Grand Canyon helicopter ride. I'm looking at papillon but wondered if there was any others and who people may have used.

Also any discount codes would help as I am there for New Year's Eve and a few days after

Thanks

We used Papillion and had a excellent trip out to the Canyon. We bought before we left the UK, although there may be better deals when you're there. Buy the best you can afford - there are so many variations. We said that as we'd only be doing it once we wanted to make the most of it, but we had a fantastic time with them. I'd recommend them

tonysp

Hello, I always read this page every day or so, thanks to everybody for priceless info.

Myself and the wife went for 7 days (our 4th time out there), usually stay in the summer but tried Dec this time. Brrrrr, pretty cold last week 4th to 11th, jackets day and night. No rain or snow but cold anyway (late 40s temp wise).

Anyway we flew delta to Atlanta, must have been a very old plane as no IFE, (coming home was a really new plane). We arrived in Vegas bang on time although we were tempted by the offer of hotel and $400 dollars to delay to the next morning due to the flight being overbooked.

Stayed in the Monte Carlo in a spa suite, booked with lowcostusa. Again no problems, a nice big room, big bath, fridge, coffe maker etc.

We both had three rewards each from myvegas, mostly food, (two tickets for Zarkana, breakfast buffet for Bellagio, breakfast in Mandalay Bay, breakfast in Aria, evening meal in Aria and entry to the Minus 5 ice bar). All the rewards were redeemed easily by the m-life desks in each hotel.

Pretty much booked shows for every night. Purple Reign (prince tribute), Matt Goss, Penn and Teller, Zarkana and Shania Twain. Enjoyed them all pretty much although we may not bother seeing another Cirque show, just not for us although you have to admire the skill.

We have also been claiming points on social rewards and used these to pay for Gordon Ramseys Burgr meal.:)

We also ate out at Battistas, Stripburger amongst others.

Played Kiss crazy golf by the Hard Rock hotel, done the Secret Garden and met Seigfried who apparently passes through every day or so. The wife got her photo taken with Buddy from Cake Boss who was in the Venetian for some promotion. Went shooting at Battlefield Vegas which was really good with the friendliest, most reassuring people to show us exactly how to fire the weapons.

Spent a day downtown drinking too many cocktails in the downtown cocktail room.:beer:

I think thats the main stuff covered, busy week but possibly the most enjoyable. If you have any questions let me know. Thanks

luci

Aw no pebbles. I hope you recover from the ordeal quickly and that the jet lag isn't too evil.

We need to arrange a meet in a couple of weeks, but can do that on VJ once you have recovered.

pebblesmax

duchy wrote: »

Aww no-what happened ? (Did I hear right Vegas had snow this week ?)

Welcome home ...just in time to pack to go away again (Hoping to hear about the Tuscany before you hop off again )

Vegas had low temps of 26F during the night Monday. The Tuscany fountains were frozen solid.

I did a video and a load of photos on my phone, but haven't uploaded them yet. It was very nice. Shall I send them to you direct?

duchy

Yes please ....I think you have my email but ill pm you with it. Anyway.

pebblesmax

Ok, I just emptied my box so I can get more messages.

Our missing case has been located. It will be on a flight from LHR to MAN tonight at 9 pm.

Estimated arrival at the house? Tuesday.

Over 60 hours to travel 100 miles? I could walk it faster.