Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2014

pm04gn

duchy wrote: »

This really annoys me and puts me off flying direct. I don't want to be treated like a school child with the whole class getting "punished" for the misbehaviour of a few. I don't really drink when I fly -and if I do I want it later in the flight not at 11 am but I've often found by the time the sun is over the yard arm.....they've "run out" Yeah riiiiiight-like anyone believes THAT !

One of the hostesses on the way home was explaining why this happens. Apparently they cannot load too much alcohol as anything they land with in the USA is subject to customs.
I'm sure this is true but I'm also convinced they use it for crowd control, same with the seatbelt sign.

ferf1223

StuieUK34 wrote: »

ferf
did u notice what the Hush Puppies are in Rollin Smoke ?????

I love hush puppies but went with the corn nuggets which were great. The onion strings were awesome.

ferf1223

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hushpuppy

If you are asking what hush puppies are...just realised you may be.

duchy

pm04gn wrote: »

One of the hostesses on the way home was explaining why this happens. Apparently they cannot load too much alcohol as anything they land with in the USA is subject to customs.
I'm sure this is true but I'm also convinced they use it for crowd control, same with the seatbelt sign.

If that was true they would "run out" on the LAX, SFO and SEA flights too.......... plus they stock for out and back at UK . The plane remains "bonded" so there is no tax to pay and the plane doesn't "clear customs" anyway.

I'm pretty sure it is NOT true I'm afraid -.

StuieUK34

Having flown with VA to Vegas, I confirm they run out of drinks around 90 minutes into flight, except for mixers & soft drinks.....
I did fly on the Friday however, which I think is the Stag/Hen party day.....

Next month, I fly out on the Monday with VA, so will be interesting to see if I get a beer 6hrs into our flight.......

duchy

StuieUK34 wrote: »

Having flown with VA to Vegas, I confirm they run out of drinks around 90 minutes into flight, except for mixers & soft drinks.....
I did fly on the Friday however, which I think is the Stag/Hen party day.....

Next month, I fly out on the Monday with VA, so will be interesting to see if I get a beer 6hrs into our flight.......

The smart money says you will (as you are travelling with the missus and not your mates this time )

vanilla8

My recent trip in March on VA also announced they ran out of alcohol, but this was about 5 hours into the flight so had a few rounds. This was a Saturday and a full flight

rorylando45

Just booked a hire car with Hertz for driving to the Grand Canyon. We can only really do a day trip so have decided to just go to the West Rim. I know it isn't the "real" Grand Canyon but couldn't face the idea of a 5 hour drive each way to the South Rim.

Paid £34.99 for a 24 hour rental, with about 8% cashback through Quidco and an additional 10% cashback from Halifax for paying with my Clarity card. So a bit under £30 I think. Not the best deal I know but given it is only for the one day I didn't wanna spend hours looking around for promo codes etc.

We are picking up from the Hertz location at the Cosmo, has anyone done that before? One question I had was, we are planning on dropping it off after-hours. Has anyone ever done this before and if so did it all work out alright?

Also do we need to get anything extra in terms of car insurance? It looked like at least basic cover was included. I know the fact that 14-ish miles of the route to the West Rim is unpaved may cause some insurance problems, is that right?

Sorry for all the questions just been aaaages since I rented a car in the US!

John259

rorylando45 wrote: »

I know the fact that 14-ish miles of the route to the West Rim is unpaved may cause some insurance problems, is that right?

Most US rental car agreements forbid driving the vehicle on unpaved roads. So you have some choices:

1) Don't tell the rental car company and risk it. You'll probably get away with it but if you encounter a problem on the unpaved section it could prove very costly.

2) Ask the rental car company when you pick the car up, but of course if they then say no and you risk it, your case will be very significantly weakened.

3) Go the national park instead, which IMHO is far superior and unlike the skywalk very definitely not a rip-off. But as you say, the mileage precludes a day trip. Is there any way you could give the trip two days?

4) This is a controversial suggestion, so please ignore it if you don't feel it's appropriate: go somewhere else instead. The two obvious options are either Death Valley or Zion National Park. I haven't been to Death Valley so I cannot comment on it. Zion is about 165 miles each way from Las Vegas, all high quality road, mostly Interstate 15 (including the spectacular section through Virgin River Gorge in Arizona) and then Utah state highway 9 which is naturally not quite so fast. If the park's free shuttle buses have started for the summer season at Zion then you'll have to use them to get to the most scenic part of the park, otherwise you'll be able to drive that road yourself (turn left off Utah 9 a mile or two after the park's visitor center, just after crossing a little bridge). While Zion isn't on the same scale as the Grand Canyon it is spectacularly beautiful and you see it from the bottom which IMHO makes it seem more impressive. More information and photos here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_National_Park

secretmachines

Just back from MJOne, and concur with ferf... What a sensational show. Ticket prices are high, but worth every cent, and I can't imagine there's a bad seat to be had. We were sat bang in the middle, about 6 rows from the stage, incredible.