Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2014

vegasvisitor

photome wrote: »

Have you checked these

http://www.alamo.co.uk/brits

inc free additional driver but no fuel

Thanks, but didn't work well for me at all. One way fee and also only had Las Vegas Airport. £260 ouch. Basic price was a fraction cheaper though so might work for some. It's the one way that killed it I think, plus I don't want to return the car to McCarran. My first choice is to use Dollar and return to TI.

I know that Carhire3000/Rentalcars do a price match, but the ebookers deal has got £15 cashback which they won't match, so this makes it more attractive at £135 net for 9 days.

Can anyone comment on the cover offered in my previous message? It looks fine to me, but insurance can be a bit of a minefield!!!

I also think I must be super paranoid to want a second driver on the car. I think of emergencies, however I can't get hubby to drive at home so can't see him driving abroad.

lmitchell

Wammer wrote: »

The first time we tried hotel hopping we did 7 and 3. We loved it as the change of hotel felt like a different holiday. That was a few years ago and we have hotel hopped ever since.

What I have found is that it is

• It's not worth moving for less than 3 nights so on a 7 night trips do 3 and 4 or 4 and 3.
• Do the better hotel last.
• Most hotel check outs are at 11am and some are at 12 noon. If you call the front desk on the morning you are checking out, you can usually get an extra hour free of charge. We usually do this hoping that it gives the next hotel time to have a room ready, but it doesn't always work like that.
• If you check in and the room isn't ready, leave your bags with the bell desk then clear off and do something. Don't hang around the hotel waiting for the room to be ready.
• Official check in at CET properties is now 4pm and MRI properties is 3pm. However if a room is ready you should get it. That said, some CET properties are now charging an early check in fee.

Do you have any idea yet where you might be staying?

Thanks for the detailed advice, I shall definitely take the check-in tip on board - would much rather do that than waste a few hours milling around.

I agree that 4 nights and 3 nights would probably be easiest for a week-long stay... packing up and moving hotels twice in a week just seems too much hassle personally!

We (I mean I!) had been looking mid Strip at places like Paris and Mirage - I don't know what the best value mid Strip hotels are these days though as it's 3 years since I was last in LV!

Froggitt

lesley74 wrote: »

Can anyone comment on the cover offered in my previous message? It looks fine to me, but insurance can be a bit of a minefield!!!

We used ebookers in the summer. It included the below which at the time I certainly thought was enough cover.


Car rate includes:

[*]Third Party Liability.
[*]Additonal Liability Insurance.
[*]Local Tax.
[*]Collision Damage Waiver and theft protection with No Excess To Pay.
[*]Unlimited Mileage.
[*]Airport Service Charge.
[*]Location Service Charge.



Car rate excludes:

[*]Personal Effects Protection.
[*]Fuel (Must be Returned with Full Tank or a Refilling Charge will Apply).
[*]1 Additional Driver.
[*]Personal Accident Insurance.
[*]Child Seat Baby
[*]Underage Driver Charges are not included, and are payable locally. Underage driver ages vary from supplier to supplier, but can start at 21 and go up to 25 years of age, depending on the category of car being rented.
[*]Navigational System GPS

romangatang

Hi everyone,

Off to Vegas to get married in September, staying at the Flamingo/Cosmo. It's our first trip outside Europe and I was wondering what everyone does about currency?

Have been considering getting a pre-pay debit card with half our spends loaded on (a Ukash card) before we go but I wondered if it is worth it, are there any free ATMs on the strip for if we run out of cash? Also, a silly question, when paying by card in Vegas, do they have chip and pin?

Thanks!

ratkarth

Romangatang- now is a good dollar rate, I order normally a third spending money in cash from telegraph exchange which I find are a competitive rate, a third on a fairfx card and the rest estimated third on a credit card with good exchange rate
Just to give you options

ferf1223

have a look here for loads of travel money info...the pre-paid cards aren't necessarily the best option...they might be if you loaded them at a high rate and then it dropped, but otherwise there are better options.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

We normally bring 1/2 our money in cash...but many don't bring much at all. We have a 'good' current account and a 'good' credit card so we just use those for the rest.

I have never found chip and PIN in the US - it's swipe and sign (or swipe)...a few people have said they have had chip and PIN in the US but not Vegas that I can recall.

There were some posts not long ago about ATMs...other than a special offer at LVH last October no one has mentioned fee free ATMs but there were some links posted regarding some possibly fee free ATMs recently but not yet confirmed. If you go back a bit in the thread you will find them.

ratkarth

Not been on here in a long time, an unexpected refund from hmrc looking at possibly a trip next year
However cannot get over price of flights doing dummy bookings coming in at 3000 return for premium economy with ba in May/june! Incredible

romangatang

Thanks ferf and ratkarth. It's good to know what other people do in terms of spending money. Especially as we don't have much travel experience. I'm thinking of putting half on a pre-pay, half cash and getting a decent travel credit card to take with us.

Cheers for the ATM details, will have a search now.

Another question I have is, I've been using Social Rewards for a while now and I've built up 8000 - how much does that translate to in terms of money on the total reward card?

ferf1223

8000 is $80 on Total Rewards.

gracie10

lesley74 wrote: »

I agree on watching how many moves on a trip of that length. Bear in mind that some of your move day will be dedicated to packing up, checking out, getting to new hotel, checking in (not always possible), leaving luggage, coming back to check in, unpacking. It's good to stay in different areas so I'd suggest 2 hotels for a trip of that length.

We will be in 4 hotels this trip...but only because we are staying in Phoenix, then Flagstaff, Laughlin and Vegas. We are doing all 11 nights in Vegas at Platinum. I think I'll be glad of that when we get there. I'd have liked the first couple of nights at Wynn when we arrive in Vegas, but price for the first night is rediculous!

Can I ask what hotel you picked in Laughlin Lesley and have you stayed there before? We are considering stopping here as part of our trip next year.