Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2015

stoneman

duchy wrote: »

I'll have a go

I've picked my birthday week as a random set of dates

4 Sept arrive Gatwick leave hold bag at left luggage Located on the far wall of the Arrivals area near the Costa Coffee outlet cost £5 per bag

4 Sept LGW DUB 09.40 11.00 FR113 £32.99

Lunch in Dublin - for me this is a treat not a diversion then back to the airport

4 Sept DUB LGW 18.55 20.25 EI246 £488

collect bag from left luggage and walk a few yards to

Yotel £65
Watch a bit of TV, sleep, use free wifi
Up bright and early and walk a few yards to Virgin check in desk and check in bag- walk back to Yotel via Costa for coffee and a pastry
Leisurely shower , watch a bit of Sky news and amble to security

5/9 VS 43 11.20 LGW 14.05 LAS

returning

12/9 VS 44 16.35 LAS 10.25 next day LGW
connecting to
12/9 EI 243 16.50 LGW 18.10 DUB
(Ooops good thing I only checked my bags to London as I'd need them as I wanted to have a shower and change during the 8 hour wait for the Dublin flight as I "missed" that flight )

Costs
Ryanair £32,99 (no luggage fee as checked bag left at Gatwick)
Left luggage £5
Flight (Expedia) £488.25
Hotel Yotel £65 -)others are cheaper but the point was I didn't have to mess about with shuttles or treks- Hilton was about £85 for a bigger room but a longer walk) The Yotel rooms are TINY think like a cabin on a ferry but with a really good monsoon shower and free wi-fi.

Total £591.24

same Virgin flight LGW LAS return £1030

so saving £438 pp

I do take "on board" what Stoneman is saying about the extra day off of work but for me a day in Dublin is a bonus and the best part is the relaxed start to the transatlantic flight.

The £876 saved between two of us essentially pays for our hotels in Vegas with change.....and something nicer than Excalibur too !!



I build in delay time -and the savings on not lugging your bags to Dublin (and paying to do so) offset the hotel cost (although for me I could actually drive home from Gatwick and back the next morning but I prefer the less stressed start with the overnight stay-I'm on holiday after all )

now a saving of £438 each is definitely worth it:T

stoneman

lonestarfan wrote: »

Thanks Stoneman. Google flights is in dollars. Can't seem to find out how to change it to sterling.
Anyway this years vegas flights are booked but with Thomas Cook.
If I want to go again which is very likely then on reflection having read more then I think I would go for scheduled flights using the tips on here.

UK version
https://www.google.co.uk/flights/

stoneman

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Please read my previous post - direct flight with BA from Dublin to Gatwick - any delays there and BA would have to put me on next available flight.
Cost of Dublin hotel is comparable to Gatwick hotel.
Cost of getting rail from home to Gatwick - not far from £200 - foot passenger on ferry to Dublin at most £60.
So my savings are actually more than £300.

But I wasn't replying to your post, I was replying to lonestarfan who was going to save £300 for 2 people. Not worth it IMHO.
Don't get me wrong, I have done ex EU 3 times now, but I am flying J or F and save in excess of £1K each. That itinerary I posted above was all flown in First (business for the AA JFK/LAX, ahh but I got upgraded that leg as well) and cost a shade over £1,000.

callum9999

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

The only reason I tried BA is that it is classed as a direct flight so if there is a delay from Dublin to Gatwick BA would have to put me on the next available flight - if any other budget flight was delayed I would be on my own.
I am fortunate to live 10 minutes away from a port going to Dublin by ferry so I would use both flights. Train to London is 4 hours for me and then you need to cross over to Gatwick (not)Express lol.
I did try flights out of Dublin and returning to Manchester but they were more expensive than what I quoted.

I don't follow? If you buy a ticket from Dublin to Vegas via Gatwick on any airline then they'd have to put you on the next available flight if there's a delay to Gatwick - it's not a BA thing.

Though I don't quite understand your argument anyway as if you were on a budget flight from Dublin to Gatwick then you wouldn't be taking advantage of ex-DUB pricing anyway?

duchy

stoneman wrote: »

now a saving of £438 each is definitely worth it:T

Actually fractionally greater saving as the airport hotel would be split two ways -however although the savings will vary depending on carrier and dates it's always worth checking the costings. For me even £150 saving per person is worth considering but I'm poor

lonestarfan

stoneman wrote: »

But I wasn't replying to your post, I was replying to lonestarfan who was going to save £300 for 2 people. Not worth it IMHO.
Don't get me wrong, I have done ex EU 3 times now, but I am flying J or F and save in excess of £1K each. That itinerary I posted above was all flown in First (business for the AA JFK/LAX, ahh but I got upgraded that leg as well) and cost a shade over £1,000.

You were but I was replying to ManU saying the prices looked good but the changes and the extra hols and hotels wasn't for me this time. I would like to look at scheduled flights like that in the future but like you its would need to be a £1k saving to make it worth it for me really as I don't live anywhere near Gatwick. I am grateful tho as I've learned a lot from the posts who were originally trying to help me get a better price for me to go to Vegas. As I live in B'ham I wouldn't even have made a £300 saving. But I've booked a chartered flight with thomas Cook and really regret it now as what of its delayed. So next time I will book a scheduled and have learned about it from here. My problem is I want premium economy but can't afford it. So next time it's either wait and save longer or go economy. There's a decent price for economy from b'ham with United with one change but the minute I put in PE the price rockets to thousands
So for now I'll have to stick with the thomas cook deal from Manchester in premium seats.

duchy

I'm not sure why you think it wouldn't apply to you

Placement flights BHX DUB return with Ryanair would work for you

In some ways you may have more choices as there would be no advantage to losing the last sector -so you could use the DUB ATL or DUB YYZ flights with a connecting flight.

stoneman

duchy wrote: »

I'm not sure why you think it wouldn't apply to you

Placement flights BHX DUB return with Ryanair would work for you

In some ways you may have more choices as there would be no advantage to losing the last sector -so you could use the DUB ATL or DUB YYZ flights with a connecting flight.

That's what I did. BHX/DUB getting in at about 9:20pm. Free shuttle to hotel that cost 35 euros. Flight one way was £9!!
I then bought a one way from DUB to EMA (which is my nearest airport) for 9 euros.
I toyed with dropping the last leg at LCY but it would have cost me more to get home to Nottingham from London than flying from DUB :rotfl:

lonestarfan

duchy wrote: »

I'm not sure why you think it wouldn't apply to you

Placement flights BHX DUB return with Ryanair would work for you

In some ways you may have more choices as there would be no advantage to losing the last sector -so you could use the DUB ATL or DUB YYZ flights with a connecting flight.

I meant that the Gatwick scenario was no good for me. Leaving luggage at the left luggage at Gatwick is no good for me as I live in Birmingham so I'd save even less than £300 cos I'd have to pay for luggage to Dublin. So my reply was all about Gatwick.
Now you've given me examples of Birmingham then I know what to put into the searches and what to tinker with. I'm completely new to all this routes and options. I feel like I must go to vegas many times now just to do all this different scenarios lol.
I'll definitely get some prices together from BHX now you've explained. I'm going from Manchester with thomas cook but east Mids or BHX would be so much better. I looked at direct with virgin from gatwick but it's such a pain getting to and from Gatwick. Thanks for the ideas.

duchy

When you do your searches -you search for Dublin to LAS -once you have the best flight and fare for that journey you then look seperately on Ryanair for the BHX DUB flights -Just remember to allow lots of connection time.

And yes you must go lots of times to try out all the options