Las Vegas Questions & Answers Thread

Strapped

pinkpinkfizz wrote: »

How do we go about booking a helicopter trip to the grand canyon BEFORE we go? I suffer quite badly from travel sickness (even the garden swing makes me sick! lol) is the helicopter flight even advisable? I would hate to waste a day of my holiday being sick.

Also do we need to book a venue to renew our wedding vows BEFORE we go or can we just turn up and get it done over there? (not sure exactly what we want yet?!)

I'm sure as my flight dates get nearer I will be back with more questions, thanks in advance for any help.

Hubby and I renewed our vows in Vegas a few years ago and had a great time. We booked in advance from the UK, but most places you don't have to book, you can just walk in although of course you may need to wait if it's busy. Failing that, there's even a drive-through PM me if you want to know where we went & more details.

Re. the helicopter flight: when we went to the Grand Canyon we went on a small plane, VERY bumpy and relieved to get off. We then got in a helicopter which swooped down into the canyon and frightened the life out of me! Despite this, wouldn't have missed it for the world. I'd suggest telling the pilot that you get travel sick though! We booked our flight and hotel through Virgin, and also pre-booked the trip through them as we wanted to be sure to (a) get the trip we wanted and (b) the exact date to book a creche for DS, who was too young to go. It's probably a bit cheaper to book once you're there, as there are plenty of operators selling on the Strip and you can haggle a bit.

Strapped

PS Jealous about you staying at the Bellagio

akane_2

Just back from las vegas had a great time as per normal but was shocked when we went to the strip as a lot of the old hotels have been demolished and being re-built and the venetian hotel is being exteneded as are a lot of the hotels.

Before you book a plane or helicopter flight to the grand canyon and intend to goto Las Vegas in the future you may want to book a coach trip via the hoover dam as they are building a by-pass and are stopping vechiles driving over the top of the dam , it would have been completed by now but (i kid you not) they blew up the wrong mountain during construction....
:eek:
We went with a company called sweet tours (no afil promiss) and went via route 66 (ask for the hawaiian female tour driver she's awesome)it was a fantastic trip for $85.... they all advertise about $140 but they price match

RichTeaBiscuit

Just my 2p but we did a couple of tours - Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon with a company called Adventure Photo Tours, they use Ford 4x4's so there'll be a maximum of 6 people plus driver which made it nice and interesting. I dropped on a guide called Aaron who was superb - really easy going top bloke.. (we still keep in touch now) who took us to some great view points of Lake Mead and some real off the beaten track places he'd discovered himself... becuase we were in to it and I enjoy photography he adjusted the tour to take in some real off road stuff to get me some brilliant panoramic shots.
Didn't real feel like I was paying for a tour but more like I was hanging out with a mate who was showing me around his town. Well recomended.

BusinessStudent

Hey All,

Me and my mom are going to Las Vegas, NV in January for 5 nights. Im under 21 so cannot gamble or drink due.

We are also spending a day at the Grand Canyon which is all booked and paid for.

I've looked through many Las Vegas threads on here but just wondered realistically how much i should take? Im thinking of taking about $700 dollars but dont intend to spend anywhere near that much. I know there is several big shopping malls along the strip but im not big on shopping. Im not fussed on eating out, a mcdonalds or pizza hut will be just fine lol :rotfl:

So, how much should money should i take considering i wont be gambling or drinking and how much are things such as meals out, takeaways etc

IvanOpinion

If you want to take in a show then pre-book it since some are sold out months in advance. Without knowing what you intend to spend on then it is hard to judge. I would be inclined to take fewer dollars but also take a credit card (Nationwide) for most expenses.

Ivan

mrtg0525

The cost of meals depends very much on your location - you can eat pretty good food at the casino hotels for comparatively little money (that's compared to the UK), but by Vegas standards, it's quite expensive. Actually anything on the strip will be relatively expensive, once you get away from the strip things tend to get cheaper.

If you're adventurous food-wise, there are plenty of small family restaurants all over town that offer really good food for little money. You have to keep in mind that most people in LV don't earn a lot of money so the infrastructure to support them is relatively cheap...

For example, the last time I was over there, my wife & me went to a Mexican restaurant around the corner from where she lives several times because we liked the food so much. I don't think we ever paid more than $40 for meal and drinks for the two of us.

IOW, if you're falling back on Pizza Hut and McDirt in Vegas, you're doing something wrong IMHO .

Regarding the shows, one very important tip from my wife (who works at a travel agents) - if you've got a pre-booked show you're getting a voucher, not a ticket for the show. The voucher specifically states that you have to pick up your ticket by a certain time. You'd do well to heed that, given the number of people who hurl abuse at the travel agents the following day because they went to pick up the tickets five minutes before the show was due to start and got told that because they didn't pick them up early enough, the tickets had been re-sold. And no, you won't get a refund in that case, either.

And another very important point if your mum decides to go gambling - keep as far away as possible from her if she is, on the off-chance that she wins something. The casinos do check their CCTV recordings to verify that the winner is who s/he says (and is over 21, otherwise they'll end up in a lot of trouble) was the person gambling and it's quite a common occurrence for people to wave goodbye to their winnings because their toddler pulled the handle on the slot machine...

Regarding the Grand Canyon, make sure you take some warm clothing - the rim is at around 8000 feet and it does get cold up there.

If you're not planning any excursions or anything, the $700 should be fine IMHO, depending on how much you'll end up spending on food you can probably bring half that back if you're really watching the pennies.

duchy

Be aware that if you look under 21 your Mum will be on her own in the casino. Minors are not allowed to even stand still and watch. Security will approach you in seconds and tell you to leave the gaming area.You can walk through but that is it.
There's plenty to see and do -all the hotels are themed and are attractions in themselves.

debs66_2

hi, you can spend as little or as much as you want in Vegas. I presume you are over 18 as you only say 'under 21', so I would suggest taking some dollars ($500) and a credit card (obviously if you have one). You then don't lose out on changing money back on your return (if you have any left!).

we had 2 days there in august with our teens (17 and 15) and they hardly spent a thing. you can spend a huge amount of time just looking at everything. there are a lot of shops (Planet Hollywood mall quite nice) but many are high end. There are of course the outlet malls (one at either end of the strip) and you could just go mad there.

if you want to just take cash as per your question, I would think $700 a pretty good sum. Don't think of it as £350, as the value of the money is relative to the country, so think of it as £700, as something you buy over for here for £10 would be approx $10 over there. It's all a bargain at the moment!

Have a ball. Am seriously jealous. I LOVE VEGAS.

debs66_2

as a follow on to my last post, I just remembered what we did in Feb!

Went to LA and Vegas for 4 nights to catch some concerts, and by mistake worked out the conversion of £ to $ the wrong way round. After 2 nights we were running out of money, and realsied we had taken the equivalent of £100 between us and £50 each for personal spends!! Luckily the old credit card was with us though, so if you can get one, they are always useful travel buddies.