The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

photome

holidayqueen wrote: »

Going to Las Vegas for the 1st time in june and cant decide wether to take dollars or travelers chqs.
Prev always took uk £'s when going on hols to other european destinations and changed locally, but been advised this aint easy in Las Vegas.
Read about applying for cc's on this sight but decided against it.
Now call me thick, I know you can buy travellers chqs comm free, but do you have to pay a charge when using them, and on your ret to the uk if you have any left?
Also, what amount of money would you say is the minimum you should take for 2 adults?.
I know this can depend on what you intend to do when you get there, but dont want to end up either not taking enough,or taking too much and losing out if you have to pay comm to exchange back to £'s.
Thanks in advance.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cheaper-spending-overseas

If you read martins thread about spending overseas it will tell you all you need to know.

I have never heard of the abbey zero CC card. (just looked at it and it looks to be the same as nationwide and po credit cards with added advantage of being able to withdraw cash with no fees)

I never take TC and only take about $200 with me and then use Nationwide debit card for cash withdrawals and a post office credit card to pay for hotels and shop purchases....No foreign loading on either.

RichTeaBiscuit

Cage wrote: »

Whats the best room available in the Luxor hotel ? Is it the Player Deluxe Room ?

I think the Tower Premier is the top chioce but I maybe wrong. I stayed in a Player Deluxe room last year through the $20 desk tip, I had booked a standard Tower room and it was a very nice upgrade; spa bath, huge shower, fridge, big plasma tv.

luci

May

Forgot to say, the only reason we take TC's is if we get a good rate from Crown Currency Exchange for forward purchase. I bought mine at $2/£1 and the InterBank rate at the moment is $1.97 so a small profit of $30.

holidayqueen

Thanks for the info.
photome, you make sense in what you say, only drawback is i just applied and got accepted for a capital one bal trans cc last week and dont think if i aply for a nationwide/abbey/post office card its going to do my cred rating any good. (my cred rating is excellent by the way)

stoneman

May

Just booked a great deal last night for September at PlanetHo via http://www.find-rooms.com/ (thanks again Pandapants!!) 7 nights £400!!!! Looked again this morning and it has gone up by £150, but still $400 cheaper than PH own website So this time i can add all my food, etc to my room and use my comps that I accumulate.

stoneman

May

As for which CC to use, I signed up for the 5% cashback card from Amex, even with the 2.50% load for using it abroad, we still made about £100 profit on our purchases. Just like buying everything with a 2.5% discount:T

duchy

Vegas is probably the one place I DO take travellers cheques.
That's what my play money goes into-and once it's gone it's gone (or used to top up with extra treats if it grows )
I prefer to keep gambling money in a totally different pot to everything else.
I certainly don't think the OP is "mad" (how rude !) nowdays travellers cheques have no charges and are sold at the same exchange rate as cash so there is no loss so the advantages of cheque over card are minimal and subjective unless you are using a cashback card or a card has some other earning benefit like miles.
Travellers cheques have some distinct advantages-they can't be cloned and if lost or stolen are replaced within 24 hours. You can also fix your rate-the rates we're getting now won't last forever.
Don't think there is a blanket "better" way-just different methods suit different people-personally I go for a mix of cash, cards (plural) and cheques.

malstar_2

trets77 wrote: »

personally i would think twice about the Tropicanna at the moment. LVA had a QOD on the place recently, due to recieving a large amount of complaints about how the place is being run down. The rooms were always badly rated , but now it seems all but the most serious maintanace is being skipped there. plus they are cutting back on staffing ect .

if money is tight have you considered somewhere like The Orleans as alternative off strip ???



Beyond the new Encore and fashion show mall , there is little to merit idle exploring now . The Peppermill / Fireside lounge is great for drinks and food, but Circus Circus , Rivera don't merit walking to IMO and Sahara and Strat are best reached by Monorail and road. The strech of Las Vegas Boulavard between Stratospere and downtown get more seedy every vist. unless you like dive bars and sex shops , the only things to temp you there are the wedding chapels .

Monte Carlo from $70
stays until + expires May 11th

http://https//reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=MCH&host=promo&code=GIFT

Treasure Island from $89
stays until 4.9.08. expires 1.8.08

http://www.treasureisland.com/pages/promotions.aspx?code=TIRMSM08

Palazzo from $179
stays until 1/9/08 . expires may 13th

http://www.palazzolasvegas.com/EPO0508.aspx

MGM Grand from $89
stays until Sept . offer 2 expires may 15th

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=001&code=MKT112&kbid=27920

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=001&code=INB175&kbid=27920

Southpoint from $55
stays until july 28th . expires May 9th

https://reservations.synxis.com/gc/rez.aspx?Hotel=11548&Src=TZ043008&promo=TRZBL08

Signature @ MGM Grand from $149

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=005&code=SUM008&kbid=27920

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=005&code=SUM006&kbid=27920

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=005&code=SUM007&kbid=27920

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=005&code=SUM009&kbid=27920

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=005&code=SUM010&kbid=27920

Luxor from $69
stay until end of july. expires May14th

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=LUX&host=promo&code=PGET36&kbid=27920

Ballys from $50
stays until 15th . expires may 9th

https://www.harrahs.com/MakeReservation.do?propCode=blv&packageCode=IBSN3

New York New York from $81
stays until sept 30th

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=010&host=promo&code=SUM10NRA&kbid=27920


all offers from Fatwallet

Cheers for your help mate, abandoned going ultra cheap for that wkend and used the offers u suggested. Got Luxor for the wkend, then Monte Carlo for the rest of the week - $700 overall so Im happy!

gibbyni

I always use TC when in vegas, easy to change (can be done in any of the casinos). The problem i found with using a card to withdraw money is that a lot of the cash machines on the strip and casinos will charge you a fee and it can be a stupid amount at times.

trets77

April

redrichie2001 wrote: »

Ive been checking expedia, WILL prices come down before September????

with Expedia ... who knows. this thread only really covers attempting to save money over the likes of Expedia by booking things seperate.

there are over 38 offers for september posted on Las Vegas Promotions ... http://www.vegas-promotions.com/September-2008/dp/1.htm

type your dates in to these and see what they shake up at . by checking out as many offers as you can you can then get a feel for what is a good price for your dates. without doing that legwork it is impossible to say what is a great deal , because the prices vary from week to week , day to day.

if your having problems with a good flight , you might want to consider indirect. and see what you can get. BMI prices are impossible to predict , there is no golden nugget of wisdom i can give you that says , they will drop . the nearer you get to the time of departure they generally don't. Virgin are the same, but My Travel / Thomas Cook do tend to.

seeing as i will never fly with virgin to Las Vegas again , i would be prepared to look at flights into LAX ( where Virgin have good planes, and there are plenty of other carriers ) , and staying in LA for a night before driving on to Las Vegas ( plenty of LA resisdents do it every week ) . but thats just me.

gibbyni wrote: »

I always use TC when in vegas, easy to change (can be done in any of the casinos). The problem i found with using a card to withdraw money is that a lot of the cash machines on the strip and casinos will charge you a fee and it can be a stupid amount at times.

but even with the fees , you still get a better deal using your Nationwide card. aim for ATM's out of casinos as these charge the highest fees . Walgreens seem to be one of the cheapest fee ATM's