The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

trets77

April

i meant that Northwest has some pretty good fares i don't know about the quality of their flights .

i don't know how long it has been since you have been to Vegas , but things can move along fast in a year , let alone a few . The Sahara and Tropicanna are not the only budget hotels to consider. if your not bothered about the strip , have you considered places like southpoint , Orleans ect. really why limit yourself to thoose 2 very very ordinary hotels when you can pick and choose from the whole menu.

start with your £350 from US Airways and then shop around for dome deals. moving hotels is simple enough , and you could get some really good rooms mid week and then move to lower end at weekends.

get stuck into these links from post #1 for pricing up some rooms

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/travel-deals/704925/?start=0

http://www.vegas-promotions.com/

http://www.vegashotelhunt.com/

dan28

For room prices I also recommend http://www.vegas-hotels-online.com

ferf1223

March

Kathy220559 wrote: »

Thats why I thought at least if I booked with Expedia it would be up to them to sort it out if there was a problem.

I would be totally stressed booking something through expedia where I knew there would probably be a problem in the hopes that expedia would sort it out - just thinking that you would lose control over where you stayed...but if you were happy with how it worked before then go for it...I suppose expedia has some obligation to find you a hotel of the same or better quality than what you booked but I don't know...I would be so worried that I would end up somewhere I wasn't happy with.

Most of us (I think) would suggest moving at least once during those 3 weeks - but if you prefer to stay in the same room for 3 weeks a lot of hotels will likely prohibit that so searching around for the best deals might not have any benefit to you if you're going to run into the same problem a lot of places.

But if you assume the flight cost is £350pp - then that leaves about £700 for hotels - so about $1365. That period at Sahara booked direct through them is about $235 less without looking for any deals for the hotel (just looking at their rate calendar on their website)...so it's cheaper to book direct, but if you cannot book 21 nights then it doesn't work for you.

It's interesting as I don't think we've ever seen this situation before...if you can't book 2 reservations (say one in your name and one in your partner's name) then I can't think of a way around it other than to book through expedia like you're thinking and hope they sort something out for you.

trets77

April

ferf1223 wrote: »

I would be totally stressed booking something through expedia where I knew there would probably be a problem in the hopes that expedia would sort it out - just thinking that you would lose control over where you stayed...but if you were happy with how it worked before then go for it...I suppose expedia has some obligation to find you a hotel of the same or better quality than what you booked but I don't know...I would be so worried that I would end up somewhere I wasn't happy with.

Most of us (I think) would suggest moving at least once during those 3 weeks - but if you prefer to stay in the same room for 3 weeks a lot of hotels will likely prohibit that so searching around for the best deals might not have any benefit to you if you're going to run into the same problem a lot of places.

But if you assume the flight cost is £350pp - then that leaves about £700 for hotels - so about $1365. That period at Sahara booked direct through them is about $235 less without looking for any deals for the hotel (just looking at their rate calendar on their website)...so it's cheaper to book direct, but if you cannot book 21 nights then it doesn't work for you.

It's interesting as I don't think we've ever seen this situation before...if you can't book 2 reservations (say one in your name and one in your partner's name) then I can't think of a way around it other than to book through expedia like you're thinking and hope they sort something out for you.

i think 21 days in any of the strip hotels would be a bit much for me. if they are hiring a car , it would seem silly not deal hop.
i too would not trust expedia to "sort it out" , if you encountered problems it would probably be when you checkec in after they had booked it.

how about looking into renting a house ??? Stoneman mentioned that he did that for 3 week stay and it only cost $1500 (£750) . i'm sure he can give you some pointers

STSAVER

Any of you guys got tips for doing the Grand Canyon from Vegas?

Going in August for 14 nights, but only planning on staying a maxium of 4 in Vegas before heading off to the West Coast to do the coastal drive up to San Francisco so bearing that in mind I'm starting to think that it might be best to do one of the day trips to the Canyon rather than drive it myself (and save the need to hire a car in Vegas also).

Done a bit of research on some of the plane, helicopter and coach trips for prices etc but not really found much in the way of customer feedback about the value of some of these trips.

Papillon seem to have a very reasonably priced Helicopter trip that takes you down into the Canyon (West side I gather due to restrictions now in place) compared to some other prices.

pcg2001

STSAVER wrote: »

Any of you guys got tips for doing the Grand Canyon from Vegas?

Going in August for 14 nights, but only planning on staying a maxium of 4 in Vegas before heading off to the West Coast to do the coastal drive up to San Francisco so bearing that in mind I'm starting to think that it might be best to do one of the day trips to the Canyon rather than drive it myself (and save the need to hire a car in Vegas also).

Done a bit of research on some of the plane, helicopter and coach trips for prices etc but not really found much in the way of customer feedback about the value of some of these trips.

Papillon seem to have a very reasonably priced Helicopter trip that takes you down into the Canyon (West side I gather due to restrictions now in place) compared to some other prices.

I know it is best to book directly with the hotel, but if you plan on hotel hoping you might consider expedia, they were doing slightly more expensive nights and a 241 on pappilon helicopter tours (voucher, I thnink) a while ago and I don't thnink there was a minimum of nights. I remember at least Flamingo had this offer on (others also, but I don't remember. It was worth it in terms of the cost of the tour (especially if you only stay there a couple of nights), but I did no book it because I don't want to fly to the grand canyon (they would have to pay me for it!!). HTH

mils

3 of us are flying out to vegas on the 16th September through to 23rd sept al with Virgin Atlantic. Was just wondering how easy it is to upgrade at the moment were Economy class, is there and tricks/tips to go about it, without paying for another flight ha. Also Does anyone know of any hotel deals going on those dates?? We booked our flight awhile ago as there wasnt any difference between package deals and going about it separately. Any information would be gratefully received.
Thanks
Paul

ferf1223

March

mils wrote: »

3 of us are flying out to vegas on the 16th September through to 23rd sept al with Virgin Atlantic. Was just wondering how easy it is to upgrade at the moment were Economy class, is there and tricks/tips to go about it, without paying for another flight ha.

If there's availability you can pay to upgrade on each leg at check-in. There's never been any Premium Economy availability when we've checked in at Gatwick using twilight check-in the night before, but I think stoneman said before on this thread that he's never had a problem. There aren't many seats in PE on those planes.

we've seen upgrades available on the way back from LAS but we always check in about 10:30-11:00am...last time they had 2 seats in PE available for upgrade (can't remember the price - maybe $250) and the 2 ladies in front of us got them.

In general I would assume that the earlier you are there to check in the better chance you would have...although that said it may be that closer to the flight time they have some cancellations and then more will come available.

So, no help, really.

As for hotels - check the first page for links to the various sites that compile hotel deals. It's a bit early for most of the good September deals but there are some out there.

nvh

May

i think stoneman may have written before that upgrades aren't available to be purchased on twilight check-ins...

stoneman

May

nvh wrote: »

i think stoneman may have written before that upgrades aren't available to be purchased on twilight check-ins...

Thats correct. you can only do it on the day of travel. I do twilight checkin and then return the next morning at 5am:eek: when they open to grab the first upgrades, then return to the hotel and go back to bed. You do not both have to go but you will need your partners passport and ticket to do the upgrade. A good guide is to go to the Virgin desk on the left before the checkin and ask them what is showing as available in prem. for the flight you are taking.