The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

ferf1223

March

martmonk wrote: »

Thanks to all who responded to my NYE in vegas query. We've moved an a tad since I posted and decided that we don't have to be away over NYE and therefore we're gonna fly probably 2nd Jan and stay 5 nights which has made the possible flights look a little cheaper but also an initial look at hotels has thrown this up which I see as a good deal but am willing to accept comments to the contrary?

Mandalay Bay total cost for 2nd-7th King room 2 people $829.95

That time period should be fine - we've been that period and it was brilliant (but cold)...but don't shift a few days further as one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) conventions to hit Vegas starts on the 9th...unless you want to be in town when about 140,000 conventioneers arrive. Hotel rates will skyrocket for the period of the convention.

Edited to add - so long as that quote is booking direct with the hotel and you can cancel if you find a better deal then it can't hurt to book it.

ferf1223

March

mils wrote: »

Hey ferf, i heard you mention that your planning to go vegas around september/october time in one of your earlier posts. I posted awhile back that we were also planning to go mid september time and the average deals we are getting are (based on 3 adults, i think 2 rooms)
virgin flight, london
Hotels: NYNY, MGM, Planet hollywood, Mirage
7 nights
£900-950pp

Is that the average deal?
is there any better ways to go about it, ie wait nearer the time??

Paul

Hi Paul - we haven't looked into too much in terms of specifics but normally expect to pay about £350 each for flights...possibly £400...we never book packages but my instinct is that that seems a bit high to me even if it's 2 rooms. If it's one room it's really expensive I think. Then again, if you are going over a particularly busy time or something then maybe not - really hard to say without knowing how many rooms.

Have you looked at what it would cost for the flights and hotels separately?

mils

ferf1223 wrote: »

Hi Paul - we haven't looked into too much in terms of specifics but normally expect to pay about £350 each for flights...possibly £400...we never book packages but my instinct is that that seems a bit high to me even if it's 2 rooms. If it's one room it's really expensive I think. Then again, if you are going over a particularly busy time or something then maybe not - really hard to say without knowing how many rooms.

Have you looked at what it would cost for the flights and hotels separately?

yes have looked at it going seperately and still appears to be coming out the same price wise. Quite keen on going via virgin as its easy and a direct way but for that time they appear to be priced at £550 - 16th september and return on 23rd i believe. Is there any events that you know around those dates to why the prices might be so much more?? Preferably want a direct flight as last time i went we had a stop off in chicago flight, but all in all from leaving the house to arriving at the hotel took about 24hrs.
What do you advise?? do the flights get any cheaper nearer the time? is there any other airlines that go direct? We did look at manchester around the same time but still was getting the same prices.
Basically we can be quite flexible with the dates between sept/oct time just finding it hard to lower the prices ive stated already?

Paul

p.s thanks for the reply

vanilla8

Hi all,

Just wondering, we have reserved the bellagio for 4 nights in september, and having just rechecked the price it has gone down by around $100. Shall i cancel and rebook? Or wait for a bigger discount?

trets77

April

vanilla8 wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering, we have reserved the bellagio for 4 nights in september, and having just rechecked the price it has gone down by around $100. Shall i cancel and rebook? Or wait for a bigger discount?

call them up and see if they will match the new price under your current booking. if not cancel and re book. it might not come down futher , and this price might not last (these offers do get pulled and and increased in price ) , so no point in waiting.

if it does drop again simply do the same , if does not you haven't lost anything

vanilla8

Thanks trets, you gave me the push to call them, they have honoured the price change :-)

tashawasha

One week from tomorrow I will be in Vegas.:j :j
Thank you Trets, Ferf and Photome for all your invaluable help in planning this trip. As you know we used miles and money fare with Virgin £140 plus taxes. Treasure Island, Excalibur have both honoured their reduced prices. Friend is getting married on the monday staying at Venetian and remainder of guests according to their own budget are spread amongst Pallazzo,Venetian, Circus Circus, Treasure Island and Excalibur. My only worry is that I will not have enough money to pay for food and hopefully a bit of gambling. I only have about $1000 to cover this for 2 of us, plus we would like to do the Grand Canyon. Do you think this is enough?
Thank you all once again
Tasha

trets77

April

vanilla8 wrote: »

Thanks trets, you gave me the push to call them, they have honoured the price change :-)

no problem . be sure you are using the MSE International call checker when calling. i always use this service , which i find easy, reliable, good call quality and a total snip at 1p /min :beer:

http://www.ratebuster.co.uk/pages/home.asp?tid=ID0000001&icid=K013-2559744-138KEVAPPC27960=K


Thomas cook direct

departing 12/3/08 7 nights = £320 14 nights = £310

19/3/08 7 nights =£589 14 nights =£429

26/3/08 7 nights = £405 14nights = £354

2/4/08 7 nights = £374 14 nights = unable to search

shinhead

we booked to go to vegas stopping at the mgm grand 2 weeks from 3rd june 08

1st time in vegas so really looking forward to it thx to so many who contributed to our choice :beer:

ferf1223

March

mils wrote: »

yes have looked at it going seperately and still appears to be coming out the same price wise. Quite keen on going via virgin as its easy and a direct way but for that time they appear to be priced at £550 - 16th september and return on 23rd i believe. Is there any events that you know around those dates to why the prices might be so much more?? Preferably want a direct flight as last time i went we had a stop off in chicago flight, but all in all from leaving the house to arriving at the hotel took about 24hrs.
What do you advise?? do the flights get any cheaper nearer the time? is there any other airlines that go direct? We did look at manchester around the same time but still was getting the same prices.
Basically we can be quite flexible with the dates between sept/oct time just finding it hard to lower the prices ive stated already?

Hi again - we haven't been that particular time of year since 2001 (we normally go in November) so I'm not sure if there are regularly sales for that period but in general I think you would have a better chance at a flight sale for October than for September.

I'm sure others here have been that period and could give you more specific advice. Personally, I agree that flying direct is worth it - 22 hours once for us from LGW to our hotel and it was just too long.

I do think that if the prices are coming out similar between a package and booking separately you don't have anything to lose by booking separately - and you gain the freedom to keep looking around over the months to find a better hotel deal at least.