Vegas Travel Advice - June 2011

[Marty719]

Booking up for Vegas in June 2011 and cannot find reasonable flights anywhere!!  Anyone got any good links for it?  Also any advice for cheap accom on the strip.  Last time I went I stayed downtown but fancy a nice change of scenery this year.

Cheers,

[Paulie_D]

Booking up for Vegas in June 2011 and cannot find reasonable flights anywhere!!  Anyone got any good links for it?  Also any advice for cheap accom on the strip.  Last time I went I stayed downtown but fancy a nice change of scenery this year.

Cheers,

I could write a book..honestly.

Flights are tough this far out...Virgin is generally your best option when balancing time vs. cost and they have occasional sales.

Hotels...it all depends on where you want to be, what quality you want, what your budget is and how long you are thinking of staying. Also, whether you have been before and, if so, have you signed up for any casino loyalty cards.

I kinda need more information such as the stuff I mentioned above in order to give proper advice.

As a general rule, I would decide on my dates and book my flights before booking the hotel. There are nearly always rooms available although specific hotels might sell out, the one next door will generally have room.

[Paulie_D]

OK. Here goes.....

Players Clubs & Comps

If you have been to Vegas before and have signed up with the Players Clubs [Harrahs Total Rewards, MGM-Mirage Players club etc] then you should check what they will do for you through their specific sites.

Harrahs are particularly good at providing comps (freebies) and you will be surprised at what you can get for very little play. Also, Harrahs hotels don"t charge a "resort fee" which is often an hidden extra for other hotels ranging from $5 to $20 a day.

I can run you through the process for checking those out if necessary.

If you haven"t signed up or haven"t been to Vegas before then it"s worth spending an hour or so visiting the various hotels websites and signing up to be sent offers by email.

I get two or three a day for places I haven"t stayed at and probably never will.

Discount Sites

There are a number of places where people in the know will post up discount codes or consolidator sites that have specific offers. These discounts usually become available two to three months before you might want to stay but a visit once a week or so (or daily in my case) will keep you in the loop as to the type of things that are out there.

FatWallet.com

A forum site where people post up discount codes that they are aware of. The thread I have linked to started 3 years ago and you should go to the end (p.139 as I type this) and work backwards. If you have a specific hotel in mind you can do a search of that thread for the name.

Please note that these discount codes often have specific criteria attached which you MUST check out before booking.

Travelzoo

A consolidator site but they have some nice deals.

SmarterVegas

I love this one...it has a great search feature so that you can plug in the dates of your trip and see what codes/offers are available. Just be sure to plug in the LAST day of your trip to make sure that the code/discount covers your whole stay.

Las Vegas Promotions

Similar to SmarterVegas.

[Marty719]

Didnt sign up for anything when I was there - prob looking to go for 10-14 days - havent really set a budget out but if I could find flights for anywhere under 600 it would be a decent start.  Accomodation isnt tht much of a problem as its pretty reasonable neway, but was just checking if any1 had any too good to pass deals for it.

[Paulie_D]

Best flight price I could find with Virgin was going out / returning on a Monday for c.£680 but like I said, this far out it"s tough to price accurately.

Virgin (and BA) do have sales occasionally. Virgin also start flying from Manchester twice a week from 1/4/2011.

Unfortunately, the Gov"t just screwed us for another £50 in tax which will come in on 1/11/2010 and I think the US will start charging for the ESTA (Visa jobbie) shortly if they haven"t already.

Hotels.

As I said, the deals won"t come on stream until Feb/March at the earliest but the sites I quoted should get you started.

[Curlarge]

Hi

7 of us spent a week there in May and found the following to be true.

The big casinos on the strip Caesars, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Ventian etc, are great for tournaments as there are resonable fields (50-75 runners, Ventitian has 150 daily at middday), whereas the smaller ones Downtown on Freemont Street  (Binions, Golden Nugget) offer far better cash games as the cash actually means something there. There were alot of locals with small budgets which eliminated the "Johnny big wallets" from running over the tables as is often the case on the strip where large pots are common as the players like to show off in front of railers and friends.

We all did very well Downtown and whilst alot of the glitz is missing that old vegas feels is most definately still there.

We stayed at the new Aria Resort which is fantastic. You can get a room for $99 per night as long as you play for 5 hours per day per room, which is alot easier than it sounds as all drinks are comps. Also the buffet is

[KarmaDope]

Can confirm that ESTA is now charged at something like $15.

[RioRodent]

Don"t even consider flying indirect (unless you really want to stop-over somewhere), the £50 or so you might save just isn"t worth the extra time and hassle.

A quick search on the Virgin website finds a price less than £600 for Tue 07/06/11 - Sat 18/06/11... Cash Price - £586.80.

This can be further reduced by joining the Virgin flying Club before booking and buying 2000 miles per person, then look for the "Miles plus Money" prices.

Miles plus Money - 2000 miles + £505.80 + £45.00 = £550.80

(join Virgin Flying Club for free, buy 2000 miles for £45 [£15/1000 + £15... if one person is booking several flights you only pay extra £15 once, then £15/1000 miles]).

Best to keep checking the website between now and Xmas and look out for any offers, definitely get signed up to V Flying Club.

If V are going to start flying from Manchester, they may well have some decent introductory offers (are they taking bookings yet?).
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As for hotels, i would always advise booking direct with the hotel... you only have to pay 1 night"s deposit, which is refundable if booking cancelled >48-72 hrs before arrival date (check hotel"s cancellation policy)... the balance being due on checkout.

Once you have set your dates and booked flights you can book something adequate, for peace of mind, and then keep an eye out for special offers somewhere nicer... Fatwallet.com etc.

Try and arrange dates to only include one Fri & Sat night, these are MUCH more expensive than Sun - Thu.
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Ref: ESTA - fill out the online application now, before they start charging, it remains valid for 2 years.

[stone]

Regarding flights I have come across an interesting anomaly this week, whilst surfing the American Airlines site for upcoming "Work" trip  , I spotted that the Code share direct BA flight to LHR, that leaves vegas after 09:00PM, was really cheap. It may just be that I was booking it late but I"m going to give it a wizz next week and will let you know how it goes.

[Marty719]

cheers guys - I"ll keep u posted.