Vegas Trip Information for anyone looking to go this year.

[Marky147]

Cheers Marky! But what is TI? :/

LOL... You really are the worst ever, Aaron

http://www.treasureisland.com/

You've also got to add $250 resort fees at TI to the price, but no matter because you'd have to pay the same at the Mirage, and $200 with Monte Carlo, too.

[Marky147]

TI is decent.  If you can afford the extra think the Mirage is worth it but its a solid place and a great location.

I prefer Mirage, but it's £200 more over the same dates which I think is a bit silly.

[Simon Galloway]

OK so I'm booked......

I had 134k miles, a premium reward upgrade voucher and an economy sale... so pretty much all options were open.

Unfortunately they had NOTHING in Upper anywhere near when I wanted to go.  Others have complained about lack of availability, I have usually been able to get what I wanted, but this time it wasn't even an option.

So.. economy for 31k miles and a free upgrade into Premium it is.  That also leaves me 100k+ on account, so I can look forward to going Upper next time for ~ £500 --> not so bad.

In the old days, I used to suffer from helpdesk variance and always took the extension number of anyone that was particularly helpful.  For all the Virgin/Branson bashing that does go on, I have to say the last few times I have called up, they have all been absolute sweethearts and very knowledgeable and helpful.

I also used the miles booster (something I did not know I could do with a reward ticket as flying on a reward ticket doesn't attract any miles..) option.  In short, I paid £208 to be given ~27k miles.  If you think about that as a fraction of what it costs to get 100k miles=Upper, buying miles at that rate you can go Upper for £770!! Yes, you would have to pay for fuel surcharge, but even the most fervent anti-Bransonite would have to agree that is pretty good value.

Now you have the same situation with flights that you do with hotels.  People saying they fly economy because it is cheapest (when someone is sitting in Upper for less) and people staying in the Quad because it is cheapest (when someone is staying in the Aria for less)

[Woodsey]

I travel long haul probably 4-6 times a year and I've found those FF schemes a waste of time. The main problem being is that with most airlines I use you don't get any points for the promotion fares which are pretty much all I buy, you have to buy a standard non promotion fare to get points. So you are paying more in the long run, I'd rather shop around and get the best fares each time I travel rather than be tied to one airline and miss out on the best fares other airlines are offering.

Now I accept if getting upgraded is important to people then it might be worth spending a bit more to get the points for that to use down the road, but I'm perfectly happy in economy and don't feel the need for any upgrades.

[scotty77]

Wish I could book now but torn between Vegas/Brazil for WC/LAPT

[Simon Galloway]

The maths is pretty straightforward Woodsey.  I just paid £208 for ~27k miles, where ~31k miles = a free ticket to Vegas atm.  Once you add in the fuel+tax, it works out about £450 for a direct flight to Vegas.  Note, I am definitely NOT advocating people to buy other fares with Virgin at full fare in order to attract a few miles.  That is like losing $10k in Vegas hoping to score a comp'd buffet.

If you want to go direct to Vegas, you are going on Virgin or BA.  Sure, if you are globe-trotting, you have unlimited routes+carriers.  But for the Vegas pilgrimage specifically, it is a straightforward choice between paying retail fare and using the reward miles sensibly.  Even in economy, I think the numbers are worthwhile.  By time you get to Upper, it's the best result most players will have on their trip!

[Woodsey]

Ok fair enough, if you are going to one place repeatedly where there is little competition on that route maybe it works. A few airlines have frustrated the hell out of me by sucking me into FF schemes and then telling me I can't have points on x fare and I must pay the standard fare which is often a couple of hundred quid more, they can GTFO! lol

[Woodsey]

That is like losing $10k in Vegas hoping to score a comp'd buffet.

I've had many 'free' beers in Vegas that actually cost me a couple of hundred bucks 

[vegaslover]

Anyone able to past the error page yet?

Most likely a browser problem, I would think. Simon had that with Chrome, but Firefox works fine for me.

I tried Chrome, Firefox and even Explorer.
Got the error message with all 3 when trying to book economy, I give up

[Simon Galloway]

Here is the best workaround I can find.

1. Select dates in the near future.
2. Bring up the calendar for Feb, then toggle thru the months to June (or whenever you are going, obv)
3. Unfortunately you still get an error trying to book, but now at least when you phone them up, you know what dates are likely* to be good.
4. I say *likely as the calendar you see isn't linked real-time to current availability.  It is possible the calendars are showing availability when there isn't actually a seat on the plane... but most of the time it should be fine.

[tikay]

Simon,

I seem to have 27,140 miles, & am a Virgin Atlantic "Flying Club Red Member".

In reality, what does this mean?

I much prefer Premium Economy, as I'm not common enough for Economy, plus I need the leg room, as I'm quite tall, & I'm not posh enough for Upper, & don't really want to bump into the likes of Flushy. 

[Graham C]

Everyone starts out as a Red member, it goes up the more you fly but Red is the entry level.    I'd suggest that 27k miles is just short of an economy flight at the moment in the sale and you may be able to purchase a few miles to get the PE upgrade unless you by any chance have a free upgrade offer?   Someone else will be able to advice the best way to get that flight.

[Simon Galloway]

Simon,

I seem to have 27,140 miles, & am a Virgin Atlantic "Flying Club Red Member".

In reality, what does this mean?

I much prefer Premium Economy, as I'm not common enough for Economy, plus I need the leg room, as I'm quite tall, & I'm not posh enough for Upper, & don't really want to bump into the likes of Flushy. 

Tony,
Probably just expecting to pay ~ £1100 the old fashioned way for a Premium Economy seat is going to be your move this time around.

You could spend £540 on buying 35k (+8.5k bonus) miles which would take you up to 70k miles.  You would still be obliged to pay tax and fuel surcharge of ~ £400... so it is an extra ballache for not much benefit ~ you will have less flexibility on dates, lose your 27k miles, and not earn any miles on the flight either, all for a few shekels.

IMO - buy a Premium Econ ticket the conventional way this time.  You will have the opportunity to x2 miles boost, or even x3 miles boost.  If you book the ticket soon, there is a 25% bonus on the boost, + a flat 1k bonus too.  This would put you in the correct range of a "free" P.E. flight for next time** and is almost certainly a good purchase.


** However, by then the maths should also be the case that you could get Upper for about a grand too... so then it is just a case of running the risk that you don't run into the riff-raff. Don't worry about not being posh enough... they let just about anyone in nowadays!

[tikay]

Thanks Simon.

[Simon Galloway]

Back from the allotment, bit more time to delve into it...

~ £1150 is your ready reckoner for the cost of the flight... now to the hotel

I assume you will be @ Rio, if you are doing the Sky gig, but if not, ofc just replace 'Rio' with your chosen hotel.  In which case... enter Marky as now you can compare £1150 + the cost of the Rio with whatever 3rd party packages are out there... all you need are dates.