blonde poker forum

Hi wondered if anyone can help

I am trying to book a fortnight in Vegas for next may

am i best booking flight and accommodation together or separately or together as a package

Can anyone recommend a  good place to go  to get a good price

The hotels I'm getting quotes for are really expensive

yet you see these deals for £399 in some places

Any help much appreciated

Richard

Best to try all the usual travel websites - Expedia, eBookers, Opodo, etc.. but also register direct with the hotels, as they often email out specials (albeit at short notice)

Also be aware the price of rooms is greatly distorted by staying over the weekend, so if you can time your trip to be mostly midweek the price is reduced.

For good hotel deals see - http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=63&threadid=704925&start=0

Its probably a little too early to book yet, depending on where u want to stay. Most hotels wont have their prices up for next season yet(season starts around April each year). For Vegas I usually book about 6 weeks before I plan to go, this is when I have found the cheapest prices.

I've just come back from vegas and bumped into a few people who had came on those cheap jobbies and all of them said they would never do it again as the flight was just horrible. So unbeleivably squashed which is fine for a 2 hour flight, but 10 hours is a different proposition. Trust me when you've had a few late nights playing poker and drinking you will be knackered and appreciate a bit extra room so you can actually get some kip. I've stayed in about a dozen or so hotels on the strip and this time I stayed at Bill's Gambling Hall (used to be called Barbary Coast), it was by far the best hotel I've stayed at for the money. I Payed about £50 per night the rooms were pretty nice, big 42" plasma etc, take a look at their website, they look just like the pics. The location is perfect, I was in the poker rooms of Bellagio, Caesars and planet Hollywood in a max of 10 mins. Only downsides are no pool, but you can use the one at the hotel next door and the air con was a bit noisy, but I had a few beers most nights so sleeping was never a problem! This is definately the best of the few cheap hotels left on the strip, even has a great breakfast for about $8!

If cheapness is your thing, but you're worried about being on a crappy flight, then simply leave a day earlier and book an extra day in the hotel. You can spend the first day sleeping off your crappy flight and the extra day in the hotel will be cheaper than a better flight .

We are also going in May next year... Probably 4 or 5 of us..!!

Package deals with Expedia are often the cheapest option but if you aren't too bothered about your Casino not being on the Strip try the ORLEANS (http://www.orleanscasino.com/)

7 days in May, arriving 10th May 2007..double bedded room $670...that's £170 each for a week. Just get cabs to and from the Strip.

If you must stay on the Strip itself, then Bill's (as mentioned above) is a beauty...otherwise try the Imperial Palace. it's a little older but it's right across from Caesars.
Virgin are normally the cheapest for DIRECT flights but a one-stopper can be cheaper. Try Kayak (http://www.kayak.co.uk/) or Sidestep (http://www.sidestep.com) or this little handy site ITA Software (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/).

ITA is the software behind some of the big consolidators such as Orbitz etc. Very useful for seeing multiple flight options all at the same time.

Where are you located..I may know of some other options? If it's Essex (and that's not your name)..I may have a doozy for you.

PS..I know money is always a factor but do you have a budget for Flights & Accomodation?

Keep an eye on the special offers section of the Virgin Atlantic home page, they some times have good deals on there but the flights will have to be booked and payed for shortly after booking.

I (plus 1 other, currently) have booked flights for May 2008, 16th - 23rd. We will leave the hotel until nearer the time and hopefully get a good deal via one of the promo's listed on FatWallet.

hi Guys

many thanks for the replies

My friend is getting married out there so am going for that but plus plenty of poker

Wanted to stay at the Luxor  with them  but was out of my range  so was looking at the Excalibur

Got a price today of her travel agents


unbelievable

2 weeks in the Luxor and direct flight with Virgin, free car hire for a week less than a grand  was well happy

then told her i was on my own

£2200    over a grand in single persons supplements

talk about kick a man when he's down    not only splitting with the missus but charged a fortune to go away

trying to find one of the other wedding guests who fancies doing two weeks but no one wants to they are all dissapearing to other parts of America and Mexico once the wedding is over

back to drawing board me thinks

any ideas

Richard

Just booked it on expedia mate if won't be much more than virgin any way, in my experience if you sift around on the main sites expedia, ebookers etc you will get as good a deal if not better than the travel agents. Also before booking always check directly with the hotel on their prices as theres a small chance they could be cheaper.

So, you want to stay for 2 weeks in May 2008. Are there specific dates you must cover?

Can you give some idea of your accomodation & flight budget..I get the impression that it's around £1000, is that right?

How important is the hotel location to you. Does it have to be on the Strip or are you looking for the best poker room etc.

You may have to trade hotel location for price..what is your priority?

I am lucky enough to get out to Vegas a couple of times a year and have some knowledge but in order to recommend anything, I'll need to know what you are after.

Cheers,

Paulie

youi should find the excalibur fairly cheap, and it only takes 5 mins to get to the luxor, as they are joined by a moving walkway.

ive always used expedia and got good results.

Excalibur is fine but for two weeks they'll want around £700/£800 which may blow the budget once you add flights. Decent hotels can be found both on and off the Strip for a good deal less, some of which have already been mentioned.

For Hotel searching, I'd use Kayak.com, Sidestep.com or Hotels.com and a load others..then go to the hotel's website and see what they can do.

Also, it's worth checking out AllVegasPoker.com as they list each Casino's Poker Room Rate on the relevant page. For as little as 4/5 hours play per day in their Poker Room, some great deals can be had.

Off the Strip try the Orleans great value and have poker rates too.

i am off to Vegas in November, got a price off Expedia £500 5 days direct flight stopping in the Imperial palace, went to the local travel agent showed them the price, they beat it buy £20   

The dates i was looking to go were Monday 5th May to Monday 19th May

Yes i'm based in Essex

Excalibur would be fine but when the Luxor was offered   jumped at it

Tried all the hotels direct  no good   quoting   $2500  plus the Virgin flight £650

If you can afford the upgrade to the newer rooms that you will get offered (about$20 per night) I'd do it as the older ones are a bit shitty. But if your just after a crash pad and thats all then don't worry.

Bump

Re: Virgin Flight...
1. Join Virgin Flying Club - free, online
2. Log in to VFC, buy 2000 miles at a cost of £45
3. Book miles + money flight at £435.80

Save £169

Re: Hotel...
1. Book the best (location/quality) hotel you can afford now. Direct with hotel, they will charge the 1st night as deposit - fully refundable if cancelled >48 - 72 hrs before arriving.
2. After Xmas start checking the promo codes on Fat Wallet (http://www.fatwallet.com/t/63/704925/) for special offers at Luxor.
3. If you find a good deal - book it, and then cancel original booking.

Priced with virgin seem a bit expensive to me. We leave it to the last few weeks to book, and have been in may a few times. This may we flew out on the 20th and got 2 direct flights with Mytravel, not the most spaces but the spot we got was fine, paying a mere £362 for both. Slightly more than the time before but hey, I don't mind. May is usually a cheap time, also have been in september and was cheap then too.

May I ask if the flight was actually with MyTravel (i.e. a MT liveried jet) or did they put you on a BMI flight?

Also, MyTravel are now part of the Thomas Cook Group so they may not exist as a stand-alone travel agent for very much longer.

Great advice re the hotels above.

I'd still consider the IP/Orleans/Bills..they are all just a few minutes cab ride away from the Luxor and, as I said, how much time are you going to spend in the room?

As you are in Essex, wouldn't it be nice to fly from Stansted? Keep checking MaxJet (http://www.maxjet.com/homeAction.do) for sales. During their sales, you can fly direct to Vegas BUSINESS CLASS ONLY for about the same price as a standard Virgin flight.

I've done it..believe me it's well worth it.

No more pre-dawn cabs to the airport or pre-flight hotels just to make the eye-crackingly early check-in...all of which add to the cost when comparing Virgin/Maxjet. If you do a true side by side comparison...there's usually just a few quid in it.

 Paullie It was deffi  Mytravel...and no not a BMI plane..it was a Mytravel plane too. Booked through cheapest seats ..who are part of the Co-op group i believe. I have flown to Vegas with them around four times, The first time was  horrific, and said then I would not fly with them again, but after going with other various airlines, BMI direct, (costs more) AA,  U, A Continental, US airways, the cost and the 9 1/2 hour flight is just to my liking, I would prefer to save my money for Vegas and also not have to waste valuble poker time changing at a gateway in the USA.

The only time I have had to pay more is when we used to go at Xmas, the most we paid then was £469 incl Imperial Palace for 7 nights over the festive period. It is a matter of timing I believe, just hitting on that button at the right time and being able to up and go.

Riorodent

well done

just remebered i did a fear of flying course this year with virgin   and they give you 2000 miles  for doing it so that may help out a bit

the woman who run our group her husband works in flight hospitality for virgin and he said to ring him when i booked
the main advice his wife gave me was if you dont like flying sit at the front  less movement and the angles on take off are not so scary
well its work a treat have flown since and always sit at front after a couple of jd and cokes  no problem

thing is easy to get early boarding on easyjet and pick your seat at front  but im guessinf virgin atlantic the front of the plane would be first class  but hell gonna ring him and see if he can do anything  not worried about first class just want the front of the plane
perhaps take my sir richard branson signed cert and hope they take pity on me

Richard