Vegas Trip Information for anyone looking to go this year.

[Simon Galloway]

Exact dates would help, it really does make a difference by several hundred ££ a lot of the time.

As for comparing the "book it separate" route, you can do this easily by plugging in the dates on Virgin Atlantic and then adding that to lowcostusa (room only) or smartervegas (probably the best two sources a lot of the time atm)

As a rule of thumb, £750 for a direct flight and ~£50/night for a modest property (won't be exact, but will prolly factor in weekend weighting)

In other words, no need to rush in, its an ok price but nothing special.

As for Luxor, well one man's meat and all that.... so if that is really where you want to stay then ofc you should stay there.  If however, you aren't too bothered, then I think most people here would try and talk you out of it.

[rob_5]

Thanks for reply.
Im of work from Saturday 30 August until 6 September so any 5 nights in that week is ok.
Not stuck on the luxor, just thought it would save a bit of money being a bit further out.
Do want to be on the strip though, not downtown.

Rob

Exact dates would help, it really does make a difference by several hundred ££ a lot of the time.

As for comparing the "book it separate" route, you can do this easily by plugging in the dates on Virgin Atlantic and then adding that to lowcostusa (room only) or smartervegas (probably the best two sources a lot of the time atm)

As a rule of thumb, £750 for a direct flight and ~£50/night for a modest property (won't be exact, but will prolly factor in weekend weighting)

In other words, no need to rush in, its an ok price but nothing special.

As for Luxor, well one man's meat and all that.... so if that is really where you want to stay then ofc you should stay there.  If however, you aren't too bothered, then I think most people here would try and talk you out of it.

[Tal]

Being near where you're going to be doing stuff is quite an asset when choosing your hotel in Vegas, Rob. The first time you go, you can't really get over just how big it is. It takes ten minutes to get from your room to the strip in some hotels. Walking from Bellagio to Venetian card room, for example, could be a fifteen minute job. Sounds completely ridiculous.

If you stay at Luxor, you could well find yourself spending money on taxis or doing a lot of walking. Would just factor that into your decision. If you're intending to much of your day to day stuff at that end of the strip (say if you're doing a bit of soaking up the sun by the pool and you'll generally eat in the mall there), that's great. If you're thinking of saving a tenner a night to be further down the line, just bear in mind that there's a payoff to that.

[Simon Galloway]

Your dates are going to give you a bit of a problem.

Any flight like that that does not include an overnight Saturday stay will be a large premium.  As such, this forces you to go away on the 30th.

Looking on Virgin, there are no flights back on the Weds (there may be availability later) and for the Thurs it is already showing as £860.

You could do the same search on BA to see if that is any better.

See how that looks and then we will see what is on offer re: better hotels for the same / same hotel for less.

PS - Searching lowcostusa around those dates.... PH & Mirage are showing to be about a £10/night premium c.f. Luxor... much much better hotels, in terms of quality and location.

[KarmaDope]

Your dates are going to give you a bit of a problem.

Any flight like that that does not include an overnight Saturday stay will be a large premium.  As such, this forces you to go away on the 30th.

Looking on Virgin, there are no flights back on the Weds (there may be availability later) and for the Thurs it is already showing as £860.

You could do the same search on BA to see if that is any better.

See how that looks and then we will see what is on offer re: better hotels for the same / same hotel for less.

PS - Searching lowcostusa around those dates.... PH & Mirage are showing to be about a £10/night premium c.f. Luxor... much much better hotels, in terms of quality and location.

£661 for Sunday 31st - Friday 5th, Manchester to Vegas via Charlotte with US Airways. Book via eBookers. Best I could find that avoids a Saturday.

[rob_5]

31st - 5th avoiding the Saturday sounds ideal.
Forgot to mention that it needs to be from London.
How much hassle are the 1 stop flights? Works out £150 - £200 less than direct.

Thanks

[Marky147]

31st - 5th avoiding the Saturday sounds ideal.
Forgot to mention that it needs to be from London.
How much hassle are the 1 stop flights? Works out £150 - £200 less than direct.

Thanks

Just chucked 31st-5th through ebookers/expedia/lowcostusa and got a few options.

Ebookers

Vdara @ £945 - Flying with KLM (1 stop) or £1085 Virgin + $125 in resort fees



Expedia

TI @ £880 - Delta (1stop) or +£145 with Virgin + $140 resort fee

MGM @ £912 - Delta +145 Virgin +$140 resort fee (I would pay the extra £5 per night and get a normal room)

Mirage @ £935 - Delta +£145 Virgin + $140 resort fee

PHo @ £940 - Delta +£145 Virgin + $100 resort fee


Delta

Heathrow

12:35 - 18:21
15:55 - 12:15 +1day

Virgin

Gatwick

11:25 - 14:10
16:40 - 10:30 +1day


The Low Cost USA ones I presume you've looked at anyway.

[KarmaDope]

31st - 5th avoiding the Saturday sounds ideal.
Forgot to mention that it needs to be from London.
How much hassle are the 1 stop flights? Works out £150 - £200 less than direct.

Thanks

Whereabouts do you live?

The Manchester flights are 70 quid less and dont leave until 2.30pm so you could theoretically get a cheap train up there first thing in the morning.

Can also get PH for $410 ($265 + tax + $100 resort fee for the 5 days @ $20 per day) for those dates

[Marky147]

31st - 5th avoiding the Saturday sounds ideal.
Forgot to mention that it needs to be from London.
How much hassle are the 1 stop flights? Works out £150 - £200 less than direct.

Thanks

Whereabouts do you live?

The Manchester flights are 70 quid less and dont leave until 2.30pm so you could theoretically get a cheap train up there first thing in the morning.

If you're going down this road for a holiday, Vegas is the wrong city

[Simon Galloway]

31st - 5th avoiding the Saturday sounds ideal.
Forgot to mention that it needs to be from London.
How much hassle are the 1 stop flights? Works out £150 - £200 less than direct.

Thanks

I'd say go direct AINEC.  There is an argument at the other end of the scale that says they prefer to spend an extra night in Gold Coast to recover and save the £200.   That's fine for poker grinders going for a month, but for someone going for 5 days it is a different story.

For ease of maths, a 5 day visit costing $1k is costing you £200/day to be there.  Go direct, you get best part of an extra day.  Go indirect, you save £200 but lose a day of your trip which you are paying £200/day for....

Another way to look at it, when you land in Detroit for a 4 hour layover (+possible delays) if you could pay £200 to be insta-transported to Vegas, would you pay it?  I've only ever heard one answer.

Getting a train to Mancs would also be a terrible move.  Not sure how much a train ticket is, but it must eat up a good portion of the £70, and even if it is free, I still wouldn't want to do it.

[Longy]

To echo marky and Simon. Vegas is far enough as it is, that adding on time changing or extra time at the start turns a long day into a mission. Especially when your time is valuable.

[rob_5]

Yea definitely would prefer the direct route from any London.

Some good advise there thanks all. So, generally would the advise be to wait a while to book?
Are prices likely to go up nearer it gets?

Thanks

[Simon Galloway]

As with most poker answers... it depends.

A grand for a 5 day trip with direct flights is ok.  You aren't paying OTT, nor are you getting a bargain of a lifetime.  Will it go up or down a £100... who knows.  You may catch a sale fare, or there may be a 100k person conference booking for Sep and bye bye hotel rooms.

If you are doing 31-5th as per the searches.... remember that +1 on the flight means you come back on the 6th.. not sure if thats an issue for work.

If you aren't travelling overnight on a Saturday, you are prolly booking with a 3rd party (ebookers/lowcost etc) so check their &Cs for cancellation etc.  The more likely something could come up at work to stop you going.. the more you should look into this.

If you are absolutely going on those dates come hell or high water, obv you don't need to check cancelllation terms.  Then it just boils down to what price you are happy to pay and whether you are happy to leave it late (which can backfire) or lock it all up now and be done.

[Marky147]

Yea definitely would prefer the direct route from any London.

Some good advise there thanks all. So, generally would the advise be to wait a while to book?
Are prices likely to go up nearer it gets?

Thanks

If I was going for 2 weeks, and I could save the cost of my hotel by flying with 1 stop, I would.

Going for 5 days, there is no way I'm messing about to save a buyin...

I posted a few pages back about a mate of mine who left booking his flight until the last minute. I paid under £1k for premium economy, and he paid about £1500 for economy.

Last year another lad booked his up early doors at £800, and then Virgin had the easter sale which worked out almost £300 cheaper.

I always book hotel rooms from around christmas  onwards, then just cancel the ones I don't need nearer the time, and if I end up finding a package I cancel them all.

All it comes down to is your attitude to risk, and if you're not worried about a possible fluctuation hang fire, but book it up if you'd like to play it safe.

[Marky147]

Or what Simon said