Hi, newby here so sorry in advance for asking really daft questions!

I'd like to plan a birthday trip to vegas in feb 2012 for my hubby (his big 40!!) can only really do 3 nights, is it worth it for such a short time (so hoping the answer will be yes!) and any tips on how to get the best out of a short trip?

Any hotel recommendations would be great, i'd like the impossible of course, good location and good price!

Err, sorry but also is there a best way to book, ie high street travel agent or online? And would it be better to book now or wait until the new year?

Sorry for so many questions (loads more in my head!!) but i've never been to vegas before and would welcome some advice from real people, i've looked online and there are so many hotels and different travel agents out there all sounding so great that i'm a bit stuck to know where to go!

Thanks in advance for any help

Best off booking separate flights accommodation
Just remember you will get up in the morning fly to Vegas arrive at hotel then put your watch back 8 hours and do the day again .
I spend the first few days getting into it and go for two weeks
Its ok if you just drive from California and do three days like the yanks do, but it depends if you can go with out sleep and how good you are at fighting it off
Center strip is best Just remember it takes about 20 mins to walk past caesars if you want to look round its half a day minimum

Hi and welcome to HT!

Where do you want to fly from and what is your budget for flight and hotel?

Non-stop from London is 10.5 hours. The Virgin flight gets there mid afternoon and the BA flight early evening. A flight with a connection, which is cheaper, would be about 14-15 hours.

For hotels, I would go for a cheaper one such as Bally's, Harrah's or the Excalibur as you won't spend much time in your room with only 3 nights.

To get the best of the time you need to do a lot of research and plan what you want to see and do. Most people who don't enjoy Vegas haven't done any research and come back thinking it's just fancy hotels and slot machines.

luci

Hi, thanks for the replies, I live in southeast uk so any London airport is easy for me to fly from, I'm guessing a non stop flight would be best to give the most time possible in vegas and I'm hoping that at least on the way there we could doze on plane and with the time difference in our favour, not be too tired when we get there.

Looking online I've seen breaks around £1500 for accommodation & flights but I'm not sure if that's good or bad?

Ideally I'd stay longer but don't have the time available to but its somewhere I've dreamed of going for a long time so want to plan as much as I can to not waste a single minute

Did anyone see the Trop deal on Hotels.com/Expedia yesterday only? 50% on some dates (mine were included) so the whole 7 nights which obviously included a Saturday and Friday night would have cost just £259. I wanted to book, Wife still thinks the Trop is the Trop of old but now ranked #15 on Tripdavisor so clearly improvements have been made but guess what, delayed too long and it went back up to full price.

That was probably going to save us £130 on accommodation against the Widescreen Room @ Excalibur deal I currently have.

The thing is I probably wanted the Trop room but the Excalibur amenities so I'm not too disappointed but the rooms at the Trop do look nice now. I'm not completely sure about all the positive reviews on TA though, a lot seem very similar length and always mention the same woman who can get you a marvellous rate if you contact in advance.

Hopefully more deals to come up in the new year

Ju

CG1 wrote:

Hi, thanks for the replies, I live in southeast uk so any London airport is easy for me to fly from, I'm guessing a non stop flight would be best to give the most time possible in vegas and I'm hoping that at least on the way there we could doze on plane and with the time difference in our favour, not be too tired when we get there.

Looking online I've seen breaks around £1500 for accommodation & flights but I'm not sure if that's good or bad?

Ideally I'd stay longer but don't have the time available to but its somewhere I've dreamed of going for a long time so want to plan as much as I can to not waste a single minute

Have you priced flight only direct with BA and Virgin? That will let you see what is left for the hotel. I think you can do better than £750pp.

The time difference going isn't really in your favour. Yes you will have "gained" 8 hours, but will be lucky to see past 11pm. However you will probably wake in the middle of the night and as most things are open 24 hours, you can go out exploring.

Check this site to see if there are any large conventions during your dates as they will push up room rates. Large means more than 50,000.

http://www.vegasmeansbusiness.com/planning-tools/convention-calendar/

luci

Ok so the long awaited Christmas flight sale for Virgin and BA has come along and....it's not that exciting!

BA only go up to late February which miss our end of March dates and Virgin is £585pp return direct for our dates. Current indirect prices are hovering around £490 (up from £460 earlier this week) which I think makes the Virgin price good value.

Does anybody think I will imrove on £585pp return with Virgin late March, especially with it being a relatively busy week in Vegas?

Decisions, decisions.....

Have a Happy Christmas everybody

Opodo have some good deals with Virgin direct flights, £700pp staying 6 nights at Planet Hollywood and with 3.03% cashback takes it down to £678pp.

If Virgin flights are £585pp, that makes the hotel part of the overall cost just £230. Deal!

My flights are £300 more in the Sale than when i booked them as soon as they were released for 29 March -12 April

Orleans are Fully booked on 4-5-6 April Already

Direct for my dates I have not seen below £600 until today but admittedly I wasn't looking when the flights were released.

I think you get better deals from London Airports due to the competition In Manchester Its Virgin or TC Direct The last 3 years I have done OK with TC booking as soon as they came out now we have another option with Virgin with better Flight times.......... the £300 was for a party of 3........Hotels should drop after Christmas break is over.

98 Sleeps

Hotels may drop after Christmas but I think I will be doing well to beat £230 for Planet Hollywood for 6 nights including a Saturday which is part of the flight and hotel deal showing on Opodo. Equivalent to $57.50 a night basically.

Amazing deal and kind of cancels out the slightly higher flight price.

That's a fantastic rate for PH as their rates seem to have remained high recently.

luci

Too true Luci. To be honest at the moment I'm not doing a dance over the indirect flight prices or schedules, it seems a lot of the cheaper indirects for our dates are leaving London late afternoon arriving in Vegas the next day with obviously a huge connection time in an American airport.

The cost of the flight and hotel packages on Opodo have surprised me with direct flights. At the moment it is a no brainer but with my Wife out last night with work and now at work for final day I haven't really had much of a chance to discuss it. It looks as though flight availability is good so hoping this kicks around long enough to book....as long as my Wife agrees.

3 months tomorrow and counting...but also looking forward to Christmas!

Booked the Opodo deal last night, Virgin flights and 6 nights at Planet Hollywood. Also booked a Travelodge at Gatwick for £19 this morning.

3 months to go....

Happy Christmas to all!

See you there we will be there at the same time !!!!!!

I hope everybody had a great Christmas.....

Really went for it as well as the hotel/flight booking the other day. 3 x $10 Restaurant.Com certificates for Harley Davidson, Hash House a Go Go (Imperial Palace) and El Segundo Sol total cost to me, 96p.

The Harley and El Segundo Sol certificates will be used for lunch and the Hash House for breakfast.

88 days to go and counting! Iot a couple of good Vegas books to add to my collection of non travel guide books. I am currently reading Winner Takes All, which is a solid account on the race to own Las Vegas (Wynn, Kerkorian and Loveman)

Really rather excited.....anybody else got Vegas plans for 2012 yet????

Are you still going on 31 st if so its 94 we go on 29th and my countdown gadget says 92