I have just booked a trip to vegas for christmas and New Year this year and I am so excited. I was on a pretty tight budget and needed to book with a company that I could pay a small deposit with so I went with Thomson worldwide for eight nights at the riviera hotel from 24th December, coming home January 1st. I know the hotel is old and not one of the best, but for us its only going to be a base. I have never been to vegas and want to see as much as possible. I will be checking here for tips on excursions, shows, discount nights etc. SO SO excited!

If we went 7th September, those first few MGM days are coming out at $55 a night. Stunning price. As you have mentioned TC though, weekends are still high and the following week rates are good, but not great.

There is still hope.....early days for September rates really....please.

Lisa,
Any trip to Vegas is a good one, and it doesn't matter where you are staying (I've stayed in the Motel 6 on Tropicana Ave before to save costs). The Riviera isn't up there with the best Vegas hotels but you already appreciate that, it does have a decent strip location, and as a base will do the job. I must admit, I would like to visit Vegas for the Christmas period one time....it has always been June, August or September for us. I would like to see the contrast in temperatures, but I still think it would be weird to wear long sleeves or coats in Vegas. Wrong, just plain wrong!!!

Well, just booked the hotel for our second week in Vegas.............Monte Carlo, £294 for 7 nights which is pretty good including a weekend! Weekday nights are around £30 a night. Doesn't look like there's any restrictions on cancelling either so we can cancel if we see a better deal at MGM or whatever. Overall though, we don't mind the MC and assuming most, if not all of the actual construction work should be finished at City Centre, am pleased with the deal.

TC

Thanks Jwhiting (sorry, I dont know your name) Like I said we already knew that the hotel wasnt the best, but we will only be sleeping there! I have so many things I want to see and do and none of them involve my hotel! It's just a means of being able to get there! It will be my first christmas away and I'm hoping for comfortable weather, I've heard it can be up to 20 degrees, which would suit me just fine!

I'll be checking back here regularly for tips!

This Christmas will be our third spent in Vegas, 2007 was sunny but very cold on alot of days and last year just before Christmas we had a day of snow and rain showers on other days and it was quite windy and cloudy alot of the time. It would be nice if it was seventy this year but I wouldn't be to hopeful, I would bring clothes expecting it to be cool/cold, but there again it's an excuse for lots of shopping! One of the things I like about going this time of the year is that it's not freezing inside everywhere with the air conditioning like in the summer, much more comfortable.

Whatever the weather a trip to Vegas is always great.

Not really been on here for a while, been very busy.

Starting to look up deals again....can't find anything new. I thought there would have been some new deals by now...

I'm still thinking about changing from Paris. Excalibur is $395 plus taxes for my 6 nights. I am also considering Desert Rose for 2 nights over weekend then 4 nights at MGM on the buffet included offer at $90 per night (or $120 for celeb spa). The weekend nights are too high, hence considering Desert Rose which is really just across the road from the entrance....well it might not seem like just across the road in the heat of the day though...

we've been to Vegas a couple of times late December/early January...I would keep expectations managed for 70* days. Averages are quite a bit lower than that and of course evening temps can get really cold.

We had a few days of walking around in jeans and long sleeved shirts - but others walking around in winter coats and cursing ourselves for not bringing scarves, hats and gloves to the desert (who knew?)

Daily average highs and lows can be found on weather.com - can't post links but put in Vegas, then about 1/2 way down there is a link to averages, then from there you can go to the table display, click on December and see each day the average high and low plus daily record highs and lows.

Here is a link to December averages and records.

Temps all around the USA are below what they should be for this time of year, very heavy rain and when we were in vegas we had tornados. The weather in Anaheim should have been 75 but was 65 and in vegas it was 10 degrees lower, which for most people was a blessing.

Ah, this is getting ridiculous now, where are all the Vegas deals???

Just been revisiting some codes and a couple of new ones. If we were to fly out the 7th September (a Monday) and stay for 8 nights, we could get the MGM for $59 a night for the first 3 nights, where then it goes spectacularly wrong and the rest of the dates are expensive. This was a Facebook special. Down with the kids me!!!!

I then had a look at the Luxor and Monte Carlo, especially as TC got a good deal for the Monte Carlo.

Luxor, $37, $37, $37, $37, $75 $75, $80 and $80, which isn't bad coming in at $57 average across 8 nights, but then you have to add the very annoying resort fee to that, which is a further $89 on top, making a net total before tax of $547 ($68/avg per night).

Monte Carlo, $42, $42, $42, $45 (that $3 makes all the difference), $112, $120, $60, $60, total $523 ($65/avg per night).

Monte Carlo is going to beat Luxor any day of the week. Thats about as good as I can get at the moment.

Flights are ranging from cheapest £326 on US Airways with one stop, Continental which would be my preferred choice through Houston £378 and then upwards. Virgin is £600+ on those dates, ridiculous and if memory serves me correctly, the way back isn't even direct? Is that right?

So, going with US Airways on the current cheapest flight available would cost us £326 x 2 = £652, and if staying at the Monte Carlo it would be around £365 for 8 nights, that would make a total of £1017 (£508.50/person).

Not bad or do you think I can do better? I do......

Hi Ju

I don't know where you plan to book your flights, but here's a though....

Plug in your dates on the expedia site with flight+hotel for 11-15th hotel (you need to choose the option at the bottom for more search options or whatever it's called). See if you can get your 4 last nights with a flight, consider the quidco discount too, and you will also get a discount for booking together.

Then also consider another hotel for your first 4 nights, or the match up with the same hotel if you don't want to move. I think it might be possible to get a better deal.

I'm struggling for a deal too if it's any consolation. I can get a comp at harrah's, bally's or v cheap at flamingo for my weeknights. Problem is we need 3 rooms and only one comp. And we don't really want another move so that's a problem too. I've got a email for $109 at platinum which I'd jump on, but I feel we need to stay on the strip for the newbies.

Do you think maybe once 4th July has passed it might improve?

Hi all,
I'm writing this on my iPod in Benalmadena :D, a crafty cheap week away as work has been very stressful recently!
I've seen another MGM deal but it only runs until end of August. I get the impression that any really good deals will only come out 4 weeks or so before we all go. Have faith!
TC

Virgin flights are direct both ways.

I agree that Virgin operate direct flights both ways, but more recently when you do a search on their website (and possibly 3rd parties) it gives an option of going indirect on the way back (via SFO I think)...usually the fare is slightly cheaper choosing the indirect option, and I think that's why it defaults to it - but you can change to the direct flight back before booking. Confused the heck out of me the first time it popped up that way.

Jenny,
You are right (and I did already know Virgin was direct both ways) but for the 15th September flight back Las Vegas to London the Virgin Atlantic website selected a one stop flight from Vegas to San Francisco on US Airways and then home. Quite bizarre, although I did select cheapest option. However, when you select the direct option on Virgin Atlantic, the price shoots up even higher to £763.60 per person!!! What a complete rip off.
Whilst I would prefer direct flights to any destination, I have never flown Vegas direct on Virgin purely because of their ridiculous prices. Why would I pay £763.60 per person when I can fly indirect with someone for £326, basically half the cost of the Virgin direct flight? I am seriously hoping that when BA come on board with direct Vegas flights that prices are going to be more competitive across the board on that route. I'm not holding my breath though.

Lesley,
I don't mind where I book our flights. I'm going to give that Expedia thing I try, I do remember you suggesting it another time. I think we will go with the cheapest, unless its like 20hrs+ travelling time. The Continental flight via Houston is a good one and IAH is an excellent airport to transit through, but I could do with them coming down a bit nearer to the US Airways prices. It is only an extra £50 per person though which isn't much is it? Certainly we won't be paying anywhere near the £625pp we paid for flights in August last year.
I am hopeful that deals are going to start appearing soon. I seem to remember in 2007, July was the key month when deals starting appearing for September although they still weren't that great. Fingers crossed.

TC,
I'm keeping the faith. Its very fruitless at the moment though. Hopefully the deals will coincide with the news that we can definitely go away in September, so I can get it booked up straight away.

Ferf,
Thanks for that and as mentioned in my post I've just done. Very confusing, especially as the Virgin direct flight back is lost in the background when it pre-selects the cheapest option.
Ju

We normally fly Virgin as we like direct flights, but no way would we pay £700+ for it...not in economy, not a chance - that would certainly cause us to review indirect options!

It was the same when we were looking for September 2007, Virgin was well over £700 direct. Fortunately, there was a sale on flights in and out of LAX for £375pp with Virgin, so I booked those and then just booked a couple of internals on Southwest Airlines to and from Vegas.
A decent benefit of flying in on Southwest is that you land at the domestic terminal and if you are booked to stay at the MGM, there is an airport check in desk for the hotel we have used twice now. Very impressed.