Well done Ju on the job, and also for the plans coming along for Vegas!

We go on the 6th, so I know what you mean about the hotels - but we really wanted to be there on Labor Day hoping it would be good for shopping too! We are at the Orleans first and it was part of our package, so worked out quite well.

By the way, Desert Rose is on Hotwire around $50 for those dates. Desert Rose has free breakfast, and during the week free wine and beer I think at around 5pm on weeknights. And you'd have a cooker, fridge etc and could get takeaway pizza etc if you wanted to save money on food. I don't know if anyone on here has stayed there, but it gets great reviews on TA.

So glad it is all coming together for you! It will be worth the cutbacks you make to save some money meanwhile! Have you tried expedia for a flight+hotel deal and quidco cashback?

Luxor from $38, book by 23 July

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=LUX&host=promo&code=LRATE9

luci

Thanks all for the kind job wishes. Just hope I like it now......

Anyway, back to Vegas. Lesley, I have looked at Expedia with Quidco and for a flight on Continental (good times, arrive Vegas tea time) 7th & 8th September in the Monte Carlo and the price is £433, so £866 x 3.5% = £30.31 Quidco cashback, so a total of £835 with the cashback. That deal also includes 2 for 1's buffet, spa and drinks in the Brew Pub, $20 food court voucher and $10 free slot play, so a fair amount of value to be honest. Factor in the 6 nights in the Excalibur which on current exchange rates would be around £259 and you have a total of £1094, slight over my £1000 budget but with the offers in the Monte Carlo a pretty good effort I think.
Pricing that individually, booking through Continental.com and individual hotel websites it is coming out at £1121 (slighty earlier mid afternoon arrival in Vegas), which is a bit more expensive but you don't get the perks of the Monte Carlo deal with Expedia.

I did ask my Wife if she wanted to stay at the Excalibur for the duration which would be made up of two bookings, i.e. a standard room only deal and then the buffet deal but she seems keen to try somewhere else for the 7th and 8th. The Monte Carlo is an option as mentioned, I see there is a new TI deal as well with $59 midweek on Travelzoo
https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?utm_source=travelzoo_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text_link3&utm_campaign=TIMYS_Promo_09TVLZ&host=promo&pid=170&code=09TVLZ
I actually think I would prefer the Monte Carlo over TI. I did mention the $69 MGM deal with buffet but I think despite the fact it is an outstanding offer, over familiarity would probably work against us on that one (maybe more my Wife than myself I must add).
Luxor is $40 those two days but with the annoying resort fee makes it more expensive than the Monte Carlo (just), New York New York is a no go for personal reasons (rooms too small), Mandalay Bay is too expensive as are the usual suspects (Venetian, Wynn, Bellagio etc).

I did find a great deal on Planet Hollywood booked through Tripres. $69 a night, but included in that you get a bottle of wine, champagne or spirits every day of your stay (ok only 2 days but still....), complimentary upgrade to fountain view room, 2 x buffet coupons, 2 for 1 spa pass and $200 worth of coupons for the Miracle Mile shops. It does have to be booked using an AMEX card though, not a problem if you have a Lloyds TSB Airmiles credit card......

Another thing I've just sussed out is that the Excalibur resort fee of $5 per day includes the standard stuff like access to the fitness center (yeah right), free local and 0800 calls, 10cents per minute long distance calls.....but also 2 x free drinks (well drinks, draft beer or $5 credit towards any other beverage) per room per stay and wait for it.....2 x free Fantasy Faire Midway games. Initally I thought it was per room per day which would have been excellent, but its a little extra perk which you are paying for I guess but if you have to pay it anyway, you might as well get something out of it. Just not the fitness center though....well, maybe......NOT!!!

I have waffled on loads again, many apologies. Its definitely going to be the Excalibur buffet deal for 6 nights (9th - 15th), but I'm still unsure what to do for the 7th & 8th (maybe the 6th also if we go the Sunday). The PH deal does look tempting and is a new property, the Monte Carlo still interests and is also a new property, the MGM is probably out because of over familiarity, maybe the Luxor......difficult one.

Whisper it quietly but I'm hoping I'll be able to book the Excalibur deal tomorrow night......$31 only on the 9th, so thats not a great deal to have to pay up front and is cancellable of course anyway.

Will keep you updated....

That's great Ju - hope it all works out.

I'm pretty sure I'm not doing any changes to my booking now as I am totally happy with what we've booked. I do wonder how the buffet deal works (luci - did you do the buffet deal at MGM?) - when you check in which will be the sunday for us for 4 nights, will we get buffet on the sunday (potentially sunday brunch which would be really good) - I don't think we'll manage to use the buffet the day we leave since the flight is at 905 I think it is. We could always check in really early and go back up to MGM lol!

Ju, be aware that the Brew Pub is closing if it hasn't already closed so you will lose that.

Lesley, we didn't use the buffet deal, but I've read plenty about it. You buy the $29.99 all day buffet pass and charge it to your room and it is taken off at check out.

luci

Thanks Luci, so I take it once you have your room to charge it to, you could get the pass - so theoretically sunday brunch is possible I think it's till 4pm.

Hey, just got a rather good deal for Ballys $79 for 2 nights - including weekends. So Ju - this means you could get your weekend nights 11-13th for $39.50 each! Yes, it's available on your dates, and it's a North Tower room or if you take the south tower you get a Brookstone voucher for $25.

http://www.harrahs.com/MakeReservation.do?propCode=BLV&packageCode=IBNTU&KEY=882805-879440&EDID=E2C8LW-XBSWN-6ZRLBA-NJ2HS5-4QGZK-v1

Thanks for the link to the offer Lesley. That's a cracking deal at only $39.50/night at the weekend and it's available for the big fight weekend too.

luci

I think forces are working against us for Vegas this year. I've just had to fork out on a new turbo for my car and other bits and pieces, so it looks as though my first pay packet is going to go on that and not towards the Vegas trip.

In reality, September is slipping through our hands and I can't believe I've done all this planning and it now looks as though it is going to be delayed again. I spoke way too soon, me and my big mouth!!!!

Perhaps that original plan of an AI in Greece in September and Vegas for my birthday in November is going to happen after all. The only worry is that my new employer has agreed to two weeks in September but nothing else, I'm going to feel a right idiot saying actually only a week in September BUT another week in November. I made out everything was booked for September to ensure they honoured it. I'm sure I can come up with some story...........

So, back to looking at November knowing that the option to lounge around the pool in blistering temperatures will elude us for this year (I'm not so bothered to be honest) but like I think Luci said, any trip to Vegas is better than none.....

I will keep you updated, but I'm not going to spout off too much in case things go wrong again. If it's not one thing eh?

Ju

Aw Ju, I'm sorry to hear that your plans are back on the back burner. I hope things work out for you and you do eventually manage a trip this year.

luci

New York-New York $55 till 13 September

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=010&host=promo&code=SUMESCEB1

Reserve a room or suite at the New York - New York and receive these inclusions at the New York - New York and Monte Carlo.
"¢ 2 for 1 Buffet at Monte Carlo
"¢ 2 for 1 Breakfast at Il Fornaio at New York New York
"¢ 2 for 1 Drinks at BRAND Steakhouse at Monte Carlo
"¢ 2 for 1 ROK Admissions at New York New York
"¢ 2 for 1 Roller Coaster at New York New York
"¢ 35% off Zumanity tickets
"¢ 2 for 1 Spa Admission at Monte Carlo
"¢ 2 for 1 Lance Burton Tickets at Monte Carlo

After that blip plans are back on, but for November as mentioned above We have decided to do a cheapo to the Algarve in September so I will be eating burger and chips and watching England v Croatia on TV whilst all you lucky(ier) people are sunning themselves in Vegas. I am happy with the outcome. Any holiday should be a bonus in these circumstances and it is a few years since we last went to the Algarve so it should all worth out ok.

Vegas plans, fly out 14th November for 6 nights. Saturday night is working out quite expensive ($299 MGM on one code, I think not!!!) so I'm going to have to hope for something better to come along. The Monte Carlo looks the best bet still at $360 for the 6 nights which I think is pretty decent but I am not going to rush into anything yet. First priority is to save enough for spends in Portugal and then we can look at Vegas......roll on September and November!!!

I think there's a big boxing match on on that Saturday. That will be why it's so expensive, and it will probably only go up.

I wouldn't hang about booking accommodation, I would book something you are happy with as a fall back.

The Pacquiao fight was only announced a couple of days ago and the rates are starting to climb already.

luci

Excalibur from $22, book by 5 August

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=EXC&host=offer&code=xgcon

luci

Oh you are having a laugh!!!! That would be why the MGM is so expensive then. To be honest its only the MGM which is showing as hugely inflated whereas the others haven't cottoned on yet (yeah, right) but I do now see the need to get something booked up and rather handily that Excalibur deal has come along at a good time.

14th $68.00, 15th - 19th, $22.00 for a standard room. Total $178.00 plus resort fee of $33.60 making it $211.60.

I think I may get that booked (Wife permitting) and then see what happens. At the end of the day if we have to stick with the standard room in the Excal that wouldn't be a problem. It's not up to the standard of the MGM room, but it will do the job for 6 nights......

The Excalibur is booked check in 14th November, check out 20th November so 6 nights and very much looking forward to it. My Wife was more than happy to get something booked up, but is still hopeful of getting a better deal, more so in terms of hotel standard than rate, but I couldn't care less. It's Vegas, it's the Excalibur and I'm happy with that......

Now to take a look at flights, but I can't honestly see us booking these until after our trip to Portugal in September.

Am so happy and just a little excited!! Thanks Luci for that Excalibur deal, you really can't argue with those prices. I did ask my Wife if she wanted a Widescreen but she wasn't overly bothered. As I said before, we have stayed in the standard rooms previously and whilst not outstanding they do the job. How long do you spend in the room anyway????

On with the planning, although I doubt we'll worry too much about shows etc for a while unless a cracking Love or Believe deal comes up.......

Happy Days!
Ju

You're welcome Ju. I almost didn't post it, then I remembered a couple of people on here were considering the Excalibur.

I know you may not be in a position to book the flights at the moment, but I would seriously consider it sooner rather than later.

I know someone else who is looking to book flights when the Pacquiao fight is on and they have gone up 50% from before the fight was announced.

As for shows, there is still the offer of buy one Love ticket, get a second for $25 which seems to be the best deal around at the moment.

Not sure how much you have read about BeLIEve, but I have seen nothing but bad reviews on it.

luci

New York-New York from $46. Non-refundable deposit

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=010&host=promo&code=BRGFBOOK

luci

Luxor from $38.50 till 28 February, book by 6 August

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=LUX&host=promo&code=LRATE11

luci