Graham
We are flying from Cancun directly to Gatwick with BA. Who are they flying with?

I don't know any of the specific details Fiona, all I know is that is what they have been given a quote for, the price given seems quite low especially when you look at the flight route they are taking

I tried to price it up by looking at flights and they were coming in at over £2000 alone.

From LV to Cancun you could connect in Dallas, Phoenix or Houston - it is pointless extra travel to go via Atlanta.
Why would anyone fly from Cancun back to Las Vegas,in the West, then back to the UK. It would make more sense to connect from Cancun to an airport on the East Coast, or Atlanta, back to London. That is taking them thousands of miles and hours out of their way...

Thanks for that, it does seem a bit odd to me, I have asked her to send me the full itinerary with flight details that the company is proposing as it seems a very complicated route:que

I will also ask her for the name of the company as the price does seem low for everything especially when you take in all the flights involved

Tricky one. I'd suggest trying to find the connection points, or a good airline hub. We usually fly from Glasgow, so hopefully I can try a suggestion.

Open jaw ticket - Glasgow to Vegas (via Philadelphia), Philadelphia to Glasgow. With US airways if they fly from Glasgow during the chosen month. If not then try Continental and substitute Philly with Newark above. Then you need a one way from Vegas to Cancun, and a one way from Cancun to Philly or Newark.

or

Glasgow-philly-vegas-philly-glasgow (with a long stopover at philly). Could also do this with the Newark option. Then book a package via expedia.co.uk (not .com - that's not allowed), from philly or Newark to Cancun.

Remember to allow plenty of time for connections if booking any separate flights.

Thanks Lesley

I have told her that the return flights they propose are just daft and to get back to them and see what alternative she could get.

Then book a package via expedia.co.uk (not .com - that's not allowed)

I have been taking a look at various UK websites such as Expedia and everything is FAR more expensive than what she has been quoted by the company in Vegas, so I can only presume that the prices we are being charged here in the UK are grossly overpriced as compared to what the Americans would pay for the same thing

I suspect that the problem is connected with that direct Heathrow-Las Vegas leg of the outbound journey. A single on that route is probably going to be expensive and hence why the TO has routed them based on a return ticket Heathrow-LV-Heathrow. but of course that means that they then have to return home via Las Vegas too. And they've then simply booked them on the cheapest return route for Las Vegas-Cancun.

Any intinerary that is based on 3 single tickets ie Heathrow-Las Vegas, Las Vegas-Cancun, Cancun-Heathrow(or UK airport) is going to work out very expensive. I think that lesley74's suggestion of trying to book return tickets from Glasgow to a US hub on the east coast along with singles Hub-Las Vegas, Las Vegas-Cancun, Cancun-Hub is probably the most convenient but again not necessarily cheapest. Or alternatively looking at flying direct from the UK into Atlanta in the first palce and then booking returns for Atlanta-Las Vegas-Atlanta and Atlanta-Cancun-Atlanta?

Another thing for them to consider is just how wedded are they to combining both Las Vegas and Cancun in a single holiday? Las Vegas is approximately 2,000 miles from Cancun as the crow flies which is the equivalent of what we tend to laugh at many Americans trying to do when they come over to Europe. This is roughly the same as someone from Las Vegas deciding to combine a visit to the UK with 7/10 days on one of the Canary islands or somewhere like Marmaris inTurkey. Such an itinerary based on open jaw tickets Las Vegas-Heathrow-Tenerife/Dalaman-Las Vegas would probably be very costly too and a TO with an eye to keeping the price down might well route them via eg Schipol, Madrid or another European hub. Two separate holidays could work out cheaper with easier travel arrangements.

SM

Thanks SM, it is their 30th wedding anniversary and she seems determined to do it all at once, however she has just sent me an updated itinerary which is costing around the £1800 each mark from this company in Vegas.

There are no airline names and doing a quick search I couldn't find flights that exactly matched the times given however the routing is much better although I am a bit concerned about the costs as to me even just the flights are coming in much more expensive than the whole package they have been quoted for, I will try and find out the name of this company in Vegas in the hope that somebody has heard of them

Unfortunately I don't know the airlines,
The times are - 12/9/ 1240 Glw - H'row. 1640 H'row - LV arrive 1845. 4 nights in Vegas staying at Mandalay Bay Hotel .
17/9 2330 LV - Atlanta arrive 0618 18/9 1050 Atlanta to Cancun staying 9 nights at Gran Bahia Principe Resort.
27/9 1635 Cancun - Gatwick arrive 0750 28/9 1125 gatwick to glasgow arrive 1245.

Cancun to London is approx 13 hours. With their itinery they are looking at 23 hours flying time and then add on the airport time. Coming home they are going to be exhausted. If they still insist on this itinery then why not break the Las Vegas time up and give them a day on the way back. I have no idea where they got these prices from and am wondering just who they are flying with.

I will try and find out the name of this company in Vegas in the hope that somebody has heard of them

I think that it is this more than anything else that would concern me. If they are booking through a US based company then they might find that they have none of the consumer protection re the travel trade that we have and take for granted in this country. Even with EU regulations and ABTA/ATOL bonding etc that apply here you just need to read the Complaints and TO/TA forums here on HT to know that when things go wrong customers don't always have the protection or right of redress that they thought.

I think that you need to find out more than just the name of the company - I know of instances (including at one HT member) of people who have ended up booking trips to Cuba on the Net with a rogue company that was trading on the good name of the Cuban state-owned Havantour/Havanatur company. Same name but with an URL that ended .com and not .cu as the real Havanatour does and having arrived in Havana they found that the hotel had never heard of their booking and it took a lot of chasing up to get it sorted and it really took the shine of their holiday - not what you want when it's for something as special as a 30th wedding annhversary.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=143537&p=1441208&hilit=havanatour#p1441208

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=146182&p=1468781&hilit=havanatour#p1468781

So before they had any money over they really do need to thoroughly check out the company they are booking with.
SM

Check an open jaw ticket with multi stops on http://www.expedia.co.uk , http://www.kayak.co.uk and http://www.opodo.com There is no need for them to come back on the same route as the outward journey.

I would also check with that company whether the price includes all taxes as US companies often quote ex tax.

Virgin do that itinerary with Vegas and Cancun in the same trip. I remember MarkJ doing it a couple of years ago.

When she told me I thought it was it was a company in Vegas, doh silly me it's a UK company called 'In Vegas' http://www.invegas.co.uk/ part of Co-operative Group.

luci they now have a revised route which is direct from Cancun to Gatwick, they price they have been given looks good to me?

Hi Kiltman, having had the time to do a bit more digging around, I think that their flights are probably with Delta - they do come up as both the cheapest option and also route most of their itinerary from Vegas to Cancun via Atlanta. I found that flights for their original itinerary were coming out approx £860 with Delta and hence why the overall package was coming out so reasonably priced? Given that they are now being routed direct to Gatwick from Cancun that seems both a more 'doable' journey and at not a bad price.

At least you know that the company is UK based one and one which ought to provide them with a decent service and is not a fly-by-night outfit/

SM

Mandalay Bay is a really good hotel. However I'm not sure the location is ideal for first timer visitors as it is at the far south of the strip. It's not really a major problem as the Deuce and SDX buses stop outside. They have a great pool with a beach, sand, waves, etc. The buffet is very good as are the restaurants at the hotel. The hotel is connected to the Luxor and Excalibur by monorail.

They would need to check whether the hotel's resort fee is included in the price as some include it and some say you pay it at the hotel. It is currently $25/night + 12% tax.

Thanks for that update SM it probably is with Delta and I am not overly worried about them booking it now that I know who their agent is

Thanks luci, I hve stayed at the Luxor and to me it was OK however I was asking her tonight if they had been given a choice of hotels and this was the only one they had been offered so I have suggested she should check the price for Caesars Palace which I thought was the nicest hotel I went in to out there.

:thinkI will get her to ask about the resort fees & taxes

Just a thought on hotels - Caesars is indeed a nice hotel to go into, however their standard rooms don't look great at all, certainly not 5* quality. I wouldn't pay the prices they ask for the standard of the rooms. Rooms look much better at most other hotels on the strip I'm afraid.

Caesars would be a lot more expensive for a decent room, ie Palace tower or above.

According to Netflights Delta has a sale on at the moment so it might be an idea to book sooner rather than later. I think it may end on 10 April.

Luci - have you noticed many hotel deals yet for September?

Sorry I haven't been looking for September. I got a cracking deal on THE Hotel from an email from Broadway Box Office and also for an Augustus tower room at Caesars, but I can't remember where I got that one.

Have you signed up to Broadway BO and http://www.smartervegas.com ?