|
As soon as we got back from our last Vegas jaunt in
Sept, we thought hmmm, we've still got loadsa dollars left, It'd be a pity to exchange
em back, so mite as well put 'em to good use and book another trip hehe, plus I
won 2 $100 tickets to see the platters/drifters/coasters on the free-pull house
bandit, a flimsy excuse I know but its good enuf for me :), so after a few months
of talking and deciding we settled on April again. This time there's 6 of us (4
with Laddies alias's), namely PowerToBurn, MrChinnery, 4kingriver & myself (WinBase),
along with my missus Sue and her m8 Lynne. Quite a few others have expressed an
interest but as yet no firm bookings.
The following paragraphs are details of our travel plans and a few ideas that I
think may help anyone who's interested in going, however i'm no big expert on Vegas
and what are the best deals, I can only speak for how we feel and what works for
us.
The Itinery for 4 of us is leaving Manchester on the 25th April on the 10.15
MyTravel MYT035 direct flight, which arrives 1pm local Vegas time, taking summat
like 11hrs in the air. We depart Vegas on The 2nd May Around 2.15pm on MYT034, getting
back in Manchester around 8.30am. We booked Our holiday this time with Biyee travel
(www.biyee.com) who are part of the Freedom travel
group, based in Manchester Tel: 0870 242 4933, and dealt with a very nice girl called
Kirby, and are once again staying at the Sahara (http://www.saharavegas.com/)
at a cost of £625 each, which doesn't include airport transfers or in-flight meals
(I aint paying £20 for that garbage, and u will probably get one anyway coz they
don't tend to know who actually paid in advance lol), but it's upto you !!!
As far as airport transfers go, the last 2 times have been a bit of a PIA, coz after
you land, you don't want the hassle of finding the shuttle pickup in a strange airport
or having to ring someone describing exactly where u, are then waiting for em to
arrive, and then stopping off at other hotels on the way until u get to yours. This
time were just gunna either jump in a limo/cab/shuttle on arrival coz its basically
the same price, less hassle and quicker.We also never take out travel insurance
coz we have an annual policy for the family that covers all holidays (UK and abroad)
for 4 or us for £109 per year, and as we have a load of holidays this works out
much more cost effective.
MrC and 4king are leaving on the 18th April and staying for 2 weeks at the Mardis
Gras, having got a superb deal which they booked on
www.skytravel.co.uk, and for £585 includes 14 nights, taxes, transfer and direct
flights, a very good deal indeed. They booked this using special offer code 9763
but I don't know if it's still current.
It's fair to say that if u aint bothered about staying in a strip hotel/named accommodation,
can put up with a 2-stage flight transferring in Atlanta/Philly/Chicago etc, especially
from London airports, you can get some absolutely cracking deals by web searches/teletext
etc, but for us we like the easier option even if it costs a tad more and luv the
Sahara for many reasons, For example I could have got exactly the same holiday www.expedia.co.uk (a very good site for info
and costs) with a transfer flight for £530.
I have also found through numerous web searches and checking stuff out, that I couldn't
get any better deals by trying to book the hotel and flights separately. There's
no substitute for web searches/looking on teletext etc if u really wanna drive the
price down, and an afternoons hassle can save a lot of dough. I used
http://www.americas4u.com/ on our last trip which mite be worth checking also.
So In A Brief Summary:
- Transfer flights work out much cheaper, but check
the flight times as the total duration can be anything from 14-27hrs airport-airport
- You will pay more for a strip hotel, but if u are
off-strip check out the location - do ur homework !!
- Places are further away from each other that u
mite at first think, and if u have to get a taxi twice a day to get to where u really
wanna be, u mite as well have paid the extra in the first place and save urself
the time and hassle, after all its not every day u go to sin city so why waste it
getting around.
- There are some gr8 deals at downtown hotels but
u are looking at upto an hours bus ride on the 'Deuce' bus to get to the strip at
busy times.
- Do lots of web searches and make phone calls to
get the best deal, travel operators are always willing to help so ask em what they
can do for ya.
- If u travel in a group of 4 or more, u can often
negotiate a discount with the travel agent
- If u stay at the Sahara or Stratosphere, the strip
is only 8 mins away on the monorail and downtown short taxi/bus ride the other way.
- Some times of year are much more expensive than
others
- July/August are hot, if u plan on a lot of sightseeing,
best avoid this time of year IMHO.
- Exchange rates are fab ATM, About $2 For £1
- I put a few of my 'Vegas Tips' on the
Vegas 2006 April Page on this site, mebbe they will help ya also.
GL
Bob |
|