Advice for a 1st timer in Vegas

[bubblebuster27]

I"m booking my 1st trip to Vegas for Feb next year and I"m looking for advice on decent hotels I can stay at on a budget. Prices and reviews seem to be vastly different depending on the website.

[janc]

As its your 1st time  you should stay on the strip, there are plenty of websites to find a good deal, I use   tripres.com
and find the best price for any particular hotel, then before  booking it check the hotels own website to make sure I get the best rate, hope this helps

[bubblebuster27]

Thanks for the info. Do you book your flights seperately then?

[janc]

Certainly its the cheapest way, if you check on a regular basis you can get a direct flight with
flythomascook.com
cheaper than any other web flight (direct) also check there premier upgrade, we are travelling this way in November for 460 quid with premier seats

[teaulc]

check out SkyTravel as well,usually have some good deals going on if you dont mind not flying direct.
i go a week in Harrah`s and flight for just over £500.
have fun

[Mikeyboy9361]

Hire a car!

[SirPercival]

Hire a car!

Take a taxi - cheaper and easier.

[KarmaDope]

A few little tips I"ve picked up when booking...

If you"re looking for cheap on the Strip, and you don"t care where you stay, then the only choice is the Imperial Palace - purely for location and price. Ask Duke for his review on the place. If you do care, then look at Luxor, MGM etc. If you have money to blow, then either Bellagio or Venetian are recommended.

Always book with the hotel UNLESS expedia have special offers on. Register your email with them NOW and you"ll get offers through your email.

When you have chosen a hotel - go to their website and check how much it will cost for your allotted length of time. Then convert it, and go to Expedia. Sometimes (not very often) Expedia can beat it if they have offers such as "stay for x nights, get y nights free".

There is a page on fatwallet, I think, that lists ALL the special offers by all the hotels in Vegas. Check this.

As for flights, if you want to go direct you have 2 choices, BA or Virgin. Again, check Expedia, Opodo etc just in case they can beat it. This is very very rare though. You will pay more for a direct flight. If you can, wait for their sales.

If you want to fly indirect then go to expedia, find out what the cheapest indirect flight is and which carrier you"re on, then go straight to their own website, this will always be cheaper.

Head over to Blonde Poker forums and put this thread up there. Listen to any advice Simon Galloway and Woodsey give you.

[bubblebuster27]

Thanks a lot for the advice

[Eck]

cheaper than any other web flight (direct) also check there premier upgrade, we are travelling this way in November for 460 quid with premier seats

Totally this. the cost of upgrade is very little on Thomas cook and made the journey almost bearable.

[Mikeyboy9361]

Re car or taxi..... If you are going to Vegas purely to see the casinos and play poker then the cab route is the way to go. If like me you are taking the family, and you need to get out of Vegas for a few days then defo get a car. Hoover Dam is close by, the Grand Canyon is driveable, as well as the Valley Of Fire, and Red Rock canyon. All the Casinos have Free parking as well.

[SirPercival]

Re car or taxi..... If you are going to Vegas purely to see the casinos and play poker then the cab route is the way to go. If like me you are taking the family, and you need to get out of Vegas for a few days then defo get a car. Hoover Dam is close by, the Grand Canyon is driveable, as well as the Valley Of Fire, and Red Rock canyon. All the Casinos have Free parking as well.

why???  

[coprey]

Have been thinking about a trip to the strip myself. What is the best time of the year to go?

[Swinebag]

Re car or taxi..... If you are going to Vegas purely to see the casinos and play poker then the cab route is the way to go. If like me you are taking the family, and you need to get out of Vegas for a few days then defo get a car. Hoover Dam is close by, the Grand Canyon is driveable, as well as the Valley Of Fire, and Red Rock canyon. All the Casinos have Free parking as well.

Death Valley also worth look too.

[Paulie_D]

Have been thinking about a trip to the strip myself. What is the best time of the year to go?

Depends on what you want out of it?

Summer (July)...blazing heat (110+), full of fishy WSOP donks but monster tourney schedule
Autumn (November)...cooler with pricier rooms due to Thanksgiving holiday season toward the end.
Christmas..cooler again (but still not chilly unless you get really unlucky like I did last year)...cheap but quiet
New Year"s...forget it..rammed and monsterly expensivo
January..still nice and cool but crammed due to Superbowl business.