Newbie Question

I just booked few nights at the Monte Carlo and they were offering a 25% off coupon for signing up for some mailing list, and seeing as the hotel's website had the best rates anyway, it made my rate about 30% less than the travel sites. I'm sure other hotels make similar offerings from time to time. Also, unlike the travel sites, if you book through the hotel you have a chance of getting the room comped, provided you are that type of player.

Can I be your friend, too? If there are any charters that fly you directly to Vegas instead of transfering I would only look into those unless they were significantly more expensive. If those are unavailable fromn where you live I would search out, without a travel agent, the best airfares. Once you have ascertained what the best fares you can get via the internet sites like expedia, you also must go to individual sites that don't always allow those airlines to be sold by expedia, like Southwest airlines, for example. Now you know the best price you can get via that method. Now, if you want, you can call a travel agent and give them a shot. As long as it is an agent that only charges you if you book with them it is worth a shot, if you have to pay them a fee upfront, I would avoid them. Once you have the price from your own search you can also try priceline.com. Remember if you do do priceline you pay right then and there for your non refundable tickets. If you are absolutely sure about your dates and availability (I believe people overestimate their level of 'sureness') then enter a price, say, 20% less than your lowest price you found. You can do this up to once a day. So assuming you were rejected do 19% less on day 2, 18% less on day 3, etc... Exactly when you stop is up to you.
As far as the rooms, first figure out what are acceptable choices- you may say that it has to be at least as nice as Harrah's but can't cost more than $200 per day. So that might eliminate Imperial Palace on the low end, and Bellagio on the high end. Also, as others have stated, book with the hotel directly just in case you get some comps there. You will likely at least get a discount of some degree from even modest playing.

Thanks everyone for the tips!

In most other cases, I would use priceline, expedia, etc....but they will make me have 1-2 stops at other airports before getting to vegas for the flight. For example, I can get 2 rooms in TI for about $490/person for 7 nights through allegiant air. For the same dates from Orbitz, it will cost me $821/person....plus I have more stops on my flight.

On an interesting note, I just priced out things separately. I went to Allegiant Air and priced out just the plane tickets. I then went the specific hotel websites and priced out different things. On Allegiant, they said I would have to call the hotel because they aren't sure what is available for those dates (for Pairs). On the paris hotel website, I got quoted a price of $860 for one room/7 nights. On Orbitz, I priced out the same dates for Paris, and it was $630 for one room/7 nights. On top of that, Orbitz has their price assurance, which is nice.

I'm starting to think the best strategy is to do the following:

1. When it is about 6-8 months from the trip, get a quote from a travel agent to see if they can save me money.

2. If it is confirmed that the travel agent will not get me the lowest rate with what I can find on my own, make a spreadsheet with the different bundled and separate options to see what will save the moree money.

I think buying the airline tickets through Allegiant Air and then buying the hotel tickets separately is going to get me the best price.


As for hotels are concerned, I've probably spent close to 40 hours reading reviews for all of the hotels. Our biggest thing this time around is that we don't want to be in a dump and we would like semi-comfortable beds. We figure we can't go wrong with one of the 4-star hotels in the center of the strip (Paris, Planet Hollywood, Monte Carlo) or maybe MGM or TI.

When I was looking at prices, Planet Hollywood would consistently come up cheaper than Paris.

What I really like about Paris is the atmosphere of the casino and the hotel, and that it is in a central location (I have walked near the Eiffel Tower, and have not gone inside the casino or the hotel). But PH is also in a central location, and their casino has a poker room. Do you think saving $10-$20 a night by going to PH would be worth it over Paris? I think my wife would prefer Paris over PH, but I don't know if Paris is worth it. What do you think?

I would not write off a Travel Agent so quickly. Will you be doing other things besides gambling? One week in Las Vegas can be a loooong time if you bust your gaming budget on day two. It is better to have an itinerary of other non-gambling activities to take advantage of the other things to see and do. A travel agent can suggest and package these things. Helicopter tours, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, even outlet shopping...

Have you considered forgoing the air and making a road trip out of it?

I just booked a visit to Planet Hollywood. I've never stayed there before. It's a guys' trip for me, so the young, modern, sexy theme of the hotel/casino appeals to me. I also like the fact that there are a LOT of dining/drinking options at PH, including the Miracle Mile shops.

The rooms are nice at Paris. More of a romantic vibe, so I nixed it for the guys' trip. But I'd spend the difference to please a girlfriend or wife. One thing I don't like about Paris is the limited casual eating options. You're going to have a 90 minute wait if you want to get a bite for breakfast at 9am. No food court, just a few options. I frequently wait 'til the overpriced burger joint opens for lunch.

If ambiance is not terribly important to you, you can usually stay much cheaper at Bally's than either PH or Paris. Bally's is connected to Paris, so you have reasonable access to all the same stuff. The rooms are not glamorous, but I don't remember them being in anyway unpleasant or uncomfortable. I just picked a random week next month and came up with the following quotes for a weeklong stay: Paris $116/nt, PH $96/nt, Bally's $83/nt. If all I wanted was a comfortable room in a great center-strip location for the best price, I'd pick Bally's hands down.

If your wife prefers Paris, choose Paris. It's not worth the difference to upset your wife.

PS: In my opinion, the poker room at PH sucks. So does Bally's. Do NOT get into a tournament at Bally's. Whichever hotel you choose, walk across the street to Aria or Caesar's to play poker. I'm sure the poker room at Bellagio is very nice too, but their tournaments are out of my league.

Our only plans, at this point, is to go to a bunch of shows and go a time or two downtown.

The dining options was one of the things I didn't like about Paris. But it is right next to PH and I figured it would be easy to go over there if we wanted to eat a cheaper meal. Is this not a good idea?

Thanks for the tips on the poker tables. I'm not sure if Caesar's will be out of our league. I guess you would consider us casual poker players....but we will be playing a lot of poker on this trip.

Caesar's has tournaments for $80-120 that are structured to last about 5-6 hours. Bally's has a tournament for $75 that's structured to last about 45 minutes. You can't afford not to play at Caesar's. For cash games, all rooms offer the same 1-2 or 1-3 no limit hold 'em with similar rakes, so you might as well play at a comfortable room that's well managed.

When you go downtown, I recommend the tournaments at Binions. $100 gets you into an 8 hour tourney.

Yes, from any of the center strip hotels you have access to all of their dining options. I'm particularly thinking about grabbing a cup of coffee and a pastry while you wait for your wife to get ready in the morning, or something like that. You don't really want to travel. Or getting a snack before turning in at night. Paris has always disappointed me in this regard.

Quote: miles

if you book through the hotel you have a chance of getting the room comped, provided you are that type of player.

Even if you are not normally a player whose action is that impressive to the casino that they would comp your room for you, it is at least possible that you will be very lucky and do well in your gambling. If you do better than you thought you would, but have already booked through a travel site, its too late to try for a room comp for that trip.

Monte Carlo styles itself as a boutique resort. Small, quality rooms and restaurants, quality shops, ... it pretends its a private European gambling salon. Sure sometimes it disappoints but overall most people like the place. Unfortunately, it follows American rules, not French rules, at the roulette table. Or at least it used to awhile ago. I have no idea what it does now.