We get so many questions on Las Vegas I thought we would try having one thread on the subject. Please feel free to add your opinions, web sites, and money saving ideas to this post Also, any hotel reviews, show reviews, or hotel reviews that you think other members would find useful!

http://www.lasvegasvisitor.com/ ( (nsider information, restaurant reviews)

http://www.unlv.edu/Tourism/lvbuff.html (Buffets and restaurants)

http://www.vegasfreedom.com/

http://www.1-las-vegas-shows.com/ (shows and tours)

www.lvchamber.com ( Ask them to send you their Visitor's Guide, which contains extensive information about accommodations, attractions, excursions, children's activities, and more.)

http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/

http://www.ratevegas.com/ratevegas/index.jsp

http://www.travel2vegas.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

http://www.bigempire.com/vegas/

One should never have to buy drinks. If you are gambling too much and the waitress is not coming around, ask to call for cocktails. They will call or use a clicker.

If that is not successful, go to the bar, and change in $10 for a roll of quarters, and ask for a drink. You can take your time playing the video poker machines, so you arent spending as much money.

If you are into gambling, its much cheaper downtown, and during weekdays. I even saw some $3 blackjack tables and 25 cent craps last time I was there. Union Plaza is the best, but crowded.

Midnight eats are cheaper, esp downtown.

Use the coupon books that hotels give you for extra cash if you win. For instance, a coupon usually is "make a blackjack bet, and double your money if you win using coupon." Thus, if you put $3 down, and the coupon, you get $9 if you win the bet. You usually get a coupon book upon check in, if not ask for one.

Take the shuttle from the airport to the hotel in most cases. If you are staying downtown, recommend taxi, because otherwise shuttle can take a LONG time.

Good ways to gamble if you have already spent too much money, but still want to gamble:
bingo, sports book, and keno lounge (they take a longer time to eat up the cash)

Only use one hand to hold cards. Using both hands will get you a reprimand.

From the west, Southwest is the best airline. Book far in advance to get the best fares.

Good Luck!!!!!!

When is the best and cheapest time to go to Vegas? We want to stay in a deluxe resort, but we just bought a new house and are trying to save a few dollars where we can.

December (before Xmas) and Summer (June-August) are the cheapest months to visit Vegas. Also, going Sun-Thursday is cheaper (by far!) than going on weekends. Avoid holidays and times when there are big events (like conventions or major boxing bouts) bringing lots of people to Vegas, because prices are higher then, too.

I live in Vegas! The strip is really fun, but if you stay off of the strip, you will save money! There are many really nice hotels off of the strip that will have a little better pricing on rooms, food, etc. Usually, they give a hirer percentage of winning on your gambling plays, also. You might sacrifice a bit of atmosphere but you can spend the day or night down on the strip and still get into all the "Las Vegas" fun. Places include: Green Valley Ranch, George Clooney and Michael Jackson like to hang out there!, Suncoast, The Orleans, Fiesta Las Vegas and Fiesta Henderson!

We like to stay at the Imperial Palace...NOT fancy but hey, how much time do I spend in my room anyway? It's like $79 a night Sun-Thurs and it's right in the middle of everything! They have $3 blackjack tables too (the only ones we could find ON the strip) and the waitresses were pretty quick to bring drinks.

I love the buffet at the Paris. TIP: find out when breakfast changes over to lunch. Get there right before that and pay the lower priced breakfast price and get to eat lunch

Ask for comps if you are playing at one place awhile. I usually sit the same table for hours placing small bets. Bet bigger when the pit boss is looking After 2 hours or so I usually ask for a free lunch or BOGO lunch. After 5-6 hours I usually get compted a free show ticket and/or dinners...depending on what resort. Don't forget to use your casino card and give it to the dealer when you get there to rack up points (or whatever that resort uses).

From the west, Southwest is the best airline. Book far in advance to get the best fares.

Good Luck!!!!!! [/b][/quote]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! I would have never thought to look at their site but because of your post I did and saved us about $100/person!! OH WOW!!!!
I can't wait!!

Erika

Another great site is www.vegasresource.com

I've gotten really cheap rental cars through this site and they send a monthly newsletter via email. I just rented a Dodge Stratus for Thurs-Tues in Oct. for a total of 126.36......a Neon would have been 113.46. HTH We also like to stay off the strip but within walking distance. Terrible's is very nice and when you sign up with their players club and gamble (we like slots) they send you some great offers. We went in April and got rates of $19 weekdays and $39 weekends.....same rates apply for our upcoming trip.

Debbie

Anyone familiar with this free offer for a day trip? Just wondering if there are any strings attached. It says to call at least one day in advance after arrival for reservations.


http://www.freevegastours.com/voucher.htm

tio



tio

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Food for thought -
Everything I eat has been proved by some doctor or another to be a deadly poison, and everything I don't eat has been proved to be indispensable to life...But I go marching on. ~ George Bernard Shaw

we took this trip about six months ago--it is totally free (they even give you a coupon book when you arrive in Laughlin and each person gets a free buffet coupon, as well.) Very comfortable, got lucky with the best tour guide who really loved his job. I would highly recommed it to all the people I know.

ninadalla

Thank you so much for your response. It's good to know that someone has gone on this trip & that it was a good experience. I will consider this one on our trip next month. We don't gamble, and we want to see as many of the sites out of Vegas as we can, during the week we will be there.

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How old am I? Somewhere between 40 and death!

Food for thought -
Everything I eat has been proved by some doctor or another to be a deadly poison, and everything I don't eat has been proved to be indispensable to life...But I go marching on. ~ George Bernard Shaw

I just returned from Vegas today and I am bummed about the Monorail system. I have be going to LV for many, many years and I thought the monorail was going to be an improvement over the one between MGM and Balley's. To begin...I used the old one to get halfway down the strip...for free. Now I find out that the new one costs $10. I went to MGM to get on it...and it was shut down for and undetermened amount of time....They said the wheels keep falling off...What does that mean???? It remained shut down the whole time I was there. I guess that was good...I didn't waste $10 like a lot of other people....nor did I waste alot of time walking to any of the monorail stations after that. Then the real bad part...iI found out it dumps you out at the Hilton...2-3 long....long blocks off the strip...oh boy more walking and walking.


Anyway....if you are going to LV in the near future...mark the monorail off as a free or good thing.

Take the city bus and buy the $5 day pass.

Does anyone know of Las Vegas Discussion boards... like Disboards for Disney?

What is the best way to get around LV? Should one rent a car from the airport, or take a shuttle to your hotel? My DH and I haven't really traveled much by ourselves, so I would be looking for the easiest way for us to get around there. Are most things within walking distance, from say the major big hotels? TIA

Check out this site.
www.cheapovegas.com

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I like to read and post at lasvegastalk.com Lots of information there!

Why didn't I see this before DH & I went??? LOL...... We flew out on 10/02 and came back home on 10/08. We rented a minivan from Dollar Rental ($285 for the week). We took the dollar rental shuttle from the airport to the rental place. We stayed at the Excalibur. It was $119 the first night and 69.95 a night for the rest of the week. It was a nice hotel room, but we didn't stay in it much. Next time we will try a different hotel! I would like to stay at the New York New York if we can get a good deal . That was a really neat hotel especially with the roller coaster on top . DH & I didn't do too much gambling on the strip. We did have a little better luck off the strip at Sunset Station and Arizona Charlie's with gambling then we did on the strip. We did a lot more sight seeing then anything. We ended up taking 18 rolls of film and over 300 digital pictures. I LOVED the view at night from the walk way between the NY NY and the MGM Grand hotel looking down at the strip. That was just Awesome!!!

Now as far as food went. We did some buffets. The only problem was it was such heavy food it stuck with you ALL day! And we were eating so late into the night that it took almost the whole week after we were back to get used to eating at the normal time, LOL. The Excalibur breakfast buffet was not good at all *YUCK*. The Luxor breakfast was good. The rest of the time we ate McDonalds. As far as dinner we ate at Outback Steakhouse (really good!!!), Arizona Charlie's (not good at all ), Sunset Station (best buffet we ate at!), and other smaller food places in the hotels. And of course we had way too many Starbucks Mocha Frap., LOL.... Oh so good, but not at $4.75 for a Venti size

I asked DH as soon as we got back home when we were going again! LOL...So much to do and see and not enough time. We did get to see.....

Shark Reef- Mandalay Bay ***It was AWESOME****
Lion Exhibit- MGM Grand - FREE
Secret Garden & Dolphin Exhibit - The Mirage *AWESOME*
Volcano - The Mirage - FREE
Fountains - Bellagio - FREE

We also traveled to Red Rock Canyon (beautiful), Hoover Dam (soooo cool!!) and to the west rim of the Grand Canyon (GORGEOUS, but I don't think I will make that trip again! LOL)

Next time...you might check hotel packages instead of nightly rates. For example on the Southwest Airlines site you will find land only packages that are good deals even if you are not buying airfare or even if you don't live on their routes. You may also check other sites for land/hotel only packages.

65 free things to do in Vegas
http://www.vegas4locals.com/free.html

About this free trip...is there a sales pitch involved? What's the catch?

Thanks.

I'm going to a business convention next month at the the Wynn Las Vegas resort. It's brand new and really nice. Since I generally wear jeans, tee shirts, sneakers, and minimal makeup to work....I figure a shopping trip is in order before I go. I hate to buy things I won't wear on a day I have meetings (or after I loose all this extra weight). Generally "meeting days" I end up in khakis, sweater, and flats or longish skirt, sweater, and flats. Kind of Lands End, L.L.Bean, or Eddie Bauer type styles. At the convention I will be attending seminars and meeting with vendors. Dinner with someone from the convention is expected. In the evening a few of us are going to hit some shows: Mamma Mia at the Mandalay Theatre and some dance show that's suppose to be good (can't remember name, but think it was hard to pronounce). I'm also considering Le Reve since it's at the Wynn.

So thoughts on dress code for convention? Shows? Don't want to look too much like a country bumpkin (Where I live, I find I can wear anything so long as I'm paying high prices). I'm hoping not to gamble so I shouldn't be roaming the casino.

TIA

Test America located in The Venetian and The Fashion Mall and Desert Passage in the Alladin. I went to the one in the Venetian and did a survey about tea. It took less than a half hour and they gave me a free ticket for Madame Trussands. Worth $20. They had other surveys or test shows to watch and other free stuff to earn. Great way to spend some free time and to get something for it.

There are lots of opportunities for you to visit time shares in LV. They have tables and salespeople everywhere ...lobbies, on the corner of streets, etc. If you don't mind saying "no" firmly and wasting a couple of hours of your vacation time you can get nice perks such as show tickets, meals, gambling money.


As far as clothing...you will see every thing from short to evening gowns. Generally...the evening shows at the nicer casino...you might want a nice pants suit or dress. A few of the nicest restaurants may require nicer clothes or even ties for men during evening meals. You might ask when you make reseverations...if there are any dress codes.

I just wanted to relay my experience with the monorail in Vegas and say it was great!! I went in September for a concert and I have to say Vegas is pretty empty that time of year anyway... but I used the monorail to get from Tropicana to the House of Blues in Mandalay and it was a cinch! The prices were very reasonable for the time you save and the walking you won't have to do. You could purchase a one-way, roundrip, and I believe you could get 5 or more trips. You basically pay for it up front and have to use it within a certain amount of time. The monorail was aircondioned, and clean) and you could see some of the city from inside.
This is just my experience...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you have to show a certain amount of gambling money (like $200). I went years ago, and it was $39 which they give you back in coupons, but you had to show money that you intended to gamble.

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Can we make a new sticky for Vegas? Alot of these questions are 2-3 years old
and the prices have changed tremendously. I just returned from Vegas and found
some of the info out dated.

Just a suggestion.

Deena

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