Ongoing Las Vegas 'pro-tips' thread - Advice on all things Vegas

[Incogneto]

Leaving on Thurs for an extended weekend....Planning on renting a car on Friday and driving to the Grand Canyon. Does anyone have some tips or advice for this kind of idea?

[polak]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

Leaving on Thurs for an extended weekend....Planning on renting a car on Friday and driving to the Grand Canyon. Does anyone have some tips or advice for this kind of idea?

It's probably just me but that was an incredibly underwhelming experience. You kind of stare at it for a bit and then you don't know what to do. If I were to go again I'd probably do some sort of tour or helicopter flight or something to make it worth while.

Edit: this was before the skywalk too so that is probably pretty cool.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

Leaving on Thurs for an extended weekend....Planning on renting a car on Friday and driving to the Grand Canyon. Does anyone have some tips or advice for this kind of idea?

No real tips or advice other than to make sure that you're at the Grand Canyon for at least one sunrise or sunset, leave a little time to look around the Hoover Dam, and don't worry too much about the speed limit. I went from Vegas to the Grand Canyon and back in one day a few years ago and a cop caught me going about 115 mph on the way back. He flew up behind me, flashed his lights, then let me keep driving.

[Travis Munroe]

Originally Posted by gargamel

No real tips or advice other than to make sure that you're at the Grand Canyon for at least one sunrise or sunset, leave a little time to look around the Hoover Dam, and don't worry too much about the speed limit. I went from Vegas to the Grand Canyon and back in one day a few years ago and a cop caught me going about 115 mph on the way back. He flew up behind me, flashed his lights, then let me keep driving.

I would still worry somewhat about the speed limit. You got real lucky....I dont think thats standard practice lol.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

Leaving on Thurs for an extended weekend....Planning on renting a car on Friday and driving to the Grand Canyon. Does anyone have some tips or advice for this kind of idea?

Make sure to do the damn dam tour, and no they don't sell bait.

[automaton 3]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

Leaving on Thurs for an extended weekend....Planning on renting a car on Friday and driving to the Grand Canyon. Does anyone have some tips or advice for this kind of idea?

We did the same thing a few years ago, we rented a Mustang Convertible and lucked into a nice day.

It is a pretty long day if you're planning on driving there and back same day, make sure you get an early start. I'd say keep it within reason but the speed limits don't seem to matter much, even the semis were just flying.

[albertGQ]

Any "must see" shows at Vegas right now?

How's that Peepshow starring Co Co? That any good?

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

How's that Peepshow starring Co Co? That any good?

It's gone from Kelly Monaco to Holly Madison to *shudder* Co Co Austin. One of these things is not like the other.

I'd say Terry Fator is a must-see. Waited about 4 trips to finally go and wish I had done it sooner.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Man, everyone also talks about all the cheap deals they get for flight and hotels to Vegas. I can't find any from Jan 31 to Feb 3. We have to be a bit picky for flights as my wife has school on the 31st so we have to leave in the evening but the best we can find is $1870 for the Excalibur on WestJet vacations

Anyone know of any good websites with good Vegas deals?

1) Having a total rewards card helps

2) smartervegas.com is good for searching for hotel deals

3) fly with Alaskan or Allegiant to get good flight deals. Allegiant has $53 flights including all taxes for the February-March months. Alaskan flies out of both YLW and BLI which is convenient for us but Alberta people may need to fly out of Great Falls, pretty sure those airlines don't use YYC.

If you do it right, you can pay just over $200 taxes in round trip for two people for flights. Throw in $20 per night for a hotel room at a mid-range place like the Flamingo and that's a darn cheap holiday. Leaves you a lot of money to spend while you are there.

[hayduke's dad]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Man, everyone also talks about all the cheap deals they get for flight and hotels to Vegas. I can't find any from Jan 31 to Feb 3. We have to be a bit picky for flights as my wife has school on the 31st so we have to leave in the evening but the best we can find is $1870 for the Excalibur on WestJet vacations

Anyone know of any good websites with good Vegas deals?

Take the drive to Kalispell and fly Allegiant air. check out the website. you could fly return and stay at the Wynn in a suite for $1300 US. Save alot of money with the drive.

[username]

Originally Posted by hayduke's dad

Take the drive to Kalispell and fly Allegiant air. check out the website. you could fly return and stay at the Wynn in a suite for $1300 US. Save alot of money with the drive.

Ya but then you need to drive after being in Vegas. It's hard enough flying out of that city, I couldn't imagine flying for 3 hours and then having to drive another 4.

[king_amonte]

Originally Posted by hayduke's dad

Take the drive to Kalispell and fly Allegiant air. check out the website. you could fly return and stay at the Wynn in a suite for $1300 US. Save alot of money with the drive.

You guys beat me to it but I always go Allegiant (a bit better for me in Lethbridge) but always have cheap deals from Great Falls, Missoula, or Kalispell! The amount of money you save is worth the drive to me everytime!!!

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by username

Ya but then you need to drive after being in Vegas. It's hard enough flying out of that city, I couldn't imagine flying for 3 hours and then having to drive another 4.

Or 7 if Crowsnest is having a particularly bad winter day. Not worth it, IMO. You're either tacking on a sizeable drive before and after a vegas trip, or adding 2 nights in Kalispell.

[spetch]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Man, everyone also talks about all the cheap deals they get for flight and hotels to Vegas. I can't find any from Jan 31 to Feb 3. We have to be a bit picky for flights as my wife has school on the 31st so we have to leave in the evening but the best we can find is $1870 for the Excalibur on WestJet vacations

Anyone know of any good websites with good Vegas deals?

You are also picking superbowl weekend which is the Sports books biggest betting weekend of the year. Flights/hotels aren't gonna be cheap (unless u booked earlier than now) for a Thur-Sun/Mon trip. If u could swing the dates a bit try leaving Vegas on the tuesday as 99% of the time is at the lowest price a flight is.

[albertGQ]

We have to be picky with our flight times (wife has classes that morning) so we are just going to suck it up and pay the price.

It's wife's 30th birthday weekend so we're committed to that weekend as well

[polak]

Just drive! Montana is fun, Idaho sucks but then you have some cool desert scenery to look at.

I managed to do it in 17 hours. My dad claims he did it in 15 but I don't believe him.

[hmmhmmcamo]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Any "must see" shows at Vegas right now?

How's that Peepshow starring Co Co? That any good?

I've heard nothing but good things about Absinthe at Ceasars....definitely seeing it next time we're in Vegas.

http://www.absinthevegas.com/

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by hmmhmmcamo

I've heard nothing but good things about Absinthe at Ceasars....definitely seeing it next time we're in Vegas.

http://www.absinthevegas.com/

Yeah, it's awesome. Plus, they encourage you to get drunk and yell. But not too much. I almost got 86'd the last time I went.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by polak

Just drive! Montana is fun, Idaho sucks but then you have some cool desert scenery to look at.

I managed to do it in 17 hours. My dad claims he did it in 15 but I don't believe him.

I don't believe it either:

http://www.travelmath.com/drive-dist.../Las+Vegas,+NV

The driving distance from Calgary, Canada to Las Vegas, Nevada is:

1,312 miles / 2 111 km

15 hours, Average speed = 140.7 km/h.

17 hours is 124.2 km/h.

That's with no stops. Are you accounting for the time change?

[polak]

Originally Posted by troutman

I don't believe it either:

http://www.travelmath.com/drive-dist.../Las+Vegas,+NV

The driving distance from Calgary, Canada to Las Vegas, Nevada is:

1,312 miles / 2 111 km

15 hours, Average speed = 140.7 km/h.

17 hours is 124.2 km/h.

Are you accounting for the time change?

I accounted for it in my 17 hrs, I don't know if he did. My stops were pretty short as I was with my girlfriend. One would fill up and one would get food and we'd eat while driving.

Back when my dad did this run last though, I wouldn't put it past him to hover around that speed on the highway. He used to drive like a maniac until my little sister was born. The thing that makes it hard to believe is that he had to drive through Salt Lake City which would slow him down and on top of that, Montana and parts of Nevada are pretty twisty.

Then again, when I did it, I think my speed was a decent clip faster then 140 (thats only 20 km/h over the limit) through almost all of straight, boring Idaho so who knows how fast he was going there.