3.1: Which hotel should I book ...and why 3.2: All rooms are not equal 3.3: Getting the best hotel deal 3.4: Hotel ratings ...what to believe 3.5: Getting a low price at a good hotel 3.6: Recommended hotels 3.7: Best hotels for the first timer 3.8: Checking in to your hotel 3.9: Slot machines and casinos everywhere

3.3 Getting the best airfare-hotel deal

How to get the lowest price Las Vegas vacation.

The following figures are for a planned 4-night vacation in March 2005. (These example vacation packages include round trip airfare from Dallas to Las Vegas - and a Sunday Arrival and Thursday departure ROH hotel room.) They were determined in early January 2005. They are presented here to show the wide variance in vacation package prices among different online travel providers.

Step 1. Check Convention schedule (for each Sunday - Wednesday night period.)

Results:
Feb. 27-March 2 – Eliminate. More than 100,000 Convention attendees

March 6-10 - Not a heavy convention schedule, but note that Mirage (1500) and Bellagio (2000) have sizeable conventions at their hotel.

March 13-16 - Eliminate. More than 150,000 Convention attendees

March 20-24 - Not heavy, but more than 30,000 attendees. Ballys 6000, Caesars Palace 1300.

March 27 to April 1 - More than 60,000 attendees. Fairly heavy.


Result: March vacation should probably be either: March 6-10, March 20-24 ...or possibly March 27-31. (Strangely, this week turned out to be quite good.)


Step 2. Checked vacation packages with:
Expedia (Cost per person - based on double occupancy)
-----------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $608 --------- $592 --------- $504
Venetian---- $----- --------- $----- --------- $-----
Caesars----- $516 --------- $622 --------- $401
Mirage------ $478 --------- $1165 -------- $382
Paris------- $435 --------- $620 --------- $404
Aladdin----- $555 --------- $373 --------- $405
Ballys------ $488 --------- $571 --------- $318
Flamingo---- $379 --------- $325 --------- $299
Harrahs----- $393 --------- $351 --------- $364

Orbitz (Cost per person - based on double occupancy)
-----------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $626 --------- $649 --------- $566
Venetian---- $712 --------- $756 --------- $---
Caesars----- $525 --------- $--- --------- $473
Mirage------ $484 --------- $--- --------- $452
Paris------- $447 --------- $689 --------- $512
Aladdin----- $----- --------- $----- --------- $-----
Ballys------ $512 --------- $641 --------- $424
Flamingo---- $445 --------- $463 --------- $418
Harrahs ---- $----- --------- $----- --------- $-----

Travelocity (Cost per person - based on double occupancy)
------------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $618 --------- $664 --------- $523
Venetian---- $651 --------- $700 --------- $479
Caesars----- $549 --------- $614 --------- $489
Mirage------ $459 --------- $----- --------- $427
Paris------- $434 --------- $566 --------- $468
Aladdin----- $523 --------- $456 --------- $490
Ballys------ $485 --------- $501 --------- $378
Flamingo---- $----- --------- $----- --------- $-----
Harrahs----- $438 --------- $----- --------- $438

Southwest Airlines (From Houston . Southwest does not fly out of DFW to LAS)
------------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $649 --------- $689 --------- $609
Venetian---- $869 --------- $869 --------- $704
Caesars----- $554 --------- $569 --------- $524
Mirage------ $519 --------- $634 --------- $489
Paris------- $549 --------- $639 --------- $549
Aladdin ---- $479 --------- $----- --------- $-----
Ballys------ $559 --------- $574 --------- $464
Flamingo---- $449 --------- $484 --------- $449
Harrahs----- $----- --------- $----- --------- $-----

America West (Cost per person - based on double occupancy)
------------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $579.40 ------ $626.40 ------ $895.40
Venetian---- $829.40 ------ $829.40 ------ $1091.40
Caesars----- $485.40 ------ $502.90 ------ $723.40
Mirage------ $457.40 ------ $541.90 ------ $670.40
Paris------- $467.40 ------ $----- ------ $759.40
Aladdin----- $405.40 ------ $387.40 ------ $609.40
Ballys------ $501.40 ------ $----- ------ $-----
Flamingo---- $367.40 ------ $410.40 ------ $559.40
Harrahs----- $449.40 ------ $463.40 ------ $693.40

MGM Mirage Vacations (Does not reflect surcharges or taxes!)
------------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $604.40 ------ $661.40 ------ $564.40
Mirage------ $499.40 ------ $626.40 ------ $469.40

Harrahs Vacations (Cost per person - based on double occupancy)
------------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Harrahs----- $480.85 ------ $438.92 ------ $419.9

American Airlines (N/A = Not available) (Cost per person - based on double occupancy)
------------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $854 --------- $946 --------- $768
Venetian---- N/A --------- N/A --------- N/A
Caesars----- $642 --------- $614 --------- $614
Mirage------ $620 --------- N/A --------- $548
Paris------- N/A --------- N/A --------- $608
Aladdin----- $472 --------- $440 --------- $448
Ballys------ $652 --------- N/A --------- $434
Flamingo---- $402 --------- $482 --------- $402
Harrahs----- Not Offered -- N/O --------- N/O


Conclusions:
The following are the lowest and highest per person prices for a 4-day vacation (hotel plus airfare). Assumes two people to a room. Take into consideration that the lowest round trip airfare between Dallas and Las Vegas is $175.00 per person and you will see that by purchasing a “land & air” vacation package, the hotel portion cost an average of $225 per person (or $450 for two guests ...a little more than $100 a night.)

-------------Low: ----- High: ----- Low price from: (Online Service)
Bellagio---- $579.40 -- $854 ------ March 6-10 – America West
Venetian---- $479 ----- $1041.40 -- March 27-31 – Travelocity
Caesars----- $401 ----- $723 ------ March 27-31 – Expedia
Mirage------ $382 ----- $670.40 --- March 27-31 – Expedia
Paris------- $434 ----- $759 ------ March 6-10 – Travelocity
Aladdin----- $373 ----- $609.40 --- March 20-24 – Expedia
Ballys------ $318 ----- $652 ------ March 27-31 – Expedia
Flamingo---- $299 ----- $559.40 --- March 27-31 – Expedia
Harrahs----- $351 ----- $693.40 --- March 20-24 – Expedia

Remember that this example is for a ROH (Run of the House) room plus non-stop airfare from Dallas to Las Vegas. The above “land & air” low prices are in every case, lower than the hotel only discount prices offered by the hotels! Here is an example.

Hotel only: And these are the DISCOUNT ROOM RATES!
------------March 6-10 - March 20-24 - March 27-31
Bellagio---- $777 --------- $687 --------- $636
Venetian---- $876 --------- $956 --------- $676
Caesars----- $1080 --------- $1400 --------- $820
Mirage------ $537 --------- $897 --------- $387
Paris------- $476 --------- $926 --------- $596
Aladdin----- $736 --------- $516 --------- $576
Ballys------ $596 --------- $906 --------- $436
Flamingo---- $475 --------- $510 --------- $425
Harrahs----- $458 --------- $516 --------- $476

The bottom line:
(1.) Start about 3 months before your planned Las Vegas vacation dates.
(2.) Choose a 4-night (Sunday through Thursday) vacation package.
(3.) Check convention schedule to determine the lower occupancy periods.
(4.) Select two or three alternate weeks for your vacation.
(5.) Determine the hotels you are considering. (We suggested nine target hotels.)
(6.) Check the ROH (lowest priced room) vacation packages of several online travel sites. Keep in mind that these prices could change as you get closer to your departure date. (Or could disappear if they sell out.)

You will be amazed at the wildly varying prices (for the same dates and hotels) among different vacation package providers. Do your homework and you will save a bundle!