I need to arrange 30 flights and rooms. Travel agent or direct?

Good afternoon everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster…

After a successful ConExpo trip our company is thinking of replacing our typical “Spring Meeting” to a 2-3 day trip to LV. I need to get some solid pricing on flights and rooms for 30 adults (30 rooms no sharing). It will be a fairly diverse group, from admins to directors and our company Owner/President so I was thinking mid level strip. Should I use a travel agent? Or should I go through MLife or the hotels directly?

Any suggestions on a property? We stayed at the Bellagio for ConExpo and the Aria last fall (both were great properties) but I think we need to be one step down as this is a trip for everyone, not just our Sr. Management group and we want everyone to feel comfortable.

We also would like a property that would provide some afternoon craps lessons and perhaps BlackJ TCP or UTH.. We are probably going to give everyone a little bankroll to enjoy themselves.

Looking to the biggest “Bang” for our buck

Thanks in advance

Zap

 

I doubt you have to worry about people not feeling comfortable in a 5-star hotel.

but if price is the real reason to step down a notch, MGM could be a good alternative.

you could put the President and other senior employees in the Skylofts, while the other employees get regular rooms.

 

Book hotel direct w the hotel. Each hotel has a corporate travel person to work with your group. Since you said it's a company trip is the company paying? If so then it should be easy. If not they can set up a link for your group with the group rate that you send out. The people just click the link then book the room through that link. Will all be a better deal than w a travel agent.

 

Start looking at flight options now - you did not give a date.

All hotels in Vegas have a WIDE range of pricing depending on. Your pricing will be impacted the MOST by the exact dates.

 

I just organized THREE. Kind of a pain but luckily the others are easy going and trust my judgement. Not a work trip so can't be of much help there. I'd use a Travel agent because ya just gotta know others will want changes. LIKE "I want to stay later" or "I want to week earlier".
Last yr our team from work booked 7 rooms at Monte Carlo. Decent mid range place in the centre of the action. One couple arrived two days earlier. Another stayed later. I booked on my own room at Luxor for the comps. You'll NEVER please everybody. good Luck. Vegas IS the right choice tho hahaha
Tim
T-25
Jeff faafaa Dunham and Nascar.

 

The easy route would be to get a travel agent to do the leg work for you. They could get your ball park numbers for a wide arrange of hotels and flights.

Overall though, you could get better rates calling the hotels up directly that you are interested in and speaking to the departments that deal with group reservations. I've actually seen some MGM Resort properties that allow for online group reservations. The airfare... well, that's another matter I would contact the airline directly about a group booking.

 

I sent you a PM

 

Thanks everyone,

Some good advise here for sure, WeluvVegas, as a new forum member I am not allowed to reply to PM's so please send me a bit more info (actually a nice security feature for forum users).

 

Oops sorry about that! I didn't want it to seem like I was advertising here or anything but I actually work for a corporate travel agency and we can definitely help you. There is no fee for our services.

Would it be ok for me to give your information to the person that handles large group bookings for our agency? I live in Dallas but it is based out of NJ. There's really no hassle and we'll take great care of you.

Let me know. 30 is a large number and we could negotiate a good rate for you! Plus make it stress free for you.

I would feel ok giving you my email address here on the board if you want it.

 

I recommend an agent simply because with the number being 30 there will be a few screw ups.
With an agent, you can have the agent clean up the mess as opposed to you possibly spending your entire vacation fixing possible issues.

 

Where can one apply to work for your company?

 

I arranged a trip for 14 employees/spouses from my company. It was simple enough in a city with so many rooms to find a good deal and to "hawk" the Southwest site for the best possible airfare...but I would go with a travel agency if I had to do it again, especially with a larger group.

 

Zapisocki my email is dockfam@Verizon.net

 

If you are all trying to come out on the same flight, definitely do a travel agent. They would be able to do handle the airport transportation for you all too. I don't know if they can do better for you on the hotel rates but it would take a load of of you if a professional was getting all those travel docs organized for you.

 

I dunno man, that's a lot to juggle. Budget, 30 people, flights, transportation, meetings, not wanting to eff it all to hell. I think I would do a corporate travel agent. It's true the hotels, airlines, transportation companies have reps to deal with groups. But, the travel agent would be dealing with them for you. They would basically present you with options based on your budget. They know about all kinds of things you wouldn't think of because it's their job. Also, they're in the loop more. Stuff you wouldn't know, like the new manager of whatever at hotel X is a screw up, or the catering at hotel Y sucks etc. Stuff you would have no way of knowing. You're going to have enough problems dealing with 30 people.