General Booking Questions

[747Blackjack]

I'm still a relative newbie at all this, so please bear with me...

It is more common to purchase room rates at time of booking? (Unlike a Holiday Inn-type of thing where you just reserve the room ahead of time, but aren't actually billed anything until checkout.) My sense is that the advance payment approach is preferred to a) secure your room rate ahead of time, and b) avoid getting slapped with a monstrous hotel bill at checkout.

Second, I'm debating booking a flight+hotel combo through Vegas.com vs. doing everything individually. Pricing seems quite similar. Pros and cons to each?

 

[makikiboy]

IMHO, paying in advance is preferred to by the hotels but not the not the people who stay at the hotels. Most of us just reserve the rooms and pay/charge the rest when we CHECK IN. Many hotels will charge the first night's stay when you make the reservation and that is enough to hold the costs. Your reservation should guarantee the nightly amount you will pay for the room, you may experience shock when you find out how much you will be paying in hotel room taxes and resort fees but that will happen whether you prepay or not.

Many of us will just reserve the rooms and not pay (other than the first night). The reason is that the rates may drop so we can either rebook or call and hope they price match and refund/credit you. But you can also book a new reservation and cancel the other reservation. If you prepay and decide to rebook or change reservation then it will be up to vegas.com or the third party site to credit you or return your prepayment but that locks your $$ even before you stay at the hotel.

One exception to this is if you are comped or get reduced rates for your stay. They may require you to put in a certain amount of play and if you don't then you may have to pay more for your room.

If you book through a third party such as vegas.com or other site (like expedia, orbitz, etc.) they may require you to pay everything in advance. Some of us book months in advance so we don't want to tie our money up, rather waiting till we get to the hotel to pay off the balance. Of course you should pay for your airfare early because air fare may go up as you get closer to your trip.

Some people like to book air/room car packages but others rather book ala carte. No right answer, just a matter of personal preference. Many people also rather book directly with the hotel. Another thing to note is if you book through the hotel and give them a certain amount of play they may reduce your bill but if you book through a third party they can't reduce your bill.

 

[Packeral]

What Makikiboy said.

 

[nostresshere]

When you "book" a room, the rate is fixed. You will not get a higher charge later.

Repeat - you will not get a higher rate later.

This applies to almost all hotels, anywhere.

(one exception - the resort fees are often not quoted upfront but that does not change either way)

As to package deals, scroll down the page to see this topic as it is discussed often - though the earlier comments pretty well cover it.

 

[moefoe81]

If it's similar pricing I would book it separately because the hotel rates can change. I have a stay at Ballys in May when I reserved the room it was $280 with tax and resort fee but a week later the rates changed to $192 and I called Ballys back and they adjusted the rates. They only charge the first night on your credit card. You can pay for the stay when you check in or I will pay the remainder of it when I check out.

Ernie

 

[spicole]

Makikiboy and especiallhy nostresshere already provided some good advice.

While I have booked an air+hotel package and third-party booking site reservations in the past, I now strongly prefer booking directly with the properties. They have the best cancellation policies and almost always the best rates anyway.

 

[Peath13]

CET usually allows up to about 72 hours for cancellation or changes.

Airfare for us here in the NW is usually best about 6-8 weeks before. Vegas flights are always packed from here.

 

[makikiboy]

Makikiboy and especiallhy nostresshere already provided some good advice.

While I have booked an air+hotel package and third-party booking site reservations in the past, I now strongly prefer booking directly with the properties. They have the best cancellation policies and almost always the best rates anyway.

Actually it depends on which hotels. I think the downtown hotels you may be able to get better rates from the third party sites.

I was at the El Cortez one day. Someone came up to the front desk to ask about getting a room there. The desk clerk quoted the prices but it was high. The clerk told the customer to book the room on a third party site (booking.com) and it was considerably lower than the quoted front desk price. Customer came back 10 minutes later (I was in the process of checking in) and said that indeed he booked through booking.com for a better rate than was quoted.

I regularly booked through booking.com. Most times you only have to pay the first night for your reservation and they are relatively prompt if you cancel your reservation. They also have a price matching guarantee, if you see a lower price, just call them and they will confirm and lower your price to the one listed.

Unfortunately lately it seems I can get better rates if I book directly through the Cal or MSS. The El Cortez now charges a resort fee so their rates are similar to MSS and the Cal and since I rather play and stay at the Boyd hotels I book through the hotel.

 

[dcrawf]

I have never booked an all-inclusive air/hotel package simply because I feel I can get better rates doing things seperately.

So far as booking directly with the hotel or with 3rd party rhat depends on when oland are finalized. If its a couple months ahead then usually direct with hotel. Much less than that, as rates climb sonetimes start checking out places like Priceline (an operation I prefer not to utilize). If you're ever stuck for a place Westgate is classified as a "4* hotel/casino in Convention Center area" and there are no others. Similarly, Palms Place is a "4 1/2* hotel/casino West of Strip." These two properties are consistently bargains on 3rd party sites, largely due to off-Strip locations. These examples are given usung rhe Express Deals option where you don't know rhe name of property.

I will be un Vegas during much of NAB convention. Found GN for 4 nights, starting on Saturday, for just $46/per on vegas.com. Dont really know how that happened and I don't care lol.

 

[747Blackjack]

THANK YOU all for the help and feedback - no shortage of sound advice on these forums!

For this trip, I'm leaning heavily towards an Mlife property and the consensus there seems to be booking direct. (More flexibility, better pricing, etc.) Since this trip is still several months away, not shelling everything out in advance would certainly be preferred.

IMHO, paying in advance is preferred to by the hotels but not the not the people who stay at the hotels. Most of us just reserve the rooms and pay/charge the rest when we CHECK IN. Many hotels will charge the first night's stay when you make the reservation and that is enough to hold the costs. Your reservation should guarantee the nightly amount you will pay for the room, you may experience shock when you find out how much you will be paying in hotel room taxes and resort fees but that will happen whether you prepay or not.

Many of us will just reserve the rooms and not pay (other than the first night). The reason is that the rates may drop so we can either rebook or call and hope they price match and refund/credit you. But you can also book a new reservation and cancel the other reservation. If you prepay and decide to rebook or change reservation then it will be up to vegas.com or the third party site to credit you or return your prepayment but that locks your $$ even before you stay at the hotel.

Makes sense - even more so if just paying the first night at booking is all that's needed to secure the rate. Taxes/resort fees are just nature of the beast IMO, so I tend to factor those in as well.

I have never booked an all-inclusive air/hotel package simply because I feel I can get better rates doing things seperately.

My thoughts exactly...