Priceline - Vegas?

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Considering Priceline and wondering if anyone has used them for a Vegas stay. I want to take a crack at their top-level "luxury" hotel offerings and wonder if anyone has tried them. I'm skeptical, and especially wary given the need to pay up front.

[morgant]

i have nothing to offer to you milo, just some more vegas questions. i have never been. and am going to go play in the 1500 nhle event may 12. any nyers know of good airline deals, and where do i stay, complete newbie to all of this. i would like to sleep cheap, and preserve as much money for poker as possible. also is it necessary that i rent a car?

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Southwest has some good deals to Vegas, but they sell out fast.

[CrackerZack]

Fly americawest or jet blue. If you're doing intra-week flights, Jet Blue should be cheap and they set you up with directTV and other goodies.

Southwest is cheap but the travel to philly or islip is a pain. They don't fly out of any NYC airport. Unless you're gonna stay down there, you'll probably want a car. Not sure though as I rarely get downtown when I'm there.

[drewjustdrew]

If you really are willing to sacrifice time and convenience, you can take a shuttle bus/limo from airport to downtown for $10. Not sure if a city bus stops at airport. There should still be rooms available for cheap at Lady Luck, or Plaza. Don't know if they are good. I am going to stay at 4 queens 12-16th on partial comp, but I think they might be sold out by now. I have stayed there several times and never had issues. It's not the Ritz, but it is passable.

If you plan on playing any lower limit tourneys at Orleans or Mirage, I suggest getting a car. Well worth the $30 a day in comparison to bus waits or cab fares. At least $15 one way to either location from downtown.

[Ulysses]

I've never used Priceline, but I do know there are multiple forums online where people post info about what bids they use to win and which hotels Priceline puts in each category.

A quick google search came up with:

BiddingForTravel (http://biddingfortravel.com/)
BetterBidding (http://www.betterbidding.com)
FlyerTalk (http://www.flyertalk.com) (they have a Priceline forum)

I'm pretty sure there's at least one other big site doing this, as I read an article in the WSJ a year or so back that mentioned these lists and I sorta remember going to some site that wasn't one of these. I've never been to the first two, but FlyerTalk is a very reputable site - sort of the 2+2 for frequent travelers. Anyway, you should be able to find plenty of info re: your q: on those three boards.

[jayadd]

For NYers:

ATA flight's out of laguardia to LV are about 250 go to the site itself.
There are 2 hotels behind bally's walking distance to the strip(like a 1/2mile the most)
Day's inn and across the street Motel 6(connected to ellis island)
very cheap like 40 a night if that. But the best part is motel 6 has a free shuttle service to the airport which will save you 15 bucks on cab ride. I stayed at the days inn and still was able to use the shuttle. BTW days inn has a nice pool. Hotel is sketchy though.

[Ahigh]

I am flying Jetblue from JFK for about $210 round trip on second week of May. Also Monte carlo is offering $69 a night poker rate (5 hours min).

[morgant]

i just found some online trip deal thingy. staying 5/11-5/14 at fitzgeralds(downtown), flight americawest, car for 484. take it right. is fitzgeralds a crack house....sounds perfect.

[jayadd]

you may need a car in may but come june the monrail will be up and running which is going to be the only way to commute.

[EWillers]

when it opens, the furthest North the monorail will run is the Sahara. . .so if you need to get to/from downtown very much, do not consider this as a viable option until at least 2007-8 (if ever)

[Analyst]

[ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure there's at least one other big site doing this, as I read an article in the WSJ a year or so back that mentioned these lists and I sorta remember going to some site that wasn't one of these. I've never been to the first two, but FlyerTalk is a very reputable site - sort of the 2+2 for frequent travelers.


[/ QUOTE ]

Ulysses - are you an FT'er? I travel pretty extensively and thought I knew a lot about travel until I started reading FlyerTalk. Kinda like me, poker and 2+2 . . .

Re: Priceline travel - biddingfortravel is probably your best bet. I believe that the Venetian is the only "5*" hotel on Priceline.

[Ulysses]

Used to be, Analyst. I logged 100k+ miles (sometimes quite a bit more when I had a lot of int'l) most years from 1993-2001. Since then, the bulk of my travel has been for leisure. It was a delight the first year I didn't qual for elite status on any airline. Spent a fair amount of time on FT then; sfojfk1k (or something very close) was my handle.