Los Angeles & Las Vegas - tips and advice

[cove]

Which credit card were you thinking of using? We are off to Vancouver tomorrow and with the fee for foreign charges at between 2.7% and 3.5% effectively I think I will use 28 degrees card and pass on the expensive points. What are you all thinking?

 

[Alanslegal]

WRT to Las Vegas, head to Freemont Street one evening. Its on the original Las Vegas strip and the area is quite casual, and entertaining with what is claimed to be the world's largest TV screen and theater system. (you can find various youtube clips to get an idea).

And the GC Skywalk, did it, and paid the $30 for the photo. Bit off a rip off but oh well.

cough Cat Dolls lounge at Ceasars. Busty Croupier's and stage dancing. Beers and Women, I don't think it can get any better

All whilst winning on the tables as well, that will do very fine with me. Also a quick visit to Hooters Casino for exactly the same reasons.

Which credit card were you thinking of using? We are off to Vancouver tomorrow and with the fee for foreign charges at between 2.7% and 3.5% effectively I think I will use 28 degrees card and pass on the expensive points. What are you all thinking?

Use 28 degrees to avoid the Forex commission fees, but doesn't some Citibank cards offer 3 points per $1 for overseas transactions? That may or may not be a good deal depending on how many points you urgently need/want and are willing to pay for them.

 

[TimB]

With this trip a little over 3 weeks away, i have decided to do a 1 day grand canyon side trip. The GC skywalk looked interesting right up till I read "no cameras" and I could by pics at $30 each. Meh....

So, are there viewing areas I dont have to pay for a photo from? Looking on google, there seem to be good value tours from vegas, but I will have a car, so might as well drive myself.

cheers

Are you planning on doing just a day trip, or can you squeeze in an overnight? Because while almost any point on the canyon rim is great for photos, the best times for viewing and photography are around sunset and sunrise, for which you'll need to spend the night.

In any case, it's a fairly long drive from Las Vegas (around 5 hours), so I wouldn't recommend going there and back in the same day if you're driving yourself and plan to spend any time there. Also, the stop at Hoover Dam is worth it -- it's a detour these days since they finished the new bridge that bypasses the dam wall road.

having just posted that, i found... http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/upload/2011SRFallGuide0823.pdf

That publication and other things on the NPS website should have more than enough information to plan your trip, and tempt you to spend more time there.

 

[Meggsy]

With this trip a little over 3 weeks away, i have decided to do a 1 day grand canyon side trip. The GC skywalk looked interesting right up till I read "no cameras" and I could by pics at $30 each. Meh....

So, are there viewing areas I dont have to pay for a photo from? Looking on google, there seem to be good value tours from vegas, but I will have a car, so might as well drive myself.

cheers

Looking at your itinerary and noting you have a car have you considered driving to the Grand Canyon, overnighting there and then driving onto Phoenix the next day. Like NM said in an earlier post the South Rim is the place to go. If you left Vegas early morning you would be at the Canyon by lunch time or shortly after. You would still have 5 or 6 hours of daylight left and there are many wonderful lookouts and photo opportunities along the South Rim. There is a Holiday Inn Express 2 minutes outside the park entrance to stay overnight. You could then have a leisurely drive into Phoenix the next day checking out the old route 66 towns of Williams and Flagstaff. The drive to Phoenix from GC is about 1 hour less than the drive back to Vegas. You save the air fares from LAS-PHX but would pay a one way car rental fee which cost me $100 with Alamo. It is also an interesting and very scenic drive. Enjoy the trip.

 

[munitalP]

Hii guys, thanks for the advice, but I can't squeeze an overnight as much as I would like - im actually in Vegas presenting a tech paper at a conference which runs for 4 days. I will be needing to do a long day to the GC. I have previously (in similar circumstances) done LAX/LAS?LAX in a day and found it tough but not undoable.

Im looking forward to the GC. I have previously chartered a helicopter and done lake Mead and Hoover, so no interest to me, and Mrs. munitalP will be happy seeing the HD from the bridge in passing (the fails of being married to a power engineer!)

 

[cove]

I think I will do a test of Citi on my current trip to see how much 3 points a dollar really cost and so I will pick a day where I put one charge on Citi and one charge on 28 degrees. I did that on Westpac/ 28 degrees and for me 28 degrees was better as I don't do points at 2 cents each ever.

 

[cove]

My final cost of car hire using the Argus car hire site was $394AUD for 10 days with a Chevy Impala LT which included the comprehensive insurance included that I put on 28 degrees card. Heavy metal is a good idea if you drive around Los Angeles so forget the Fiat 500 or equivalent as I had a fellow cut across 4 lanes to make an exit without using any indicator at about 75 miles an hour.
We then flew United to Vancouver using the Australian Expedia paid for ticket at$144AUD. We check in and it's $25USD per bag each and $39USD for 5 extra inches of leg room that we say yes to so repeated slides of a credit card is the new American way. It really got Mrscove chuckling about the "system".
Expect to get chiseled so you won't be disappointed with any side trips in the US!

 

[Point Hunter]

Hire a Mustang soft-top and hit the freeway. Only takes a tad over 4hrs and it's quite a breathtaking drive.

+1. Don't fly LA to Vegas. Drive an American classic, or ride Harleys or something.

 

[Wannabee]

I just spent 5 days in Vegas (followed by NYC and now at Niagara Falls) and not into the gambling/club scene also. Thus was our second time to Vegas. This that we did and I suggest are:
We stayed at Paris - central to the strip and the most comfortable bed (which was a king) that I have slept in anywhere.
Did a helicopter flight stopping in the canyon for a champagne lunch. I fly helicopters for a living and this is the first one I have ever paid for and it was totally worth the money
Saw 'O' at the Bellagio - amazing!
Saw 'Bodies' and 'Titanic' at the Luxor- interesting but not for the queasy (Bodies that is)
Saw 'Absinthe' at Caesars - rude and politically incorrect but great acts
Outlet shops south - indoors
Freemont St - good for a look at old Vegas and to try a deep fried Oreo or Twinky. Unfortunately the light show wasn't on due to an earlier thunderstorm the day we went there
Bus - $7 for 24 hours for unlimited use.

Hope that gives you some ideas. Sorry for my cough formatting but I am on my phone in hotel lobby at Niagara Falls