Planning A Weekend Getaway- Las Vegas Update!

Well, the title of this post should actually be: Planning a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday Getaway, because those are the day's that we have decided to go. We'll be leaving on my birthday (Aug 12th) and returning on Aug 15th. I feel like I can really get excited now that everything is booked and paid for, but my only concern is...what the hell do I pack? I'm probably not going to be able to fit any of my last year summer clothes, because I lost a lot of weight since last summer (YAY ME!).  I'm currently still losing weight so that presents me with another issue....I can't shop for clothes and swimsuits until August, otherwise I could end up with clothes that are too big. I did make a huge order yesterday, but I ordered everything a size smaller than I wear now (let's hope that I stay on track and lose this weight!).

Anyway, on to the trip details. We booked our trip through Travelocity and we were able to get a pretty good deal on round trip airfare and our hotel stay. I think it came up to less than $500 which is great!  If you missed my blog post about travel sites you can click -here-. We're flying Spirit Airlines and I absolutely hate hate hate hate that airline, because they charge you for everything...EVEN YOUR ACTUAL SEAT!  The tickets are cheaper, and that's the only reason we chose Spirit...we didn't want to spend $200 more to fly American Airlines(I LOVE THEM!). We originally thought that we were going to be staying at the Aria hotel in Vegas, but at the last minute we switched it to the Vdara. We are staying in the Vdara Deluxe Suite. Check these pictures out!

Bedroom w/sofa bed

Kitchen with all appliances

Bathroom Option #1

Spa

Relaxation Room

Pools

The most exciting thing about our room is that there is a washer and dryer. I don't think we'll have to use it, but we might just because it's there! All images were found via Google, but I'll be back in August with all the pictures I take during the 3 days that I'm there. This trip is the only thing keeping me positive and I wake up every day and ask myself...."Is it August yet?" ha ha

Until next time~

Planning A Weekend Getaway-Flight and Hotel Site Review

I'm currently planning a birthday extended weekend in Las Vegas and I thought I'd take this opportunity to give a quick review on some of the flight and hotel sites that are pretty popular. My interest was to find out who offered the cheapest options and also the ease of using the websites. I hope that this post can be useful to anyone who is thinking about planning a trip! The following prices are based off of my trip planning. I just wanted to illustrate price differences. Here we go:

These prices are based on a 1 person trip, just to make the breakdown more clear.

Cheapseats:

-Flight Only: $354.80 (round-trip)
-Flight and Hotel: $561.20

Overall Judgement: I found that this site was a little messy for me. It gets the job done as far as booking a trip, but the font is not good and I found it to be too small. The site did not feel me with excitement for planning my trip. The color scheme is mediocre at best, and I think that the site needs to look more welcoming and less headache inducing.


Orbitz:

-Flight Only: $339.80
-Flight and Hotel: $576.95

Overall Judgement: I liked this site. I thought it was welcoming. I didn't like the wait time between processing my request, but that could have just been my internet connection. The flight only is the same price here and on Travelocity, but the flight and hotel package is more expensive than Cheapseats and Travelocity. I'm focused for on a flight and hotel package so this probably would not be the best website to book through for that.


Travelocity:

-Flight Only: $339.80
-Flight and Hotel: $561.20

Overall Judgement: I feel like this site was cleaner and easier to navigate than Cheapseats. The only downside I found was the pop-ups at certain points during the process. The flight price was cheaper than cheapseats, but the flight and hotel package was the same.


Priceline:

-Flight Only: $339.83
-Flight and Hotel: $570.32

Overall Judgement: Immediately I was sort of turned off by the creepy guy plastered all over this website. This website has advertisements about it having the lowest.best prices guaranteed  but if you look at the price comparisons. The flight only option is more expensive than Travelocity and Orbitz. The hotel option is more expensive than Travelocity and Cheapseats. Another downside to this website is that I didn't see an option to search for a particular hotel when I wanted to add it to my flight, so I had to go through 7 pages of hotels until I finally found the one I was looking for. That is very inconvenient.


In conclusion  I guess there is no "perfect" website for booking a trip. It's a give and take situation. You just have to find out what you're willing to sacrifice. I hope this helps you in some way.

Until next time~