Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

My friend has been trying to plan a ladies weekend in vegas for the summer. It would be leaving on a Friday, returning on sunday or monday.

She says we can make this an affordable but fun vacation for $500, all expenses included.

I have been the downer I guess b/c I can't justify the $$ right now and told her it will be closer to $1000.

I figure

Airfare: $300 at least
Hotels: $200 (we're sharing rooms)
Food/gambling/drinks $300

Extra expenses I'm not thinking of ...$100-$200.

I mean, am I wrong??? I guess people can do it for $500 but that would be really stretching it. she thinks sharing one hotel room with 6 girls would work, flights can be found for cheaper than what I found...

UGh, sorry just annoyed. And to top it all off, she is irritated with me for saying its too much $$ right now. As if she is in my shoes

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I think you could find an air & hotel deal for $500, but food, drinks, gambling and other stuff will push it higher.

And one hotel room for 6 girls? Is it a huge suite type room? I'm all for saving money, but 6 bodies in one room is a little much.

That's a lot to ask, especially after you told her money is tight.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I went to Vegas in October for a long weekend. (Thursday to Saturday night, took the red eye home).

I think I spent about $600 total. And we drank, a lot, lol. And saw the Price is Right which was $50. I gambled about $100.
And my girlfriend and I stayed at the Bellagio, but shared a room with friends. My flight was $99 each way on priceline, but again, that was with a red eye home.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

No way would a vegas weekend cost that. Not even if you weren't going to gamble one bit. You are typically looking at a minimum of 250-300 for airfare. Then the cheapest rooms on the strip are going to be say 300 with taxes. I am talking about 2 queen beds. Drinks are expensive if you don't gamble or pretend to gamble. Eating in vegas can be expensive. Getting into a club in vegas is expensive. Did you want to see a show? The budget is not possible unless you buy your own liquor and do it that way.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I agree more with your estimation than your friend's.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I think you can go there and spend way less then $1000 if you don't go crazy. I did hotel & airfare with 3 to a room for about $350 last year. We stayed at the Mirage from Thurs - Sat in Sept. We spent a lot on food & drinks but there were so many less expensive options available.

BUT...only you can determine what you can afford or what you want to spend and your friend should respect that.

Message edited 1/25/2008 9:24:38 AM.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

It would really depend on what kind of airfare you would be able to get. That will be the biggest chunk.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I think that that people always underestimate how much they are going to spend on vacation. I think it you do everything modestly (no clubs or drinking outside casinos), it could be around $700. But if you want to have a cocktail at the pool, a nice dinner, go to a club and gamble, its going to be closer to $1000.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

if you are not really a gambler i would say it can be possible..but its really tight... drinks are expensive there!

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

If I were you guys, I would plan a during the week trip, if you can take off. You can save tons of money that way.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

We went two years ago and spent $200 on airfare and the suite at the Rio was $150 for three days....We hung out in the casino a lot, so we didn't pay for drinks and we gamble smart so I think the whole weekend cost us about $600.....including a really nice dinner out.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

$500 for a fun weekend in Vegas?

what planet is she on?

yes, you can get there - but if $500 is your total budget, you won't have much fun

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I don't think it's doable. And plus food is very expensive there. When we went, breakfast buffet for four was well over $100.

And to tell you the truth, leaving on friday and coming home on Sunday is going to stink! You are really only going to be there for one day - to me it's not worth all the money, for just one full day.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

Posted by BunnyBaby

Posted by seank80

No way would a vegas weekend cost that. Not even if you weren't going to gamble one bit. You are typically looking at a minimum of 250-300 for airfare. Then the cheapest rooms on the strip are going to be say 300 with taxes. I am talking about 2 queen beds. Drinks are expensive if you don't gamble or pretend to gamble. Eating in vegas can be expensive. Getting into a club in vegas is expensive. Did you want to see a show? The budget is not possible unless you buy your own liquor and do it that way.

Well said.

Vegas is super expensive. An average club admission is $30- and thats for a regular club. Forget if a famous DJ is there spinning. Besides that, unless you want to wait on a 2 hour line, you HAVE to get there super early, or you will end up greasing the bouncers to push you right through. Forget about showing cleavage. There is more skin showing in vegas then a dermotologists office, so that trick wont work.

Food is expensive unless your planning on doing "3 days of buffets". A nice dinner in a decent restaurant will cost an average of $70pp. Drinks- FORGET it. I went there this past June & payed $80 fir a round of shots for 7 people. That wasn't including tips.

I am in no means trying to steer you away from going to Vegas with your girlfriends, because believe, me, I have been there so many times & LOVE it there, however, Vegas isn't as "cheap" as it once was. It has totally changed and unless you are going there with alot of money to spend, going with a tight budget will only leave uncomfortable for the entire weekend. Vegas is wonderful, but, if your looking for something less expensive, have you girls considered a cruise to the Bahamas? Its all inclusive (food & DRINKS!) and the only airfare you are paying would be from NY to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, which you can find wayyyy cheaper then airfare to Vegas.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

Posted by maybebaby

Posted by BunnyBaby

Posted by seank80

No way would a vegas weekend cost that. Not even if you weren't going to gamble one bit. You are typically looking at a minimum of 250-300 for airfare. Then the cheapest rooms on the strip are going to be say 300 with taxes. I am talking about 2 queen beds. Drinks are expensive if you don't gamble or pretend to gamble. Eating in vegas can be expensive. Getting into a club in vegas is expensive. Did you want to see a show? The budget is not possible unless you buy your own liquor and do it that way.

Well said.

Your welcome!
Vegas is super expensive. An average club admission is $30- and thats for a regular club. Forget if a famous DJ is there spinning. Besides that, unless you want to wait on a 2 hour line, you HAVE to get there super early, or you will end up greasing the bouncers to push you right through. Forget about showing cleavage. There is more skin showing in vegas then a dermotologists office, so that trick wont work.

Food is expensive unless your planning on doing "3 days of buffets". A nice dinner in a decent restaurant will cost an average of $70pp. Drinks- FORGET it. I went there this past June & payed $80 fir a round of shots for 7 people. That wasn't including tips.

I am in no means trying to steer you away from going to Vegas with your girlfriends, because believe, me, I have been there so many times & LOVE it there, however, Vegas isn't as "cheap" as it once was. It has totally changed and unless you are going there with alot of money to spend, going with a tight budget will only leave uncomfortable for the entire weekend. Vegas is wonderful, but, if your looking for something less expensive, have you girls considered a cruise to the Bahamas? Its all inclusive (food & DRINKS!) and the only airfare you are paying would be from NY to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, which you can find wayyyy cheaper then airfare to Vegas.

These are great points. Thanks to everyone for their replys...

I just dont think its worth it for the time we'd be going.

To tell you the truth I want to do a beach weekend in ocean city...that is perfect with me but the rest of the girls are all about vegas.

BUT they all say the same thing "umm i'll only go if its affordable". Lol. I just dont think its going to happen...not with me included anyway.

thanks again!!

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

6 girls in one hotel room? I've stayed at a couple of different hotels in Vegas, and some are strict with getting on and off the elevators without room keys.

If you were a couple of girls, they probably wouldn't check. But for a group of girls....I would never want to risk it.

You could probably get away with this if you stayed off the strip. But who's going to be the one to sleep in the bed, and who's going to be the one to sleep on the skeevy floor?

I agree w/everyone else. Clubs, dinner, drinking...it's all very expensive. And in the summer, if you plan on hitting the pools, they will be crowded and hot as hel l.

I would totally check out South Beach, the Bahamas, or even Puerto Rico if they really want to gamble.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I did a "long weekend" in Vegas while DH has business there and forget about costs but in my opinion, a long weekend stinks!!! I felt like I got there, unpacked, packed and left!

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

I went to Vegas last year for my bachelorette party. We stayed on the strip at the Monte Carlo - a bit of a dive but clean. It cost 99 a night for a 2 bed room. We had 9 girls so we got three rooms and stayed 3 nights. That was 300 per room divided by 3 (100 each). The airfare was 99 each way. For gambling we did low stakes tables at the Monte Carlo. We walked or took the Duece EVERYWHERE (I think the Duece was $4 dollars all day). We got comped a few times at the Monte when we made friends with the dealers and had dinner at the Outback on them and breakfast on them at Denny's. We did one show (Cirque De Soleil) for about 80 and 1 really nice supper for about 150 dollars each (Capitale Grille) - but if we hadn't done dinner and that show we would have still had a great time and spent about 500 each!

ETA: When looking to get drunk we started at our hotel with $1 beers and $1 cups of margaritas. There are a lot of little bars on the strip with good drink specials.

Message edited 1/28/2008 9:50:39 AM.

Re: Help me settle a disagreement RE: long weekend in vegas

Posted by maybebaby

Posted by BunnyBaby

Posted by seank80

No way would a vegas weekend cost that. Not even if you weren't going to gamble one bit. You are typically looking at a minimum of 250-300 for airfare. Then the cheapest rooms on the strip are going to be say 300 with taxes. I am talking about 2 queen beds. Drinks are expensive if you don't gamble or pretend to gamble. Eating in vegas can be expensive. Getting into a club in vegas is expensive. Did you want to see a show? The budget is not possible unless you buy your own liquor and do it that way.

Well said.

Vegas is super expensive. An average club admission is $30- and thats for a regular club. Forget if a famous DJ is there spinning. Besides that, unless you want to wait on a 2 hour line, you HAVE to get there super early, or you will end up greasing the bouncers to push you right through. Forget about showing cleavage. There is more skin showing in vegas then a dermotologists office, so that trick wont work.

Food is expensive unless your planning on doing "3 days of buffets". A nice dinner in a decent restaurant will cost an average of $70pp. Drinks- FORGET it. I went there this past June & payed $80 fir a round of shots for 7 people. That wasn't including tips.

I am in no means trying to steer you away from going to Vegas with your girlfriends, because believe, me, I have been there so many times & LOVE it there, however, Vegas isn't as "cheap" as it once was. It has totally changed and unless you are going there with alot of money to spend, going with a tight budget will only leave uncomfortable for the entire weekend. Vegas is wonderful, but, if your looking for something less expensive, have you girls considered a cruise to the Bahamas? Its all inclusive (food & DRINKS!) and the only airfare you are paying would be from NY to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, which you can find wayyyy cheaper then airfare to Vegas.

These are great points. Thanks to everyone for their replys...

I just dont think its worth it for the time we'd be going.

To tell you the truth I want to do a beach weekend in ocean city...that is perfect with me but the rest of the girls are all about vegas.

BUT they all say the same thing "umm i'll only go if its affordable". Lol. I just dont think its going to happen...not with me included anyway.

thanks again!!