Request: 5 Day Trip to Las Vegas + Grand Canyon

Dear Fellow Fw'ers,

I have some travel related questions for my upcoming trip. I'm posting my research results so far so you can accordingly advise me:

Dept City: PHL
Arrival City: LAS

Passengers: 5 Adults + 1 infant

Dates of Travel: Saturday, 10/31 (departure from PHL) thru Thursday, 11/5 (return from LAS)

Travel flexible by 1-2 days either side (the dates I posted above are based on best current air fares)

Plan is to spend 2-2.5 days in Vegas and 1-1.5 days in Grand Canyon

Air Fare:
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Best fare I'm getting is on US Air for $201 round trip per person non-stop (I have signed all of us for US Air preferred status for 90 days thanks to
FW (hopefully we will get upgraded to business class for this trip). I got this fare on Kayak. I'm getting same fare on Priceline also.

Unless anyone can point me to something better, I think this is a great fare + 3% FW CB from Priceline + Possible free upgrade to business class on US Air Silver preferred make it a good deal IMO

Can Rental:
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I'm still researching this. I plan to use the car rental coupon thread to find the best deal. A quick check on Hotwire gave me these prices:

5 day minivan rental (accomodates 7 adults + 2 big + 2 small bags), dates 10/31 thru 11/5:
a) Enterprise $324 (all inclusive)
b) Alamo $336 (all incl)
c) Thrifty & Dollar - same price - $342 (all incl)

I plan to avoid Enterprise based on all the horror stories I have read here on FW. My search above was directly on Hotwire, I am yet to start searching using the FW car rental coupon code thread, I will do that as soon as I finish the air booking and will share back my results on this thread.

Also since my flight gets in quite late on 10/31 (around 9.00 p.m.) should I avoid renting a car then and instead just request a shuttle from the hotel (not sure which ones offer free shuttle pick up from the Airport) and rent a car next day to avoid one day car rental (is it worth the hassel)?

Hotel:
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I'm yet to start searching this. I mainly wanted to finish the air fare booking and then concentrate on searching for best car and hotel price. I plan to use the FW Las Vegas hotel thread + hopefully use the $20 tipping trick

Thank you if you made it this far, here are my questions:

1) Is it better to book Air + Car package together? I tried doing it on Priceline and got additional $400 for the minivan (which seems higher than what I got on Hotwire alone). So based on my limited search so far the answer seems no. What do you guys say?

2) My trip plan is as follows:

10/31 - Fly into LAS (check into hotel)
11/1 - Spend in Vegas (do one show at night)
11/2 - Spend first half in Vegas
- Check out by noon
- Drive to Grand Canyon (do Hoover Dam on the way) - check in by evening
11/3 - Spend first half in Grand Canyon
- Drive back in the evening to Vegas
11/4 - Spend in Vegas (do one show at night)
11/5 - Fly back to PHL

So that gives 2.5 days in Vegas + 1 day or so in Grand Canyon

Are there any suggestions/changes to my plan above? My flight into Vegas is at 9.00 p.m. else I might have driven straight to Grand Canyon to finish it first.

3) Is Grand Canyon worth visiting in Nov? Average historic temps show 55/27. Will it be too hazy? Will the weather limit visibility?
Should I still do Grand Canyon or drop the plans and just do Vegas + Hoover? (Vegas average temps show 73/50)

4) Based on my plan above I will need to check into Vegas hotel for just 1.5 days and then check out again, I realize I will have to do the $20 tip twice to score good rooms again (not sure what other alternative is there) also it will be a pain checking in and out 3 times in 5 days in two cities with 5 adults + one infant

5) For 5 adults and an infant will 2 hotel rooms do? 3 adults in one and 2 adults + infant in another. Do hotels allow 3 adults in one room, should we be discreet and try to pull it off? Room will be mainly to sleep for few hours + bathroom (kind of a duhh point, but wanted to say that we don’t plan on spending much time in the room unless the baby makes it difficult )

6) Any advise on which shows to go to (I can only do two, based on itinerary). Any shows you would recommend that are good for families + will allow an infant? Also, are there any daytime shows, would you advise doing those? Based on the shows suggested I will start hunting for deals, or if you are aware of any, I sure would appreciate it if you can point me in that direction.

Thanks much, as always!

newbietx said: Any shows you would recommend that are good for families + will allow an infant?

None that I've ever attended.

BTW The Grand Canyon is a destination (not a side trip from LV.)

Duchesslady said: Hi Newbietx

I went to Vegas in 2007 at xmas and new year and loved it and did so many things I cant remember! Here's a site....

I checked and it just seems like an affiliate site, if you try to book air travel it goes to Southwest Vacation booking, Hotel booking takes me to Travelocity. Not Cool!

To add to the fun at hoover dam, you'll be able to see the bypass bridge under construction.

I did a similar trip in the spring (although no infant) and here are a couple of suggestions:

-Going from Vegas hotel nights to GC hotel nights is kind of a downer due to the glamour and amenities - we landed in LAS, drove right to GC and spent a night plus half the next day - then finished 3 nights in Vegas. That was ideal in my mind, plus you avoid 3 check-ins, but either way...

-Especially since you are going to stop at Hoover, plan accordingly because the drive to GC is not one you want to do in the dark or as dark approaches!! So even if you continue with your current structure, check out of Vegas hotel by 9:00am or so and get on the road! (and, on a related note, if you have any apprehension when looking over your rental car, raise hell, because you want something you feel comfortable in)

Not sure about the weather, but if it doesn't look bad I would recommend getting to the GC while you are nearby (instead of cutting it) - there likely won't be a time when you are 'in the area' due to it's remote location, so we were really glad we made the drive even though it was for just a night.

You can get 3 adults in a Vegas room no problem... Ventian offers spacious rooms (can book 2 beds) that would fit your party nicely.

I thought Love (Mirage) was worth the price of admission - even if it's full price - but you should be able to get 1/2 off good seats if you wait it out and are there on Sun-Tues, especially

edit: and clearly I missed some pieces of your post, so sorry about the conflicting suggestions, but you get the point

GreyRabbit said: Try the $20 trick when booking your room in Vegas. More info on it in the travel forums. Post your results.

Thanks, yes I plan on, I posted about it also in my OP

Did this trip last week. Book best hotel rate on FW for first night. Use Costco rental for car- extra driver is free, take weekend rate +1 day free- stay in GC over the weekend as the rates are less expensive than Vegas. Good rate at the Western Grand Canyon gateway, again check the Costco travel site ($108. per night.) Did the 3 mile hike into the Canyon Angel trail- great hike, water is available on route.
Good luck

dkcs said: I believe that you will find that most Vegas shows will not permit children under the age of five, even the free daytime magic shows (e.g., Mac King).

There is simply to much risk in an infant disturbing other guests during the shows.

I would look for a hotel that provides professional sitter services.


Get tickets to Love and a baby sitter for the evening...

This may be of help:

http://travel.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Las_Vegas_Trip:_Tips_for_Paren...

Yes you are right, I was looking at all the different shows and pretty much most of them had a minimum of age 5 for kids. Thanks for the site above and the pointer about hotels with sitter services.

RedCelicaGT said: newbietx said: How was the weather at Grand Canyon?

Is is significantly cooler than vegas near williams, az (i'm assuming you're going to williams). Altitude is much higher...you can usually count on 10-20 degrees cooler.

Last year on your date:

http://www.wunder.com/history/airport/KGCN/2008/11/3/DailyHistor...

Around 60 F during the day, colder at night 46F, layer your clothing

markbyte said: I've done a similar trip. We flew in to Phoenix (usually low non-stop fares). We then drove 2 hours north and spent the night in Sedona (wonderful, beautiful place. You'll love it!!!). The next day we kept driving north to the GC. It was definitely worth seeing even in January. But it was so cold we had to keep jumping back in the car every 5 minutes to not freeze to death. We stayed at the GC for most of the day (not overnight) then drove the 6 hour drive to Las Vegas. It all worked out real well. I would easily do this itinerary again.

On a previous trip we had stayed at one of the hotels at the GC and boy was that place boring! At sundown the entire area was completely dead, like a ghost town.

This is close to what we did and we absolutely loved it. Flew into Phoenix and drove to Sedona and spent the night. Drove to GC and spent 2 days (we did the rim the first day and hike the Kaibab Trail the second) and then drove to Vegas to finish out the trip. It made the trip so much more enjoyable instead of having to drive to and from Vegas. Flew into Phoenix and out of Vegas.