Hi there, just wondering if anyone out there could help me out and give me some advice on my first trip to Las Vegas! A little info about me and the trip, I'm 22 from Scotland and me and 3 friends are heading to Vegas for 10 days staying at the MGM Grand in November. We are planning on playing poker most days a mixture of tournaments around $100-$200 mark and some $1-$2 cash games along with the usual sightseeing activities like going to see the Grand Canyon walking the strip and so on.

It cost around £800 which is around $1200 for the 10 nights (flight and hotel) but here is where my questions start! When we booked the holiday we were informed that a $400 resort fee was payable on arrival at MGM Grand between us for two rooms, that isn't an issue but can anyone tell me if there are any other charges when we arrive as I have read about hotels in America needing credit cards at check in however none of us have one! Will this be an issue and if so how can it be resolved without the need of a credit card?

Another plan that we have for the trip is to hire a car and drive to LA for the day have a quick tour of the area and catch a Lakers game in the evening before heading back afterwards. Regarding this is it possible to do this in a day and drive back after a Lakers game or would we have to stay over and drive back the next day? Are Lakers tickets readily available at reasonable prices!?

None of us have been on a holiday like this abroad before so the whole experience will be new but exciting I'm sure and any tips or ideas regarding these questions would be much appreciated. Also a rough idea of how much spending money we should take would be awesome Thanks!

LA is a 4 1/2 hour drive. It is very large and has heavy traffic so you'll want to know where you're going and what your plans are. You can make it in one day. I would suggest spending the night at an a cool area like venice beach.

hi,

as a fellow european I will give you the advice, that you are bad-advised to go to the US without a credit card!

Try stubhub.com for Lakers tickets. They're pretty poor at the moment so think you should be able to get tickets without paying through the nose.

I'd recommend staying in LA one night if you've never been before. Maybe go to Universal Studios or something the next day before driving back.

I believe any hotel is going to want to have a credit card on file for the room in case of incidentals (anything is charged to the room, damage to room, etc).

Definitely stay overnight if you're coming to LA, and plan your trip as best you can according to traffic patterns. When it gets closer to your trip, ask again and some of us LA people can give you more specific advice.

This is next season, it sounds like, and the Lakers might be a bit better then. Even if they stay terrible, tickets are expensive in the bottom sections (100s-200s) and more affordable in the top (300s). Somewhat dependent on who they're playing, tickets can resell for anywhere from $150 to $10,000 per ticket in the 100s/200s. That said, I don't think it's worth going if you're going to sit in the 300s: because of the way Staples Center is designed with luxury boxes between the 200s and the 300s, you'll feel like a bat in a rafter.

I'm not sure Universal Studios would be top of my list for a first-timer, but I guess it depends on what you like to do. Me, I'd go to the beach, hike, drink/eat, etc., before going to an amusement park.

At least one of you need to get a credit card sorted before you travel. Tesco are pretty reasonable with their credit limit to first time CC signups. If this is not possible then try to get one of your parents to put you on one of their CCs. Hotel will be a large hassle without a CC, but renting a car without one will be a PITA if at all possible. You will need to give them a debit card with a MC/VISA logo on it and they will hold a nice amount (prolly $500+ for foreigners), which means you need an additional $500+ in your bank account (on top of what the car costs to rent)

Basically get a CC between now and Nov

Cheers for that advice. Very strange for us Brits with all the charges at hotels in Vegas but completely understandable will get on the case of that asap.

Don't go to LA. The drive there is horrendous.
I've made that mistake before...

And the best credit card for spending abroad is from the Post Office - at least it used to be.

Also a thank you to everyone else who took time to give me information regarding our planned road trip to LA much appreciated.

You can get by at the hotel without a credit card if you leave a cash deposit for the "incidentals". It might be as little as $100 but might be more, especially for foreigners. A credit card is not just a source of money for the hotel, it's also a secondary assurance of who you are and if you can can be found if you walk off with the tv, etc. Car rentals are very difficult without credit card, even for locals.

I thought everyone across the pond paid for everything with plastic. How can you function without a credit card?

Seeing somebody pay for anything with a credit card is quite rare, I would say about 90% of transactions are paid by cash or a Direct Debit Card here. Lots of people have credit cards but us Brits as a whole would rather pay for things there and then instead of the buy now pay later approach!

wut

Certainly in London credit cards are the norm, would be surprised to find out that someone didn't have one.

Anyway, you should get the Halifax Clarity Credit Card. Entirely fee free, it gives you the best exchange rate of any card on foreign transactions (most cards will rip you off massively), and it doesn't charge anything but interest for cash withdrawals which makes it a solid emergency option.

Credit cards are also useful when paying for expensive items such as....er, Vegas holidays.

A few years back I booked flights to Vegas on MaxJet, whose selling point was that all seats on the plane were business class. Cost was around £800 for return to Vegas from Luton IIRC - so double the price of economy at the time but way cheaper than regular business.

Sadly they went bust a few days before Christmas and I was due to fly on NYE. Thankfully had paid on credit card so got the money back from Barclays and booked some economy flights on Virgin to save the trip.

Sadly there's (almost) no escaping the resort fee these days and various websites have lists of them all and what they include.

As for the drive to LA, you've been correctly advised it's about 4.5hrs, I did it on my first trip to Vegas many years ago.

You might also want to check out the hotel review thread in this forum as there is some good advice on how incidental costs can add up (taxis, drinks, room service etc

(Edit: It's post #1830 by LuckyTxGuy and is currently on the last page)

Walking the strip is a good idea - it won't be warm in November, even to a Scotsman, but you will save on fares, get some exercise, see the sights and also be able to do a "poker room crawl" and play in as many of the different casinos as you want. Collecting $1 chips from each is optional but a nice cheap souvenir.

Hope this helps (drop me a PM if you need more info)

Just FYI - these are some of the terms/small print when booking a room at the Gold Coast:

: A refundable deposit equal to the first night's room and tax will be authorized on your credit card at the time of the reservation to guarantee your reservation.

: A credit card and valid picture ID is required for check in and the guest whose name is on the reservation must be at least 21 years of age.

: At check-in your credit card will be authorized for the remaining amount of room and tax plus a $100.00 deposit for incidental charges per visit.
Prepaid credit cards or gift cards are not accepted for deposit upon check-in.

Yeah, but hotels will generally take a cash deposit too. I found this out the hard way courtesy of American Express. I used to be in their points program so I used amex for everything. I didn't even carry another card. So I get off the plane in Vegas, get to the hotel, and poof, my amex is declined. This was during the financial crises and amex was teetering on the brink. Their famous "uncapped credit line" was capped at my outstanding balance. I'd never been late on a payment and averaged about 5 grand of spending per month back then. Even better, they never bothered to call or send me an email, they just arbitrarily put the limit on. Luckily the Venetian allowed me to use a cash deposit.

American Express sucks.