Booking Airfare and Hotel

dallasduren

I will be booking our travel arrangements today. I would like to know did you all book through websites like Expedia, book directly through the hotel, or booked the hotel and the airfare on different websites. Do you recommend a rental car? The hotel is Manadalay Bay and I already have the Vista suite booked for two nights through the wedding coordinator.

klminor17

I would book directly with the hotel, then you can cancel/modify. Cancelling on a third party website is a pain. I rented a mini-van and it was a life saver. We used it to transport all our in-suite items; it was great. Not so stylish, though, LOL.

Angie0531

We booked everything directly (Southwest & Treasure Island).

vegasgroom

VERY rarely do you get the best deal by taking the package deal offered by travel sites; the travel site wants to make a profit on it, and so does the hotel. I usually use travel sites for research only and then book direct using coupon codes I can find online. In the case of Vegas, smartervegas.com often has good coupon codes, and the nice thing about Mandalay is you can call back and have your rate lowered if you find a better coupon or rate in the future.

dallasduren

Hi Vegasgroom,

Thank you for your reply. I have been doing some research and it actually comes out cheaper using a travel website. On Expedia for 5 days/four nights, airfare, two deluxe rooms at MB, and airfare for 4 travelers comes to a total of $2200. I called MB directly two deluxe rooms for the same nights comes to $1600 which includes a 25% off promo code. So if I booked the hotel and air seperately it will be much more. Am I doing something wrong here????

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_booking-airfare-and-hotel?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:2674e0bb-f4db-4880-ae1e-d429fe80e85cPost:a366e4d8-5af0-4444-befc-46df22554fbe">Re: Booking Airfare and Hotel</a>:
[QUOTE]VERY rarely do you get the best deal by taking the package deal offered by travel sites; the travel site wants to make a profit on it, and so does the hotel. I usually use travel sites for research only and then book direct using coupon codes I can find online. In the case of Vegas, smartervegas.com often has good coupon codes, and the nice thing about Mandalay is you can call back and have your rate lowered if you find a better coupon or rate in the future.
Posted by vegasgroom[/QUOTE]

dallasduren

Hi Vegasgroom,

Thank you for your reply. I have been doing some research and it actually comes out cheaper using a travel website. On Expedia for 5 days/four nights, airfare, two deluxe rooms at MB, and airfare for 4 travelers comes to a total of $2200. I called MB directly two deluxe rooms for the same nights comes to $1600 which includes a 25% off promo code. So if I booked the hotel and air seperately it will be much more. Am I doing something wrong here????

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_booking-airfare-and-hotel?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:2674e0bb-f4db-4880-ae1e-d429fe80e85cPost:a366e4d8-5af0-4444-befc-46df22554fbe">Re: Booking Airfare and Hotel</a>:
[QUOTE]VERY rarely do you get the best deal by taking the package deal offered by travel sites; the travel site wants to make a profit on it, and so does the hotel. I usually use travel sites for research only and then book direct using coupon codes I can find online. In the case of Vegas, smartervegas.com often has good coupon codes, and the nice thing about Mandalay is you can call back and have your rate lowered if you find a better coupon or rate in the future.
Posted by vegasgroom[/QUOTE]

torontozombielover

one other detail to keep in mind - is if you book through the travel website - you don't have flexibility with the room. Like you usually can't upgrade it or if something comes up and you need to cancel it / change it, you usually can't without paying fees. That being said - if you're sure about the info and can save a few hundred bucks, then I say go for it! We often fly with the travel packages, but for the wedding we did it separately just because we were able to find better deals for hte length of our stay