U2 in Vegas - Tips for booking hotels, flights and other Vegasy type things.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Coming fro the UK and assuming we get tickets, I thought it might be a good idea to...

fly to Los Angeles, hire a car and take a day driving to Vegas seeing some stuff along the way. See the show the next day and then fly home the next from Vegas.

I've not worked out how exactly that would work timezone wise, but can anyone from the US or with local knowledge tell me why that's a horrible idea and we should just go straight to Vegas?

a lot of people drive from LA to Vegas. Southern California makes up a huge chunk of the annual visitors - which seems obvious for it being so close.

The issue you may run into is traffic - both ways. There is a TON of traffic between LA and Vegas.

If you're going to do the drive (especially while jet lagged) - try not to do the to Vegas drive on a Friday and the to LA drive on Sunday. there are a lot of nightmare stories of people driving back to LA on Sunday on Rt. 15 and having it take 2 to 3 times longer than it should.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i guess this is a good time to mention The Tree... as in that tree, THE Joshua Tree from the album. i see a lot of people on various facebook boards and whatnot talking about dong the tree trip during their time in Vegas.

a couple of things...

1. the Joshua Tree from the album is NOT in Joshua Tree State Park. It's here - https://goo.gl/maps/SvfkSGqjib5n8yNs5

2. it's a solid 3.5 hour drive in normal traffic. with weekend/event traffic? it's going to take longer.

so if you're going to do it - probably a good idea to not do it on a concert day. but hey, do you. but don't say you weren't warned if/when you're trying to get back for a friday evening show and the 3.5 hour drive back to Vegas takes 6.

 

[Hewson]

Coming fro the UK and assuming we get tickets, I thought it might be a good idea to...

fly to Los Angeles, hire a car and take a day driving to Vegas seeing some stuff along the way. See the show the next day and then fly home the next from Vegas.

I've not worked out how exactly that would work timezone wise, but can anyone from the US or with local knowledge tell me why that's a horrible idea and we should just go straight to Vegas?

It sounds like you're only planning like a 3 day trip?
If that's the case, think flying to LA and adding a 4 hour (or more as Headache says due to traffic) drive might be a bit much. I'd just fly to Vegas and spend the trip there. Plenty to do even if gambling isn't your thing.
If you're making it a bit longer trip than sure, do the LA thing.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

if flights into LAX are cheaper from the UK (or more plentiful) - there's always a TON of fairly cheap flights from LAX to LAS.

for a short trip i think that's the much better option.

 

[rosephile]

i guess this is a good time to mention The Tree... as in that tree, THE Joshua Tree from the album. i see a lot of people on various facebook boards and whatnot talking about dong the tree trip during their time in Vegas.

a couple of things...

1. the Joshua Tree from the album is NOT in Joshua Tree State Park. It's here - https://goo.gl/maps/SvfkSGqjib5n8yNs5

2. it's a solid 3.5 hour drive in normal traffic. with weekend/event traffic? it's going to take longer.

so if you're going to do it - probably a good idea to not do it on a concert day. but hey, do you. but don't say you weren't warned if/when you're trying to get back for a friday evening show and the 3.5 hour drive back to Vegas takes 6.

If anyone's actually doing this please take me with. I've looked for it twice but since there's no phone service out there (AT&T, T-Mobile) and I don't have a standalone GPS device, I couldn't find it. Had some nice desert walks though.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

So if you use Google Maps you can download the map of your entire trip in advance so that it'll still work if you lose cell service.

You should always do that when traveling through desolate areas. Nobody wants to get lost in the desert without a signal.

 

[clerks]

I went to DC and the most exciting thing I saw was The Exorcist steps, so I understand doing dumb things. But huge U2 fan and I have almost zero desire to see the place where they shot the album cover.

Especially if it means running out of gas and dying without internet service --- what if they drop more tickets???

 

[ascender_RS]

Thanks everyone, that's great advice and exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

 

[rosephile]

I went to DC and the most exciting thing I saw was The Exorcist steps, so I understand doing dumb things. But huge U2 fan and I have almost zero desire to see the place where they shot the album cover.

Especially if it means running out of gas and dying without internet service --- what if they drop more tickets???

lol, YES CAN'T MISS TICKET DROPS.

Hey Headache, the non-internet-connected map won't tell you your current location though, will it?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

lol, YES CAN'T MISS TICKET DROPS.

Hey Headache, the non-internet-connected map won't tell you your current location though, will it?

your phone's GPS should work even if you don't have cell service. so it will show you your current location.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I went to DC and the most exciting thing I saw was The Exorcist steps, so I understand doing dumb things. But huge U2 fan and I have almost zero desire to see the place where they shot the album cover.

Especially if it means running out of gas and dying without internet service --- what if they drop more tickets???

when i was in ireland i made a point of making it over to hannover quay, and did a road trip to the UF castle - but that was, like, 90 minutes outside of Dublin and 10 minutes off a highway.

i'd like to see the tree - but, yea, i'm not taking 8 hours out of my day to see it. that's... what... 500 hands of blackjack missed? no thank you.

when i had to go to palm springs for a wedding a few years back i got really excited that i could do a quick stop to the tree. this was before i realized that the tree isn't actually in Joshua Tree National Park.

thankfully there are a shit ton of joshua trees around, so that was fine. there are also joshua tress in Vegas, and just outside of Vegas - so you could always lie.

 

[rosephile]

your phone's GPS should work even if you don't have cell service. so it will show you your current location.

It didn't either time (last time was 2017).

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

It didn't either time (last time was 2017).

if you don't download the maps in advance then the GPS is kinda useless without service - but that doesn't mean it isn't working.

if you do - it will work. GPS and cell service do not operate on the same network. as long as you can see the sky - GPS will work.

some folks will put on airplane mode when they have no service to save battery - which may also turn off your GPS. but as long as it's on - it works.

 

[rosephile]

if you don't download the maps in advance then the GPS is kinda useless without service - but that doesn't mean it isn't working.

if you do - it will work. GPS and cell service do not operate on the same network. as long as you can see the sky - GPS will work.

some folks will put on airplane mode when they have no service to save battery - which may also turn off your GPS. but as long as it's on - it works.

Damn, ok. Well, if I rent a car/am there for longer than just the show I may try AGAIN. I didn't know the magical GPS tricks, ha.

 

[Joey788]

Sounds good to me! I booked The Linq over the weekend too. Looks like a good midway point between the Sphere and the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show, which I also want to see. I lucked out getting tickets - going to see U2 on Oct. 8 - funnily enough an exact 17 years after my first time seeing U2 in concert.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Only thing i'll say on The Linq is that - depending on which tower you're in - the elevators can be slow. Otherwise it's a quality choice for those looking to save money. You're definitely not getting a luxury experience - but it's clean and modern.

It's also attached to the Linq Promenade - which has a bunch of restaurants. Brooklyn Bowl is at the end of it, as is Kimmel's comedy club, and the High Roller Ferris wheel.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Since we're talking about Linq... here's a quick little exercise to again prove why you should always book direct - and why you should really get a rewards card.

This is for opening weekend - Thursday to Sunday.

Kayak



Caesars.com - not logged in (no rewards card)



Caesars.com - only this time I logged in. I did gamble with them in the last year - but not a ton. Actually gave most of my play downtown the last time i was in vegas... alas.

 

[prbiker15]

Yep, booking directly and creating the rewards account helped a lot. Cheap deposit and saved some money.

Having been to the Promenade in October 2021, it’s a decent area. That and your description of the LINQ being the Vegas equivalent of a Courtyard Marriott sealed the deal for me.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

here was my room from last may

that's some basic ass shit - so, yea - courtyard by marriott. basic, clean, does the trick and not much else.

 

[DaveC]

i mean - it's vegas.

if you're in your room for anything more than sex, showers, and sleep, you're doing vegas wrong,

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i mean - it's vegas.

if you're in your room for anything more than sex, showers, and sleep, you're doing vegas wrong,

 

[Hewson]

i mean - it's vegas.

if you're in your room for anything more than sex, showers, and sleep, you're doing vegas wrong,

That's pretty much the way I explained it to the wife.

 

[randhail]

Vegas is a place I honestly had no intention of ever going to. This experience is probably the only thing that would get me there as a destination. Would love to visit some of the National Parks out that way but going to be a whirlwind 48-72 hours or so which is the worst way to do Parks of those magnitude. Valley of Fire State Park will probably have to suffice on this trip.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

if you're looking to get off Strip for a bit, but not into rocks, cacti and rattlesnakes.

Able Baker is the shit

 

[Hewson]

There's always the Dam tour.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

language!

 

[LadySpinHead]

if you're looking to get off Strip for a bit, but not into rocks, cacti and rattlesnakes.

Able Baker is the shit

My Vegas-exhausted husband thanks you.

 

[clerks]

Only thing i'll say on The Linq is that - depending on which tower you're in - the elevators can be slow. Otherwise it's a quality choice for those looking to save money. You're definitely not getting a luxury experience - but it's clean and modern.



It's also attached to the Linq Promenade - which has a bunch of restaurants. Brooklyn Bowl is at the end of it, as is Kimmel's comedy club, and the High Roller Ferris wheel.

Do you live in DC or Vegas. First it was NYC. What city aren’t you an expert in that might make it easier for us to keep track.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Do you live in DC or Vegas. First it was NYC. What city aren’t you an expert in that might make it easier for us to keep track.

Nashville.

 

[rosephile]

I'm into cacti and rattlesnakes.

Here's a tip probably only helpful to people using (or going to) MSP: Sun Country Airlines doesn't take Amex but so far are the cheapest (including Southwest).