When to book a room in Las Vegas
 

We are a Finnish couple going to Las Vegas as a part of our honeymoon end April. As we are staying also in San Francisco and Napa Valley, the two week trip will be quite expensive, we want to find nice accommodations but with good rates.

I have read here room rates in LV are much higher if booked early. When would be the best time to book to get a good rate and what casino/hotel you would recommend for central strip location, nice but not very expensive.

Also, are round trip non-stop flights from San Francisco to Las Vegas flights cheaper or if booked now or should we wait for better prices?

I would book a hotel soon that can be cancelled ... if you book through a hotel website you can usually get a rate that lets you cancel a few days before arrival without penalty, just be sure and read the cancellation rules carefully. Then sign up for e-mails on the websites of the hotels your interested in and you may get special offers for April in a few months.

For the flights one place to check is southwest.com which flies from Oakland to Vegas. Right now they only have flights available through April 1st but I think they should extend the schedule soon.

Good bets for location and price are Bally's and TI (Treasure Island). Monte Carlo is possibility "3." Rates are cheaper Sunday-Thursday. If you book and later find a lower rate, contact hotel and they will give you the lower rate. (Mirage, Bellagio, Venitian and Caesars also are mid-Strip.

The best rates that I have seen lately are in emails sent to me by the hotels themselves.
Possibly you could go register for updates at all the hotels you are interested in?
I booked a 159.00 rate at the Venetian for Dec 6 and they have sent me emails since I booked it that reduced it to 99.00 a night -PLUS- the 99.00 rate came with a few freebies. Go figure!

For nonstop flights between San Francisco look into America West and Southwest. I believe Southwest flies in and out of Oakland, which is just as good for you as San Francisco airport. I think America West has non stops to both Oakland and San Francisco. Usually they try to match each others fares. If you can get a round trip fare below $130 that would be a realy good price.

I would book a hotel room and then check regularly to see if prices are lowered. If they are, call and the hotel will give you the lower rate. Be aware that hotels will put one night's deposit on your credit card tho.

I would recommend center strip, the Mirage is very nice, as is Treasure Island and they are very convenient. Check ALL hotel websites. Also center strip where you may get a good rate is the Flamingo, Bally's, Paris. Personally I prefer Mirage or T.I. but that is a personal preference (these two hotels are like one property and connected by a tram that takes about 3 min. to go from one to the other).

Check Southwest Airlines for flights, you can also check their site for hotel rates. SW is accepting bookings till April 1 right now, so soon it will be OK for you to book as they allow 6 months out.

April is not one of the cheaper months inVegas so do not expect bargains. For example the week before Christmas I have reservations at the Mirage for $75/night on a special promotion. Usually rates are much higher. Just keep checking.

if you have access to a computer then book now and just check the rates as often as you can. in some cases you will get the cheapest rate by booking early because as the hotel fills, they'll raise the prices. if it's a slow time in vegas (which april usually isn't) then prices may drop but then just contact the hotel and they'll give you the lower rate. we recently stayed at the flamingo with a strip view - it was great. tell them it's your honeymoon and hopefully they'll give you the strip view without paying extra to guarantee it. you can't beat the location and they have a nice garden/pool area.
with the airlines, i usually book as early as possible. again, as the plane gets full, the prices go up. southwest is a good, no frills airline.
sounds like a great trip.

Thanks for all info. This far most value for money seems to give the America West vacation packages, but we have to check the Southwest vacations as well before booking anything.