booked...
cheers pedro

Traveller names: Warren Hawkins, Emily Riley
London (LGW) to Philadelphia (PHL) 24/10/08 12:30 - 16:00 US Airways
Philadelphia (PHL) to San Diego (SAN) 24/10/08 17:55 - 20:39 US Airways
Las Vegas (LAS) to Philadelphia (PHL) 31/10/08 14:31 - 22:19 US Airways
Philadelphia (PHL) to London (LHR)

Excellent, now we just need to worry about hotels and cars

I am all booked up and doing the FlyZoom thing a la Jonnyploy and the Tizzmeister General.

London (LGW) to San Diego (SAN) Fri-24th 11:00 - 14:40 FlyZoom
San Diego (SAN) to London (LGW) Fri-31st 17:25 - 10:55 FlyZoom

Bosh sur la bonce

A quick question--
is everyone set at the hotel/somewhere nearby during the wedding? I got a call from the manager mentioning that there will probably be a big convention in town that weekend--so the rooms might start disappearing.

Noj
King
Dan
Matt & Michelle
Warren & Emily
London (LGW) to Philadelphia (PHL) Fri-24th 12:30 - 16:00 US Airways
Philadelphia (PHL) to San Diego (SAN) Fri-24th 17:55 - 20:39 US Airways
Las Vegas (LAS) to Philadelphia (PHL) Fri-31st 14:31 - 22:19 US Airways
Philadelphia (PHL) to London (LHR) 31/10/08 23:45 - 11:00 US Airways

Jon & Tizzy
Sam
London (LGW) to San Diego (SAN) Fri-24th 14:30 - 10:55 Zoom Air
San Diego (SAN) to London (LGW) Fri-31st 17:25 Zoom Air

Chris & Rosie
London (LHR) to Los Angeles (LAX) Sat-25th 19:00 - 21:30 British Airways
Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR) Thur-30th 21:30 British Airways

All coming together nicely.

Jennie - chatting with Pete he recommended we all get rooms in the hotel for the wedding night at least, booking some shanty shack on the beach for the day(s) afterwards.

Can we do a block booking of the hotel through you or should we all call/email individually? Pete mentioned the rooms can take 4 which makes them a lot more affordable for those who don't mind a bit of innocent spooning amongst friends.

I vote that Drew finds us a beach-side shack. Something just seems right about that.

The beach side shacks will be more than the hotel . Ahh, San Diego.

You can book on your own--just mention that you are with the "Steres/Blake" party. You should get a discount.
One of the nice things about the rooms is that they have full kitchens and fridges, which makes it much cheaper food-wise.

I don't mind some spooning. As long as it's innocent of course.

Yes... No

How about then me, Noj, Dan and King in a 4?... shall I contact hotel?

Sounds good to me Sam; you may need to text Noj the Bandit though.

Preliminary itinerary
Modifications are welcome.

Monday (27th)
Leave San Diego early afternoon, drive to Sedona. 6-7 hour drive, stopping for tasty food on route. Stay in a hotel or motel for the night.

Tuesday
Get up early and drive to the Grand Canyon (2-2.5 hours). Check in to a lodge that we will have booked months in advance. At this point it will be clear what the Canyon wants us to do until Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday afternoon
Drive to Las Vegas (4-5 hours), stopping at the Hoover Dam on the way.

Wednesday evening - Friday morning
Noj has been to Las Vegas before, so he can offer suggestions.

Chris and Rosie
Drive back to Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon (4-5 hours). Looks like there are plenty of things to see along the way. Traffic in LA could be a problem.

Alternatively, get an ~$80 one hour flight from LAS to LAX.

Sam, Jon and Tizzy
It is a 5 hour drive back to San Diego so it should not be a problem to catch your 17:25 flight if you leave Las Vegas before 9:00 or 10:00 on Friday.

Flights from LAS to SAN take ~1:15 and cost ~$80.

Yep I'm up for that - good work Sampie.

Jennie - I think you overestimate my notion of a 'shack' I did a search for hostels and found the following beauties:

Best location - ON the beach (the "Boardwalk"?):
http://www.bananabungalowsandiego.com/index.html
Private rooms are $65 for 2 people + $15pp additional
OR get a whole dorm to ourselves 8-12 people (all single beds though) with own bathroom for $20pp per night.

Should I book? What dates would we want for? The Sunday and Monday nights only?




=========
other lesser finds:

http://members.aol.com/OBIhostel/hostel/
$19 per person (dorm room though)

http://sandiegohostels.org/ptloma.shtml
$17-$28pp
rooms or dorms but could probably take a dorm of 4-8 to ourselves
AND: Free breakfast (all-you-can-eat make-it-yourself pancakes)!

that dorm looks like a fine idea dannyboy. WHat about sat and sun nights? We would haveto drive down from lax so it would be nice to know that people would have sorted the check in etc before hand. Single beds are fine by me if it means its cheaper. I dont mind sharing a dorm either, it's you lot that will suffer though - you have been warned!

Pete - that flight looks attractive, we have already arranged car hire in and out of lax but I imagine that can be changed. We were thinking of going to Yosemite also so shall have to make a decision on it soon ish (I.e. August sometime) and then let you know more.

3 weeks today I shall have a monstrous hangover. Looking forward to it! See y'all!

I think Tizzy and I are going to have to duck out of the road trip plan unfortunately. We have already booked the hotel for the whole week in San Diego, so cancellation would incur a fee. We are really stretching ourselves anyway what with this being our second US holiday in the year. On top of that, I think both Tizzy and I are going to need a few days of total relaxation by that point and spending three days in an American car with its pram-like suspension is probably not going to do the trick.

Sorry guys. We will have a look at the possibility of getting a cheap return flight to Las Vegas to meet up with you guys, but given the cost of cancelling the hotel and the extra flights can't promise anything.

Yosemite is definitely worth visiting. It is the most inspiring place I have ever been to in North America. I spent two weekends there in 2001/2002 and barely managed to scratch the surface.

It would be an impressive achievement to get to Yosemite and back in time for your flight.



Picture found using flickr: http://www.flickr.mud.yahoo.com/photos/uva...n/pool-yosemite

Can I have a show of hands for who wants the Bananna Dorm? Couples let me know if you'd prefer a the private room (there are 2 or 3 i think) which is still pretty cheap.

I can reserve the appropriate rooms on my credit card once I know numbers.

now i know why pedro like Valhalla on halo

If I could be bothered I'd find a picture of a hand to link to...I can't so I'll just say yes please in the most long-winded fashion.

mmm i think Peter the Grrreat has booked me and tarty in for a room at THE hotel so we are now officially opting out of the banana split dorm...

yep since the plan is to leave first thing monday we're also staying there the extra night.

Looking forward to loud offensive room parties in a quiet posh hotel.... =)

Are you talking about our wedding or pete and jennie's? I think there's potential for loud offensive room parties at both!

I think there are plans already in place for these parties. It would be a pity to waste all that potential (and all the booze...)

Grand Canyon accommodation

Please have a look at the lodges available in the Grand Canyon for Tuesday (28th) night:

https://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/

There is wide range of rooms available from $65 to $180 per night. It appears that you pay a lot to get a view of the Canyon from your room, but since all the lodges are within a 10-15 minute walk of the rim I am not sure it is worth the extra cost.

Grand Canyon village map:

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/village_map.pdf

Trip advisor for accommodation reviews:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/

If you have any opinions, please post them. It is likely that I will book several rooms within the next week or two to guarantee that we can stay in the canyon overnight.

In summary we have:

1. Thunderbird or Bright Angel Lodge
Rimside lodges
Bright Angel are double beds only (not so good for non-couples) but are rimside and very cheap (like 80 bucks). Recommend couples check this out.
Thunderbird more pricy - $162/night and looks like restricted to 2 beds per room.


2. Maswik Lodge or Yavapai Lodge
Inland lodges a walk from the rim. Cheaper. ($80-90/night). Recommend Maswik if any couples stay in Bright Angel.

Sum total of my opinion and I don't much care where I stay. Tend to prefer my own bed but doesn't really bother me too much. We could well take Thunderbird 2xQueen beds and go 4 in a room. Then it is only about $40 each which is entirely reasonable. Actually for one night that would be fine with me and then we'd all be very near each other.

Zoom Airlines have gone into liquidation! All flights cancelled.

Big piles of shitting arses.

Tizzy and I are trying to make other arrangements. I think that Sammyboy is the only other person who has booked with Zoom, but thought I'd post on here in order to make sure. If you have booked with them then you will need to ring your credit card company to get your refund.

Once I have more news I will let you know.

There are some good prices for replacement flights for same days (24th to 31st).

Return to SAN: £370 on Northwest/KLM via expedia (15hr 38min out, 13hr 15min rtn)
Return to SAN: £405 on American via expedia (13hr 35min out, 12hr rtn)

Return to LAX (direct, 10-11hr): £373 on Delta via kayak; £374 on Air France via expedia; £388 on Virgin via expedia

LON to SAN, LAS to LON: £384 on Northwest/KLM via expedia (15hr 38min out, 12hr 45min rtn)

To get on the same flights as Warren, Dan etc. may cost over £500.

shit indeed - good luck getting your dosh back. not sure if the credit card companies will (or have to) refund the money...? Normally they'd only do so if they can recover the money from the seller.

The credit card company will refund us as soon as they get confirmation that there is no chance that the flight will go ahead (i.e. once we receive a liquidators letter from Zoom). Not exactly sure when that will be however.

I think the expression of this guy here
<------------
was pretty much the one I had when I found out.

We have booked new flights with Delta. £391 each.

Outward (Friday 24th October)

London Heathrow (1.50pm) - Atlanta (6.30pm), Flight 179.
Atlanta (8.20pm) - San Diego (10.00pm), Flight 1049.

Inward (departs 31 Oct, arrives 1 Nov)

San Diego (1.23pm) - Atlanta (8.33pm), Flight 1046.
Atlanta (11.45pm) - London Heathrow (12.15pm), Flight 10.

That's still about almost hundred quid cheaper than mine.

I hate you.

I hate everybody.

I too have re-booked my flights as follows:

Fri 24-Oct-08

London (LHR) Depart 15:15 Terminal 3
to Los Angeles (LAX) Arrive 18:30 Terminal 4
AA American Airlines
Flight: 135
-
Los Angeles (LAX) Depart 20:00 Terminal 4
to San Diego (SAN) Arrive 20:50 Terminal R
AA American Airlines
Flight: 3127

Fri 31-Oct-08

Las Vegas (LAS) Depart 17:05 Terminal 1
to Los Angeles (LAX) Arrive 18:20 Terminal 4
AA American Airlines
Flight: 3108

Los Angeles (LAX) Depart 20:05 Terminal 4
to London (LHR) Arrive 13:30 +1 day Terminal 3
AA American Airlines
Flight: 136


BOSH!

It was a while since I'd checked the 'fest so I had a quick skim through the trail and had a few questions.

- Have people booked hotels?
- If so, which one(s)?
- Is there a wedding list?

Anyone know the answers?

Cheers,

Matt

Damn good question Williams.

Pedroth?

Does that mean a registry? Ummm. No, we were afraid you'd all get stopped at customs attempting to smuggle in wine glasses and towels. And then I'd get stopped on the way back with the exact same items.

Your attendance is the greatest gift of all.

eta: Plus, I think my books have just arrived in the UK. There is now far less room in the apartment.

We have 3, 2-bedroom suites booked at the Park Manor Suites in San Diego. The wedding is being held in the same hotel.

I have booked 9 double queen-bed rooms at the Thunderbird Lodge in the Grand Canyon for Tuesday night. 3-4 of the rooms will be needed for friends from Manchester and California.

We still need to choose hotels in Sedona for Monday night and in Las Vegas for Wednesday and Thursday night.


No presents. Put the money towards the cost of your flights.

The hotel in Sedona is sorted:
Inn at Sedona

Just email and let them know you are in the "Blake" reservation. We have got a rate of 145 a night/double occupancy (dollars). Let me know if you have any issues.

you can email them at:
stay@innofsedona.com

Jennie - looks brill.
Just emailed my cousin who is a las vegas regular for hotel recommendations. He's on the case. Will keep you posted.

Excellent...
I have heard good things about MGM from friends, but the online take appears to be less happy--and others really like the "Venetian" (although this comes from someone who travels with a former member of the Rat Pack and therefor would be assumed to have different experiences in Vegas than most)

I've been *strongly* advised stay for the 31st as this is Halloween and the best night in Vegas outside of New Year's.

However I don't think that is going to fly with most of you!

Apparently my 'other' cousin is good at getting vegas hotel deals. Watch this space...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandalay_Bay

Cousin can get $100 / night. Apparently usually $300 / night.
What do you think?

Either way - please let me know exact numbers and number of rooms we need so we can confirm what the price would be.

Hey if it has a topless swimming pool (and it does) then I'm in.

I'm not sure I can imagine many more embarassing places to swim...

The question is whether Em and jennie will be going in with you

looks good to me. I have no idea how many rooms, though.

Who'll be in LV?

Mike
Pete
Jennie
Dan
Sam
Noj
Woz
Em
Tart
Rosie
Is Drew coming?

That would be 3 couples and 5 others (3 doubles a twin and a triple?)

I mailed Sedona about a twin to share with Dan...

Current numbers:

Please post any corrections.

Sedona and Grand Canyon (Monday and Tuesday night)

Badgerfest - 14+1
Noj
King
Dan
Matt & Michelle
Warren & Emily
Sam
Chris & Rosie
Drew (& Simone)
Pete & Jennie

Manchester - 7
Jenny H.
Tap
Kris
Neil
Logan
Rey
Ramzi

California - 4+1
Ben & Karen
Sean
Nathan
(Patrick)

Total: 25+2

Las Vegas (Wednesday and Thursday night)

As above but without Chris & Rosie.

Total: 23+2

Hello Peter, I don't know if tartlet told you but we decided to go for Las Vegas on wednesday night also and drive to LA on Thursday morning. Do we have to do anything accommodation wise for that?

The cutting edge planning system will adapt.

Current numbers:

Please post any corrections.

Sedona, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night)

Badgerfest - 14+1
Noj
King
Dan
Matt & Michelle
Warren & Emily
Sam
Chris & Rosie
Drew (& Simone)
Pete & Jennie

Manchester - 7
Jenny H.
Tap
Kris
Neil
Logan
Rey
Ramzi

California - 4+1
Ben & Karen
Sean
Nathan
(Patrick)

Total: 25+2

Las Vegas, Thursday night

As above but without Chris & Rosie.

Total: 23+2

No Ben and Karen

Current numbers:

Please post any corrections.

Sedona, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night)

Badgerfest - 14+1
Noj
King
Dan
Matt & Michelle
Warren & Emily
Sam
Chris & Rosie
Drew (& Simone)
Pete & Jennie

Manchester - 7
Jenny H.
Tap
Kris
Neil
Logan
Rey
Ramzi

California - 2+1
Sean
Nathan
(Patrick)

Total: 23+2

Las Vegas, Thursday night

As above but without Chris & Rosie.

Total: 21+2