UFC 194 Hotel/Flights/Bars/Comps/Currency

Mr. Manager

A thread for people to talk about stuff relating to everything surrounding UFC 194 that's not actually fight related.

JokerD

With the workouts on Thursday this time then I wonder when the press conference will be.

Yurt

JokerD wrote: »

With the workouts on Thursday this time then I wonder when the press conference will be.

Just booked flights Wednesday to Monday now to try and find tickets.
Any idea where to find 6 tickets together :P

JokerD

Yurt wrote: »

Just booked flights Wednesday to Monday now to try and find tickets.
Any idea where to find 6 tickets together :P

I've an idea alright but you'll need a flux compacitor.

martyos121

Yurt wrote: »

Just booked flights Wednesday to Monday now to try and find tickets.
Any idea where to find 6 tickets together :P

6 together, you'll have a very tough time unless you're willing to spend $1k plus per ticket.

There should definitely be three sets of two or two sets of three though at a lower price.

Deadst4r

Do they always have closed circuit telecast for PPVs at the MGM?

http://www.ticketmaster.com/ufc-194-closed-circuit-telecast-las-vegas-nevada-12-12-2015/event/2E004F65E90455FC?artistid=2181502&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=33

Seems very expensive.

dulux99

Didn't realise the workouts were on the Thursday. I hope this doesn't mean the press conference is Wednesday - I enjoyed the press conference far more than the workouts in July

MikeyGorse

Any idea what time the weigh in will be Friday?

martyos121

I'm dying to find out who the guest fighters are for the Q&A on Friday morning. Should be a great one given the scale of the event. Hoping for Cormier myself.

Pulse8

Deadst4r wrote: »

Do they always have closed circuit telecast for PPVs at the MGM?

http://www.ticketmaster.com/ufc-194-closed-circuit-telecast-las-vegas-nevada-12-12-2015/event/2E004F65E90455FC?artistid=2181502&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=33

Seems very expensive.

They advertised it for 189 too but cancelled it I think due to poor ticket sales

DK224

MikeyGorse wrote: »

Any idea what time the weigh in will be Friday?

Back in July Fightclub members got let inside at 2pm picked a free fight poster and then took your seat. Doors for General Public opened at 3pm and the Weigh-Ins began at 4pm.

Devastator

Conor is on Beyond the octagon on BTsport at 9pm, I think the full show is an interview with him

thewheel2.0

Devastator wrote: »

Conor is on Beyond the octagon on BTsport at 9pm, I think the full show is an interview with him

Will this be put up anywhere afterwards, fight pass? I don't have BT Sport.

Devastator

thewheel2.0 wrote: »

Will this be put up anywhere afterwards, fight pass? I don't have BT Sport.

MikeyGorse

My mate that bought the tickets is no longer able to attend, can I use his Fight Club membership to attend the weigh in?

TheNap

MikeyGorse wrote: »

My mate that bought the tickets is no longer able to attend, can I use his Fight Club membership to attend the weigh in?

Wont be a problem once you show it .

the_doctor199

dulux99 wrote: »

Didn't realise the workouts were on the Thursday. I hope this doesn't mean the press conference is Wednesday - I enjoyed the press conference far more than the workouts in July

It is on the Wednesday.

MikeyGorse wrote: »

Any idea what time the weigh in will be Friday?

3-3.30pm

Yurt

Someone's actually made a 12 pubs of Vegas page https://www.facebook.com/events/1735102980050850/1735390790022069/

14murphy

So how does one go about getting tickets for the weigh ins or can you just rock up ?

Chase3

14murphy wrote: »

So how does one go about getting tickets for the weigh ins or can you just rock up ?

Depends on the event, they ticket the dublin ones because of high demand, but usually not the Vegas ones. This one however could be different, it will be announced closer to the event.

Chase3

I'm going to post a bunch of questions here, Googling these things gets confusing at time, having them all in the same place might help others too. So please answer if you have any info or exsoerience traveling to Vegas.

Money: So I have a few hundred euro, I want dollars, what's the best place to go?

Bank: I have a bank of Ireland Visa debit card, can I use it in Vegas? At ATM'S? Just as a visa card? Charges??

If you buy liquids and what not in Dublin Airport after security, would they then take it off you after you arrive in America before boarding your connecting flight?

Any rules on bringing certain items on plane? Such as a laptop, a lighter, anything else that may not be obvious? Different rules for domestic American flights?

Do all Vegas strip hotels ask for a deposit on check in? As well as resort fee?

Are there places to buy cheap alcohol near or on the strip? Like an off license I mean.

Do we need to do anything else besides apply for visa waver before going?

If you fly directly to America, can you pre clear customs in Dublin?

Best/cheapest/most convenient way to get to the strip from Airport? (Traveling on your own)

martyos121

Chase3 wrote: »

I'm going to post a bunch of questions here, Googling these things gets confusing at time, having them all in the same place might help others too. So please answer if you have any info or exsoerience traveling to Vegas.

Money: So I have a few hundred euro, I want dollars, what's the best place to go? Get yourself a Revolut card and use it whenever possible for best value on the dollar. Use the Credit Union for cash, I believe they give you a better rate if you're a member

Bank: I have a bank of Ireland Visa debit card, can I use it in Vegas? At ATM'S? Just as a visa card? Charges?? Yes, charges will be heavy though, hence my recommendation of the Revolut card

If you buy liquids and what not in Dublin Airport after security, would they then take it off you after you arrive in America before boarding your connecting flight? Any liquids you buy in duty free, you must pack in your checked luggage before customs, since you'll have to claim your luggage upon arrival to get through customs

Any rules on bringing certain items on plane? Such as a laptop, a lighter, anything else that may not be obvious? Different rules for domestic American flights? Laptop is fine, couldn't tell you about the rest. Hopefully somebody else will have the answer for you

Do all Vegas strip hotels ask for a deposit on check in? As well as resort fee? I emailed my hotel and since I booked a standard room through Expedia paid in full already (at the New York New York), they won't ask for a deposit from me. Pretty much every hotel charges resort fees there now, so prepare for that, between $20-35 per night

Are there places to buy cheap alcohol near or on the strip? Like an off license I mean. There's a supermarket just down the road from the MGM Grand, from Google Maps I can see they have cheap cans advertised. There will be plenty of them nearby

Do we need to do anything else besides apply for visa waver before going? Nope, but travel insurance is recommended of course, and set up a travel notification with your bank so they'll know your card is being used abroad and won't block it for fraud

If you fly directly to America, can you pre clear customs in Dublin? Almost certain you can, but I haven't done it so I can't say for certain. I know Aer Lingus do it but I'm not sure if every airline will

Best/cheapest/most convenient way to get to the strip from Airport? (Traveling on your own) There's a shuttle bus that goes from the airport that drops off at all the strip hotels, and picks up then on the way back, only around $10 return on Expedia. Airport is right next to the strip so a taxi won't break the bank either

Hope this helped a bit, I'm going alone too so I had all the same questions you had.

shanec1928

Chase3 wrote: »

If you fly directly to America, can you pre clear customs in Dublin

Yea every direct flight to America pre clears here.

Chase3

That helps a lot thank you. I was up for hours last night reading about baggage rules. Seems I can check a bag for free so might as well, then bring a back pack. My laptop is a little bulky and the battery only lasts for about 3-4 hours, I'd like to take it on the plane but I'm guessing there is no where to plug it in? In that case I should probably just check it in.

maximoose

Can't recommend Revolut enough, well worth it.

There won't be any plug sockets on the plane no!

shanec1928 wrote: »

Yea every direct flight to America pre clears here.

Yep, so important to make sure you give yourself adequate time as the queues can be quite bad.

CM24

Is there a chance all the (affordable) rooms in the MGM Grand will be sold out that weekend?
I've no idea what kind of capacity it has, or how many total people are expected to stay there that weekend.

My sister said it's worth splashing out the extra cash to stay there. She was in Vegas for the Mendes fight and stayed at some cheap hotel down the far end of the strip, and said it was really annoying having to constantly walk back and forth from the MGM to her place.

All_in_Flynn

CM24 wrote: »

Is there a chance all the (affordable) rooms in the MGM Grand will be sold out that weekend?
I've no idea what kind of capacity it has, or how many total people are expected to stay there that weekend.

My sister said it's worth splashing out the extra cash to stay there. She was in Vegas for the Mendes fight and stayed at some cheap hotel down the far end of the strip, and said it was really annoying having to constantly walk back and forth from the MGM to her place.

No need to stay in the MGM. The hotel rooms are bang average for the price you will pay. The Excaliber is the other side of the road and is a third of the price without that much of a drop in quality.

I'v been to Vegas 3 times myself. You will spend very little time in the rooms. You just want a comfy bed in a decent location.

Foxtrol

All_in_Flynn wrote: »

No need to stay in the MGM. The hotel rooms are bang average for the price you will pay. The Excaliber is the other side of the road and is a third of the price without that much of a drop in quality.

I'v been to Vegas 3 times myself. You will spend very little time in the rooms. You just want a comfy bed in a decent location.

I stayed in the Excaliber for UFC 178 and then MGM for 189 and I don’t quite agree with you.

I received an upgrade in Excaliber and still found the room a big drop off compared to the MGM. Obviously not as bad as being at the other end of the Strip but I found the walk back and forward to be a pain. It’s not really an issue if you’re just going for the fight but ‘the other side of the road’ is a bit misleading, if you’re planning on going to several events (weigh ins, Rogan, Hakkasan )in the MGM then having a 30 minute walk each way from your room isn’t great. Most of the fighters will be staying in the MGM too so practically every time I went to take the lift to my room I ran into one of them which was pretty cool.

If you’re trying to cut corners to keep costs down then Excaliber is grand but it’s definitely not the same experience.

CM24, hotels owned by MGM (like most other hotels in Vegas) work off an airline style demand model so on a busy weekend the ‘cheap rooms’ can be expensive if you didn’t get in early. For 189 I booked as soon as it was announced and when I checked back two weeks before the fight the same room was 2.5 times the price that I’d gotten.

14murphy

What are resort fees. A friend of mine booked a room in the MGM when 194 was announced. 4 of us a re going in on it. Will we have to pay these resort fees on top ?

TheNap

14murphy wrote: »

What are resort fees. A friend of mine booked a room in the MGM when 194 was announced. 4 of us a re going in on it. Will we have to pay these resort fees on top ?

It depends how you booked it . I booked a pacakage through expedia for 189 and didnt pay resort fee's . If you booked the hotel directly you will .

All_in_Flynn

Foxtrol wrote: »

I stayed in the Excaliber for UFC 178 and then MGM for 189 and I don’t quite agree with you.

I received an upgrade in Excaliber and still found the room a big drop off compared to the MGM. Obviously not as bad as being at the other end of the Strip but I found the walk back and forward to be a pain. It’s not really an issue if you’re just going for the fight but ‘the other side of the road’ is a bit misleading, if you’re planning on going to several events (weigh ins, Rogan, Hakkasan )in the MGM then having a 30 minute walk each way from your room isn’t great. Most of the fighters will be staying in the MGM too so practically every time I went to take the lift to my room I ran into one of them which was pretty cool.

If you’re trying to cut corners to keep costs down then Excaliber is grand but it’s definitely not the same experience.

CM24, hotels owned by MGM (like most other hotels in Vegas) work off an airline style demand model so on a busy weekend the ‘cheap rooms’ can be expensive if you didn’t get in early. For 189 I booked as soon as it was announced and when I checked back two weeks before the fight the same room was 2.5 times the price that I’d gotten.

Firstly, I agree that the rooms are not to the same quality. My point was that for the price of the MGM and the Excalibur the difference in room quality is not that substantial. The fact that you spend so little time in the rooms must be taken into account too.

I'd also argue about the half hour walk? The hotel is literally on the other side of the crossroads but in fairness I know some of the rooms in the Excalibur have a decent walk to get to them.

If money isn't an option then I'd recommend MGM over Excalibur naturally (although if money wasn't an option I wouldn't be staying in either).

All_in_Flynn

14murphy wrote: »

What are resort fees. A friend of mine booked a room in the MGM when 194 was announced. 4 of us a re going in on it. Will we have to pay these resort fees on top ?

They are an extra cost you get charged at checkin that are separate from the room rate. It's a rip off but essentially they justify it by saying it's to give you access to all of the facilities the hotel provides. Nearly every hotel in Vegas does it now unfortunately.

maximoose

I'm becoming addicted to MyVegas Slots

Devastator

TheNap wrote: »

It depends how you booked it . I booked a pacakage through expedia for 189 and didnt pay resort fee's . If you booked the hotel directly you will .

Thats nonsense, I've booked through expedia and I will have to pay the resort fee. As far as I understood from researching it when making a booking it purely depends on what hotel you are staying in and whether or not they charge this fee(most do).

My advice - contact your hotel and ask them.

Chase3

All the main hotels charge a resort fee from what I can tell. I booked through Expedia, I'll still have to pay 30 or so per room per night.

Foxtrol

All_in_Flynn wrote: »

I'd also argue about the half hour walk? The hotel is literally on the other side of the crossroads but in fairness I know some of the rooms in the Excalibur have a decent walk to get to them.

It can easily be the guts of half an hour walk each way with people traffic. Getting from the MGM arena to the Strip entrance can take about a 10 minutes, then 2 sets of foot bridges that involve a trip through NYNY, two long moving walkways to get into Excalibur, a walk to the other side of the casino floor to get to the elevator to your floor and then walk to your room that could be at the other end of the wing from your elevator.

Again, saying it’s on the other side of the crossroads is misleading. For someone who hasn’t been to Vegas they could envision a 2 minute trip just running across the road. Due to the scale of things, distances in Vegas are hugely misleading.

DK224

maximoose wrote: »

I'm becoming addicted to MyVegas Slots

Its great used it in July to get free Buffets and $50 worth of casino chips and have a nice balance to get more stuff for December.
Just for anyone who is new to it, make sure you join the facebook group "MyVegas Friends" as they constantly post all the free chips so its a lot easier to quickly build up rewards

Devastator

DK224 wrote: »

Its great used it in July to get free Buffets and $50 worth of casino chips and have a nice balance to get more stuff for December.
Just for anyone who is new to it, make sure you join the facebook group "MyVegas Friends" as they constantly post all the free chips so its a lot easier to quickly build up rewards

http://blonde4ever.yuku.com/topic/26680/MyVegas-Chips?page=146#.VkoUUb_Quzk


Check the above link, absolute heaps of free chip links(500,1000,2000,etc). If you've not used them you'll nab yourself at least 30k chips from the links, go back through claiming past links until you start getting expired messages

TimRiggins

Would love to go to that 12 Pubs but have tickets to the TUF Finale so its a no go, Would love to see Joe Rogan and Joey Diaz on the Friday night too but Frankie/Chad is a great fight and another bonus on this whole weekend.

maximoose

The 12 pubs sounds great but I just can't see it being practical. Apparently 1.2k going now, and I know you can write a good percentage of those off as is always the way with facebook events, but how would bars even attempt to manage that group arriving at once :pac:

Deadst4r

maximoose wrote: »

The 12 pubs sounds great but I just can't see it being practical. Apparently 1.2k going now, and I know you can write a good percentage of those off as is always the way with facebook events, but how would bars even attempt to manage that group arriving at once :pac:

Yeah, even if you take it with a pinch of salt, that is still an insane amount of people to accept the invite.

How many Irish are there going to be in Vegas? :eek:

Stuxnet

Can somebody explain the Revoult card to me, I see yes, it may be better to stick on say 1000 euros onto it from my AIB debit card to avoid extra fees etc,

But the various currency wallet concept Im not sure I grasp 100%, Knowing Im going to LV for 194...do I highlight the $ part of the wallet, then top up that with my AIB visa debit, or does it matter if euro is highlighted.

Will this card do for everything, I dont gamble, but Ill be paying for MGM hotel room, $388 plus fees, pints and several trips to Buffalo Wild Wings, and few $$ cash I guess. 3 nights, will 1000 euros be enough?

maximoose

I'm not 100% about this, but I always topped it up in euro. I did this as was wary of a currency exchange fee from PTSB if I topped up in a $ amount.

Top up in euro, then exchange your balance to $. You don't need to do this, as it'll automatically deduct transactions in the US from your Euro balance - but I found it handier to keep track of what I actually had to spend when it was converted to dollars already.

The card will work everywhere, it is just a standard mastercard - and mastercard is pretty much universally accepted more or less. I used it in hundreds of places last month in New York without issue.

EDIT: Oh one thing I will add. In bars/restaurants - if you're gonna pay using your revolut card, pay any tip in cash. It should avoid any annoying double authorisations on your card.

Deadst4r

I topped up in USD like a moron and got currency charges on my Visa card.

Realised, I should have topped up in £ then converted to $ using the app.

Stuxnet

Thanks guys, so sticking on funds in Euros is the way to go, cheers !

Deadst4r

Stuxnet wrote: »

Thanks guys, so sticking on funds in Euros is the way to go, cheers !

Hoping someone else can confirm though as I haven't actually topped up in sterling then converted to dollar in order to test it.

PM me nudes

You top up in the currency of the debit card you use to top up. Then convert to dollars through the app.

Deadst4r

https://www.facebook.com/events/1735102980050850/permalink/1735938383300643/

Some of these suggestions

'get 1 long ''rock the boat'' going in d middle of d strip'

I'm anti-craic though tbf.

Yurt

Give us some of your suggestions Deads4r

Deadst4r

Yurt wrote: »

Give us some of your suggestions Deads4r

No smiles, no alcohol, no singing and DEFINITELY no rock the boat.

This one though -

'We should high jack a big long escalator in a hotel'

I'm only messing Yurt, I'm sure everyone will be in excellent form, I just found it funny that it kind of sounded like they were going to do rock the boat in the middle of the road on the strip. :pac::pac:

Whelo79

Deadst4r wrote: »

https://www.facebook.com/events/1735102980050850/permalink/1735938383300643/

Some of these suggestions

'get 1 long ''rock the boat'' going in d middle of d strip'

I'm anti-craic though tbf.

Im by no means anti craic but this pre organised fun annoys the **** out of me. I'll be avoiding this pub crawl like the plague. Done loads of them around Dublin in my time (10 years ago) and they were good craic but once the crowd gets too big it's impossible to get a drink without waiting at least 10-15 minutes, and American barmen are not the quickest in the world. Although I suppose it will mostly be bottles being served so that will speed things up.