Q&A: What is the best way to book a Las Vegas vacation for 9 people?

I would advise just having everyone book separately. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a discount group rate in Las Vegas and the hotels will actually charge you more if you book as a group, since they see it as more work. The only exception would be if several hundred people were going. Package deals are sometimes better than booking hotel and flight separately, but not always. You should look at getting the best airfare and best hotel price. Then compare it with some of the hotel packages. Southwest Vacations, if they serve your area, will usually have the lowest air/hotel rates. American West (now U.S. Airways) would be the second best place. You should also check with Travelocity, Cheaptickets, and Las Vegas Direct.

You should also see how separate air and hotel does in terms of price. You will find that you have much more flexibility in the flight times and airline, which can be very important to people. Good package deal rates often arrive and leave at very odd times, or have multiple stops and layovers, which can cut your vacation short. Consider using Cheaptickets.com to locate a good airfare. Also check with Southwest. Next, try the individual hotel websites for hotel rates. You should also, compare them with third-party hotel reservation sites like LasVegasDirect, Vegas.com, Travelocity, Expedia, and TripRes.

While you can save by having 4 people stay in one room, you will be charged an extra person fee that is around $30-$60 per night, so you need to read the details when making a choice. Also, it can be very crowded to have so many people in a hotel room, so you might want to consider that too. Lastly, suites in Las Vegas are very limited and will cost you much more than getting 2 rooms next to each other.