Suggestions for finding cheap flights to Las Vegas??

[Lisa]

Dh and I plus two of our adult boys plan to fly to Las Vegas, rent an RV, drive to Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion National Parks then back to Vegas to fly home.

I was hoping for cheaper flight to Vegas, but am not finding any. Is it better to wait a while? Am I looking too early? We are hoping to go the end of April or early May, so we still have time. Anyone have any suggestions? 

[AnotherNewName]

Depending on where you are flying out of, Vegas flights have jumped in price in the past 6-8 months.  We started looking at flights (late June trip) in March and didn't book until April and got hit by a 30-40% increase.

My guess based on planning in the past is you are looking a little early.  I think there is a decent chance prices could come down if fuel costs continue to trend lower.  I would probably gamble and wait a bit.  

Edited August 17, 2022 by AnotherNewName

[Lisa]

2 hours ago, AnotherNewName said:

Depending on where you are flying out of, Vegas flights have jumped in price in the past 6-8 months.  We started looking at flights (late June trip) in March and didn't book until April and got hit by a 30-40% increase.

My guess based on planning in the past is you are looking a little early.  I think there is a decent chance prices could come down if fuel costs continue to trend lower.  I would probably gamble and wait a bit.  

I was thinking that too. I'm sure gas prices have increased flight costs. Hopefully gas prices keep going down. What websites do you look at for finding cheaper flights?

[mommyoffive]

I have heard flight prices are coming down.  Where are you flying out of?  Can you go to a bigger airport?  Can you fly a low cost airline?  Can you travel hack and get free flights?

[J-rap]

At least in our area of the country, there are random small airlines (that you might not even know about) that fly from smaller, less central cities to Las Vegas. It might require a 2.5 hour drive but they are much, much cheaper. So I’d check around and see what other airports have to offer!

[KungFuPanda]

3 hours ago, Lisa said:

Dh and I plus two of our adult boys plan to fly to Las Vegas, rent an RV, drive to Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion National Parks then back to Vegas to fly home.

I was hoping for cheaper flight to Vegas, but am not finding any. Is it better to wait a while? Am I looking too early? We are hoping to go the end of April or early May, so we still have time. Anyone have any suggestions? 

Can you play with the dates? We once flew to Vegas for a wedding. Be changing the number of days in our trip our ticket prices dropped dramatically. It was weird. Staying for just a 3 day weekend was the most expensive option. 

[Lisa]

32 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I have heard flight prices are coming down.  Where are you flying out of?  Can you go to a bigger airport?  Can you fly a low cost airline?  Can you travel hack and get free flights?

We would be flying out of Minneapolis airport. What is a travel hack?

[Lisa]

19 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

Can you play with the dates? We once flew to Vegas for a wedding. Be changing the number of days in our trip our ticket prices dropped dramatically. It was weird. Staying for just a 3 day weekend was the most expensive option. 

Yes, I've been playing with dates. We are hoping for a 10 day vacation and trying to work around everyone's work schedule.

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, Lisa said:

We would be flying out of Minneapolis airport. What is a travel hack?

It is usually opening an airlines or points credit card meeting the spend and then using the points to get free flights or free hotels.  Only get started in this if you can pay off your credit card and not pay the interest on them.

thepointsguy.com is a great site to get started on it.  

I would think for April or May you could get some good deals.  Spring break is usually over at that point and the cost of flights goes down.

[Brave Cat]

Southwest flies out of Minneapolis and to Vegas (not direct though, at least not daily) and they don't even release flights until 6-7 months in advance. They will open up flights in September through mid April, so you might have to wait til October or November for May travel dates. While they're not as "discount" as they once were, I appreciate the free checked bags. And would think that their flights being available might create competition, bringing other fares down some. You have to search on their site - their flights don't show up on Expedia, kayak, etc. 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Brave Cat

[popmom]

You can set alerts with Google for certain flights and dates. You get an email when ever fares change.

I don’t think Google includes southwest tho. 

Edited August 18, 2022 by popmom

[Lisa]

On 8/17/2022 at 10:59 PM, Brave Cat said:

Southwest flies out of Minneapolis and to Vegas (not direct though, at least not daily) and they don't even release flights until 6-7 months in advance. They will open up flights in September through mid April, so you might have to wait til October or November for May travel dates. While they're not as "discount" as they once were, I appreciate the free checked bags. And would think that their flights being available might create competition, bringing other fares down some. You have to search on their site - their flights don't show up on Expedia, kayak, etc. 

Thank you. I will keep that in mind. 

[Alicia64]

One way to keep costs down is book as two couples -- or even four individuals.

You might not get to sit together on the flight, but this can really work.

I also would not buy tickets on the same computer that you search for ticket prices. I may be being paranoid, but I swear the airline computer "sees" your search and starts upping the price. Maybe I'm being weird.