Ever Considered a Long Layover for a CHEAP FARE?

I check the price of flights from Milwaukee / Chicago to Vegas daily.
Spirit recently added MCI as a hub.
Has anyone booked with a LONG layover before??

I've never been to MCI before, but apparently the airport is a bit funky with limited facilities/food/entertainment.
Researching the area, I found they have a KCATA downtown/airport bus and a casino Cruiser bus.
Theoretically I could spend a few hours in the casinos on my layover.

Has anyone tried something like this before?

The fares are CRAZY cheap...(or else I wouldn't have considered it)
$33.09 per leg = $132.36 ROUND TRIP (ORD-MCI-LAS)


TRIP TO VEGAS
1way
Depart ORD @ 2:50 p.m. - Arrive MCI @ 4:18 p.m.
5H 19M Layover
1way
Depart MCI @ 9:40 p.m. - Arrive LAS @ 10:42 p.m.

TRIP TO CHICAGO
1way
Depart LAS @ 1:00 a.m. - Arrive MCI @ 5:42 a.m.
10H 28M Layover
1way
Depart MCI @ 4:14 p.m. - Arrive ORD @ 5:42 p.m.

 

Sounds like a money-saver but it is too bad the LONG lay-over is on the way back. You could be a) tired of gambling (if that is possible) or b) out of money / tired of losing but with 1/2 a day on your hands. Perhaps budget a separate amount for the return trip regardless of the outcome of gambling in Vegas.

It also might be worthwhile to see how much you are saving per hour; i.e., you save 135 $ but lose 11 hours over alternative routes pricing. This comes out to 12 $ or so per hour you save. If that is value then go for it. Good luck!

 

So what are you saving $500? With a 15 hour layover that would be ~ $33/hour. What is your vacation time worth to you? Add in the extra expense of meals etc. and your tired when you get to your destination it doesn't sound as appealing.

TomTWI

 

On the return trip, could you not get a greyhound from ORD to MIL? Would maybe add $30 to your costs, but would remove a 10hr layover?

 

So, let me see if I understand this:

It's vacation time, and you're plan is to go to Vegas, so you can play and have fun and gamble in a casino. Now in an attempt to save money, you're going to spend a considerable amount of time not being in your chosen destination, and then to fill that non-destination time you're going to go to a casino which is not a casino in the destination you've chosen for your casino vacation, and then you'll run the risk of leaving behind money in said non-Vegas casino, thereby possibly negating the reason you're not timely getting to your chosen casino-vacation destination?

OK.

:evillaugh

Hey, time isn't really money. Time is time. And how you value vacation time is a personal thing. Travel is an adventure, and getting some place can be part of that adventure. I don't know that this particular scenario qualifies as an adventure when compared to being where it is you want to be.

 

For me...........I'd only do a non stop direct flight (since it is an option for my home airport). When you factor in all the additional wait time, to me, it's not worth it to save a bit of money.

 

That kansas city airport is a true dump, the terminal I've been in is maybe 300 yds long and 30 ft wide, last time I went through there maybe 20 of us got off and headed to the bathroom...the world class bathroom had 1 urinal, one stall, and 1 sink, it was just sad.

 

On the front end, you're getting into Vegas late at night and you'll have a crappy choice of accommodations and be too tired to gamble. On the return, you're going to end up trying to catch some sleep in an iffy airport, and you'll be dead to the world when you get home.

 

I usually pay EXTRA to get there as quick as possible, have the shortest layover (all within reason of course, cause I do have that customs variable in there being from Canada)!!!

 

I wouldn't do something like this, but if I were I would do the layover on the way to Las Vegas, not on the way home - when the vacation is over I am ready to get home, get back to routine, I've often had enough of it all, etc... on the way to Las Vegas at least I would have the excitement and anticipation to arriving in Las Vegas going for it.

But for my wife and I, we are are like what GChrome is saying: we'll be willing to pay extra to get there as quick as possible and even though we could usually save $75-100 per person to take a layover to fly there, we pay for the non stop flights instead.

 

layover side trip @ MCI

I'm personally only considering the 5 hour layover on the way there.
The savings on the flight back are not worth it to me...too many negatives.
Red-eye flights are good if they are non-stop, but coming home from an 8 day trip to Vegas ... a 10 hour layover for a casino side-trip is overkill!

Readingfanman - I'd take the Hiawatha or a sedan limo from MKE to ORD.
Hiawatha is $24, sedan limo is a bit more than double that.

Honestly, it's not about the costs per se....My budget isn't that tight.
(I do like to save money when it works into my plans though!)

I was simply curious if a casino side-trip at MCI is do-able during a layover.
If anyone here had done it before and could share their experience.

I wasn't really considering price per hour value on my vacation time, but it's a valid point.
It's a solo trip, so I don't have to take anyone else's feelings into consideration.
I've never been to the casinos in Kansas City before.
I'd still consider - MKA Hiawatha Amtrak to CHI then ORD to MCI with a 5 hour layover/casino side trip and then MCI to LAS.
I'd definitely go southwest non-stop for the return trip LAS to MKE.

Seeing the super low price may have blinded me for a bit!

 

The responses are making me laugh!
Trust VMB members and their NO BS thinking to snap me out of it!

Honestly, there's only 3 casinos in Kansas city anyways, right?

Why do a crappy layover when I could be in VEGAS!!!??!!

Usually I fly Southwest non-stops.
I've never flown Spirit before, so the low prices caught my attention.

 

As someone who has to fly out of MCI as my hub, avoid it at all costs. Small airport with no good services. The casinos in the area aren't anything worth stopping to see.

 

Nevermind the layover...flying Spirit is something I wouldn't do. They suck.

 

I have to agree with Ken.... anyway that return layover at 5:00 a.m. in the morning? You will be tired and ready for bed not waiting in a crappy airport for the your next flight. I only do non-stops now to Vegas, yes I will pay a premium (sometimes a couple hundy) to get a non-stop, I don't care, I hate layovers. Once I could have booked my flight (with layover) on United out of Cleveland using points, because it was last minute I couldn't get on the non-stop with point, so I paid full fare first class for the non-stop. NO LAYOVERS!!!

 

Yep...that place is bad. Flew out of KC (3.5 hour drive) to save about $400 in airfare for two of us this trip (Southwest, not Spirit). I would do it for that amount of savings again, but I wouldn't be thrilled about it.

You could spend some time in the KC casinos, but they are nothing special. If they have casino shuttles it's okay I guess, but all casinos are about 20 minutes from the airport, so a taxi would be costly. It obviously saves you money, but the layovers look to be costing you over a day in Vegas! Ugh.

 

Having lived in KC until ten years ago and flown out of KCI (MCI) more times than I can count, I would NOT do this. There is really nothing of note within the airport that will allow you to kill time and you have almost no entertainment options near the airport by cab.

 

I would never consider this option. I have no patience to wait on anything for any reason.

 

This is the same way that I look at it. The flight alone is long enough as it is and my trips are 3-4 nights.

Id rather pay the extra money and just get there direct and come straight back home.

 

I've booked long layovers before, but never as long as the ones you're talking about. I usually have about a 3 hour layover. I don't do it to save money though. I look at the schedule first, particularly the scheduled arrival time, and will book based on that more than I do on price. My advice is if you're ok with the schedule, book it. You've already said you're ok with the price so that's not an issue. Only you will be able to say how you would be able to function on that type of schedule.

You can't necessarily say he'll be too tired to gamble when he gets to Vegas. I can only speak for myself when I say this of course, but regardless of what time I arrive in Vegas, I am never tired when I get there. No, I may not be able to go all day after arriving, but I'm good for long enough to get some food, drink, and gamble for a bit. Vegas gives most of us a burst of adrenaline that at least delays the weariness. Plus, if he can sleep at all on a plane, he should be good to go for a bit more. We also can't say for the return flight. He may be up all the final day before his 1am flight and sleep like a baby on the plane. I've actually done a similar flight before. I've left LAS at 1:05am, arrived at MSP at 6:45am, had a 4.5 hour layover (it was supposed to be 3 hours and 15 minutes, but there was a delay) and then arrived at IND at about 2:30 then had a 2.5 hour drive home at the time.