Don't know what is possessing both BA and Virgin to have such late arrivals in Las Vegas from London at the moment. I am on Virgin in a couple of weeks - lands 8:35pm- by the time we get through immigration etc and check in, could be midnight. Waste of a night - which given I am only coming for 4 nights is even worse. Flight back is 10:20pm - so have just booked an extra comp night so I can keep the room. Always used to take the Gatwick flight which arrived early afternoon - doesn't operate this time of year. Virgin will have a flight from Manchester in the Summer which arrives 12:25pm - much more like it.
It’s out of your way, but there’s a direct flight from Frankfurt that lands at 13:30 local time in Vegas. If arrival time is most important, maybe that makes sense?
Yeah sadly the direct flights arrival times over winter aren't great, but as someone said above there can be indirect flights that get you in earlier. I'm more impressed that you're flying over from London for only 4 nights. Takes me that long to sort the jetlag alone!
Did the flight timing change after booking?? The silver lining is being on the last flight of the evening means you're well after the early PM rush of all the other international arrivals. CBP should have short/no lines. When returning for trips abroad, I prefer to be well after the rush hours.
I'm using Virgin miles so didn't really have a choice. I could have arrived earlier by connecting in LAX if the flight was available (it wasn't but am still checking daily). I've once did 3 nights from London - generally do 4-6 nights depending on whether it's a solo trip or not. Sadly, for various reasons, after 1-3 trips a year since 1994, this will probably be my last, so hoping to make the most of it.
Not 100 % sure but you should be able to book London -> AMS -> LAS even with Virgin miles as Virgin partners with KLM, Delta, Air France. The KLM connection will arrive 2:10 pm.
That makes it almost worth the effort for us Southerners to head up the M6 - gives you effectively another day on the trip. As you said in the OP, the Gatwick flights coming in at 4 gave you a usable evening compared to the 8-9pm arrivals of the Heathrow flights. For the return journey on my next trip I have booked a non-direct flight (via Dallas) for the first time which gives a mid-morning departure, hopefully that allows me to wake up and head straight off, rather than my usual final day moping around waiting for the evening flight.
I sympathize - even flying within the US, my favorite budget airline has had some irritatingly late arrivals and departures into and out of town over the last few years. Funny thing is, it's probably from the same root cause: that is, the most desirable time slots being snapped up by the big US airlines in terms of both domestic and international arrivals. I also used to burn a comp night for the late departure but nowadays I've decided to say screw it, have the hotel hold my luggage, and find things to do until it's time to head to LAS! I find if the option to sit in my hotel room is removed I'm more likely to do things and less likely to mope around, as @Guy very accurately references in the above post
Sadly the LV flights from LHR have been this way since the pandemic. As you point out the summer flights from LGW and MAN are much better, and imo, ideal flight times with afternoon arrival and departure. Upside is arrival in LAS will almost certainly have nobody at immigration. If you are first off the plane and not waiting for a bag you can be checked in and having your first drink no more than an hour after landing. Similarly on the way home you'll probably find almost no queue at security. I now do as you and book a room for the last day even though I won't use it that night. I tried the hanging around thing once for a 9pm departure flight and hated it not having a base for the day.
My new favourite route is LHR-PHX-LAS with American. Pros are great departure & arrival times, sensible layover where you get Immigration done and the PHX-LAS leg is basically the plane taking off, getting horizontal and then landing. Having been a long time Virgin fan, and despite having plenty of miles to use, I am quite sad that they have been pretty severely downgraded since the pandemic. With terrible flight timings, inferior onboard service and now paid seat selection they appear to be engaged in a race to the bottom with British Airways. American Airlines on the other hand, despite being codeshare partners, have been a revelation with superior service, cheaper prices and a greater variety of better flight options.
I've done this route on the way home once and am doing again coming back on my next trip in March. I love the earlier departure time from LV.
I'm doing the return route next week. Should be a fun one. Decent time out of Vegas (4pm) and land at Dublin at 3pm on the Saturday.
Agree 100%. I travel to western Europe, either to or through the UK, semi-frequently. I used to love Virgin but now I feel AA has the superior product. Which is pretty funny considering how much nickel-and-diming they've gotten into for their domestic flights, but transatlantic AA is still pretty great.
