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MSP to LAS -- good rates

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by Vegas Insight, Sep 16, 2013.

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  1. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    I forgot to mention that I orginally could only get one-ways from MSP-LAS for 7,740 miles, or $151 cash. I was able to change again when my flight to LAS was reduced, making it 12K miles total.

    Delta almost always has the redeye from LAS-MSP at $129. If you are being picked up from the airport or parking at Park N Go, you can combine that with a cheap flight to LAS on SWA (or any other airline) to make it another good fare. That doesn't work for some people, but I personally like it because there are no lines at security or ticketing at that hour plus it puts me back on a decent sleep schedule.
     
  2. saintpauljeff

    saintpauljeff VIP Whale

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    +1

    lets skip the subjective opinions about the airlines
     
  3. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    I have used the Delta red eye to come home once.... I didn't hate it. And the next time I find myself going solo, I might do that again. I never considered splitting my trip amongst two carriers, however, but will have to look into it.

    When I used the red eye it was 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning. It meant I could stay the entire day Friday, then go to the airport on Friday night and go home. Pretty easy, other than getting my buddy to pick me up at MSP at 6:30 a.m. Saturday -- but he insisted he would.

    Yeah, there's something slightly depressing about heading to the airport at 10 p.m. Friday night when so many people are just starting a wild weekend in Vegas, but I'm not a wild-weekend-in-Vegas guy, so I wasn't too heartbroken, no more so than at the end of any other Vegas trip.
     
  4. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    I have gotten used to booking 2 one-ways since Southwest came to town. Inevitably, one leg goes down in price and the other goes up in price, so I am able to quickly make the switch to the lower priced leg. Otherwise, they would just cancel each other out.

    Also, in the event I found a lower price or better flight time on another carrier, I can cancel the one-leg without having to cancel my entire trip.

    I am still really bummed that Delta and Southwest usually don't have any late evening departures out of LAS. The last flight for either of them is generally 3-330pm. That requires leaving the hotel at noon-1pm and I feel like that ruins my whole last day. Another reason I enjoy the redeye.
     
  5. floridavegas

    floridavegas Low-Roller

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    I'm not flying from MSP - however I have noticed significant price drops on US Airways, I have been monitoring prices for our December trip - US Airways appears to be driving down prices??
    I'm thrilled! :)
     
  6. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    Maybe you have never flown SW but you board by number and then pick any seat you want, lurking near the front will not work, and you can get a good number usually just by checking in online early. I love their system, flying delta(northwest) I never got a good seat because they reserved them for preferred passengers, with SW I'm almost always in the first 3 or 4 rows right where I want to be, and sometimes I've boarded late.

    This last trip I switched flights at the last min and was the last guy to board, I still sat in the second row(which inexplicably no one had took). Dont knock it til you try it.
     
  7. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    i forget/misunderstand how it works... but now that you mention it, that rings a bell. if i ever end up flying SW again, i'll make sure to do the early check in.

    i must not know how to take advantage of SW. i read about people getting great deals through them, but whenever i shop their website, i don't find anything outstanding. but you gotta love an airline that doesn't charge a baggage fee.
     
  8. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    You might want to consider signing up for their credit card, normally they give you 25000 pts, but occasionally they offer 50000, that's what I did and was able to get 3 and a half flights to vegas from MSP for only the annual fee once ($69). Until then I had never flown SW but now I'm hooked, compared to delta they really have their act together.
     
  9. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    If you ever fly Delta again, download their smartphone app and after you buy your ticket you can pick your own seat on the app
     
  10. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    When I used to fly them I always picked out my seat - the problem is that all the good seats up front and exit rows were not available because they were reserved for special people, thus i was stuck typically from rows 18 on back...that sucked.
     
  11. mjamesp

    mjamesp High-Roller

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    Before the airline industry decreased capacity so much we were able to consistently find direct flights at $240 - $250 or less out of MSP. We live in a new world when it comes to flying.

    To find some of the best rates one now typically has to be willing to book one-ways, one leg at a time and on different carriers.

    In August we flew MSP to LAS on Spirit and SC coming home for a total combined price of $235 with one $25 carry-one bag on the Spirit leg. I was flying with my wife and shared the over-head carry-on and each had a personal carry-on.

    On the way out the gate agent with Spirit didn't seem to look at the size of anybody's carry on, we could have easily put our personal items in the over-head bin once on the airplane. On the way back with SC our carry-on was checked for size at the counter, once it passed the size test the person at the counter offered to check it for free (SC charges for checked bags and it seemed pretty sneaky). With SC I couldn't check-in on-line without paying the seat selection fee ($10 window, $5 middle and $15 isle). Without the on-line check-in we went to the airport much earlier than was needed. I do like the terminal SC flies out of at LAS. Much like MSP's terminal 2 but with more restaurants.

    Once on the plane the seats on SC have a bit more leg room, but not much. Anybody plus 6 ft or 200 lbs is going to have to deal with being in a small space for 3 hours.

    The incoming flight on the leg-out was about 20 minutes late, Spirit made up for it on the turnaround and we made it into LAS before the scheduled time. The SC flight was on-time. I've been using flightaware.com to follow the incoming flight as neither airline has extra equipment should something come up mechanically.

    This was my first flight with Spirit, I was paying close attention to the details. I watched the people coming off the flight in MSP and took notice of those in the boarding area before we loaded. There was no noticeable difference in the people flying Spirit than any other flight I've taken to Vegas or the flight home on SC. Just a bunch of Vegas visitors like myself, missing the business traveler you'd expect to see on a week-day flight on Delta.

    Based on this experience I'm flying Spirit again in October with a bunch of poker playing guys for $78 round-trip. We are taking the Red-eye home, I'm going into to work that AM. I'm living out of a duffel bag for the 3 nights we are there. I know the rules with Spirit and don't expect any surprises.

    We've run into on-time and performance issues with every airline currently flying MSP to LAS.
     
  12. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    i'm not sure how soon i'll get the chance to go to vegas solo, but if i get the chance i'd certainly be willing to give spirit a try, despite their very limited flight schedule. for the right price, i'll make it work. i have yet to see a spirit airfare under $148, but i'm not that flexible, i'm not looking every single week for deals to pop up, so i don't find those airfare anomalies too often. i'm still delirious from booking my lowest delta/sun country RT airfare in years.
     
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