Waiting For Las Vegas

My annual March Break trip to Las Vegas is up in the air. There are a couple good flights that leave in the morning from Toronto and are direct flights. One is run by Air Canada and the other by Westjet so there is some competition here. Normally these flights run $600 per person, but they just haven't hit that level yet. I've been keeping an eye out and the price ranges from $700-800 per person so far. The upshot of all this is I'm waiting them out to see if prices come down.

I could cross the border to Buffalo or Detroit. The problem with Buffalo is that there are no direct flights the last time I checked. Many Buffalo flights connect through New York or Detroit. Detroit does have direct flights to Las Vegas but then that's a 3 hour drive from my place. I can get to the Toronto airport in 50 minutes on that Sunday morning of March Break.

I must be getting old and crusty. In my younger days, I'd be more than willing to sacrifice my time or convenience to save a hundred dollars per person by taking a red eye or connecting flight. I'm certainly less inclined to do so now. Heck I've even broken down and paid the $25 to check my bag so I'm not lugging a carry-on around the airport and fighting with others for the limited space in the overhead bins.

I'm also waiting on the Wynn to see what their offers will be that cover March. I've already gotten the Fall offers back in August so I'd expect the Winter one to arrive in November. The Summer and Fall deals were a discounted room with a single free buffet. Westjet Vacations actually has a deal with the Wynn that gives you flight, hotel, and breakfast at the buffet every day for a minimum 3 day stay. The deal, of course, isn't available over March Break.

I guess I'm in a holding pattern until the airlines relent and put things on sale.

--helpmespock

end of January when they put sales on trying to bring up the numbers for the month ...think this is a very slow month once everybody gets home from their end of year holidays

WESTJET out of Pearson? I fly AC only when I have too.... they let me down too many times

Delta has many non stops out of Detroit...... a whole lot cheaper

Quote: coilman

Delta has many non stops out of Detroit...... a whole lot cheaper

Or Spirit....Even cheaper!!

March is a tough month. You've got to choose off dates or pay through the nose. They specially code that time of the year for Vegas flights... hard to get a cheap fare. Cheap loonie can't help. Good luck.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Or Spirit....Even cheaper!!

Alright I guess if you are under 5 foot 8...my knees are into the seat in front of me when its a 32 inch pitch not 28

Fwiw, industry experts are reporting an expected large discount sale on tickets throughout the US this week or next. Southwest has already started. I would watch closely, even though you're talking Canadian airlines with those two, before giving up.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Fwiw, industry experts are reporting an expected large discount sale on tickets throughout the US this week or next. Southwest has already started. I would watch closely, even though you're talking Canadian airlines with those two, before giving up.

Just asking, it that something you get from public research or do have have some connections in the industry? That good stuff to know. As we fly a lot year round we just look weekly or even daily and try to play the game.

Quote: Boz

Just asking, it that something you get from public research or do have have some connections in the industry? That good stuff to know. As we fly a lot year round we just look weekly or even daily and try to play the game.

I still get half a dozen airline/industry newsletters and have a couple hundred fb friends from then. So I hear things. We'll see if this one is true. Sometimes people start rumors just to see the others maneuver.

If you have any flexibility at all, try to avoid March Madness. At the very least, don't come here during the Final Four. The initial round of 64 isn't much better. Vegas turns into a gouge-fest during popular sporting events. Rooms are FIVE TIMES as expensive as on normal weekends.

The extent to which that affects airfares is hard to predict, but I think you can pretty much forget about the airlines offering any deals during times when demand is high. I would aim for "not getting completely screwed" as opposed to "bargain."

I don't know whether it's worth it to take one of those ultra-discount bargain airlines. They charge for everything "extra," like riding in the cabin instead of strapped to the wing. Sort of like hotel-casino resort fees. One tactic I tried once was to take Allegiant Air into Vegas just wearing the clothes on my back--nothing else (since they charged $35 for a carryon bag, to say nothing of actual luggage). I rented a car in Vegas and bought several cheap changes of clothes at Opportunity Village, wore them in the casinos, and then re-donated them. Saved money over two sets of baggage fees!

My March Break trip just manages to avoid the craziness of March Madness as it's March 12-16 this year. Hopefully this avoids the big gouging.

Coilman I did check flights out of DTW and it looks like there are quite a few direct Delta flights. Reasonable prices though -- $500 or less for round trip if it leaves afternoon/evening. The 8:30AM and Noon flights are $1000!

I'm hoping that some seat sales are coming down the pipe in Canada as well. Prices have stayed high for a while now and this time last year they started having some nice sales.

--helpmespock

Well I'm still in a holding pattern for my March Break trip to Las Vegas, but things are starting to come together.

One piece of the puzzle has fallen in place with the Wynn sending out their Winter Getaway offer and it nicely covers our Sunday to Thursday March Break trip in 2017.

The problem is the flight prices are still crazy for the good direct flights. Westjet has put the 'Econo' option for the morning flight we like on 'N/A'. Air Canada is also not offering their lowest tier option yet. Maybe this a prelude to them putting it on sale? I hope so, but Westjet just put their Black Friday sale on-line and every Thursday through Sunday in March is blacked out. 8-(

There is another option -- mix & match flights on odd times. I could fly Saturday night with Air Canada at 8:30PM our time and get to Las Vegas at 10:30PM their time. I don't like that flight. We did it with the kids in the Summer of 2009 to take them to the Grand Canyon and were exhausted by the time we got settled in the hotel room at 11:30PM Las Vegas time (2:30AM our time). We could then fly Westjet back on Thursday leaving at 2PM, but the catch there is that they charge more for a one-way than if you included it as a round trip. Mix & match gets me back to about $600 per person. However a hotel room becomes a problem because we're there Saturday night and my offer doesn't cover that night. Maybe it's because NASCAR is in town during that time. I called the Wynn to see if anything could be done to no avail. The best they could offer was the standard 15% discount for Saturday night which basically eats any savings I would have had on the flights.

All this mean is I'm still waiting. 8-(

--helpmespock

Southwest has non stop from Buffalo twice daily.

Are those Canadian flights in Canadian funds? With the exchange rate, that doesn't seem that bad.

Expedia didn't show those direct flights from Southwest out of Buffalo when I looked last time. I searched the Southwest site directly and found direct flights for $650 per person in Canadian dollars. Not bad and I'll certainly consider it, but Buffalo is a couple hours away and the direct flight in the morning is 7:15AM so that'd make for a long day.

--helpmespock

Air Canada and WestJet haven't lowered the price of the Sunday flights to Las Vegas for March Break.

Thanks to member speedycrap for the tip about the direct flights from Southwest out of Buffalo. The Sunday flight is at an inconvenient time -- 7:15AM -- for us to get there, but Saturday has 3 direct flights with decent times that will work for us.

Even with the Canadian dollar not being great against the US dollar right now I can still get the flight cost under $600 Canadian per person round trip. Even mixing & matching flights between Air Canada and WestJet and taking that crappy 8:30PM flight on Saturday out of Toronto can't beat Southwest.

So unless Air Canada and WestJet relent in the next few days, I'll probably be booking a Southwest flight and driving to Buffalo.

I'll need to figure out a hotel room for Saturday night in Las Vegas.

--helpmespock

To each their own but the reason things are so expensive for March madness is if you are a college basketball nut like I am it is the most fun time to be in Las Vegas. We go every year and I wouldn't miss it for the world

The energy level certainly kicks up a notch on that Thursday morning as bulging crowds in the sports books are watching and betting on games. Las Vegas takes advantage of supply and demand just like any other business, I guess. My understanding is that the NCAA tournament marks one of the busiest times in Las Vegas. Have fun.

--helpmespock

First week of Jan is one of 2 best times to buy US domestic flights (so I would suggest not buying tickets in December).
Also, sometime between late-August and November there is often a 1-2 week period with really low fares.

Why?

Airlines are freaking out after summer & Thanksgiving/Xmas, so they try to fill some seats at low prices.

After Jan 9, fares will generally increase into Spring Break, pause for a bit, then increase into summer.

Good luck.

P.S. Fares are often lower Mon-Thu.
Seats may open up after midnight-1 am (timezone of the airline's home base), so 2 am - 3 am may be a good time to check.

Quote: mamat

First week of Jan is one of 2 best times to buy US domestic flights (so I would suggest not buying tickets in December).
Also, sometime between late-August and November there is often a 1-2 week period with really low fares.

Darn. I booked the tickets already. 8-(

In comparison to the prices out of Person, they were better at least. I'll post the details shortly.

--helpmespock

I surrendered. I had a 16 and the Canadian airlines were showing 10. No sense fighting that.

I booked Southwest out of Buffalo on Saturday for the 1:55PM flight. We'll have plenty of time to get to the Buffalo airport from home. The Southwest person that booked me said that I should arrive 2 hours before the flight for Las Vegas. Anyone have any experience with this at the Buffalo airport? Domestic flights in Canada generally only require an hour before boarding.

The price out of Buffalo leaving Saturday was under $600 Canadian per person. Choosing a Saturday departure from WestJet or Air Canada on the 8:30PM flights couldn't beat Southwest out of Buffalo. The only cheap option flying out of Pearson was the 8:30PM flight on Saturday or Sunday combined with a red-eye on Thursday night. No thank you.

I jumped on Expedia and booked Treasure Island for the Saturday night then booked the Wynn for Sunday to Thursday on the Wynn's Winter Getaway offer. It'll be interesting to see what the rooms at TI are like.

I booked a car through my Dollar Express account, but car rental prices seemed to have increased considerably over what I'm used to. Typically my wife and I just book a compact/economy for around $15/day. However prices look to be around $40 per day for that week. I guess I'll keep an eye on prices then cancel and re-book if prices drop.

So my annual March Break Las Vegas trip is on, but it's looking a little different this year than in previous ones.

--helpmespock

Quote: helpmespock

The Southwest person that booked me said that I should arrive 2 hours before the flight for Las Vegas. Anyone have any experience with this at the Buffalo airport? Domestic flights in Canada generally only require an hour before boarding.

I've never flown out of Buffalo (flew into BUF once, tho), but I think all carriers now suggest "2 hours" for domestic US flights.

Quote:

I booked a car through my Dollar Express account, but car rental prices seemed to have increased considerably over what I'm used to. Typically my wife and I just book a compact/economy for around $15/day. However prices look to be around $40 per day for that week. I guess I'll keep an eye on prices then cancel and re-book if prices drop.

Yes, definitely do this. Car rental prices bounce around, it seems like, daily. On a recent trip to New Orleans, I re-booked 3 times in a month because of price drops. You might also want to check the other rental companies out for comparison.

One more thing about Southwest is that if the price drops, you can re-book at the lower fare and they will give you credit for the amount of the fare difference to use on future travel. No fees.

Sounds like a fun trip HMS!

I fly out of Buffalo multiple times every year. The worst wait for non TSA precheck customers has been maybe 15 minutes. I think the greater risk for you is the border crossing. I get to all airports very early. A few days ago I had a 7:20am flight out of Buffalo. I was parked by 6am, walked to terminal, and was at gate by 6:20am. (No luggage to check).

Thanks for the advice folks.

I'll try to keep an eye on car rental prices, but I'm awfully tempted to just pony up and get the 25% off now just to avoid the hassle of checking back.

My wife and I crossed the border on Black Friday to shop at the Galleria mall and it was fine. The only problem is that we have dogs and the border patrol dog was very keen on our car as a result. They asked us to pop the trunk, saw the dog hair and toys, and sent us on our way.

I won't push my luck, but I don't think I'll sweat the 2 hour deadline too much given your experiences SOOPOO. We will probably check a bag though since it's nice to not have to lug a bag. Southwest gives us 2 free each and we'll probably only need one between us.

--helpmespock

Quote: Joeman

Car rental prices bounce around, it seems like, daily. On a recent trip to New Orleans, I re-booked 3 times in a month because of price drops.

Just refare the reservation. No need to rebook.