Las Vegas via SFO or LAX?

Hi all,

I'm looking at travelling to Las Vegas on Thurs 21st April til 2nd May but rather than take the direct route from Gatwick I want to go from Heathrow.

Is there a preferred route through either SFO or LAX rather than going direct?
Prices to SFO were around £600 last week in economy but have shot up another £80pp. Not so sure if that’s going to go down again. Will this depend on the Load of the aircraft?
Using Virgin America as the internal flight brings to total cost to around £830pp. is there any other internal flight anyone can recommend that they use when they travel to vegas from heathrow via SFO?


I don’t know if it’s worth just going with AA or Continental straight from heathrow if the prices won’t come down again.

Any help is much appreciated.
y)

SFO so you can get a nice Virgin America flight to LAS!

[Darren Wheeler]

You can get the hop from SFO or LAX. There are pluses and minuses for both.

LA is shorter with more flights available.
SFO (for me) is a nicer airport but more susceptible to weather related delays.

ISTBC but neither CO or AA fly direct - BA does from LHR.

ISTBC but neither CO or AA fly direct - BA does from LHR.

Sorry, I meant, use them all the way from heathrow (with a stop) rather than Virgin for the 1st leg, then any other airline for the short hop over.

From either LAX or SFO you can fly to Vegas on Southwest, it is sometimes a cheaper alternative to Virgin America. However, flying Virgin America will allow you to credit your airmiles to Virgin Atlantic.

I would always fly direct, if i can. Cant be doing with the hassle of changes these days.
However when flying to Palm Springs I cant and choose to go via LAX purely down to the weather related delays (fog)that SFO seems to suffer from, and if needs must one can drive easily vegas to LAX which you cant do easily from San Fran.

I've flown direct with Virgin in Economy and PE over the last couple of years from Gatwick. On another trip I needed to go from heathrow and ended up using KLM with a stop at detroit. Before doing this I wouldn't have considered using a stop. But it went so easily I dont think I mind doing it again.

The ease of how close I am to Heathrow is why I want to fly from there now, and was looking to still use Virgin. I thought BA's arrival time was undesirable but looking at it again it seems to be before 7pm which is still comparable to a 1 stop with Virgin.

SFO is my first choice but saw LAX was a viable alternative. I just didn't know if there were any pros or cons to either, or if its just a case of they are both the same and choose whichever one is the cheaper route.

The other reason I was going to fly with Virgin was to get the FF miles.

I pulled these from Expert flyer but not sure what I'm looking at! ha ha. Have I lost the chance at getting the cheapest economy seats possible on any of these flights?

VS 19 0 LHR
04/21/11 11:30 AM SFO
04/21/11 2:20 PM 744
Daily
39% / 57m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S8 K5 Y9 B9 L9 M9 Q9 X9 N0 O0


VS 7 0 LHR
04/21/11 11:15 AM LAX
04/21/11 2:35 PM 346
Daily
32% / 47m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 L8 M8 Q5 X0 N0 O0


VS 23 0 LHR
04/21/11 3:45 PM LAX
04/21/11 7:20 PM 346
Daily
27% / 37m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 L9 M9 Q9 X9 N9 O9

Personally i'd go via SFO and have a stopover and make the most of San Fran before/after Vegas.

I pulled these from Expert flyer but not sure what I'm looking at! ha ha. Have I lost the chance at getting the cheapest economy seats possible on any of these flights?

VS 19 0 LHR
04/21/11 11:30 AM SFO
04/21/11 2:20 PM 744
Daily
39% / 57m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S8 K5 Y9 B9 L9 M9 Q9 X9 N0 O0


VS 7 0 LHR
04/21/11 11:15 AM LAX
04/21/11 2:35 PM 346
Daily
32% / 47m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 L8 M8 Q5 X0 N0 O0


VS 23 0 LHR
04/21/11 3:45 PM LAX
04/21/11 7:20 PM 346
Daily
27% / 37m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 L9 M9 Q9 X9 N9 O9

An "O" is the lowest class in economy so the VS23 would likely provide the cheapest pricing.

The list of codes from expertflyer show the number of seats available in each fare code. The maximum it will show is 9, however, there could be many more seats in each fare class.

Just completed a dummy booking and LAX would definitely be the cheaper option for an economy booking on the dates you want.

I pulled these from Expert flyer but not sure what I'm looking at! ha ha. Have I lost the chance at getting the cheapest economy seats possible on any of these flights?

VS 19 0 LHR
04/21/11 11:30 AM SFO
04/21/11 2:20 PM 744
Daily
39% / 57m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S8 K5 Y9 B9 L9 M9 Q9 X9 N0 O0


VS 7 0 LHR
04/21/11 11:15 AM LAX
04/21/11 2:35 PM 346
Daily
32% / 47m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 L8 M8 Q5 X0 N0 O0


VS 23 0 LHR
04/21/11 3:45 PM LAX
04/21/11 7:20 PM 346
Daily
27% / 37m J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 L9 M9 Q9 X9 N9 O9

An "O" is the lowest class in economy so the VS23 would likely provide the cheapest pricing.

The list of codes from expertflyer show the number of seats available in each fare code. The maximum it will show is 9, however, there could be many more seats in each fare class.

Just completed a dummy booking and LAX would definitely be the cheaper option for an economy booking on the dates you want.

Luke

I agree with the GliderPilot and if your schedule allows, have a couple of nights in San Fran. I've done both hops from San Fran and LA and I had one of the most bumpy rides ever on a flight from San Fran to Vegas which traumatised my (already) nervous flying partner!!! The cabin crew in between providing tissues for my other half said that this this was a bumpy route especially as it gets warmer. So if you're going with a nervous flyer - I'd say LAX and a drive!!!!

Thank you for all the replies. I'll will try LAX, and look for a cheap flight from there to Las Vegas. Any ideas on how long I should leave to clear customs and any delays etc? 3hrs-4hrs?

Not really looking to spend any time in LA or San Fran other than just to get connecting flights.

Thanks again for the replies, they were very much appreciated.

[Scrooge]

As long as the VS flight isn't delayed 3 hours is more than enough, Southwest is one terminal down to the left if you want to use them, about a 5 minute walk.

I'm using skyscanner to check the flights I can get from LAX to Las Vegas, but the flight times are confusing. They are both in the same time zone but a flight to vegas is say 10min, and the way back is 2 hours. Although the times are 1hr 10mins apart. Any idea what this is about?

18:20 LAX – 19:30 LAS 0h 10 non-stop
16:05 LAS – 17:15 LAX 2h 10 non-stop

Dont want to book a flight and then miss a connection.

They are in the same time zone and the departure and arrival times quoted reflect a 1hr 10 mins flight.

I agree with the GliderPilot and if your schedule allows, have a couple of nights in San Fran. I've done both hops from San Fran and LA and I had one of the most bumpy rides ever on a flight from San Fran to Vegas which traumatised my (already) nervous flying partner!!! The cabin crew in between providing tissues for my other half said that this this was a bumpy route especially as it gets warmer. So if you're going with a nervous flyer - I'd say LAX and a drive!!!!

This mirrors my VX flight from LAS-SFO just over 2 years ago; shortly after take-off it got really really bumpy, the CC must have seen the look of abject terror in my eyes and assured me that this flight route over the Rockies was always a tad bumpy.....
Luckily the turbulence soon passed and another G&T calmed my nerves.....

[Scrooge]

I'm using skyscanner to check the flights I can get from LAX to Las Vegas, but the flight times are confusing. They are both in the same time zone but a flight to vegas is say 10min, and the way back is 2 hours. Although the times are 1hr 10mins apart. Any idea what this is about?

18:20 LAX – 19:30 LAS 0h 10 non-stop
16:05 LAS – 17:15 LAX 2h 10 non-stop

Dont want to book a flight and then miss a connection.

I would say, Skyscanner is c##p, block time is 1 hour 15 both directions, you only spend about 40 minutes in the air, neither airports are prone to delays, though delays do happen.

[Scrooge]

This mirrors my VX flight from LAS-SFO just over 2 years ago; shortly after take-off it got really really bumpy, the CC must have seen the look of abject terror in my eyes and assured me that this flight route over the Rockies was always a tad bumpy.....
Luckily the turbulence soon passed and another G&T calmed my nerves.....

Ok, I am going to be a tad sarcastic here, but it is meant in fun and well frankly VX FA's are shall we say, not up to speed on a lot of things.

With that said, if your flying from SFO - LAS and you come anywhere near the Rockies the person flying the plane is lost or in the case of NW asleep, you fly over the Sierra Nevada range |:)

Also, if you are lucky you will see some amazing fog banks in the valleys, really is an impressive sight.

This mirrors my VX flight from LAS-SFO just over 2 years ago; shortly after take-off it got really really bumpy, the CC must have seen the look of abject terror in my eyes and assured me that this flight route over the Rockies was always a tad bumpy.....
Luckily the turbulence soon passed and another G&T calmed my nerves.....

Ok, I am going to be a tad sarcastic here, but it is meant in fun and well frankly VX FA's are shall we say, not up to speed on a lot of things.

With that said, if your flying from SFO - LAS and you come anywhere near the Rockies the person flying the plane is lost or in the case of NW asleep, you fly over the Sierra Nevada range |:)

Also, if you are lucky you will see some amazing fog banks in the valleys, really is an impressive sight.

Oops, my bad , the CC didn't mention the mountain range, that was me dropping a clanger :0 .
I was actually quite good at geography in school..... ): , but that was a very long time ago!