Cheap flights to
Las Vegas (LAS)

There isn’t a day of the week when airline tickets are routinely cheaper to buy, but there are times prior to a trip when the cost of tickets is typically lower. We call this the “Goldilocks Window,” when fares aren’t too high or too low, and it’s when travelers stand the best chance of getting a great deal on flights. For domestic travel, the Goldilocks Window is about 1-3 months before a flight. For international trips, it’s about 2-8 months in advance.

If, however, your trip is going to be during peak tourist season, or your travel dates are set in stone and can’t be moved, we suggest booking a little further in advance. Flying over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays, for example, means starting to look in June or July for the best fares. And, though last-minute bargain fares occasionally pop up, they are by no means expected. On the contrary—fares tend to jump incrementally 21, 14, and 7 days before a flight, so book before then if possible.

There are almost always good deals on flights to Las Vegas, but sometimes that depends on your starting point. One way to potentially save on airfare to Sin City is by looking at flights that leave from airports other than the one closest to home—even if those airports require a flight to get there.

We find surprisingly low fares all the time from airports you might not expect, including smaller airports, and if you’re only looking at your home airport, you might miss out. Widen the proverbial net, and you might find much lower prices on flights from, say, Milwaukee to Vegas than from the Chicago airport that’s closer to home, which might make the drive to get there worth it.

This seems like a no-brainer, but it bears repeating: If you can be flexible with your travel plans, you’ll save money if you schedule your trip outside of peak travel season. Summer is typically one of the busiest travel seasons in much of the world, what with those warm temperatures and school breaks, but high demand means higher prices. Shoulder seasons (the bookends on either end of summer, usually) are a more budget-friendly option when the weather is still nice, and the winter often means big savings to folks who don’t care about the weather.

If, on the other hand, you can’t be that flexible with your trip, there are still a couple of things you can do to make airfare a little less costly. The very beginning and end of summer tend to be a bit cheaper to fly, so look at flights in the first two weeks of June or the last two weeks of August. Try to avoid flying on Fridays or Sundays when flights tend to be more expensive—plan to fly when flights are usually cheaper (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays).

The cost of a plane ticket can change pretty dramatically over the course of a day, not to mention a week or month. Tracking fares can be a full-time job—take it from us. To get the best deals on airfare and still keep your 9-to-5, we suggest letting technology shoulder some of the workload. You can sign up for fare alerts for the itinerary (or itineraries) you’re considering, and you’ll get an email when the price drops into the range you want. Just remember that if your travel plans are flexible, you’ll have to set up a fare alert for each potential trip. Another option: join Going and get alerted any time we find a great deal from your airport.

Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport is the home base for several budget carriers, including Allegiant, Frontier, Southwest, and Spirit. There are more than 33 airlines serving LAS, and 142 airports around the U.S. have direct flights into Sin City.

Las Vegas is one of those places that hardly seems to have a low season, but you’ll save money on airfare if you plan your trip during one of its (relatively) low seasons. That means looking first at a visit from late June through August, or from November through February (except for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve).

Do a search for flights to Las Vegas and you’ll get a list of options so long it could be overwhelming. But don’t forget that there’s a big airline player missing from those lists: Southwest. Their flights don’t appear in OTA lists, so visit the Southwest site directly to compare their fares.

Aside from the usual holiday calendar, another calendar to consult before a trip to Las Vegas is the convention schedule. There are enormous conventions, trade shows, and other events going on all the time in Vegas, and if you’re not paying attention you could end up planning a trip during something like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January—the biggest convention in the country. Not only does airfare spike a bit for the city’s biggest events, but the availability of other things (like budget-friendly hotel rooms) dwindles, too.

Bonus: Join Going. We do the airfare searches for you every single day, and you’ll be able to track the prices on flights to Las Vegas regularly. That way, when you see a truly great deal, you’ll not only know it on sight but you’ll be able to buy it right away.