Las Vegas… Solo! Flights
Las Vegas from New York - September 4-7, 2025
TOTAL COST OF TRIP: $826.19
Flights: $125.15 (between NY & LV)
Hotel: $168.94
Food: $176.66
Entertainment: $209
Gambling (Entertainment Extended): $50
Local Transportation (including airport transfer): $96.44
I’ll go into each of the above topics in separate posts. Let’s see how that goes.
FLIGHT - New York to Las Vegas
For the most part, I’ve been booking one way flights instead of RT these days. It’s often the same price overall. Plus it gives more flexibility on flight times and airlines.
For my flight from New York to Las Vegas, I booked American because I had a use ir or lose it credit for a flight I had to cancel last winter due to a broken ankle. I’m not counting the cost of that credit because I’d sort of written it off in my mind already. The difference, which I am including, was $40.01.
My flight was direct and it left fro JFK Terminal 8. Nothing available through my Priority Pass in terms of lounges that morning. I’d hoped for at least some water. I had some leftover cashews and trail mix in my bag from my road trip to Virginia the weekend before. That plus airline Diet Coke and Biscoff and pretzels got me to Las Vegas. I’m terrible at planning ahead for travel day food.
I had a row to myself, which was great. But I like the window and the woman in front of me put her seat back. There was barely enough room for my knees to begin with. And it was impossible to put my laptop on the tray table. So I stretched my legs out across the seats, hoping my (socked) feet didn’t annoy the person across the aisle. And I put my laptop on my lap to work for the duration. If the flight had been full, it would have been very uncomfortable, but having the whole row made it ok.
I was able to see a lot of great views across the country along the way. So many different landscapes!
FLIGHT - Las Vegas to New York (via Nashville)
I put off getting a return flight for a very long time. I like to be flexible. So if I wanted to go somewhere other than home from Vegas, I could plan that. Eventually, I decided it was time to book.
Direct flights are great. But I also love a deal.
When I saw a Southwest flight that was a redeye and went through Nashville, but was only $85.14 (including a carry-on, which is all I needed), I went for it.
I don’t think I’d ever flown Southwest before. It my mind, it was going to be mayhem. Southwest is in the process of changing to assigned seating, but there was none for my flights. How would it work? Would I be able to store my luggage in an overhead bin? Would I be stuck in a middle seat? Would people act bonkers?
While worrying about it, I settled in at The Club LAS, which was accessible with my Priority Pass through my travel credit card. It was busy, but I was able to find a seat and settle in and work at a table for a couple hours before my flight. There was a full bar and I had my only alcoholic beverage in Las Vegas there - a margarita - for free! They had salad, soup, quesadillas, and a rice dish available. People swarmed to the food every time it came out. There was also a nice coffee machine. There were no grab & go drinks, so I had water and Diet Coke from the bar after I’d finished my margarita. The lounge was crowded and the young man at the table next to me was going into his sexcapades. After an hour of yapping, it became clear that he was with a colleague when he said “Should we do some work?” They complained about bosses.
When it was time to go to my gate, my anxiety about the Southwest system dissipated. In many ways, it ended up feeling more calm and orderly than boarding with other airlines. Most people understood the system and they didn’t try to beat it. I watched a flight ahead of mine board and then understood what to expect.
For anyone who hasn’t flown Southwest, this is my experience of it… There were three boarding groups - A, B, C. Within the boarding groups, there were groups of numbers. At the gate there was a series of poles in a line. On one side of the poles, there was one set of numbers (ranging from 1-30) and on the other there was another set (31-60). First the As found their spots and got in line in numerical order. They called 1-30. Then 31-60. Then the Bs lined up and so on. I was in B and in the 30s on both legs of my trip. My plan, which worked, was to simply go as far back on the plane as I could and grab a window seat, if possible. Second choice - aisle. Third choice - middle. I got window seats both times and there was plenty of room in the overhead bin when I arrived. Easy.
On my first flight, a woman who boarded near the end was separated from her husband. She ended up in the middle seat next to me. She declared that she would never fly Southwest again. She seemed very nervous and fidgety and upset. The gentleman in the aisle seat and I mostly ignored her. She was going to be fine.
The layover was only an hour, so it was less than half an hour between getting of my first flight and boarding the second one. It was nice and broke up the trip, allowing me to stretch and use the facilities.
On my second flight, there was no one in the middle seat. I managed to get some sleep. And I had some coffee.
Based on this experience, I would be very happy to fly Southwest again. A big surprise was how much legroom there was. I don’t know whether that’s typical or not, but it was spacious and comfortable.
Now I’m curious if it will be even better with assigned seating? I’ll be happy to find out sometime…
