Spirit Airlines Keeps Las Vegas Fares Low in Key Markets
Spirit Airlines manages to keep fares to Las Vegas out of Los Angeles, Dallas super low compared to nearby markets
While many people cringe at the thought of flying ultra low fare carrier Spirit Airlines (you know the one, that charges a fee for carry one bags), those flying from certain cities to Las Vegas are finding they can save plenty of money thanks to Spirit without even having to fly them.
Spirit is managing to keep fares low across the board in markets that they fly from.
Case in point, Los Angeles, where Spirit Airlines sparked a fare war by offering $9 flights between LA and Vegas. While those $9 flights might be hard to come by, other airlines have been forced to match the regular low fares offered by Spirit, or at least come close.
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Flying Thursday thru Tuesday during the 4th of July weekend one can pay $61 round trip between LA and Las Vegas on Spirit nonstop and $95 on American.
Fly from either of the two major cities north and south of Los Angeles to Vegas that do not have Spirit Airlines – San Francisco and San Diego – you will pay $142 nonstop on Virgin America in SFO and $173 with a stopover on American from San Diego.
Dallas is probably the perfect example of what happens when dominant carriers like American feel threatened by a new low cost airline’s entry into the market.
Fares to and from Dallas on American were actually much lower during the 4th of July weekend on that airline compared to Spirit. One could fly at $182 round trip compared to $261 on Spirit.
Now head just a little south to Houston, which in air miles is not much more than flying out of Dallas/Fort Worth.
Flights between Houston and Las Vegas were a whopping $395 nonstop!
There are some exceptions to the rule, however.
Spirit Airlines nonstop round trip flight 4th of July weekend to Las Vegas was $545 while AirTran and others with stopovers had flights priced around $324 round trip. Detroit, a long time mini hub for Spirit, had fares to Vegas that were not much better than the noncompetitive markets of nearby Indianapolis and Milwaukee.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com