Flying to the U.S...

lawrence281 · 10 Aug 2015 at 23:56

Was looking into flights, for next year, but airlines only go to december for the time being.

Wondering if anyone has ever gone, and the date distance the tickets were purchased and how much they were.

Need to plan to go EDC las vegas in 2016..and the cheapest route, flying into a cheap state not too far, and coach into LV..if that's possible?

Ahleckz · 11 Aug 2015 at 00:09

It's in July next year, a long time ago!

You'll be best flying from a major hub to Los Angeles and then getting from there to LV. Bus is likely to be the cheapest and comfortable enough if you want to do it that way. Though half of OcUK will come along telling you to hire a Mustang and stay in a hotel 20 miles away from the venue you want to be at.

However, flights are going to be expensive now as it's so far away. Flight prices are expensive when released, then get cheaper as the airlines need to sell the seats and then get expensive again when they know people are desperate to get the flights. You want to get into the curve at the right time, generally it's around 2 - 4 months before you fly (in my experience!).

Rotty · 11 Aug 2015 at 00:15

Only to December? where did you get that info?

Standard is 333 days

Ghosteh · 11 Aug 2015 at 04:09

I usually book around 2 or 3 months before I travel to Las Vegas, usually direct from London Gatwick as I simply can't ever be bothered with transferring. A few years ago I did Manchester > Newark > Las Vegas, and because of a delay leaving Manchester, I missed my connection to Las Vegas, which meant I missed a day of what I had planned, so since then, I'll just fly direct, even if it costs a bit more.

Have you got a set budget for the entire trip, or a limit on flights? Only because you could possibly look at AirB&B for accommodation, save money there and spend the extra money on flights.

[TW]Fox · 11 Aug 2015 at 07:59

Ahleckz said:
You'll be best flying from a major hub to Los Angeles and then getting from there to LV.

I would agree with this - LV is expensive to fly to, LAX is much cheaper. Plus the journey is fun too.

Bus is likely to be the cheapest and comfortable enough if you want to do it that way.

Bus is a fairly terrible way to do it, it takes *all day* and isn't exactly that cheap.

Though half of OcUK will come along telling you to hire a Mustang and stay in a hotel 20 miles away from the venue you want to be at.

Wow, thats kinda bitchy

Nobody is going to suggest you stay 20 miles from Vegas, what a strange thing to suggest. Vegas has some of the largest hotels in the world, part of the experience is staying right there - and it's cheap to do so. There is no reason to stay 20 miles away like there sometimes is with much more expensive places like San Francisco.

As for the Mustang, well, it doesn't need to be a Mustang but driving is the best way from LA to LV, its very cheap to rent a car and you can one-way for free, most rental firms even have dropoff points in the major hotels.

However, flights are going to be expensive now as it's so far away. Flight prices are expensive when released, then get cheaper as the airlines need to sell the seats and then get expensive again when they know people are desperate to get the flights. You want to get into the curve at the right time, generally it's around 2 - 4 months before you fly (in my experience!).

100% agree.

opstrat · 11 Aug 2015 at 11:20

Just booked my return from Glasgow to las Vegas. £744 return for July next year. To go to la it was £1060

xGBHxPegasus · 11 Aug 2015 at 11:23

We booked for Florida a month or so ago to fly in January.

Wouldve've cost us £1200 a ticket with Virgin (Premium Economy) but we got both tickets for around £1300 (points and points + money, so used about 87k points).

Lopéz · 11 Aug 2015 at 12:36

Ahleckz said:
However, flights are going to be expensive now as it's so far away. Flight prices are expensive when released, then get cheaper as the airlines need to sell the seats and then get expensive again when they know people are desperate to get the flights. You want to get into the curve at the right time, generally it's around 2 - 4 months before you fly (in my experience!).

Yep, that's usually the basic premise - it's actually even more complex than that - my boss's sister works in the Revenue Management department for an airline, she came in and gave us a workshop on how it's all run.
It was really interesting actually, there is a lot of earmarking of seats to be sold at certain prices way in advance, which then all gets tweaked as you get closer to the flight times depending on trends, buying patterns, local events and so on. So there are occasions when the normal "model" has to be thrown out of the window in favour of a totally ad-hoc pricing strategy.
Holiday tour operators and hotels have similar setups.

lawrence281 · 12 Aug 2015 at 19:12

Ghosteh said:
I usually book around 2 or 3 months before I travel to Las Vegas, usually direct from London Gatwick as I simply can't ever be bothered with transferring. A few years ago I did Manchester > Newark > Las Vegas, and because of a delay leaving Manchester, I missed my connection to Las Vegas, which meant I missed a day of what I had planned, so since then, I'll just fly direct, even if it costs a bit more.

Have you got a set budget for the entire trip, or a limit on flights? Only because you could possibly look at AirB&B for accommodation, save money there and spend the extra money on flights.

For the entire trip,I plan to stay 3 weeks to 4..but want to visit California/Kansas and Vegas for EDC, i dont mind travel if its cheaper by transport to each state, if possible. But budget wise for the entire trip including accom/flights, maybe £2k?

P.S I have a friend living in kansas, so no need for accom or spending money there..just need to plan this all perfectly haha. whats usually the price diff with 1 change or direct?

itchy · 12 Aug 2015 at 19:15

Don't book now. :rolleyes:

Get the early bird bookings in December that's the cheapest. Everyone strapped with xmas so the airlines have great offers.

[TW]Fox · 12 Aug 2015 at 19:20

itchy said:
Don't book now.

Get the early bird bookings in December that's the cheapest. Everyone strapped with xmas so the airlines have great offers.

It simply isn't possible to say that, for example last December the cheapest flights for the route and times I wanted were almost double what I ended up paying.