A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Programs: Frontier Gold, DL estranged 1MMer, Spirit VIP, CO/NW/UA/AA once gold/plat/comped gold now dust.
Posts: 42,101
Would echo comments by others that it's not just US Airways. Have been checking fares from ATL for some time on NW and don't like what I'm seeing. If AirTran is having a sale they'll nominally match it around $300, but there WON'T BE ANY SEATS if you check on ITA, so the match is pretty useless. Things *might* get a little better in the fall, but clearly airlines want to reduce flying to LAS.
The problem, of course, is LAS being seen as leisure-only, and only the most price-resistant vacationers want to go there at $200 RT. UA, for one, used it as a dumping ground for Ted flights.
It might be that carriers like Allegiant and, of course, Southwest really dominate. With WN, though, do people really want to have to connect and go through multiple cattle-car processes?
Ironically, LAS is not a bad deal from the leisure traveler's perspective if you can stay away from the tables. I'll usually go there for 4 weekdays, stay either downtown or at a cheapie big-pool place like the Sahara (big-pool places are nice in summer), and use the CAT buses for 3 of the four days, renting a car only on the last one.
Honolulu has also taken some hits, what with Aloha and ATA going away. At least LAS isn't 100% dependent on air travel like Hawaii is.