MDtR-Chicago

I think you're overestimating the impact of the change fee. Most US airlines will waive the change fee in a situation like yours if you ask nicely enough. (At least that's my experience and I'm not all that nice.) Search for "flat tire rule" in any of the forums here.

However, if you do have to pay - Southwest will still make you pay the fare difference to whatever walk-up fare is available. I just searched for fares available today and SFO-LAS is $208. No matter what happens, unless you stick with CO/UA, you are at the mercy of the agent at the airport.

As far as fog, there isn't much in December and it almost always burns off by about 10am. Occasionally it rains but not very often. Not much to worry about in that department.

I'll add a vote for paying for EBCI. Assuming everything goes well and you arrive at the gate on time, you'll have almost any seat you want on the flight. After all the effort to make the connection happen, that sounds like a good deal to me. And the view from a window seat landing in Vegas at night can be really pretty.

2.5 hours should be enough time to make the connection. The CO flights usually land in the part of Terminal 3 closest to Terminal 1 so that will cut down on walking quite a bit. You'll leave the secure area, walk all the way through Terminal 2, then all the way to the far end of Terminal 1. (Or you can take the airport train between terminals but that doesn't help much.) Then you'll check your bags and clear security again. It's only a short walk after security, tho.

The only really "LCC" part of Southwest is the boarding process. Once you're on the plane, it's like any other airline in coach. Maybe friendlier. Maybe cleaner. Maybe a more "casual" clientele. But it's such a short flight you might not notice a difference.

kamchatsky

Actually, I will be catching taxi from LAS to either Wynn Encore or Mandarin Oriental (still to be decided but leaning towards Wynn Encore). I will hire the car a few days later at Hertz Hard Rock Hotel. It sounds like there is a super long queue for taxi then at LAS?!

In terms of EBCI, my only concern is that if I bought EBCI, and then my CO flight is late, will they let me change my flights to later one given I have already officially checkedin? That was my real concern as I am not worried about the $20USD (for 2 pax) given the scope of my travel.

Whilst I do have smart phone, my service is based in Australia and no way i will be doing global roaming in USA as it costs a fortune for both voice and data services. Also I think I need to have access to printer to print the boarding pass?

Whilst I will be flying NZ J to USA I have flown UA/AA Y before as well as LCCs so I guess I can keep my expectation low. It is a short flight anyway, no big deal for me.

In terms of estimate of lateness of flights in USA, I guess I prefer to be conservative, especailly I haven't been back to USA after so many years. All I remember was once when I was in USA was that my UA ORD-SFO flight was late like 4 hours after a brief local storm around ORD airport (rest of Chicago was fine) and most if not all the flights was late. Then there was like a massive queues at service desks and everything seemed chaos. In terms of "flat tyre rule" I have never tried it, so whilst I may be able to waive change fees if I ask nicely I prefer to be on conservative side.

kamchatsky

Actually given I will be flying UA LAX-KOA Y, HA KOA-HNL Y and CO HNL-SFO Y, I guess WN SFO-LAS Y should be OK given I probably be "shocked enough" at standards of previous flights.

tusphotog

It can be long. It does move, though.

Just be 100% sure to tell the cab drivers "NO FREEWAY." Last week, 4 folks from my company got long-hauled to the Mirage. $30+ for their rides. It's normally $15 with tip (give or take).

The cab drivers there really like screwing people who don't know better.

MDtR-Chicago

I've never been in that situation but I don't think it has any effect. You simply lose the $10.

For Southwest, unless you pay for something like EBCI or Business Select to cut ahead in line, everyone will line up for boarding in roughly the same order as time of check in. So it's not about actually printing the boarding pass, it's about securing the earliest check in time possible so you will have the best boarding priority once you do print the boarding pass.

I guess I didn't make my point clearly enough. Even tho Southwest has no change fee, you still have to pay the difference in fare. For your route, that is probably something in the neighborhood of $109, if what I saw today is typical. So even if there is no change fee, you will still need to think about a "flat tire" style conversation if you don't want to pay the fare difference.

(I think the odds are in your favor that this entire conversation is academic and everything will be just fine.)

jamesteroh

+1 on the cab drivers. Something the OP should do is contact the hotel and ask what cab fare should be and the route to tell the cab driver to take. And if the cabbie tries screwing him, only offer to pay what the charge should be. I stay at the LV Hilton all the time and one time the cab driver acted like he couldn't speak English very well and took me way out of the way and said the cab fare was $35. I only offered to pay him $15 and the hotel valet told him that was a fair amount and wouldn't allow him to waitin the queue saying he didn't want one of their guests being screwed over by him.

The shuttle can be a cheap, quick alternative as well and sometimes faster than a cab if the queue line is long

nsx

You can also enlist the help of a friend to check you in at T-24. This can be done from anywhere with Internet access if they have your reservation info.

kamchatsky

Thank you all for the tips for Taxis. I will certainly take note of this. I will also look at shuttle option and email the hotel on this.

As long as I can change flights (whether paying the cost difference fee or not or flat tyre rule) after EBCI if CO flight did come late, I think I will do EBCI and just pay the $20. Probably not going to get a friend to help me check in especially I am in Hawaii and really don't know anyone in USA. Afterall, I am sure my friends have something better to do than online check in for me.

Finally, I did read somewhere in FT about people doing EBCI for 1 person, then save the other seats for others who did not pay for EBCI. Whilst I don't think I will be that stingy (ie I will pay the $20 rather than $10 for 1 pax), it would be great if I can get exit row. Are exit row for Business Selects only? Not that I am that fussed given that I fly UA/CO to/from Hawaii (5-6 hours) and they have smaller seat pitch than WN and only 1:30 hour flight anyway. But the WN boarding procedure is intiguing.

MDtR-Chicago

A lot of times it turns out the first people to board are really excited about sitting in the front of the plane. Never really understood that myself but I've boarded surprisingly late (say 50th) and still snagged exit row. Even the infinite legroom seat.

rove312

Business Select are first to board, but they often choose seats in front rather than exit row. There's a chance you'll have exit row seats available (they're available if they're open when you reach them) with EBCI, but don't count that much on it. For myself, the only exit seat worth taking is 11C, and I have gotten it with pass B1. I believe the DEF seats in front of the exit rows have more pitch than the exit DEs (12F is special, with an empty spot in front of it).

kamchatsky

OK. So based on this, the front row seats have more seat pitch than exit row in general then?!

rove312

According to seatexpert.com, rows 1-10 on the right (when facing forward) have 33-inch pitch, while exit rows 11-12 on that side have the standard 32, except for the "infinite legroom" 12F.

tusphotog

I've never noticed that. To me, 6D feels the same as 16D. The only issue with rows 1-3 I've experienced: the bins are slightly smaller, so my roller bag which fits perfectly wheels in everywhere else on the plane, has to go length wise.

pinniped

No, but with 32-33" pitch and very short flights for the most part, I think a lot of people are happy to snag Row 2 and be done with it. I notice this as well: as a regular A-lister, I can usually grab an exit row seat if there aren't any thru pax.

No idea whether SFO-LAS would have any thrus...I suppose the plane could be coming from SEA or PDX where there might be a few. (Does WN fly those cities to LAS nonstop? I don't know...)

tusphotog

They don't fly up north out of SFO. Doubt there'd be any thrus either. Usually the planes come out of LA then head south.