The great thing about Southwest going to Vegas is that you can connect to pretty much anywhere out west through there. SWA has flights to San Francisco and Oakland, all four major LA area airports, San Diego, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, Reno, etc. For those of us who prefer SWA over other airlines, this is ideal. I hate having to fly east to go west when I go to northern California, but will do it if the price is right vs other carriers. After 9/29, I won't have to do that anymore. I have flown through Vegas on SWA when I've driven to Kansas City or Omaha for a flight and it's always worked out pretty well. If I were to guess what may be added next from DSM, I would say in 2014 they might consider direct flights to Love Field in Dallas.
Southwest adding Des Moines - Las Vegas route!
- Thread starter Buster28
- Start date
Wow nice. Hopefully they add a flight to Orlando sometime as I'm sick of Allegiant.
This could knock Allilgiant out of Des Moines market. We'll see.
Since things are going as hoped when SWA entered the Des Moines market (adding Vegas is great sign), could see future nonstops to Phoenix, Denver, Or/ando someday (hopefully)!
Since things are going as hoped when SWA entered the Des Moines market (adding Vegas is great sign), could see future nonstops to Phoenix, Denver, Or/ando someday (hopefully)!
We go to Vegas every year and that's always the flight times we take. It makes it so I don't have to use vacation on Friday and then we get home early enough on Monday to get some decent sleep before going back to work. I like the 8 pm departing and 8 am arriving times. Anymore than 2-3 days in Vegas gets old fast, especially if you go there a lot like we do.
I don't want Allegiant knocked out of the market. Competition is a good thing for prices.
I don't either, but from my understanding, Allegiant doesn't traditionally stay in markets to go head-to-head with SWA. I'm sure (hope) that if the demand is large enough, they'll stay. I've just heard rumblings.
This is definitely good news for somebody who is A-list Preferred and has about 150,000 points banked for Southwest. Not that I fly out of Des Moines--I live in Washington, DC--but having the option to go home from IAD or BWI with points instead of money to Delta or something was much nicer the past few months.
I was hoping for a DSM --> BWI connection to give that direct flight to their east coast hub (i.e. me), but seeing them expand out to LAS is at least nice to know the DSM market is going well for them. That should meant the DSM to MDW connection is safe, and there's like a dozen or so IAD to BWI into MDW stuff for a quick connection.
For that matter, they do that whole "touch 'n' go" routing without a plane change between IAD and DSM as it is right now, too.
I was hoping for a DSM --> BWI connection to give that direct flight to their east coast hub (i.e. me), but seeing them expand out to LAS is at least nice to know the DSM market is going well for them. That should meant the DSM to MDW connection is safe, and there's like a dozen or so IAD to BWI into MDW stuff for a quick connection.
For that matter, they do that whole "touch 'n' go" routing without a plane change between IAD and DSM as it is right now, too.
I wouldn't worry to much about that. Plenty of demand to go to Vegas, plus Allegiant also does quite well with service to St. Pete, FL from DSM.
(warning: I'm going to be "that guy" for a moment)
Direct flight is not the same as a non-stop flight. Direct flight only means you can get to your destination by not having to change airlines. Obviously, this is the norm when you fly out of any decent sized airport (including DSM)
Non-stop means exactly that. You don't land until you reach your destination.
Most people who say they're looking for a direct flight really mean nonstop (as I believe would be the case on a couple earlier commentators on this thread).
BTW, here is a list of current nonstop routes out of DSM:
Des Moines International Airport
Direct flight is not the same as a non-stop flight. Direct flight only means you can get to your destination by not having to change airlines. Obviously, this is the norm when you fly out of any decent sized airport (including DSM)
Non-stop means exactly that. You don't land until you reach your destination.
Most people who say they're looking for a direct flight really mean nonstop (as I believe would be the case on a couple earlier commentators on this thread).
BTW, here is a list of current nonstop routes out of DSM:
Des Moines International Airport
Who defines a direct flight this way? Every definition I've ever heard is it means the same plane (or a little looser - same flight number) from start to finish. In other words if you have a direct flight you have no risk of missing a connection.
Good clarification. I was sloppy with my defination. I agree, the best way to describe a direct flight is one where your flight number remains consistant from departure to destination.
My bigger point is that I usually hear people referring to direct flights when in reality they are meaning nonstop.
