The Cheapest United Flights to Las Vegas

If you’re searching for United flights to Las Vegas and looking to get the best deal on award travel, you don’t have to look far. In fact, we’ve done some of the digging for you and rounded up six cheap United flights to Las Vegas that will get you the most value whether you’re paying in cash or United MileagePlus miles.

Since flight prices and award redemption rates change frequently, it’s not a bad idea to know a bit about how to decipher if an award flight is a good deal. NerdWallet values United MileagePlus miles at 1 cent per mile. To get the best value when it comes to cashing in miles for award travel, the best deals on award flights will be valued at slightly more than that. To figure out the cash value of an award mile for a flight you’re considering, simply divide the cost of the cash ticket minus taxes and fees ($5.60 per one-way domestic flight on United) by the cost of the award ticket in miles to get a cent-per-mile value.

For example, if a ticket costs $200 or 15,000 miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees, the math would be (200 – 5.60) / 15,000 = .013. Multiply that by 100 to get 1.3 cents per mile.

Nerdy tip: It pays to be flexible as the cheapest award flights won’t likely be available every day.

Los Angeles and Las Vegas aren’t far from one another, so it makes sense that this route would offer some of the cheapest award flights. You’re likely to find economy flights for the low price of 5,000 miles and First Everyday Award flights at around 25,000 miles.

Flying to Las Vegas from Los Angeles with United Airlines is also fairly inexpensive from a cash standpoint, meaning miles aren’t worth quite as much on most flights. A $39 flight costs 5,000 miles, which comes out to .6 cent per mile, far less than United’s point valuation. Check the math before you book and only redeem miles for more expensive flights if you want to get the most value.

Newark, New Jersey, just outside of New York City, is one of United’s hubs. Because of this, you’re able to get a good deal on award tickets from the NYC area. While there aren’t a ton of these low-mileage award flights on the calendar, you can make the trip to Las Vegas for as few as 9,200 miles.

The cash cost of the same economy flight is around $114, which means miles are worth nearly 1.2 cents each, above the NerdWallet valuation.

This sub-2-hour flight is a cheap one, both in cash and in miles. An economy seat could cost around $69 at the low end, or 5,000 miles, meaning miles are worth 1.2 cents apiece. Don’t bother using points for first class flights on this route, though, as mile valuations are nearly cut in half. It’s worth it to do the math before you book to make sure you’re actually getting a cheap flight to Vegas.

Chicago’s O’Hare is United’s main hub, so it makes sense that flights to and from this airport would be plentiful and often inexpensive, and that includes travel to Las Vegas. For as little as 7,800 miles, you can book an economy flight. The same flight in cash may cost $59 or $99, resulting in a value of .6 cent or 1.2 cents per mile. If you’re going to cash in your miles, they’ll be more valuable on high-priced flights. First class tickets aren’t worth much more.

Another short-haul flight, travel from Denver to Las Vegas on United can be quite affordable. Some economy tickets cost as little as $89 or 6,900 MileagePlus miles. That gives miles for those flights a value of 1.2 cents per mile, which is above average.

Flying from Texas? Good deals can certainly be had on travel between Houston-Intercontinental and Las Vegas. Many award flights are 9,700 miles or $119, making for a fairly steady valuation of 1.1 cent per mile. First class ticket valuations tend to remain closer to 1 cent per mile.

If any of these low-priced United flights to Las Vegas have you wondering how you’re going to rack up enough miles for a one-way ticket, have no fear — there are plenty of ways to earn MileagePlus miles fast:

• Buy e-gift cards using the MileagePlusX app: Just download and open the MileagePlusX app, purchase a digital gift card in any amount and earn a set number of miles for every dollar spent.

• Shop online and earn: Use the United MileagePlus Shopping platform to earn miles for every dollar you spend or purchase you make at over 900 online retailers.

• Dine out: Whether you’re dining out or taking out, link a credit card to the MileagePlus Dining platform, search for participating restaurants in your area, then dine and pay with your linked card to earn miles for every dollar you spend on your meals.

The United Gateway℠ Card has a $0 annual fee, and cardholders can earn:

• 15,000 miles after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of card membership.

• 3x miles on groceries.

• 2x miles on gas, United purchases and local transit.

• 1x miles on everything else.

The United℠ Explorer Card has an annual fee of $0 intro for the first year, then $99 after that. Cardholders can earn:

• 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in the first three months.

• First checked bag free when flying.

• 2x miles on United purchases, dining and hotels.

• Two United Club one-time passes each year.

• Up to 1,000 premier qualifying points.

• Up to a $100 fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

The United Quest℠ Card has a $250 annual fee, but cardholders can earn:

• 80,000 bonus miles after $5,000 in spending in the first three months.

• A $125 annual United purchase credit.

• Two 5,000-mile anniversary award flight credits.

• Free first and second checked bags.

• 3x miles on United purchases.

• 2x miles on dining, all other travel and select streaming services.

• Up to 3,000 premier qualifying points.

• Up to a $100 fee credit for GlobalEntry or TSA PreCheck.

If Las Vegas is your destination and United is your airline, there are plenty of options for cheap flights whether you’re paying in cash or with miles. This means more money in your pocket for fine dining, entertainment or the blackjack tables.

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