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July 4th Travel Is Going To Be Crazy This Year

Author Aimee Thomas

The Fourth of July weekend is here, and there are so so many Americans making travel plans for the holiday weekend. However, this year, the travel scenario has been a bit different due to weather in certain parts of the country and staffing issues.

Over 20,000 flights have been delayed, and more than 5,000 canceled.

The TSA has predicted that this weekend will be the busiest weekend of air travel since the pandemic began. With all the chaos and uncertainty of air travel, it might be a smart idea to consider a train or boat for your July 4th travel. I mean folks. That is a lot of delays this week alone. A dad of a great friend of mine always says “Traveling is a violation”,  and I’m going to add, especially, during the holidays.

Try to avoid the crowds. Airports and planes can get extremely crowded during peak travel periods. Waiting in long lines and navigating through crowds can be quite stressful. I wouldn’t even attempt to check luggage. Holidays are always a time when they for sure will lose a bag or two from your flight.

Of course, there is no way around it sometimes. If you need to get somewhere a plane is the only way. Just make sure you get your airline’s app so that you can keep up with cancelations or departure time changes. Get to the airport as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss your flight getting stuck in line at TSA.

With staffing issues and weather uncertainty causing chaos in air travel, it is no surprise that more people are considering alternative transportation for their July 4th travel like walking even. 😉  It might just be the best decision you make this summer.

Listen to Aimee+Shawn weekday mornings from 6-10 on 102.7 VGS

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Aimee Thomas is the morning show co-host of Aimee + Shawn on 102.7 VGS. She has been VGS since the birth of the station in 2022 and has been with Beasley Media Group for nine years doing mornings at various stations in the cluster. Before working in radio Aimee was a bartender at a local restaurant in Las Vegas when a local radio veteran thought she would be perfect in radio because of her crazy stories, knowledge of pop culture, and contagious laugh. Aimee loves writing about new recipes she creates in her kitchen, her favorite artists and actors, and being a mom of two boys.

Wait, Who? The 'Other' Airlines With Direct Flights To Las Vegas

If you’ve driven to the drop-off area of Harry Reid International Airport, you’ll see the names of several of the “usual suspects”. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and on and on. But then you’ll start to see the other airlines that fly direct to Las Vegas.

Avelo? Advanced? Breeze? Who ARE these airlines? Should you be flying them? Well… we are getting to the bottom of these off-brand airlines and figuring out where they go direct and whether they are worth flying or not.

One of the “Other” Airlines with direct Las Vegas flights is based in Las Vegas…

Allegiant Air is an airline on the cusp. If you don’t live in Las Vegas or a small market they service, chances are you wouldn’t know who they are. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Las Vegas Raiders home, Allegiant Stadium, many people may never have heard of the airline at all.

The locally based discount carrier uses LAS as a hub and has several direct flights to many destinations, although many of them are secondary markets that might not get serviced by other airlines. Those direct markets include…

  • Fresno, California (FAT)
  • Monterey/Carmel, California (MRY)
  • Santa Maria, California (SMX)
  • Stockton, California (SCK)
  • Grand Junction, Colorado (GJT)
  • Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Florida (VPS)
  • Idaho Falls, Idaho (IDA)
  • Peoria, Illinois (PIA)
  • Rockford, Illinois (RFD)
  • Cedar Rapids, Iowa (CID)
  • Des Moines, Iowa (DSM)
  • Shreveport, Louisiana (SHV)
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan (GRR)
  • Springfield/Branson, Missouri (SGF)
  • Billings, Montana (BIL)
  • Kalispell, Montana (FCA)
  • Missoula, Montana (MSO)
  • Reno, Nevada (RNO)
  • Asheville, North Carolina (AVL)
  • Bismarck, North Dakota (BIS)
  • Fargo, North Dakota (FAR)
  • Minot, North Dakota (MOT)
  • Cincinnati, Ohio (CVG)
  • Eugene, Oregon (EUG)
  • Medford, Oregon (MFR)
  • Rapid City, South Dakota (RAP)
  • Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD)
  • Knoxville, Tennessee (TYS)
  • Memphis, Tennessee (MEM)
  • El Paso, Texas (ELP)
  • McAllen, Texas (MFE)
  • Provo, Utah (PVU)
  • Bellingham, Washington (BLI)
  • Pasco, Washington (PSC)
  • Spokane, Washington (GEG)
  • Appleton/Green Bay, Wisconsin (ATW)

There are a slew of other alternate airlines as well… we’ll go down the list of ones you may not have heard of before. Who knows, we could save you a buck!

  • Advanced Air

    If you are trying to fly to Merced Regional Airport in Merced, California, you’ve found your airline. The airline has one direct flight from Las Vegas and it is to this city of nearly 90,000 between Fresno and Modesto. They fly other places too, with Los Angeles and Phoenix serving as their home bases.

  • Avelo Airlines

    Avelo Airlines has a connection to Nevada – Elko in particular. They started flying in 1989 as Casino Express Airlines flying from Elko to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. In 2018, the company was acquired (then going by Xtra) and turned into Avelo.

    They have several west coast destinations out of Los Angeles, but interestingly the airline does not fly from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Probably too much competition. Instead, they fly direct from Las Vegas to these bustling metropolises.

    • Eureka, California
    • Sonoma/Santa Rosa, California
    • Dubuque, Iowa
    • Bend, Oregon
    • Brownsville/South Padre Island, Texas

  • Breeze Airways

    This relatively new carrier has the ability to “blow up” (in a good way). It was founded by the same guy that co-founded big players like JetBlue and WestJet. They have several cities they are focusing their attention on from Hartford, Connecticut to Provo, Utah. The list of direct flights to and from Las Vegas is impressive, though, and they might be a good option if you’re going to a medium sized metro area.

    • Huntsville, Alabama (HSV)
    • San Bernardino, California (SBD)
    • Hartford, Connecticut (BDL)
    • Fort Myers, Florida (RSW)
    • Jacksonville, Florida (JAX)
    • Syracuse, New York (SYR)
    • Akron, Ohio (CAK)
    • Norfolk, Virginia (ORF)
    • Richmond, Virginia (RIC)

  • Canada Jetlines

    There are a lot of Canadian carriers, including WestJet (which is not on this list but is still unfamiliar to some). But Canada Jetlines? They’ve been around for aboot a decade and if you’re looking for a direct flight from Las Vegas to Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) then you’ve got your airline.

  • Copa Airlines

    Stop. Stop singing Barry Manilow. You know you are. So predictable.

    Alas, Copa Airlines flies direct from Las Vegas to Panama City, Panama (PTY). That’s it, but frankly, that destination is always in fashion.

  • Edelweiss

    Edelweiss is a sister of Swiss International Air Lines. If you want to visit Zurich, Switzerland, Edelweiss Air. If you want to fly literally anywhere else, they aren’t it.

  • Flair Airlines

    Another low cost carrier out of Canada, Flair Airlines flies direct to nearly all of Canada’s largest major cities:

    • Calgary, Alberta
    • Edmonton, Alberta
    • Ottawa, Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario
    • Vancouver, British Columbia

    Sorry, Montreal.

  • Lynx Air

    Truly never heard of Lynx Air. The only Lynx we know is the animal, and the old Game Gear competitor from Atari.

    Needless to say, if you want to catch a Flames game, head to Calgary direct. Nothing else from here.

  • Northern Pacific Airways

    This airline is so new, they haven’t even begun flights yet. That starts on July 14th. That said, the Northern Pacific Airways is going to have one flight on the books to start: Las Vegas to Ontario, California. (They are saying “Los Angeles” but LA is about 40 miles away). That said, they have plans to fly to Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Orlando and more. Starting small.

  • Red Way

    How do you get to Lincoln, Nebraska direct from Las Vegas? Red Way! No way!? Yes way! But don’t go looking for a “Red Way” plane. The planes all say Global Crossing. Why? Maybe they can explain, but we sure can’t. They should rename the airline “Catfish Airways”.

  • Swoop

    Is it an “airway” or an “airline”? Nope. It’s just Swoop. Arguably the coolest airline name ever. They have three direct flights, all to Canadian destinations.

    • Edmonton, Alberta
    • Hamilton, Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario

  • Volaris

    Volaris has been in the game since 2006, and unlike many on the list they take us south of the border. The airline has direct flights from Las Vegas to Guadalajara and Mexico City, Mexico.

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