The Ultimate Guide on Southwest Flights to Vegas 

If you plan to visit Sin City and like flying with Southwest Airlines, you’ll be happy to know that you have many options for Southwest flights to Las Vegas. Here's what you need to know.

Southwest flies direct to Las Vegas from more than 60 U.S. cities, including Buffalo, New York; Cleveland; Denver; Houston; Milwaukee; and Tampa, Florida. If you don’t mind making a stop, you can find a Southwest flight to Las Vegas from almost anywhere the airline flies.

You'll fly into Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), formerly McCarran Airport. Before you book your Southwest Las Vegas flight, know what to expect for departure and your return trip.

• Terminal: Las Vegas’ airport has two terminals — Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. All Southwest Airlines flights depart and arrive at Terminal 1 at the B and C concourses, where you’ll find a variety of shops, restaurants, eateries — and slot machines. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the public areas of the airport.

• Terminal 1 lounge: The Club LAS is past security in Concourse D, located near gate D33. If you have Priority Pass lounge access through a credit card, you can use this lounge. But because it’s in a different concourse than your Southwest flight, allow extra time to get to your gate.

• Terminal 3 lounges: You probably won’t be in Terminal 3 before your Southwest flight, but if you are, there’s a Centurion Lounge located in Concourse D opposite Gate D1 that’s accessible for certain American Express credit cardholders with Centurion Lounge perks. There’s also a United Club in Concourse D between gates 33 and 35. You’ll need a one-time pass or United Club membership to visit. Some United Credit Cards offer passes or memberships.

Southwest loyalists are wise to become Rapid Rewards members, which makes it easy to earn and redeem Rapid Rewards points. Points are earned by flying the airline, spending on a co-branded credit card or spending with partners, such as specific hotels. Members can also buy points or transfer them from outside loyalty programs.

When flying, points are earned at varying rates depending on the ticket type. For non-elite flyers, the airline's cheapest airfares, known as Wanna Get Away, earn 6 bonus points per dollar spent. This ends up being half of what's earned for the most expensive ticket type (Business Select), which earns 12.

Elites are known as A-List or A-List Preferred members and get a further boost to points earnings, as well as priority boarding and other benefits.

If you plan to fly regularly to Vegas on Southwest, consider becoming a member and earning status to improve your overall flight experience.

» Learn more: The complete guide to the Southwest Rapid Rewards program

The value of Southwest Rapid Rewards points varies depending on how you use them. NerdWallet’s recent analysis determined Southwest points are worth an average of 1.5 cents each. This baseline value can help you determine if your redemption is worth it or if you should instead pay cash and save your points for a more valuable redemption. Learn more about the value of Southwest points.

When looking at flight options, consider the airline's Wanna Get Away fares. Because these fares tend to be the cheapest cash option, they also get good value for your points compared to Anytime and Business Select fares. But if you've got earning in mind, consider the new Wanna Get Away Plus fare, which gets you an 8x earning rate over Wanna Get Away's 6x rate.

If your travel dates are flexible, use the Low Fare Calendar, which lets you search by month to find the cheapest travel dates. You can view the lowest fares by cash and points price to decide when is optimal to fly.

Searching for Southwest cheap flights to Vegas? To get a snapshot of costs, we rounded up the following fares for one-way journeys from five popular departure cities. Some of these flights were nonstop, while others were not.

We determined the value per point with a simple math equation: (Cost in cash / Cost in points) x 100. If the cost per point is more than our average value of 1.5 cents, you're getting a good deal. If it's below, you might consider holding onto those points for a future, more valuable redemption.

» Learn more: The cheapest Southwest flights to Las Vegas on points

There are plenty of ways to book affordable Vegas flights with Rapid Rewards points. Follow these tips to get a better deal.

• Open a Southwest Airlines credit card. New Southwest credit cardholders can earn a generous amount of points via welcome bonuses. Cards include the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card.

• Earn a Companion Pass. If you can earn the Companion Pass, a companion of your choosing can join you on every flight that you take at no cost other than taxes and fees. This benefit is available whether you pay the cash rate or redeem points for your flight. Alternately, the three Southwest cards mentioned in the previous bullet are currently offering a Companion Pass as part of their welcome bonus offers.

• Transfer points from another rewards program. If you don’t have enough Southwest Rapid Rewards points but have Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, you can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio. If you have Marriott Bonvoy points, you could convert those to Southwest Rapid Rewards points, but we don’t recommend this option as they transfer at a 3:1 ratio.

• Fly on off-peak travel days and times. You're bound to find a more affordable airfare on a Tuesday than a Friday, and departing early hours versus mid-morning.

» Learn more: Can you have two Southwest credit cards?

This airline makes it easy to get to Sin City, as many Southwest flights to Vegas are nonstop. If you book your flight well in advance, you can find some nice mile redemption options, as well as affordable cash rates.