Vegas airfare news

Cheap, last-minute trips to Vegas might be a thing of the past if you need to fly.

According to various reports, fuel prices will be causing cuts in flights to vacation spots. Delta will be cutting 45 percent of their flights to Orlando. Five carriers will be cutting a quarter of their flights to Hawaii.

Even Vegas won't get spared. US Air, Delta, and Northwest will cut their flights to Vegas by 25 percent.

A summary from USA Today:

Meanwhile, Las Vegas, the nation's casino capital and a magnet for low-fare carriers, is also drawing major reductions in service. US Airways (LCC), the No. 2 Las Vegas carrier after Southwest (LUV), will have about a quarter less flying capacity out of the city this October, more than 120,000 fewer seats. Delta (DAL) and Northwest (NWA) will be down about as much in percentage terms.

One reason is that the average airfare per mile flown on Las Vegas flights is among the lowest of any airport, according to consulting company Sabre Airline Solutions. In May, it was about 10 cents, compared with 16 cents a mile on flights from Minneapolis, for example.

US Airways' downsizing in Las Vegas includes eliminating its cheap "red-eye" flights that took off late and flew through the night to the East Coast.

"If there are plenty of seats to go during the day, most people would rather fly during the day than make a red-eye flight, so those seats are going first," says Andrew Nocella, US Airways' chief planner.

Bottom Line: ALWAYS be on the lookout for deals to Vegas (even though they might be few and far between). When you see a deal, be ready to grab it.