Getting Here

There are 16 airlines that directly serve McCarran International (LAS) (http://www.mccarran.com/airlines.asp). One of the sites that we recommend is Kayak.com (which merged with another recommended site, SideStep.com). This is a free site and does not charge a booking fee.

Kayak visits other websites for you. It finds the best prices and also has best fare alerts. The only website it does not surf is Southwest Airlines which has the most (about 238) of any one airline's Vegas flights (http://www.southwest.com/). If you combine Kayak and Souhwest you should be able to get the cheapest air fares to Vegas. Kayak has also indexed 115,000 hotels, all the major car rental companies and most cruises.

Although we recommend a two-step approach to planning your visit to Vegas, visitors who value convenience might look upon Kayak as a good one stop shopping approach. Below is a text link to Kayak as well as an online form to check for the lowest air fare.

Travel Deals

Getting Around

Each transportation method has strengths and weaknesses for Las Vegas.  Our table below breaks them down for you.  You also need to know these key tips for navigating Vegas.

Las Vegas blocks can be 1/4 mile long along Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip) which makes walking across the street a bigger task than you would think.  Non-handicapped mobility scooter use has grown rapidly in Vegas.

Rush hour on the Strip can start earlier than 3:30pm and extend past 8:00pm.  The Strip is less busy from 5:00am to 9:00am because most shuttles don’t operate that early and the clubs have emptied. 

Lanes of major roads are often under construction or under phantom construction (closed for no apparent reason).  If driving, be prepared to follow lanes that shift suddenly with warning signs blanketed under graffiti. 

Vegas drivers are not as bad as some cities but many people come here from LA.  These drivers know from divine revelation that if they are 30 seconds late to a Strip Club, the world will end.  They will not let you make a lane change in front of them because they want to save mankind.

Here is the transportation summary:

*Stretch Limos are about $50-100+ per hour,Monorail runs until 3 am on Fr, Sa, Su

Taxis

Here are 5 key points about using taxis in Las Vegas.  Overall, Vegas cabs are on a par with most major U.S. cities in terms of pricing, cab line waits, cabbie honesty etc.  This is not necessarily praise.

1. Don’t wave down a cab.  Call for one or wait in line at a cab stand at the casinos.  The 16 cab companies in Las Vegas have areas where they can and cannot pick up passengers.
   
   
2. Tell them not to “Long Haul” you.  From McCarran, if you go through the tunnel, you are probably being “Long Hauled” unless there is some major tie-up on the faster routes.  Threaten to complain to the TA (Taxicab Authority) at 702-486-6532.  The nicest, talkative cab drivers and some foreign born cab drivers are usually the worse offenders.
   
   
3. Vegas cab drivers get kickbacks from Strip Clubs and Bordellos.  Scores and Spearmint Rhino are usually two of the more aggressive although almost all Strip Clubs, even those that don’t like to pay kickbacks such as Minxx, still pay. (Please see our guide to the best Strip Clubs in Vegas by clicking here.  Once you make up your mind, demand to go to that specific club even if the cabbie says the girls are ugly, the club is closed, and you will be killed by drug addicts.  By the way, the Crazy Horse Too is actually closed so you can believe the taxi drivers that tell you that.)
   
   
4. Use cash, no larger than $20 bills to pay.  Tip about 15% plus $1 a bag if they help you with luggage.
   
   
5. Taxi costs are:

a. $3.30 to start meter
b. $0.20 each 1/11th  mile--$2.20 a mile including gas surcharge
c. $28.00 hour to wait or when not moving over 8 mph
d. $1.20 McCarran airport pick-up fee

Here is a table of some rough estimates of trip costs including the possibility of a rare, major traffic tie-up.  The meter will run when you are tied up at the $28 waiting rate when moving less than 8 mph.  All estimates assume a pick-up from McCarran which adds $1.20 to the costs.

Note:  Assumes McCarran pick-up fee
Note:  Very rough estimates

At McCarran, the taxi line is 30+ stalls deep and cabbies often wait 20 minutes in the “Pit” before they can pick up passengers.  Many cabbies don’t like to work the airport. 

Expect a 15 minute wait for a cab and with a major convention, you may be in line an hour or more.  Although there will be another cab line in 2011, it won’t help you now.

Limos

An advantage of a limo pick up is that they can help with luggage earlier than a cabbie can.  Also, since a limo is assigned to you ahead of time, there is no cab line wait. You may have to find your misspelled name on a piece of cardboard held just below the head of the person standing in front of your limo driver.

Here are items that might cost extra.

Limos have the following advantages over cabs:

• No wait in airport cab line
• Better ride
• Earlier help with luggage
• Extras that vary a lot (champagne, water, rose for woman etc.)
• Larger group (5,6,7, 8 etc.) can ride together

If you are willing to pay a premium of at least $23 to $54 or more over the cost of a cab, you can probably get to your hotel from McCarran a bit faster and with more style.  However, you need to ask more questions about limos to find the total costs.

Here are some rough numbers about limo costs.  We are not sure about the lowest prices for a limo and there may be limo costs higher than what we have found in our sampling of about 2 dozen Las Vegas limo companies.

There is a website that claims it is a search engine for limos.  It seems a bit awkward to use and does not generate many search results but it might help you gather information from different Las Vegas limo services.  For that site, click here.  By the way, many limo companies do not publish their rates on the web (perhaps because they vary during the year quite a bit) which makes it difficult to collect information.   

Trolley

This 30 seater costs $4.25 from 8 am until 5 pm and $4.25 from 5 pm until midnight—day passes are $6.50.  Have exact change, luggage is not allowed. 

Children who look like they could be under 5 ride for free.  If your 5 year old has a mustache and is 240 lbs., they may not believe you. 

Trolleys usually run about every 20 minutes.  There are 3 route segments:

• Downtown (transfer at Stratosphere)
• Strip  
• South (transfer at Mandalay Bay)

The Trolley swings by the convention center and hits the Stratosphere, Fashion Show Mall and major casinos down to Mandalay Bay.  For Downtown, you transfer at the Stratosphere. 

If you want to go South of the Strip to South Point and Las Vegas Outlet Center, you transfer at Mandalay Bay.  They will probably stop at Town Square when it opens.

The Trolley has a pretty good route, especially for the Convention Center, and is a very reasonable way to get around.  It is more like a bus that has a Trolley design so it will sometimes get hung up in traffic like any other bus or taxi.

 
CAT and Deuce 

The 24/7 Deuce and the CAT (Citizen’s Area Transport) are part of the same bus system in Vegas which also includes MAX and Silver STAR bus lines.  The Deuce is a double-decker with a low ceiling on the second story—be sure to bend down unless your forehead easily bends steel.  CAT and Deuce cost $5 for an all-day pass—have exact change.  You can transfer from one to the other.

Strip visitors can now only take the Deuce Strip bus; the Deuce LVCC no longer runs.  The Deuce Strip starts near the Las Vegas Outlet Stores and now serves them directly unlike before when you had to transfer. 

The Deuce Strip goes up Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip) hitting all the big casinos.  It continues north to Downtown.  Downtown casinos are all pretty close to each other so you should not have a problem hitting most of them in a day.

From 3 pm to 11 pm, the busses are scheduled to run every 7 minutes.  In the time slot of 2 am to 5 am, they run every 17 minutes.  Here is the schedule.

CAT routes can take you pretty much everywhere with the exception of the newer areas such as Aliante, Mountain’s Edge, and pockets in the west.  Schedules outside of the Strip vary and have service gaps with some routes up to an hour wait.  Of about 40 routes, just over a third of them are 24 hours with 1 am to 5 am a common service gap.

Overall, the bus system in Las Vegas is not too bad and on the Strip is excellent.  Vegas Made Easy.com gives a very slight edge to the Deuce over the Trolley for most Strip visitors because it is cheaper, runs more often and its air conditioning will unexpectedly work now and then.

If you want to hit some of the other areas in Vegas, or are a bicyclist or handicapped, the CAT/Deuce is the only choice.  If you need the Las Vegas Convention Center or the Hilton, use the Trolley.  If you want to maximize your time at the big casinos, use whichever shows up first.  
  

Car Rentals

Las Vegas has high taxes that can add up to 47% to the cost of renting. The trick of renting at the hotel instead of the airport often does not work any more as far as getting noticeable savings.  Here are 2 web quotes for economy cars with the taxes and fees broken out separately.

Vegas Made Easy.com has no suggestions to bypass this large tax hit.  You may not suffer as much knowing that it is coming. 

Unlike most other airports, you take a single shuttle system to the McCarran Rental Center where 12 companies service from 10 stations.

Here are the choices:

Although the major Vegas hotels have pulled some or all of the room discounting of the travel sites, you might still get a small savings through some of the travel sites like Priceline.com on packages including a rental car.

Driving in Vegas

If you are driving in Vegas, there are some back door routes that can keep you off the Strip at really crowded times of the day.  For example, if you are west of the Strip, Frank Sinatra (heading east) can move when the Strip turns to glue.  If you are east of the Strip, Koval (heading west) might be your lifeline.

The best back door routes are to Mandalay Bay and Venetian/Harrah’s.  Mandalay is a strategic hub of the south Strip and Venetian/Harrah’s will put you close to a number of major casinos.  For the central Strip, the back door to Caesars is a good way to get to Bellagio without tempting fate on the Strip or Flamingo.

When Flamingo gets congested, you might be able to use Valley View for Palms/Rio/Gold Coast.  If Paradise is backed up due to constant construction and you need to place a bet, Joe Brown is the back door to the Hilton Sportsbook. 

For the Wynn, you can avoid the Strip except for a small stretch by using Fashion Show Drive.  Turn left onto the Strip and then right into a good self-park lot.  Consult maps for exact routes but here are some back door suggestions.

Note: Audrie parallels Koval from MGM to Bally's; Cut off by Flamingo then up to Caesars
Note: Dean Martin is the same as Industrial

Always try to drive at non-peak times.  Even the back door ways like Frank Sinatra can get crowded in the afternoons.  Vegas Made Easy.com estimates that Vegas is about a medium to medium hard city to drive in although for first time visitors to Vegas who are trying to use mostly the Strip, it is very difficult.

Scooters/Walking

When the Strip backs up, walking can be the fastest way to get somewhere.  If you are a Volksmarcher or a jogger, you may enjoy this exercise. 

To avoid blisters, a thin nylon socklet used under a regular cotton crew sock works well.  You may also need to drink up to a gallon of water a day under Las Vegas heat.  Las Vegas enforces Jaywalking rules on the Strip unlike many cities and this also helps save lives.

If you are not into walking but don’t want to use the other transportation means, an increasingly popular alternative is a mobility scooter formerly relegated to handicapped and elderly.  A big model can cruise over 7 miles per hour (MPH).  The smaller wheelchair size models can get up to about 4.5 MPH. 

Typical rents are $40 a day, $75 for 2 days, $110 for 3 days with a weekly rate of $20 per day for 4-7 days.  Avis can combine car and mobility scooter rentals although most hotels can arrange for scooters as well.  Although there may be a stigma for healthy, young users of mobility scooters, it should fade with growing usage. 

Monorail

Strengths of the Las Vegas Monorail are its speed, Convention Center stop, frequent trains, and imperviousness to Strip traffic jams.  Here are its stops. 

• MGM
• Bally’s/Paris
• Flamingo
• Harrah’s
• Convention Center
• Hilton
• Sahara

Trains run about every 6 minutes and the entire trip can finish in 15 minutes.  It starts at 7 am and runs until 2 am or 3 am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  A one-day pass is $9.  You can get discounts and specials from the retro blue uniformed girls who promote the Monorail at the casinos where it makes stops.

If you are near one of the stations or staying at the Wynn (Wynn has an 8 am to 8 pm, on the hour Monorail shuttle) and want to hit one of the casinos on the short list, it is a reasonable choice especially if traffic has backed up on the Strip.  It is a poor solution that requires walking to augment its far east Strip position if you want to hit all or most of the Vegas casinos.

Shuttles

Some of the casinos have free service using busses that can be as small as 14 seaters at Green Valley to full blown busses such as at the Palms and Sam’s Town.  Most shuttles are about 20 seaters and first come first served.  Have room key in case they check.  These schedules can change so always confirm with the Bell Desk before making plans.

The major hubs are Fashion Show Mall, the Rio, Bill’s and Mandalay Bay. There are 4 hotels that use Fashion Show, 3 that use Rio, 3 have Bill’s as their key hub and 4 that use Mandalay Bay.  Here is an overview of the shuttles.

Bally’s/Paris, Caesars, and Harrah’s have shuttles that use the Rio as their hub.  To shuttle to Bally’s or Paris from Harrah’s, for example, go to the Rio first.  Shuttles run about every half hour at about 10 am to 1 am.

Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay are connected by the Tram (a free monorail) that runs about every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day.  No one checks for room keys so any visitor can use it.  Excellent backdoors and the Tram make Mandalay Bay the key transportation hub for the South Strip.   
 
Gold Coast, Suncoast and the Orleans use Bill’s as their hub despite the fact that parent company Boyd’s Gaming who owns all 3 and Sam’s Town no longer owns Bill’s.  Gold Coast runs about every 15-20 minutes and from 9 am to midnight.

Suncoast’s shuttle lag times for the return trip from Bill’s vary from one-half to a full hour.  It leaves for Bills’s 7 times a day at 10, noon, 2:45, 6:45, 8, 10:45 and midnight.

They also have a McCarran shuttle that runs about 9 times a day starting from 7 am to 9 pm.  Orleans runs from 9:30 to midnight but not as often as Gold Coast.  Only Suncoast within the Boyd’s properties has a free airport shuttle. 

Sam’s Town has the second best shuttle service of any casino in Las Vegas with an advantage that some of their large busses can take wheelchairs too.  Here are the locations they serve.  Sam’s Town uses a pay service for the airport unlike before.

• Downtown               California and Fremont (both owned by Boyd’s)
• North Strip               Riviera and Harrah’s
• Mid Strip                  Bill’s
• South Strip              Tropicana

Fremont to Sam’s Town starts at 8:15 until 11:15 with another stop at the California about 15 minutes later.  There is a lag of about 30-45 minutes for the return service and 12-13 shuttles everyday or about an hour and 15 minutes between shuttles.

Harrah’s to Sam’s Town has 9 shuttles a day that begin at 9:30 am and run until 9:30.  There is an hour’s delay for the return trip, last one to Harrah’s at 10:30.  This shuttle also stops by the Riviera about 20 minutes after Harrah’s so the first Riviera bus is at 9:50.  North Strip shuttles are every 1 1/2 hours.

The first shuttle from Bill’s to Sam’s Town is at 9:40 until 9:40 at night with return trips lagged about 55 minutes.  This means the first trip back to Sam’s Town is at 10:25 am.   There is an estimated interval between busses of an hour and 20 minutes.

Sam’s Town from the Tropicana at the South end of the Strip begins at 9:40 with the last one at 9:40 pm.  There is an hour’s lag for the return trip which starts at 10:40 am.  Busses run about an hour and 20 minutes apart.

Green Valley has airport and Strip shuttles (to Mandalay Bay).  They have Monday through Thursday, Friday and Saturday and a Sunday schedule as shown below.&nb