Las Vegas On a Budget

The now defunct Strip Trolley

There are many options regarding transportation in Las Vegas. So, let’s explore some of the areas you need to consider:

First, getting to your hotel from the airport. If you are not renting a car, and your hotel doesn't offer free transportation (most don't) then you have a choice of using one of the transportation services at the airport, or a taxi. If there are multiple people, the taxi may be the way to go. The third party transport services run buses to the various hotels and have small booths set up at the airport. Some of those services are Bell Transport 702-739-7990 and Grey Line 702-739-5700. The cost from the airport to a strip hotel is 6.00 per person, downtown 7.50 per person, and off strip hotels 9.00 to 10.00. You can purchase a return trip from the hotel to the airport at the same time for a reduced rate. Easily for an off strip hotel the cost for taking the transport, which can be time consuming depending on the order and number of hotels they are dropping off at, can equal the cost of a cab. It would most likely be cheaper, however, if one is staying on the strip. A cab ride from the Orleans to the airport cost us $25 because of traffic delays but is usually around $20. That was the same cost for us from the airport to the Orleans using Belltrans and we were the last dropped off.

Getting around town. Getting around can be easy given the wide variety of free shuttles provided by some of the hotels. For instance, The Orleans (my favorite place to stay) offers a free shuttle that runs every 20 minutes and takes the rider between their properties. It drops off at the Gold Coast (the Rio and the Palms are within walking distance), and at Wild Bill's (formerly the Barbary Coast) which is right in the middle of the strip. Sam's Town operates a free shuttle to the strip, as does the Hardrock Cafe. I don't believe they run as frequently as the Coast shuttles. You can check their website's for up-to-date information.

Getting up and down the strip is easy. My prior favorite option was the Strip Trolley...but when we arrived in July 2008 I found out it had just been shut down! I was saddened and decided to try the *gulp* bus. You know what, that double decker bus known as the Deuce is WONDERFUL! You can also take the fast, but extremely expensive monorail in addition to taking a cab (which is easy to find at any main hotel). My biggest beef with the monorail, in addition to the price, is that the location isn't great if you are staying at, say, the Riviera or the Wynn. By the time you walk to the nearest station, it's pretty pointless. Even when you are at a hotel that has a monorail station...it's way out of the way. If you add in how far it is to even get to the nearest monorail station, I think the bus is actually the quicker option since there are bus stops everywhere on the strip. They also loudly announce what hotels are accessible from each stop, so it's very easy to know when you need to get off.

My recommendation is taking the Deuce. That is not what this page said before this, and I had no intention of trying the bus. This year (July 2008) during our trip I didn't have a choice. I don't take buses in my much smaller town, so this was a big deal for me! I also had to do it alone, as my husband was in meetings. So, single girl alone on a bus. It could be bad, but it really wasn't. You can purchase a daily ticket ($5 as I write this) and ride for 24 hours. You insert the $5 and they give you a card that is good for that specific tiem. Otherwise it is $2 one way. It is loads faster than the strip trolley, because it stops on the street. It's quick, it's easy, and very efficient. I did not take it in the evening when the streets were extremely packed, and I know some people complained that going up and down the stairs to the top was difficult. I cannot offer information about that, as I just chose to stand and hold on until a seat opened up on the bottom--and the latest I took the bus was mid-afternoon. I never felt even the least bit scared, but I can see where if it was really busy it would be a good idea to keep close guard on yoru valuables. This really is a great alternative to taking a cab or the monorail! The bus system has two choices, their regular route buses and the Deuce bus which is specific to the strip.

Monorail Service Map

The rates on the monorail have been rising, the ridership is down so they hike the rates. It doesn't seem to occur to them that it's not used as often as it could be because it's so ourtrageously expensive. The ride is fast and smooth, but for the cost of riding it, if a number of people are going, it would be cheaper to take a cab or to rent a car. Because it is not as financially sound as expected, the projected project to extend it to the downtown area and to the airport has been postponed. There are also many complaints about the location of the monorail because it often requires extra walking to the back of the hotel to catch it (it runs behind the strip) but I didn't find that to be a big deal--it's pretty impossible to avoid walking through the casinos no matter what your destination is, be it an attraction, food or whatever. As far as speed goes, there's no beating the Monorail. It's a shame really, that they have priced it so high. It was also difficult to get to from the Riviera where we were staying. We had to walk to the Las Vegas Hilton--which was a pretty unbearable hike in 120 degree weather. If I was staying at a hotel with a stop, I might be more open to using this as my standard mode of transportation.

Renting a car? Use caution, some of the LV rental outlets require PROOF of full coverage if you don't want their daily insurance coverage. Take your entire policy, not just your rental card. We did this and it saved us, a call to my insurance agent couldn't help me when we were picking up the car at 10PM. They want to make you pay the $15 more per day for their own coverage--this is where they make their money. Now, there are other considerations even if your own insurance covers rentals. Usually your own insurance will not pay the extra per day rental fee while the car is being fixed, also you are responsible for whatever your deductible is. What we do, and what I would recommend if you have an American Express card or are qualified to get one is to get their supplemental coverage. You have to apply for it separately, and it takes a few weeks to be approved. The form is found here. For $19.95 I have supplemental coverage for $75,000. There is a $25/100,000 choice also. This is primary coverage that is in addition to your vehicle policy. They will not accept this as proof of coverage, because it does not have a high enough limit. However, it is still yours to use should there be a problem. It pays the per day rental charge for the car (generally your regular insurance will not cover the daily fees being assessed when the car is out of commission), and it pays the repair up to the limit you chose. Say there was a scratch on the car they are making you responsible for, for only the supplemental fee it will be taken care of 100% and it will in no way affect your own insurance or cost you anything additional. To me, that was worth it. We self parked at some places which was easier, saved us the cost of a tip for the valet, and let me not have to worry about door dings or someone hitting us and taking off.

Also, if you are renting a car keep checking back. Those rates literally change daily. This last trip I was able to get a rate that was often as high as $18 a day down to $10 a day on a mid-size, which was great for us. Ok, Payless Car rental thinks a Toyota Corolla is a "mid-size"...but it was a nice new car! I was hoping to rent from Hertz, they have a self serve kiosk, and some rental coupon codes can be found online if you look. I hesitated too long, however, and then their rates skyrocketed. We've used Payless the last two times, but they make me nervous because I've heard bad things. I must say, however, we've had no problems at all. The desk clerks are pushy, they want to sell their extra insurance, but everyone else was fabulous and the entire process was very fast.