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Don't Tweet at Vegas Cabbie Because He's No Longer Picking You Up

July 21, 2010 at 6:11 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

Last year we discovered an ingenious way to avoid the endless taxi line at McCarran Airport---by tweeting @VegasCabbie.

VegasCabbie would then be able to pick you up at Yellow #1, a passenger pick-up area where cabbies can pick up their somewhat pre-arranged rides. All it takes is your smartphone, Twitter and a couple of bucks to give to a skycap.

But sadly, this trick won't work anymore because VegasCabbie has retired. He tweeted last week:

Well off to start new job tomorrow, NOT A VEGASCABBIE ANYMORE, 8-( sad but true,the $$ is just not there anymore. Thx for the memories all.

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Should You Go Number 1 or Number 2 On The Strip?

Where: 300 N. Casino Center [map], 89125
May 7, 2010 at 3:33 PM | by Mr Pappagiorgio | 0 Comments

Las Vegas is well known for being a drinkin’ and eatin’ town. Which means at some point you might have to make a decision: Number 1 or Number 2? No, no, we’re not resorting to potty humor here at VegasChatter. Not that we’re above it, of course, but that’s not today’s topic. We’re referring to getting around while you’re on the Strip. You already know about hoofing and cabbing it, so we caught up on the bus situation:

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Yet Another Reason to Take Out Cash Before You Head to Vegas

April 23, 2010 at 8:14 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We've long advised our friends and readers to take out cash from the ATM before you arrive in Vegas simply because the casino ATMs will charge you between $4 and $6 to get money. This is a hefty ATM fee that no one should have to pay and it stings even worse when you're already in the hole after dropping a wad of cash on Chippendales dancers high stakes blackjack tables.

But cash in Vegas is best for many other reasons. One, you will need to tip people every so often (the bellmen lugging your suitcase, the front desk clerk if you want an upgrade, the bathroom attendant at PUB, etc.) Two, it makes for quicker transactions and without a paper trail (so you can buy that sex kit at the gift shop and hurry on out of there.)

And finally, cash doesn't require any processing fees which is what we encountered in a taxi cab yesterday to the airport.

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Cheap But Not Chic: Riding the Shuttle Bus from the Airport

April 20, 2010 at 7:11 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We landed in Las Vegas yesterday afternoon and as we stepped out into the warm breezy weather, we found ourselves, for once, not in a rush to get to our hotel room. So we decided to gamble with our transportation options and hop on one of the shuttle buses outside the airport baggage claim.

Usually, we drive into Vegas so that we can have our car with us wherever we go. We also hate the taxi ride to and from the airport which is typically $20 each way and the high fares for going places on the Strip. But this time we were without a car and on a budget. Thus we decided to take the Bell Trans shuttle bus to The Palms.

The one-way fare for strip hotels is $7 and off the strip is $8. There are several shuttle bus companies when you step outside the baggage claim area. The first one is the Executive shuttle bus which is a dollar cheaper than Bell Trans. However, their line was extra long while Bell Trans had no one at their window. We decided less people on the bus was worth the extra dollar. After all, that means less stops

Now, we have taken this shuttle bus once before back in 2007. The ride was torturously long, especially since we were in a hurry and we vowed never to do it again. But yesterday was different. We knew what to expect and we had no place to be. ( And did we mention we were too cheap to spring for a taxi?)

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Party Hard, Ride Free on New Year's Eve

December 29, 2009 at 12:37 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

New Year's Eve on the Strip will be a madhouse but you shouldn't have to worry about finding enough dough for a taxi as the city of Las Vegas will be running free rides from 6pm on Thursday until 9am on Friday.

The RTC will be giving rides for free on all fixed bus routes but some of them, like The Deuce, will be rerouted as the Strip will be closed to vehicle traffic so that you can party in the streets. he free rides will run from 6 p.m. Thursday until 9 a.m. on Friday.

Free rides sound good but you know what sounds better? Leaving the nightclub, stumbling a few steps to the elevator bank, riding up to your hotel room and passing out on the bed. That's why party planning is necessary. Or else, forking out extra dolla's.

Meanwhile, if you just happen to be in New York instead of Vegas for New Year's, the old guy in the club, P. Diddy is offering free rides home to revelers by handing out $15 taxi debit cards and one-way fare Metrocards.

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How to Get Around The Strip By Car

June 3, 2009 at 7:27 PM | by Erika Pope | 0 Comments

If you’re visiting Vegas and have a car, you need to know that there’s virtually no reason whatsoever why you should ever need to drive on Las Vegas Boulevard. It’s likely to be jam packed any night of the week – on weekends, it’s sure to be – and there are a few parallel roads that will get you where you need to go in a fraction of the time it’ll take you to travel the four miles of the Strip itself.

Just print out a map of the Strip and orient yourself to these three routes: Industrial Road, Koval Lane and Paradise Road. That first one runs more or less parallel to the Strip on the west side (the same side as the Mirage, Caesars, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay), and the second two run roughly parallel to the Strip on the east side (that’d be the same side as MGM Grand, Venetian and Wynn).

Koval Lane should be your route of choice if you’re traveling anywhere from the Venetian at the north end to Mandalay Bay at the south. Note that once it crosses Tropicana Avenue heading south, it makes a dramatic curve to the right and turns into Hacienda Avenue before dumping you off right between Mandalay Bay and the Luxor, where you have your pick of either the Mandalay Place parking valet area to the right (good choice and never a wait for your car) or THEhotel/Mandalay Bay hotel valets and parking garage on your left.

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How to Use Twitter To Bypass The Endless Taxi Line At McCarran

May 14, 2009 at 4:44 PM | by markj | 5 Comments

UPDATE: @VegasCabbie is no longer a cabbie. We'll keep you posted on any replacements.

Did you hear the news? Conferences and tourists are returning to Vegas. Well, they never really left, however as the economy begins to improve you can bet that the trade shows and tourists will make sure your arrival into McCarran International Airport is crowded and chaotic.

Once you have dealt with the monorail, and once you have made it to the bottom of the escalator and retrieved your bag you must deal with the dreaded Vegas cab line. During midweek, and for that matter during this down economy, the cab line has not been much of an issue, but on Friday nights and during conventions that line can be over half an hour long. How do you beat it? Easy.

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Could You Soon Be Training It to Las Vegas from California?

April 29, 2009 at 11:49 AM | by juliana | 2 Comments

That's the hope of a new railroad company who announced yesterday their plans for a high-speed rail service from Victorville, Calif. (an hour and a half outside of Los Angeles) to Las Vegas. Called the DesertXpress the train would speed passengers to the Strip in about 84 minutes for the cost of $55, one-way. But that's not all:

The plan is for the "Las Vegas Experience" to start in Victorville with valet service, hotel check-in and through-checking of baggage straight to the resorts, and with convenient car rental facilities for the Southern California–bound travelers. Once in Las Vegas, there will be convenient access to the Las Vegas resorts with shuttle service, rental cars, taxis and potentially a direct connection to the Las Vegas Monorail.

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Hey, Taxi! What You Should Know About Cabbies in Vegas

Where: 89109
April 8, 2009 at 12:30 PM | by Stephanie Sims | 7 Comments

Cabs are a tricky thing. In Vegas, at least. We get so distracted by ogling the...er...beauty of the Strip, we forget to pay attention to the fare meter. That's why you need to know before you go. Here are our must-know tips about taxis in Las Vegas.

· Automatic $3.30 Fee
Whenever you get into a cab in Las Vegas, the meter automatically begins at $3.30. This is the drop fee for the initial activation of the meter. Ugh. If you hop into a cab at McCarren airport, there is another automatic fee of $1.80. This is usually tacked on by the meter at the end of the ride. After that, each mile is $2.40. A four-minute wait time is $3.00 more. The slow airport shuttles that cost $11 round-trip are starting to look pretty good right now, huh?

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Don't Be Afraid To Ride The Deuce

Where: 89109
March 31, 2009 at 12:38 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

The biggest way to drain money in Vegas after gambling, dining, shopping, and strip clubs has got to be the cab fares. No matter how much you're up at the blackjack tables, it just doesn't feel right to pay the expensive cab fares on the Strip. Yes, taking a cab beats walking and it certainly beats the out of the way monorail stops, but there are cheaper alternatives.

Like The Deuce. The Deuce is a double-decker bus that runs up and down the Strip and costs just $3 for a one-way ride and just $7 for a 24-hour ticket. And yes, it runs 24 hours of the day, seven days a week.

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Ways To Bypass the Endless Taxi Line At McCarran

March 10, 2009 at 10:15 PM | by Erika Pope | 0 Comments

As anyone who has arrived at McCarran International Airport on a Friday evening or the day before a giant convention like CES knows, the taxi lines can be frighteningly long.

There's no bigger buzz kill than arriving in Sin City only have to wait in a never-ending queue, lugging your suitcase behind you and listening to other people's annoying conversations. And we do mean that it's a buzz kill, literally, because by the time you get yourself into a cab that in-flight buzz you tied on has no doubt worn off.

That might change if the Las Vegas Monorail ever gets its rail to from the Strip to the airport built, but that’s unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. Fortunately, in the meantime, there are other options to waiting in the endless Vegas cabbie queue.

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Riding the Rails, The Las Vegas Monorail That Is

March 4, 2009 at 10:05 AM | by Erika Pope | 0 Comments

It’s been almost a half-decade since the Las Vegas Monorail debuted on the scene in all its 1960s Disneyland, space-age glory. Some of us at the time wondered what all the fuss was about. I mean, weren’t monorails so…well, 1960s Disneyland? Hadn’t a monorail and its snake-oil salesman promoter been convincingly lampooned on an early episode of “The Simpsons”? With a free monorail operating between properties on the west side of the Strip (Mandalay Bay – Luxor – Excalibur and Mirage – TI), would people be expected to pay to ride this one?

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