How Much Will a Cab Cost From Las Vegas Airport?
From McCarran Las Vegas Airport, a taxi cab ride should cost no more than $30 with tip depending on your destination and traffic. Here are a few examples of some taxi cab fares from the Las Vegas airport. A hotel like Circus Circus close to the Las Vegas Convention Center will cost $22-$24. A central hotel on the Las Vegas strip like The Imperial or The Flamingo will cost around $17-$19. Getting from McCarran Las Vegas airport to a hotel on one end of the Las Vegas strip like The Luxor will run you around $13-$15 while the Hard Rock Cafe will be a little less. A downtown Las Vegas hotel in the older, original part of Las Vegas around Freemont Street like The Golden Nugget will cost around $22-$24. Click here for more information on estimated tax cab fares from the Nevada Taxi Cab Authority. You can catch a cab from the airport just after you pick up your baggage on the east side of baggage claim, exit doors 1-5.
How Do I Know If I’m Getting Ripped Off?
Before the cab even starts moving, just know that it will cost you $4.50 when you first step into a Las Vegas cab from McCarran Las Vegas Airport. The meter starts at $3.30 with an additional McCarran Airport fee of $1.20. In Las Vegas, the taxi cab meters will continue to charge you, even when you’re inching along in traffic to compensate the driver for time spent stuck in traffic. Fares are based not only on distance but time. Las Vegas taxi cab fares are calculated at $.53 for every one fifth of a mile OR roughly $.53 per minute when traffic is at a crawl. Time is money and Las Vegas cabs are no exception to the rule. Click here for more information from the Nevada Taxi Cab Authority.
How Many People Can Fit In A Las Vegas Cab?
Most Las Vegas cabs fit 5 people including infants and children. Besides sedans, there are also wheelchair accessible and vans available.
Credit Cards Are Not Always Accepted in Las Vegas Taxi Cabs
For the most part, charging your fare by credit card is not widely available in all taxicabs. It would be a good idea to have at least $30 on hand when you arrive at McCarron Las Vegas Airport so you can get into the taxi queue and quickly obtain a cab with little fuss. Same goes for around town, keep cash on hand for cab rides along with smaller bills so that the cab driver doesn’t necessarily have to break a $20, $50 or $100. At busy times of the night, taxi cabs can get difficult to find and there is nothing more frustrating than queuing up at a hotel for a cab in Las Vegas and having to pass on several cabs just because they do not have credit card access.
How Much Should You Tip a Las Vegas Cab Driver?
About $3-$5 is adequate. Just like tipping anywhere else, base your tip on the cab driver’s courtesy, cleanliness of the cab, if the driver has helped you with your bags and consider being more generous if they’ve provided additional tips on where to eat or where to go and if you’ve had a good night out. One Las Vegas cab driver suggests that 20% is sufficient. Keep in mind that cab drivers do not make an hourly wage in Las Vegas and rely on fares and tips to make a living. For more information, click here for an article on “How Much to Tip a Cab Driver?
Curbside Pick-up Not Available in Las Vegas
Don’t make the same mistake we did when I was on a business trip to Las Vegas. We had just finished attending a convention and had plenty of time to kill before we headed to the airport as we were scheduled for a red eye flight back to the East Coast. We hopped in a cab and went to the Venetian for dinner. It was a leisurely dinner until we had to head to the airport. The taxi queue was crazy long as people heading for dinner and shows were occupying most of the cabs. So we decided to walk back to Circus Circus and just flag a cab on the street. Bad idea.
Las Vegas is not like New York where you can flag a cab on the street. It turns out that it’s illegal for cabs to pick-up and drop-off passengers along the Strip and taxi cab drivers are fined and discouraged from doing so. So you can’t get a cab if you wanted. You have to go to a hotel to pick-up a cab. Once you’re walking along the Strip, you realize that the distance from the sidewalk to the actual hotel entrances where the taxi cab stands are located are often quite a haul. Plus there is definitely a dinner/evening rush hour in Las Vegas. It is similar to when you try to get down to Times Square for an evening show, sheer traffic madness and gridlock. We ended up rushing on foot from the Venetian to Circus Circus which is quite the sweaty hike.
Sources:
Las Vegas Taxi Driver Blog and Forum, “How Much to Tip a Cab Driver?”
Nevada Taxi Cab Authority, “Taxicab Fares and Fees”
Nevada Taxi Cab Authority, “Taxicab Photographs”
