Las Vegas before you book: the practical facts we checked

Harry Reid International (LAS) has two terminals, linked outside security only by a free shuttle, about every 20 to 30 minutes. Terminal 1 serves Southwest, American, Delta, Allegiant and Sun Country. Terminal 3 has the customs hall and every foreign airline, from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Aer Lingus to Condor, Discover, Edelweiss, KLM and Air France.

Taxis wait outside baggage claim: at Terminal 1 on the east side by doors 1 to 4, at Terminal 3 by door 52. To the Strip they charge the Nevada Taxicab Authority's flat zone fares: $22.25 to Zone 1, Sunset Road to Tropicana Avenue, for the Four Seasons; $26.25 to Zone 2, Tropicana to Flamingo, for Bellagio and The Cosmopolitan; $30.25 to Zone 3, Flamingo to the STRAT, for Caesars Palace, The Venetian, Wynn, Fontainebleau and SAHARA. Circa and Red Rock Resort go on the meter, $8.21 for the first mile and $2.96 a mile after that, plus a fuel surcharge of 19 cents a mile. Either way the Authority adds a $2.40 airport pick-up fee, 3% excise tax on all rates and fees and $3 for paying by card.

Uber and Lyft pick up on Level 2 of the Terminal 1 garage and on the Valet Level at Terminal 3. RTC's 108 bus leaves Terminal 1's Zero Level about every half hour on weekdays, from just after 4am to after 1am, $2 a ride, and reaches the Sahara Monorail Station in about 20 to 30 minutes and the downtown Bonneville Transit Center, about 13 minutes' walk from Circa, in 30 to 40.

The Strip is longer than it looks. Routed on foot from the Bellagio fountains, The Cosmopolitan is about 5 minutes, Caesars Palace 7 and The Venetian 17, but Wynn is 25, Mandalay Bay and the Four Seasons 38, Fontainebleau 43 and SAHARA 52; the Four Seasons to SAHARA is about 90. Footbridges, each with a lift and an escalator, cross the main junctions.

The Deuce runs 24 hours up the Strip and on to Fremont Street, every 10 to 15 minutes from 7am to 1am and about every 20 overnight. Passes cost $6 for 2 hours, $8 for 24 hours and $20 for 3 days, from the cash-only machines at the stops or the rideRTC app; tapping a bank card or phone on board is $4 a ride.

The Las Vegas Monorail runs about 4 miles behind the east-side resorts, from SAHARA, which has its own station, to the MGM Grand, every 4 to 8 minutes. The Venetian and Caesars Palace are about 9 minutes' walk from their stations, The Cosmopolitan 13 and Bellagio 15 from Horseshoe/Paris, Fontainebleau 15 from Westgate and Wynn 17 from Harrah's & The LINQ. Two free trams link neighbours: the ARIA Express from Bellagio to ARIA and Park MGM, and Mandalay Bay's to Luxor and Excalibur.

A car is worth having only at Red Rock Resort, where parking is free and Red Rock Canyon's visitor centre is about 13 minutes away; its scenic drive needs a timed-entry reservation from 1 October to 31 May. The Hoover Dam is about 53 minutes' drive from the fountains.

Room rates are quoted before tax. The room tax depends on the address: 13.38% inside the Primary Gaming Corridor, which takes in the Strip and eight of the ten, and 13% outside it, at Circa downtown and Red Rock Resort in Summerlin.

Every one of the ten also charges a nightly resort fee: $50 at Circa, $54.95 at Caesars Palace and SAHARA, $55 at the other seven. The room tax applies to the fee too, so a $200 night on the Strip with a $55 fee comes to about $289. Since 12 May 2025 the Federal Trade Commission's rule on unfair or deceptive fees has required hotels to include mandatory fees such as these in the total price they show; taxes may still be added at the end.

A few fees buy more than Wi-Fi, calls and the gym: self-parking at Wynn and Fontainebleau, two Stadium Swim passes a night at Circa, entry to Mandalay Bay's pools, wave pool and lazy river at the Four Seasons, and in-season pool access at SAHARA.

Parking is free at SAHARA and Red Rock Resort, self and valet, and self-parking is part of the resort fee at Wynn and Fontainebleau. Hotel guests pay $20 a day to self-park at Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, The Venetian and Caesars Palace, and $25 at Circa. Valet is $40 a day at Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, The Venetian and Wynn, $35 to $40 at Fontainebleau, $50 at Caesars Palace and $20 at Circa, more during special events. The Four Seasons is valet only and does not publish its price.

By NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at the airport, January is 58.5°F (14.7°C) by day and 40.5°F (4.7°C) at night, April 78.5°F (25.8°C) and October 81.2°F (27.3°C). July is 104.5°F (40.3°C) by day and 82°F (27.8°C) at night, and a normal year has 78 days of 100°F (37.8°C) or more. Rain is rare: 4.18 inches (106 mm) a year.

At least four of the ten close their main pools for winter. SAHARA's closed on 3 November 2025 and reopened on 6 March 2026, Fontainebleau's Oasis deck opened on 6 March and part of it becomes an ice rink from 19 November 2026 to 17 January 2027, Caesars Palace gives its season as March to October, and the Four Seasons pool reopens in March. Circa's Stadium Swim, heated in winter, The Venetian's pool deck, Red Rock Resort and Bellagio stay open all year, and Wynn publishes no winter closing.

In LVCVA figures for 2025, the Strip's average room rate peaked at $219.56 in October and fell to $164.58 in July, and weekends ran at 88.8% occupancy against 76.6% midweek. Big shows push rates up: CES runs from 6 to 9 January 2027 and SEMA from 3 to 6 November 2026. The Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix runs from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November 2026, with the race at 8pm on Saturday, along the Strip. In 2025 the county closed the circuit's roads from 1pm on race days until the early hours, and from 17 to 25 November 2026 RTC runs the Deuce on a changed route and timetable.

Prices are in US dollars and shown before tax. Sales tax in Clark County is 8.375%, added at the till. Cards are taken almost everywhere: all the airport's taxi companies accept them, though the Taxicab Authority allows a $3 card fee, and the Monorail's machines take every major card. The Deuce's ticket machines take cash only, so buy in the rideRTC app or tap a card on board.

Tips are expected. Brand USA, which runs the official Visit The USA site, suggests 15 to 20% for a sit-down meal and 10% at a buffet, $1 a drink or 15 to 20% of a bar tab, 10 to 18% of a taxi fare, $1 to $2 a bag for bell staff and $3 to $5 for the valet who brings the car back. Restaurants may add a service charge for groups of six or more, so read the bill first. Brand USA puts housekeeping at $2 to $5 a night.

The casinos have rules of their own. Nevada law bars anyone under 21 from gambling or loitering where gaming takes place, and 21 is also the drinking age. Under the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, smoking and vaping are banned in restaurants, shops, theatres, lobbies and hallways, including those inside casinos, but still allowed on the gaming floor, where a casino may set aside non-smoking areas. Nine of the ten have a casino; the Four Seasons, with none of its own, is non-smoking throughout.

Visitors from the 42 Visa Waiver Program countries, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain among them, need an approved ESTA, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, before they board, for stays of up to 90 days, and an e-passport, the kind with a chip. Every traveller needs one, children included. Apply at esta.cbp.dhs.gov, the official site; other sites charge a fee of their own for submitting the same form.

From 16 October 2026 the fee is $40.62 an application. If the application is refused, only the $10.62 processing charge is kept. Customs and Border Protection asks travellers to apply as soon as the trip is planned, and no later than 72 hours before departure.

An approved ESTA lasts two years, or until the passport expires if that is sooner, and covers any number of trips in that time, each limited to 90 days. A new passport, name or nationality means a new application. A refusal means applying for a visa instead, which in most cases involves an interview at a US embassy or consulate, so hold off on a non-refundable rate until the ESTA is approved. Flights from abroad arrive at Terminal 3, where the customs hall is.

The changes since the start of 2025, in date order.

On 12 May 2025 the Federal Trade Commission's rule on unfair or deceptive fees took effect: hotels must show a total price that includes mandatory fees, resort fees among them, though taxes may still be added.

On 30 September 2025 the ESTA fee went from $21 to $40, in January 2026 to $40.27 and on 16 October 2026 to $40.62.

In March 2026 Bellagio's spa closed for a remodel, due to reopen in November 2026; its gym has moved to the Promenade Shops in the meantime.

On 9 April 2026 the Taxicab Authority brought in its tier 1 fuel surcharge, $1 on a zone fare and 19 cents a mile on the meter, which puts the airport zone fares at $22.25, $26.25 and $30.25.

From 7 June to 31 December 2026 SAHARA's Amina Spa and its Alexandria Tower gym are closed for renovation.

From 10 August to the end of December 2026 the airport connector tunnels are down to two lanes each way by day and one overnight while they are repaved.

Caesars Palace is remodelling its Augustus Tower, with completion due in early 2027.

The Monorail closes at midnight on 29 October, from 29 November to 2 December and from 6 to 10 and 13 to 15 December 2026, and the Deuce runs a changed route from 17 to 25 November 2026 for the Grand Prix.

The room tax has not changed since March 2017, and none of the ten opened or closed in 2025 or 2026.