Vegas: Car vs. Taxi?

[johndoe]

What's worse: Waiting for the valet, or waiting in a taxi line, especially during a holiday weekend? (7/4)

We're going to Vegas over the 4th for a few days, and I haven't decided whether to get a car. This ain't no travel forum, but I figured someone would have advice.

A rental is about $30/day (+tips), and I'd imagine with a trip or two on the strip and nearby (maybe downtown) we'd probably spend around the same on a taxi. We're staying on the strip.

But my big issue is waiting in line, which I hate, and am (somewhat) willing to pay to avoid. Which is worse on a (presumably) busy weekend, valets or taxi lines?

(I suppose the likelihood of holiday drunks on the road may be of some consideration as well..)

 

[shadroch]

Car rental. I's not even close. For many of the casinos you should be playing at, self parking is a cinch. As far as valet goes, just be sure to time it so you don't run into a post show crowds

 

[johndoe]

Thanks. I couldn't imagine taxis being even worse than the valet waits, but I guess they are. Self-parking is a good idea too.

(The only drawback is that taxis are pre-air conditioned! Oh well.)

 

[shadroch]

Sure, but that pre-conditioned air might include anything from the drivers body funk after an 14 hour shift to cigarrettes to split beer or worse.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

What's worse: Waiting for the valet, or waiting in a taxi line, especially during a holiday weekend? (7/4)

We're going to Vegas over the 4th for a few days, and I haven't decided whether to get a car. This ain't no travel forum, but I figured someone would have advice.

A rental is about $30/day (+tips), and I'd imagine with a trip or two on the strip and nearby (maybe downtown) we'd probably spend around the same on a taxi. We're staying on the strip.

But my big issue is waiting in line, which I hate, and am (somewhat) willing to pay to avoid. Which is worse on a (presumably) busy weekend, valets or taxi lines?

(I suppose the likelihood of holiday drunks on the road may be of some consideration as well..)

My opinion- as usual, it depends! If you want to play the shoe games on the Strip (like Foxwoods, only a better) you can get around the Strip faster on foot than by car during a busy period, and there are a pay and a free monorail too to speed you along. Being you're staying on the Strip that would be the approach I recommend. You can take a taxi or bus Downtown if you want to try those games.

What I think Shadroch is getting at are some desirable DD games on the outskirts of town, which can deliver the EV and have parking right outside their front doors, but those casinos are dark and dismal affairs and at your betting level you can expect some rough treatment, and you wouldn't want to have that happen with your wife around.

 

[shadroch]

I don't believe I've ever heard places like Red Rocks, Rampart, Green Valley,
the Fiesta's or Station's referred to as dark and dismal affairs, but whatever.
The monorail is $5 a ride and it's locations suck if wish to play the Western side of the strip- Caesars, Mirage, Ti, Mandalay, Excaliber, ect, ect. It's great if you want to go from the Imperial Palace to Ballys. If you take the monorail from the Trop to Caesars and back, it's $20 for you and your wife and you'll still end up doing a crazy amount of walking. It's several hundred yards from the monorail to Caesars or the Mirage.
The Duece(the strip bus) seemingly stops every 50 feet and every passenger seems to first ask how much the fare is, then go fishing for exact change. To make matters worse, they somehow feel that sitting next to you is an invitation to strike up a conversation with you. i've had people want to shake hands when they reach their stops.

 

[johndoe]

For my usual vegas rounds I can walk/tram between a few of my favorite locations, but hoofing it any further than a block or two will probably be out of the question in 110F+ heat (mostly for my gal's sake, I don't mind it too much).

I'm largely going for entertainment with the missus (who is an AP), so we won't be spending a lot of time searching for profitable DD games on the outskirts - I also haven't put the time in to play DD nearly as naturally as I do with shoes. But I may give it a go downtown.

And it looks like the monorail is pretty inconvenient (and $$) for most of the locations I like.

Car it is! (And walking)

 

[shadroch]

Having a car and picking up an American Casino Guide can cut your food expenses in half. I'd make an afternoon out of a trip thru Red rock canyon and stop by Red Rock casino for a 2-4-1 buffet. I'd ride down to M for an afternoon and get the two free buffets for joining the players club.
Both these buffets are top 5 in Vegas.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

I don't believe I've ever heard places like Red Rocks, Rampart, Green Valley,
the Fiesta's or Station's referred to as dark and dismal affairs, but whatever....

Dude... the Fiesta? The people at those tables make the penny slot players at Showboat look upper class. The looks I got when I played green in that place!

Now the Aliante is nice! That's the one that our green-chipping Strip player might want to take a sidetrip to.

Sometimes I like to take the bus around even when I have a car, because then the time spent travelling between casinos can serve as rest time.

 

[shadroch]

Sometimes I like to take the bus around even when I have a car, because then the time spent travelling between casinos can serve as rest time.[/QUOTE]


Yep, it's like being on a cruise ship. You get on, go to sleep, wake up and you are at the next casino. Pollyanna would be proud of you.
In January, I had a very successful night spreading 1-5 on the $25 DD game at Fiesta Henderson. The problem is that table is only open about ten hours a week, mostly Friday and Saturday from 9Pm til about 1AM.

 

[callipygian]

The monorail is $5 a ride and it's locations suck if wish to play the Western side of the strip

Echoing this. The monorail is really not a good way to get around the Strip, and some of the stations are set really far back from Las Vegas Blvd.

Walking from, say, NYNY to the MGM Monorail stop and the Bally's Monorail stop to Bellagio is almost as long, almost as hot, and actually slower than just walking from NYNY to Bellagio (unless you're physically impaired).

Even in the middle of the day in the middle of summer, I enjoy taking a brisk walk, as I end up eating a ton of food at the buffets and could use the exercise anyway. There's a CVS just north of Monte Carlo and some kind of convenience store just south of Polo Towers if you want to make a pit stop.

As for the main question, I think you can get cars cheaper than $30/day if you look around. Did you try orbitz or Expedia or those type of search engines?

 

[johndoe]

As for the main question, I think you can get cars cheaper than $30/day if you look around. Did you try orbitz or Expedia or those type of search engines?

I did (Kayak). ~$30/day is with the fees included (real price). The quoted prices are always much lower, then they add all sorts of costs.

 

[shadroch]

You should still be able to do better than $30 a day. I find CarRentals. com to be the best. Prices flucuate wildly, so I check 2 or 3 times a day, even after I book.

 

[johndoe]

I'll keep checking. Best on carrentals is $17.99+day, plus fees, bringing it to $27/day. Might be the holiday too.

 

[callipygian]

Might be the holiday too.

Ugh, I didn't notice that. Yeah, $27 including all the crap they tack on sounds pretty good, then.

 

[ChefJJ]

Just My Observation Over Time:

It always comes to be about another 50% added onto the daily/weekly rate due to all the fees and taxes. Nevada seems to have a little higher fee schedule than other places, but such is life.

good luck :joker: