Nevada-Las Vegas

Renting a car or relying on cab service/walking??

I have some time (a year), but I am struggling with the idea of renting a car or just relying on cabs or our two legs to get around. We are staying a bit aways from a lot of the action (Trump), but so far our days are already planned out. For example, this is a rough draft: Arrive on Sun, 9/27/15 Settle in, get grocery delivery for the suite Monday, 9/28/15 Limo picks us up for marriage license, then wedding venue (Vegas Weddings) for consultation with planner Tux fitting after we are dropped off back at our hotel (limo to/from chapel is part of package we paid for) Take cab to tux fitting Tuesday, 9/29/15 Spa day at Mandarin Oriental (cab) Wednesday, 9/30/15 Daughter and MOH arrive from airport (cab) Not going anywhere if we are still having our family dinner catered in our suite Thursday, 10/1/15 Wedding day, limos are part of package Later that night renting limo for photos on strip Friday-Sat 10/2-10/3/15 Will be when we travel the most...looking into a party bus for a strip tour for the entire family (18-20 ppl IF everyone RSVPs) Taking daughter to Stratosphere later to ride rides Sun, 10/4/15 Cab to airport Would you guys recommend we rent a car?? I'm so torn. Obviously, cabs are spendy, but I worry about driving on the Strip, getting lost, etc. parking is mostly valet everywhere, right?? Thanks for any advice!
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Re: Renting a car or relying on cab service/walking??

  • Sorry for the weird format. No paragraphs on iPad!?
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  • Well driving is pretty easy, its one long street so you shouldn't get lost and you can valet or all the hotels have their own self parking too (I think its free, its been a few years since I last went). 

    If you have a credit card that includes rental car insurance and you can get a good deal like <$20 per day + taxes on a rental it might be worth it.

    Try this site and add up your expected fares and then it should help you decide
  • For rental cars, you can sometimes get excellent deals through Costco, if you're a member.
  • I've rented a car in Vegas before and it was a huge pain. Trying to drive on the strip is a pain, trying to park is a pain. Then if you drive somewhere, then end up deciding to walk from there to somewhere else, then instead of just being able to catch a cab back to your hotel, you have to walk or catch a cab back to where you parked the car. It was not worth it and have never rented a car since then in Vegas. Cabs aren't that expensive, and they are super convenient. You can get anywhere on the strip for less than $20. 
  • myriah505 said:

    I've rented a car in Vegas before and it was a huge pain. Trying to drive on the strip is a pain, trying to park is a pain. Then if you drive somewhere, then end up deciding to walk from there to somewhere else, then instead of just being able to catch a cab back to your hotel, you have to walk or catch a cab back to where you parked the car. It was not worth it and have never rented a car since then in Vegas. Cabs aren't that expensive, and they are super convenient. You can get anywhere on the strip for less than $20. 


    This is my concern. It seems like it would be a waste to rent a car when you're going to end up cabbing it anyhow. A couple of friends of mine said they still used cabs when having a rental car.
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  • The rental car deals aren't what I am concerned about as much as it might be an extra expense if we are taking cabs anyhow. Anyone else have to do this in Vegas?

    Trump does have shuttles, but only to the Wynn and The Forums at Caesars and they are usually packed.
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  • We've always just walked everywhere because we've stayed more in the middle of the strip.  Hopefully the only place we will really have to go for the wedding is to get our marriage license, and if we can't use the limo at the casino, we will probably just get a cab. 
  • Unless you have to run a bunch of errands off the strip I'd stick with cabs.  You save the time walking to parking and you don't have to worry about getting lost.
    We had our dream wedding in Las Vegas - 11.29.2014
  • Just go with the cabs. Believe it or not, it's way more convenient than renting a car. If you want to go to the middle strip, yes you can park at a hotel but then by the time you wander along the strip, you will either have to walk all the way back or cab it anyways. We rented a car once and will not do it again. Not sure about Trump because I have never stayed there but some of the strip hotels can be horrible for parking on a weekend. Sucks when you pull up and valet it full and then you need to walk 100 miles for parking lol

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  • Thank you so much!! Talked to my FI about this and he agreed. NO rental car!
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  • edited September 2014
    If you're staying on strip between Mandalay and Wynn, then the city bus actually works fairly well.  They run very frequently and have a lot of stops.  There's the monorail too but since half of it is behind one side of the strip, and the other half on the other, and the fact that it's only rarely working correctly, that's not good to rely on.  You can get all day passes for the bus.  I would not try to take the bus if you need to go a longer distance though, because all the stops mean it takes forever.  We went from Golden Nugget to Mandalay by bus once... and once was enough; it took 40 minutes.  But if I was just going something easy like Tropicana to PH, or PH to Harrahs, etc., then bus is cheap and quick.

    If you have a lot of places to be each day I'd go with the rental car.  Cabs get expensive very quickly in Vegas and if you don't know the way the cab driver should be driving, chances are they're going out of the way to run the meter up, or they'll just take you right down the strip to run it up by sitting in traffic.

    Most hotels have free parking.  The only downside is that typically it's on the back side of the resort so it can sometimes be a long walk to get to wherever you're going.  The upside to it being on the back side of the resort is that that's also where the much faster side streets to the strip are, so if you plan your day out with Google Maps you should be able to get between destinations pretty quickly for a lot less than $10-$15 cab, $10-$15 cab, repeat.  It's definitely not as convenient as a cab though, so if you want convenience and the least amount of walking, cab will do it.

    Married in Vegas - June 2011


  • I was thinking of utilizing the express bus, I read about that on Trip Advisor. I also read about telling the cab driver to not take the road (on the strip). 

    Thank you for this information!!
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  • I agree, waste of money don't rent a car. 

    All cabs are obligated to take the "fast route" which is oddly the most expensive. When get in the cab tell the drive you want to to go the cheaper route. 

     I have a perfect example of it. When we flew in for the wedding. We had to divide up into 2 cabs. The first cab left with my husband in it. The second cab was my parents and I, I told the driver, "Cheapest way to aria, please" We beat the other cab to the hotel and our trip was $13.50 + Tip, their trip cost them $28 w/tip. We went a back away and went across the strip instead of up it, we also didn't go on the freeway. They went on the free way and up the strip.
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  • If you are staying at the Trump they only have valet, which you will pay for in the resort fee regardless of if you have a car or not.  So, if you rent a car plan on tipping each time you take it out of valet.

    Trump isn't too far from the action.  They also have a complimentary shuttle to the Caesars Forum Shops and the Wynn.  We use this a lot when we stay there just to get to better areas of the strip.  They also have some towncars/SUVs, we've used them a few times, no meter, no set fee, you just tip what you feel is best.  

    Even when we drive to Vegas from AZ we usually park our car and leave it for the trip and walk or take cabs everywhere.  
    We had our dream wedding at Mirage on May 3, 2014! 
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  • I didn't know Trump offers towncars/SUVs. Good to know.

    We have decided against renting a car. I think we'll be doing a lot of bus, cab and walking.

    Good to know that the Trump isn't as far away as I thought it was. The fact that they do have a shuttle to the forums puts us right in the middle of the strip, so that would help too.
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  • edited September 2014
    rent the car, cabs will blow your budget.  Just figure that every time you hop in a cab it's $20, at least. 
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