Visitors who fly into Las Vegas will arrive at McCarran International Airport. Numerous local, national and international airlines provide service here, as do nearly a dozen rental car companies. It is located just a couple miles south of the Las Vegas Strip and a couple miles further south of downtown. Most hotels and casinos do not provide free shuttle service to and from the airport but you can catch a shuttle from the airport to hotels on the Strip for about $6.00 one way -$11 R/T and about $8 one way - $15 round trip to Downtown hotels as of December, 2007. It is also advisable to call before you fly and make shuttle arrangements, since sometimes it is necessary to wait up to an hour for even a shuttle bus to the hotels. Taxis are readily available outside of the terminal. At peak times the taxi line can be quite long. Although there is a monorail system along the Strip, it does not provide service to the airport. There are buses from the airport to the South Terminal where it is possible to transfer to a Deuce bus which traverses the Strip, but who would want the hassle with luggage!
To save a few dollars on your cab ride to your hotel, ask the driver not to take the tunnel.
The airport can be heavily congested particularly at weekends, so arrive in plenty of time for a departing flight. If possible, try to take a flight that arrives early morning and departs mid-late afternoon or very late-night (11-midnight) - those are the least crowded times at the airport. Las vegas Airport requires all checked baggage be checked in no less than 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure. If you check in less than 45 minutes before your flight, your bags may not be on the same flight as you and you could be denied boarding.
Amtrak does not provide train service to Las Vegas, but it does provide bus service. There is an Amtrak bus stop at the airport and another downtown.
Las Vegas is within a six-hour drive of several cities including Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. San Francisco is about 9 hours away, and Reno and Salt Lake City are about seven hours away by car. Las Vegas is on Interstate 15 between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. Visitors driving in from other directions will be following state roads through some pretty remote areas, so be sure to get food, water and gas before setting out into the desert. Those coming from Arizona will cross the Hoover Dam at the border, which may increase driving time due to tourist traffic there.