LAS to the Strip: every ride, priced

By the ThingsVegas Editorial Team | Published November 3, 2026 | Last reviewed: November 3, 2026

A taxi from Harry Reid International is a flat fare set by your hotel's zone: $22.25, $26.25 or $30.25, plus 3 percent tax. The bus is $2. The Loop already runs a limited airport service at $12 to $14 a person. The right pick depends on your party size and your zone, and the tables below do that math.

Prices and dates last checked: November 3, 2026, against the sources named on this page.

What does a taxi from LAS cost? Find your hotel's zone

Las Vegas is one of the few big cities where the airport taxi fare is not a meter gamble. The Nevada Taxicab Authority sets three flat zones for Strip hotels under its April 2026 fuel-surcharge order, and the driver may not charge more than the zone fare for a direct trip. One trap: the zone map the airport links to still prints the older base fares of $21, $25 and $29. The Tier 1 fares below are the ones in force. Find your hotel's band, and you know your fare before you land.

Then the stack on top: the 3 percent excise tax applies to the fare and fees, there is a $3 fee if you pay by card, and a tip on top (15 to 20 percent is customary; the full tipping table is folded into our trip cost guide). So a Zone 2 fare is $27.04 in cash with tax, or $30.13 by card, before the tip; tipped at 20 percent by card it lands at about $35 all in, split across everyone in the cab. (The $2.40 airport pickup fee you will see quoted applies to metered pickups, not stacked on top of these flat zone totals.) The airport posts the zone list at the taxi stand; if a fare dispute happens, the Taxicab Authority, not the driver, is the referee. One more airport reality: the county's airport team works to keep taxi lines moving, but UNLV hospitality research has measured waits of up to 30 minutes at the 7 PM peak, so at prime arrival hours the rideshare garage can be the faster exit.

Taxi, rideshare, shuttle, bus or Loop: the per-party math

The pattern the table shows: per-person pricing punishes groups. A shuttle that looks cheap solo costs a family of four double the taxi fare and stops at other hotels first. Solo travelers going off-peak are the ones who should price the shuttle and the bus seriously.

How does rideshare pickup work at LAS?

Uber and Lyft pick up in the parking garages, not at the curb: Terminal 1 pickups are on Level 2 of the parking garage, and Terminal 3 pickups are on the valet level of its garage, per the airport's ground transportation pages. Taxis, by contrast, wait right outside baggage claim: Terminal 1 on the east side by doors 1 to 4, Terminal 3 on Level Zero near door 52. Follow the app to the numbered pickup zone. Because the price is set per trip, the only honest advice is comparative: get the quote, compare it with your zone fare above, and remember that the taxi line is a two-minute walk from baggage claim while surge pricing peaks exactly when every flight lands at once. Harry Reid handled nearly 55 million passengers in 2025, the third-highest total in its history, per the Clark County Department of Aviation, which is why every system at this airport is built for volume and why prices move at peak banks of arrivals.

What about the bus and the Loop, honestly?

The bus is the budget answer and it is a real one. Two RTC routes serve the airport itself, Route 108 and the Red Line, both from Terminal 1 Level Zero (Terminal 3 riders take the free inter-terminal shuttle over first), at $2 for a single ride on local routes, per RTC. The Deuce, the double-decker that runs the length of the Strip to downtown, does not board at the terminals; if you transfer to it, the $6 two-hour Strip and All Access pass is the clean buy, and the 24-hour pass is $8 and the three-day pass $20. Buy in the RideRTC app before you board. With one carry-on it is painless; with a big checked bag at midnight, the $22.25 to $30.25 taxi buys back a lot of trip. Our getting around Las Vegas guide covers the Deuce, the monorail and the free trams once you are on the Strip.

The Loop does serve the airport, in a limited form. The airport lists Vegas Loop pickups on Level Zero in both terminals, and the Loop's own booking form prices airport rides at $12 per person to Resorts World, Westgate or the Convention Center stations and $14 to Sahara or Fontainebleau, per the form as checked in October 2026. The catch is in the Loop's own label for the service: it includes a surface-street drive and has limited availability, so it is not yet the full tunnel ride, and its stations are all at the north end. In-town rides between the Convention Center and the north Strip resorts run about $4.75 to $7.50 per person. Full underground airport tunnels remain a plan, not a pickup.

What changes on Grand Prix weekend?

The Las Vegas Grand Prix runs November 19 to 21, 2026, and the airport itself warns that drivers should expect congestion that week. On the taxi fare: a $15 Grand Prix surcharge has been reported for race weekend (the Authority approved a $15 pilot on the same pattern in 2023), but the 2026 order itself was not on the Authority's published rate history when this page was checked on November 3, 2026, so treat the surcharge as likely rather than confirmed and check the posted rate card at the taxi stand. Rideshare surge plus circuit road closures will still slow every road option; the closure map is on our F1 road closures guide. Separately, the airport's Connector Tunnel pavement project keeps the airport tunnels at reduced lanes, two lanes by day and one lane overnight, through the end of December 2026, per the Clark County Department of Aviation, so allow extra time on any airport road trip this season.

Going the other way on departure day, every option above reverses; leave the Strip 2 hours before a domestic flight at peak times. If you are renting instead, our renting a car in Las Vegas guide prices the rental center option, and the Harry Reid airport guide covers the terminals themselves. Then plan the days between the rides with our Las Vegas itineraries.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a taxi from Las Vegas airport to the Strip?

It is a flat fare set by the Nevada Taxicab Authority, based on your hotel's zone: $22.25 for Zone 1 (Sunset Road to Tropicana), $26.25 for Zone 2 (Tropicana to Flamingo) and $30.25 for Zone 3 (Flamingo to The STRAT). Add the 3 percent excise tax, a $3 fee if you pay by card, and a customary 15 to 20 percent tip. One warning: the zone map the airport links to still shows the older base fares of $21, $25 and $29; the higher Tier 1 fares have been in force since the Authority's April 2026 fuel-surcharge order. The driver cannot charge more than the zone fare for a direct trip to a Strip hotel.

Is Uber or Lyft cheaper than a taxi from the airport?

Sometimes, and sometimes the reverse. Rideshare has no fixed fare: the app prices each trip, so an off-peak quote can land under the taxi zone fare, while event weekends (Grand Prix, CES, New Year's Eve) surge well above it. With two or more people, the flat taxi fare is usually the predictable winner; solo and off-peak, check both apps before you commit.

Does the Vegas Loop go to the airport?

Yes, in a limited form. The airport lists Vegas Loop pickups on Level Zero in both terminals, and the Loop's booking form prices airport rides at $12 per person to Resorts World, Westgate or the Convention Center and $14 to Sahara or Fontainebleau. The service includes a surface-street drive and limited availability, and every station is at the north end of the Strip, so it suits north Strip hotels and convention trips better than a general arrival ride.

What is the cheapest way from LAS to the Strip?

The RTC bus at $2 for a single ride. Route 108 and the Red Line serve Terminal 1 Level Zero (Terminal 3 riders use the free inter-terminal shuttle first), and if you transfer to the Deuce for the Strip itself, a Strip and All Access pass costs $6 for two hours, $8 for 24 hours or $20 for three days, per RTC. It is the slowest option with luggage, but nothing else is close on price.

Is there a surcharge for taxis during the Grand Prix?

A $15 Grand Prix surcharge has been reported for race weekend, November 19 to 21, 2026, following the $15 pilot the Taxicab Authority approved in 2023, but the 2026 order was not on the Authority's published rate history when this page was checked on November 3, 2026. Treat it as likely, check the posted rate card at the taxi stand, and either way expect rideshare surge pricing and road closures around the circuit to slow every road option.

Last reviewed: November 3, 2026. Fares were checked against the Nevada Taxicab Authority, Harry Reid International Airport, RTC and the Boring Company on that date. Rideshare prices are set per trip in the apps and are never fixed.