LAS to the Strip: What a Taxi, Uber and the Bus Cost
A taxi from Harry Reid airport to mid Strip is a fixed 26.25 dollars for the whole car. Downtown runs on the meter. Verified 2026 fares, zones and pickup points.
Sammie O
A taxi from Harry Reid International Airport to the middle of the Strip costs 26.25 dollars. That is a fixed price, not a meter reading, and it is the same for one passenger or four. Downtown is different. Fremont Street sits outside the fixed zones, so the meter runs and you pay roughly 35 to 40 dollars. This page sets out what every option costs, checked against the Nevada Taxicab Authority, Harry Reid International Airport and the RTC in September 2026.
What each option costs
| Option | To the Strip | To downtown | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxi | 22.25 to 30.25 dollars fixed | Metered, about 35 to 40 dollars | 10 to 20 minutes |
| Uber or Lyft | About 19 to 23 dollars | About 16 to 21 dollars | 10 to 20 minutes |
| RTC bus | 2 to 4 dollars | 2 to 4 dollars | 35 to 45 minutes |
| Shared shuttle | 15 dollars a person | 15 dollars a person | 30 to 60 minutes |
The airport is 2 miles from the Strip and about 8 miles from Fremont Street. Nothing here is a long journey. What varies is what you pay for the same 15 minutes.
The taxi fixed fare, and the three zones
Since 20 December 2019 there has been no meter on a direct airport to Strip taxi trip. The Nevada Taxicab Authority sets a flat price by zone. The rates below come from its own schedule, marked revised July 2026.
| Zone | Fare | Where it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | 22.25 dollars | Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, MGM Grand, Four Seasons, Tropicana, Virgin |
| Zone 2 | 26.25 dollars | Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Paris, Planet Hollywood, New York-New York, Vdara, Horseshoe |
| Zone 3 | 30.25 dollars | Caesars Palace, Venetian, Palazzo, Wynn, Encore, Resorts World, Fontainebleau, Sahara, Circus Circus, Las Vegas Convention Center, Westgate |
The fare is per vehicle. Four people with luggage pay the same as one. The fare runs in both directions.
Three rules decide whether you actually get the fixed price.
- The trip has to be direct. Ask the driver to stop anywhere outside the zone and the whole trip reverts to the meter.
- Splitting a cab with strangers going to a different hotel means only the first drop gets the zone rate. The second is charged as a fresh metered trip.
- Paying by card adds a 3 dollar fee. The Taxicab Authority states plainly that this is not included in the zone amount.
Luggage is free. The Authority is explicit that a driver cannot charge you for loading, unloading or carrying bags.
Downtown and Fremont Street
Downtown is outside all three zones, so the meter runs. The published metered rate is 5.50 dollars to start and 37 cents for each additional eighth of a mile, plus a 2.40 dollar airport pickup fee and 3 percent state excise tax.
Third party guides put the usual total at 35 to 40 dollars. No official estimate exists for that route, so treat it as a guide rather than a quote.
The tunnel, and the law against it
Long hauling is illegal in Nevada under NRS 706.8846. The statute forbids a driver taking a longer route than necessary unless the passenger asks for it.
The Taxicab Authority puts the tunnel question beyond argument in its own rider leaflet. Its words are that use of the I-215 tunnel from the airport is never the shortest route to any Strip hotel.
The flat fare changed what this costs you. On a direct Strip trip, a driver taking the tunnel wastes your time but not your money, because the price is fixed. On a metered downtown trip it costs both. Penalties run from a warning on a first offence to permit revocation on a fifth. Complaints go to Taxicab Authority dispatch on 702-668-4000.
Uber and Lyft
Neither picks up at the kerb. Both terminals send you into the parking garage across a pedestrian bridge, and the two terminals send you in opposite directions.
- Terminal 1. Take the elevator near Door 2 up to Level 2 of the garage, cross the bridge, and the pickup area is on your right. Uber tells drivers to look for the blue pavement.
- Terminal 3. Take the elevator near Door 52, 54 or 56 up to Level 1, cross the bridge into the garage, then go down to the Valet Level.
Allow ten minutes for that walk. Only Uber and Lyft are authorised.
Uber publishes an average of 22 dollars for a Las Vegas trip to the airport, and 35 dollars for UberXL. Third party estimates put a normal airport to Strip run near 19 dollars and a convention week surge near 34.
A per trip airport fee of 2.50 dollars is widely quoted. We could not confirm it on the airport site, on Uber or on Lyft, so treat it as unconfirmed.
The bus
Three RTC routes serve the airport. Routes 108 and 109 and the Centennial Express stop at Terminal 1, Ground Level Zero. RTC also lists the Centennial Express at Terminal 3. The airport site does not, and tells Terminal 3 passengers to take the free inter terminal shuttle to Terminal 1 first. If you land at Terminal 3, plan for the shuttle.
To find the stop at Terminal 1, go down to Level Zero, leave the building, cross at the crossing and bear right to the covered shelter. There is a ticket machine at Level Zero and drivers take exact change.
RTC charges 2 dollars a single ride and 5 dollars for a 24 hour pass on residential routes. Strip routes cost 4 and 8. RTC does not state which tier applies to the airport routes, so budget for the higher one.
RTC proposed raising these fares in May 2026. Public comment closed in June. Any increase would not take effect before January 2027.
Route 109 runs 24 hours. Journey time to the Bonneville Transit Center downtown is around 35 to 45 minutes, though RTC publishes no official figure.
Four people with luggage
This is where the flat fare wins, and it surprises people who assume rideshare is always cheaper.
| Option | Cost for four to mid Strip |
|---|---|
| Taxi | 26.25 dollars, plus 3 if you pay by card |
| UberXL | About 35 dollars |
| Shared shuttle | 60 dollars, at 15 a person |
| RTC bus | 8 to 16 dollars, no luggage space |
A standard UberX seats four but leaves no room for four sets of bags, so UberXL is the fair comparison. The taxi is the cheapest door to door option at that group size.
Shared shuttle
Three operators are authorised at the airport. Bell Trans charges 15 dollars a person one way and 28 return, and serves both Strip and Fremont Street properties. Pickup is the west side of baggage claim at Terminal 1, outside exits 7 to 13, and Level Zero at Terminal 3. Fares for the other two operators are not published.
Hotel shuttles
No Strip resort runs an airport shuttle. A handful of off Strip and downtown properties still do, including South Point, Silverton, M Resort and Silver Sevens. El Cortez runs one in the resort to airport direction only.
That list comes from a single source last updated in November 2025. Call the property before you count on it.
Rental cars
Rental counters are not at the terminals. The Rent-A-Car Center sits 3 miles south of the airport at 7135 Gilespie Street. Free shuttles leave Terminal 1 from Ground Transportation on Level 1 outside doors 10 and 11, and Terminal 3 from Level Zero. Budget 30 to 45 minutes from the kerb to driving away.
The monorail does not go to the airport
People plan around this every week. The Las Vegas Monorail is a 3.9 mile line on the east side of the Strip running between Sahara Las Vegas and MGM Grand. Its southern end is about 2 miles from the airport with no connection. A single ride costs 6 dollars and a day pass 15.
It is useful once you are on the Strip. It is no help getting there.
Newer options
The Vegas Loop began airport runs around January 2026 at 12 dollars from Resorts World or Westgate to Terminal 1 or Terminal 3, with pickups at Zero Level and service from 10am to 9pm. That price is from January reporting and we could not confirm it is still current.
Zoox started charging for robotaxi rides in Las Vegas on 10 August 2026 and added airport service in early September. It is listed on the airport’s own options page. No fares are published.
What we could not confirm
The rideshare airport fee. The 2.50 dollar figure appears only on third party sites.
Whether the 2.40 dollar airport fee, the fuel surcharge and the 3 percent excise tax are added on top of the published zone fares. No source addresses it. The zone fares did rise by about a dollar over the older published set, which is consistent with the surcharge already being inside them, but nobody says so.
The metered flag drop. The Taxicab Authority’s own page gives 5.50 dollars to start and then quotes a first mile total that only works if the drop is 5.25.
Which RTC fare tier applies to the airport routes, and RTC journey times. Neither is published.
Rental car concession and facility fee rates. No primary source publishes them.
Sources
- Nevada Taxicab Authority, fare information
- Nevada Taxicab Authority, long hauling
- Harry Reid International Airport, taxis
- Harry Reid International Airport, ride share
- Harry Reid International Airport, public bus
- RTC, airport transit routes
- Las Vegas Monorail, tickets
- Uber, Harry Reid International Airport
Sammie O publishes Germ Trips, a travel guide covering hotels, restaurants, airport transfers and chauffeur services. The guides aim for practical detail and a clear recommendation rather than an undifferentiated list. Where a town has no good option, the guides say so and point to the nearest one that does. Guides are AI drafted. A small number have been checked against official listings, and those say so on the page.
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