Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

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CHAPTER 2 . PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO LAS VEGAS
Tips Cancelled Plans
If your flight is cancelled, don’t book a new fare at the ticket counter. Find
the nearest phone and call the airline directly to reschedule. You’ll be
relaxing while other passengers are still standing in line.
BY CAR
The main highway connecting Las
Vegas with the rest of the country is
I-15; it links Montana, Idaho, and
Utah with Southern California. The
drive from Los Angeles is quite popular,
and thanks to the narrow two-lane
highway, can get very crowded on Friday
and Sunday afternoons with
hopeful weekend gamblers making
their way to and from Vegas. (By the
way, as soon as you cross the state line,
there are three casinos ready to handle
your immediate gambling needs, with
two more about 20 min. up the road,
30 miles before you get to Las Vegas.)
From the east, take I-70 or I-80
west to Kingman, Arizona, and then
U.S. 93 north to downtown Las Vegas
(Fremont St.). From the south, take
I-10 west to Phoenix and then U.S. 93
north to Las Vegas. From San Francisco,
take I-80 east to Reno and then
U.S. 95 south to Las Vegas. If you’re
driving to Las Vegas, be sure to read
the driving precautions in “Getting
Around” in chapter 4.
Vegas is 286 miles from Phoenix,
759 miles from Denver, 421 miles
from Salt Lake City, 269 miles from
Los Angeles, and 586 miles from San
Francisco.
BY TRAIN
Amtrak (& 800/USA-RAIL; www.
amtrak.com) does not currently offer
direct rail service, although plans have
been in the works to restore the rails
between Los Angeles and Las Vegas for
years now. At press time, Amtrak
wouldn’t confirm a date, but various
reports have indicated that by 2004
they will restore service using the
TALGO. This European-designed
“Casino Train” will complete the trip
from Los Angeles in about 5 1 ⁄2 hours,
with a wholesale seat price of $99
round-trip. We’ve been hearing these
reports for so long now they just make
us roll our eyes, but believe it, if and
when this ever happens, you will have
to fight us for a seat.
In the meantime, you can take the
train to Los Angeles or Barstow and
Amtrak will get you to Vegas by bus.
10 Packages for the Independent Traveler
Before you start your search for the
lowest airfare, you may want to consider
booking your flight as part of a
travel package. Package tours are not
the same thing as escorted tours. Package
are sold in bulk to tour operators—
who resell them to the public at a cost
that usually undercuts standard rates.
Just to give you an example, at press
time, Southwest Airlines (& 800/
tours are simply a way to buy the 435-9792; www.iflyswa.com) was
airfare, accommodations, and other
elements of your trip (such as car
rentals, airport transfers, and sometimes
even activities) at the same time
and often at discounted prices—kind
of like one-stop shopping. Packages
offering round-trip airfare from Los
Angeles with 2 nights at several different
hotels complete with ground
transportation; per person based on
double occupancy, for Bellagio it was
$259, and for the Golden Nugget $99