Save Time And Money Using Uber And Lyft In Las Vegas

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The massive taxi line at McCarran Airport may be getting shorter in the future thanks to ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. These services offer a way to save time and money when visiting Las Vegas. Ridesharing is a relatively new concept in travel and it’s an even newer concept in Las Vegas, launching full-scale late last year.

Even though the end result is a service similar to taxis, modern day ridesharing is created by an app putting someone looking for a ride somewhere together with a person willing to give a ride. Money is exchanged for the ride but you never pay the driver, you pay the app company setting up the ride. 20 years ago you might have called a taxi company to pick you up but now you can just arrange a car service through an app.

Save Money With Uber and Lyft in Las Vegas

Uber and Lyft rates are almost 50% less than taxis in Las Vegas.

The price savings with both Uber and Lyft and real and spectacular. You can visit a website like fareestimate.com to compare Uber and Lyft rates from home if you want to budget before your trip. I just did a comparison and the cost or a ride from the Caesars Palace to the Plaza is as follows:

Uber X – $15-$21
Lyft – $20-$27
Taxi – $29.14

You know the fee before ever getting into the car with ridesharing services. There’s no funny business with potentially being long hauled going from the Las Vegas airport to the strip or taken out of your way for no reason so the driver drives up your rate and his tip.

Another savings from the ridesharing services is that there isn’t an extra fee for using credit or debit cards. All fares with Uber and Lyft are charged to your credit or debit card through the app. You never have to pay the ridiculous $3 debit or credit card fee that taxis charge. If you’re taking a short trip this can be more than a 50% surcharge on a short ride. For example, here’s a fare from The Mirage to Planet Hollywood:

Uber X – $5
Lyft – $6-$8
Taxi – $10.43 + $3 credit/debit card fee = $13.43

Visitation to Las Vegas continues to grow. Prices all over town will continue to rise as demand for everything from hotel rooms to show tickets increases. There aren’t many places where you can easily save money without being inconvenienced. Between prices increasing, resort fees, early check-in fees and parking fees you might as well take advantage of a discount when you can find it.

Uber and Lyft Will Save Time

One of the biggest benefits of using Uber or Lyft in Las Vegas is that you don’t have to wait in a taxi line. When a show, concert or nightclub let out these lines can grow to be over 30 minutes long. The taxi line at McCarran airport may move quickly but you’re potentially in a line with hundreds of people.

Standing around and doing nothing in Las Vegas is the last thing anyone wants to do. When you use a ridesharing service you will never see a line for your car and you may not even have to wait for your car to arrive depending on the day and time.

In order to procure a car with Uber or Lyft you just need to open the appropriate app and choose a car to pick you up. Enter a destination in the app and you’ll get a price for the ride before you step into the car. Each Las Vegas hotel has a designated ridesharing pickup area so you’ll never have to deal with any potential taxi line. Just walk to the pickup area, hop into the car the app tells you to look for and you’ll be on your way.

Ridesharing is a little more complicated at the Airport (but not really). It’s recommended that you wait until you collect your luggage at the baggage carousel before planning a ride. Once you have your bags just open the app and select your terminal for pickup then enter the name of your destination. Follow signs to the pickup area and your car will be waiting for you. There’s no more waiting in the taxi line which always seems to take forever.

Since you pay for the ride with a credit card through the app you won’t have to fiddle with cash when you reach your destination. The process of using Uber or Lyft is simple, fast and convenient. The convenience of Uber and Lyft is great but saving money is usually what seals the deal when looking at transportation in Las Vegas.