Landing at Harry Reid International Airport

What LAS is like

Las Vegas has an airport unusually close to its main hotel strip, so the trip from the gate to a lobby is far shorter than most people expect. There are two terminals, with the majority of international flights landing at the newer one. This is a convention city as much as a holiday one, which means that in some weeks the networks across town absorb a hundred thousand extra handsets at once. The desert around it is empty in a way that matters the moment you drive out of the valley.

On arrival

Switch the line on at landing, and you will hear slot machines in the terminal before you reach the baggage belt, which is the detail first-time visitors always remember. Coming from abroad, immigration is in the international building and the queue rises and falls with the schedule. Once you have the bag, the decision is between a taxi, an app-booked car and a shared shuttle, because all three board in different places. App cars here use a level of a parking structure, so read the airport signage together with the pick-up number the app gives you. The distances are so short that finding the pick-up point can take longer than the ride.

How far the airport Wi-Fi gets you

Airport Wi-Fi is free once you pass a sign-in page with an advertisement, and it gives you time in portions like the rest of the country. In a big convention week, both the airport network and the hotel networks carry an unusual load, and you can feel pages loading slowly across the whole city. Many hotels fold internet into a daily charge whose terms are worth reading for yourself. Inside the parking structure where app cars collect passengers there is no Wi-Fi coverage at all, and that is where you need to call a driver.

Getting into town

Getting to the main hotel strip is quick when the roads are clear, but on a weekend evening the strip itself crawls, with traffic and pedestrians crossing constantly. Plenty of people walk between hotels instead, which is further than the eye judges because the buildings are so large. Data in this city goes on walking directions, hotel and casino apps, restaurant bookings, and sending video to friends. If you rent a car to see the canyons and desert parks nearby, take offline maps seriously: a few tens of kilometres beyond the built-up area there are long stretches with no service at all, and that is exactly where a wrong turn costs you an hour.

What people ask about this airport

• App cars park inside — They do not collect at the terminal kerb, so follow the signs to the level the app names and expect to phone the driver.
• Walking is deceptive — Gaps between hotels look small but the buildings are enormous, so check the real walking time on a map first.
• Out of town is off grid — Routes to the canyons and parks have long dead stretches, so download the map before you leave.