No way from the Rio to Fremont? really?

So I have a post in another forum about my first stay at The Rio in a few weeks for a conference and asking a variety of questions. One was whether there was a free shuttle to Freemont from The Rio. The answers I am getting are a bit staggering to me....I figured there would be plenty of free transportation between Strip and Freemont to benefit each - but sounds like I can't get to Freemont from the Rio without Uber, taxi, or taking a free shuttle out to Sams Town and then down to Freemont which seems kind of out of the way and silly.

So just verifying there is no efficient way to get from The Rio to Freemont? I need to get my El Cortez blackjack time in!!!

 

Well to be technical the Rio is not on the strip, it's off strip. It has 2 great shuttles that run independently back and forth from Harrah's and Bally's to the Rio. And then you can grab the shuttle from Harrah's to Sam's Town and then to downtown. But personally I'd just pony up a few bucks and Uber it downtown from the Rio. You'll be there in 10 minutes.

 

The Rio is on its own. It has free shuttles to points on the strip as most off strip properties have.

And the strip and downtown don't have free options between them. Both have plenty of their own places, and don't necessarily want to make it easier for you to go have fun elsewhere. From the strip, the cheapest way is the SDX (an express bus route with a cheap fare). But again, Rio is not on the strip. So you would still have a shuttle ride and/or a long walk to be able to take the bus. Even the Sam's Town shuttle is from Harrah's, not Rio.

 

It doesn't really benefit both, though. There's zero overlap in terms of ownership between the Strip and Downtown (with the closest being Boyd's ownership of Downtown properties and a few near-Strip properties like Sam's Town and the Orleans), so subsidizing shuttle service would really just be subsidizing trips to competitors. Boyd doesn't want to pay to send people to the Strip, and MGM/Caesars don't want to pay to send people to Downtown. And, as mentioned, Rio really isn't a "Strip" property.

That being said, I think your best option might very well be the free Rio shuttle to the Strip, and then taking the Deuce or SDX to Downtown. It's not free, but it's cheaper than a taxi.

 

Uber is far and away your best option. Fast, efficient, and probably not much more than half the price of a cab.

Unless you want to waste an hour of your time waiting for a shuttle to take you to a place where you then wait for a bus to pick you up and eventually drop you off downtown, just to save what amounts to one hand at a $5 blackjack table.

 

I don't know why you expect free transportation from the strip to Fremont to be common. About 75% of the strip casinos have no free shuttles to anywhere. If it weren't for the Boyd shuttle, there would be none from Fremont. Shuttles are expensive to maintain, staff and run. Anything free in Las Vegas is on the endangered list.

 

Oops..sorry

 

The most efficient way is Uber/Lyft (Like ~$10).
You COULD ride the free shuttle to Harrah's, then take ANOTHER free shuttle to Sam's Town, and yet ANOTHER free shuttle to Fremont....but save the HOUR and uber it.

 

if you wanted to play blackjack at el cortez, why didnt you book to stay there

 

The three shuttle rides will cost you 2 hours.
From Rio to Strip or from Gold coast to Strip, either way is neither fast, nor on time.

 

What about the shuttle from gold Coast to the California. all you need to do is walk across the street

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there is NO shuttle from GoldCoast to Cal. That is Samstown shuttle from Harrahs to Samstown to downtown(Fremont and Cal hotels)

 

This made me laugh. No, there is no shuttle from Gold Coast to the California...too bad. Really, between going and coming back it will take you 1/2 of your day in travel time trying to arrange multiple shuttles each way. Is that how you want to spend your vacation? The only reasonable way between the two properties (Rio and Downtown) is Uber.

 

Because my company booked me at the hotel of my conference. Thanks for all the help on this post and sorry I was ignorant in thinking free shuttles would be the norm. I get it now.

 

I am not sure what led you to assume there would be free shuttles to Fremont Street. We would love it but that's a lot of gas being burned with no guarantee of money coming to pay for it. If there is ever service, I doubt it will be free outright. The thing with the offstrip casinos is when they pick you up, they know that you are coming to spend money in their casino. For a downtown casino, you may give a free ride to someone who spends the whole time at the Mob Museum or a competing casino. Plus, the competition between the zones is picking up so most strip properties aren't going to encourage their customers to go downtown and vice versa.

The bus is cheap and there are lots of other options that all have their merits based on what you want to pay for them. But you aren't going to get downtown for free.

 

No need to apologize. The idea is to come here for help, even if we get cranky at times.

 

I think one of the many reasons there is no shuttle from Rio to Fremont St. is that Rio is a CET property and there is little to no incentive for them to shuttle their patrons to downtown where there are no CET properties. Have a great trip, hope you have a super time!!!

 

I agree! Besides, Ken doesn't get cranky unless he has 30 or more putts in a round.

 

Front nine, right?

It will be interesting to see how many redundant lectures show up on this thread.