Long hauling and taxi

I see so many complaints on here and other forums about being long hauled. Is it not just a case anymore of telling the driver you don't wish to be long hauled? I get into Vegas late at night this trip, have never used Uber or Lyft so plan to use a taxi since that will be the easiest thing for me - I don't have data on my phone and I have no idea where to go to meet these drivers so taxi it is. If I just get in the car and say I don't want to be long hauled, is that not enough? Last time I was in Vegas there were signs all along the taxi waiting area that listed the fares to each hotel/area so you knew going in what you should be paying for your trip.

 

Don't ask to not be "long-hauled" - TELL the driver "No Tunnel" when it comes to the airport (either way).
Casino-to-casino, in my experience, is generally safe... unless you're going way off strip... in which case, use your phone, & determine ahead of time the shortest route. When you get in, tell the driver (for example), "I'm going to South Point - no strip and no freeway, ok?"
In my example, if he gives you shit, tell him to take Paradise to Tropicana to LVB & turn left.
If you simply say "don't long-haul me", I can almost guarantee that you'll be long-hauled.

 

Only a problem when someone does not tell them.

You did not share where you are going to.

(as to Uber... it is easy... but since you are from Canada and have no data, then taxi is fine)

 

"Flamingo, take Paradise" said confidently and assertively.

 

Mention the surface roads and you should be fine, they'll ask you if you want to take the highway sometimes and they'll say it's faster. It is faster but costs more, just mention "take surface streets to PH" for example and you're fine.

 

I usually just say “take locals please”

 

For almost 20 years I took a taxi to my casino on the strip and never got tunneled. The last 4 years my host comps me round trip Limo to Caesars. The limo always takes the tunnel and the highway. It's a nice ride I've never timed it. It turns out since I started taking the Limo we never had an issue with traffic. Last year on my first trip something happened with the Limo and we didn't get a pick-up I called my host and tried to get somebody to the airport and I said just forget it and we'll cab it. We took a cab and the guy tunneled us, there were three of us and I sat in the from and I told him I was annoyed and I wasn't going to tip him. It just so happens something happened maybe a mile in front of us and traffic went to a standstill. The cabbie apologized profusely. In any case we usually tip the Limo driver about the same as the cab cost us. In the end I felt sorry for him and I tipped him anyway. I know the most of the cab drivers end up working 12 hours, sometimes more, so every extra buck helps but 2 - 5 bucks especially in Vegas is not changing my life it's not even one VP hand.

 

On my first ever trip to Vegas, a cab driver took the tunnel from McCarran, to Hooters! And the cost was $25, in 2008, to Hooters! I realized that I was ripped off, when I saw the airport from our room window, the planes were literally next door. Since then, during my next 15 trips, I limited my cab usage to a minimum, tried to avoid cabs like the plague. So, this one dishonest jerk costed several of his honest colleagues' paychecks. He basically stole from me, as well as his and his colleagues' future revenues.

So, I believe, a dishonest person should never ever be rewarded. But everyone has their opinion, and I respect yours.

Btw, if a cab driver openly lays out the options to the customer, and mentions that it'll be faster but costlier; and the customer picks that route, I have nothing against that.

 

I remember reading (here on VMB) a couple of years ago that the Taxi Authority was going to start performing random "tunnel checks" - stopping cabs that take the tunnel & asking where the passenger was headed... and would fine the drivers & cab companies for long-hauling... but I'm not aware that this ever happened... does anyone know if they ever did it?

 

This comes down to rewarding someone for dishonest behavior. It's not the $5, it's the fact that the cabbie is knowingly trying to take advantage of someone who may not know better. It's a matter of principle.

 

My wife and I always take cabs because Rideshare is a pain in the ass to get to.

The first thing out of my mouth is "No tunnel" and then I tell them which route I prefer.

As a rider you should have an idea which route you want to take.

I have never had a problem.

 

I’ve only been tunneled once. It was our last trip staying at the Luxor. I had opted for VIP checkin and asked the cab drive to drop us at the North Entrance of the Luxor. I just assumed it was easier to get to that entrance by using the tunnel. Does anyone else have experience with this?

 

Long hauling from the airport to the Strip will become a moot point in January with the introduction of flat fee to different zones anyway. Granted, it looks like they are going with the high end on the rates, but still...
https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/index.php?posts/1913187/

 

If I decide to take a taxi from the airport to Bally's, what is the best way to to tell the driver to go? I know to request No Tunnel.

I have used the shuttles in the past, but they seem expensive now, and it can take a long time to get to your hotel, depending on how many other passengers they have.

I've never used Ubler/Lyft before so I am a bit scared LOL, to start using it at the airport. Not scared of the driver, I know to check license plate, driver photo etc, but scared I'll screw up on the app itself. LOL

Is there any way to take the bus from the airport to Bally's? We're just going to have carry on luggage.

Just looking for options.

Thanks Everyone

 

Paradise to Flamingo.

 

Thank you.

 

The list time I took the taxi from the airport I immediately told the driver that I don't want to go through the tunnel and he said "Okay". We were headed to NYNY. He got on the radio and asked what traffic was like on Tropicana and I could hear somebody respond that it was very backed up and taking a long time to get anywhere. He told me traffic is busy and he's going to go to the highway. I said, "No, we'll take our chances on Tropicana". There wasn't any signs of backed up traffic on Tropicana as we went there. I gave him small tip for trying to take the tunnel after I told him to avoid it.

On the way back to the airport a few days later I listened to the radio chatter and a couple of times I would hear somebody to ask what was traffic was like on certain roads and they were always met with a response that it was busy. One was for Tropicana which we were on and it was most definitely not busy! I wasn't very familiar with Ride sharing at that point so taking a taxi was the only way I planned to go. Until this ride.

Next trip I decided to use Ride Share and I haven't gone back. It will take some big changes in how taxis operate and/or how ride share is allowed to operate for me to use taxis again.

 

This is the part that drives me craziest. As I've mentioned elsewhere, the tunnel really can be legitimately faster, especially if you're going farther north (taking the tunnel to MGM Grand would be idiotic, but taking it to Wynn could save quite a bit of time). But the whole, "Oh, there's a ton of construction on Swenson, it'll take forever" line is almost universally BS.

To answer the OP's question, yes, you can just ask the driver, but it's not that simple. First, a lot of drivers take a negative attitude to that -- I've had taxi drivers literally tell me, "I don't like being told what to do." Second, given that the tunnel can indeed be faster, there are drivers who legitimately think they're supposed to do it (the regulation says "shortest route", but it means distance, not time), or think that they can take the tunnel by default unless you tell them otherwise. Third, you have to know to ask, which people who don't frequent websites like this aren't often aware of. Finally, there's a fundamental assumption by drivers, both taxi and rideshare, that anyone getting off a plane at McCarran and heading to the Strip area is a new-ish tourist, which is different from a lot of other major cities.

 

I have always told the taxi driver the name of my hotel followed by “no tunnel” with no issues. This has worked for many years until this past March. As we approached the tunnel, I told the driver that I said no tunnel at first acted like he did not understand and then he said he was taking the fastest route. I told him I did not care and that I said no tunnel. He continued on his merry way up the interstate. I told him I was not going to pay for the long haul and made it a point for him to see me take a picture of his ID placard on the dash. At this point his tune changed and he said I could pay what I wanted or nothing at all. No apologies. We eventually got off on Flamingo and then backtracked to Cosmo. I gave him $10, got no argument from the driver and let the bell person know.

 

Yes, they did it, and there were some summons issued, but I have not heard about it since.