But seriously, it sounds like this relationship is not going well at all. Maybe you and Vegas need to break up before things get ugly.

Sorry about the cab line. . .

It sounds like LV sucks as much as Seattle.

For the record, the "douchebag" is there to keep order. Your little airport idea, while cute and idealistic, would be mayhem. Airports don't care about mayhem, hotels very much do.

Also, the "douchebag" is there to make sure the cabbie behaves and doesn't throw a spaz if they aren't taking you a very long distance. That is usually not an issue at the airport, as those fares are negotiated by the airport's controlling authority.

Finally, you are not "obligated" to tip him. You will never see him again.

Of course, if you don't, you're an asshole :-)

In that case, sitting there, they wouldn't be idling, and that would be better, wouldn't it?

Oh yes, and the casinos actually do want to make it hard for you to leave - that is how they make more money. They wouldn't mind at all if you got fed up and went back in for more gambling.

The monorail is losing money and always breaking down. Despite people touting it as a great thing in other cities, it is a waste. The Vegas monorail first proposed in the 80s was supposed go from Cashman Field to the airport - and be built by 1990. When it opened a few years back, it had morphed basically into a ride privately funded by the hotels.

Viva Las Vegas!

So the porn convention and CES were the same week? What a town!

Be an asshole instead and walk around the line and towards the carport entrance and hail a cab there.

And, Dan, I completely agree about the cab situation. Totally ridiculous. Especially late at night when everyone is leaving one bar/club to go to another or to go back to their hotel for the night. The airport system would be better, but @7 has it right... the hotels want to keep you in their casino/bar/club for the night.

What went wrong here?

In the short term, it's irritating. In the long run, I dunno. I guess you could be grateful you have cab fare? So many people don't.

What is really crazy is that these guys opening cab doors make a shit load of money. Like around $100k a year. More than half of that is tips but it was great to having a guy making way more money than me, to open my door.

It's been about four years since I was last there, but I never had a problem hailing a cab on the street. And it was certainly one Hell of a lot faster than standing in line at the casino, even if I did have to walk the half-block or whatever from the entrance. Still beat standing in those stupid lines.

Also, the bus service (so long as you were sticking to the strip or "downtown", say, up to Fremont St.) was pretty convenient - not to mention loads cheaper.

Fast forward about a thousand years, and we're in another pollution-filled energy crisis, only this time it's full of buzz-words like "Global Warming" and "Carbon Footprint" and shit like that.

Being that my formative years were spent turning off unnecessary lights and seriously asking myself "Is this trip really necessary?", I get the saddest feeling that it's all in vain every time I've been to Vegas. AC cranked to the max everywhere... Acres and acres of neon and flashing lights blazing 24 hours a day. Lines of cabs idling, polluting, wasting gas. Throngs of people needing rides from the airport to the strip and back, every day and night.

All the energy I've probably conserved my entire life, by dutifully turning off lights when I leave a room and by driving a fuel-efficient vehicle is probably only a small fraction of the energy used by one casino in one hour.

Although I do love Vegas, and am looking forward to my next trip.