LAS Airport, Las Vegas McCarran Baggage Claim CES-2010-LasVegas 394

LAS Airport, Las Vegas McCarran Baggage Claim CES-2010-LasVegas 394
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

McCarran Airport in Las Vegas offers some of the smoothest transitions from bags to ground transportation. Take the $7 shuttle to the strip if alone, but if 2 or more probably best to use a taxi for $14-$20 depending on your hotel location. Mandalay Bay, New York New York, Luxor, Excalibur, Tropicana, Hooters, MGM and more are at the McCarran end of the strip while Circus Circus and Stratosphere are at the North End. Wynn, Paris, Venetian, Bellagio, CityCenter (Mandarin Oriental, Vdara, Aria) are basically near the Center of the strip though you should always orient yourself with the strip before a trip to Vegas.

Do note that the Shuttle times seem to depend a lot on several factors such as wait time at the Airport which can be as much as 15+ minutes while the shuttles wait for more people and also the location of your hotel on the strip. I suspect but I'm not sure that drivers also tend to drop folks off sooner at the higher end hotels all other things equal.

Walking is almost out of the question for distance (2+ miles to center strip) and security reasons (route is tricky, route is not really designed for walking safely, few other people around).

CNETs www.ATLARGE.com helps you navigate the Airports

CNET has launched a new travel website to help you at the Airports as you travel from one destination to another. Atlarge is in part a social networking environment where users can help each other find WiFi, restaurants, and more: http://www.atlarge.com/

Free Wifi Holiday brought to you by several Airports and Virgin Airlines

Free WIFI is available through January 15 on Virgin Airlines and at over 50 participating airports over the holidays. http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/

As we've noted before, Airports like McCarran Las Vegas LAS and Portland Oregon PDX are wonderful to provide this great service to those of us who .... get bored in Airports and don't appreciate paying $9.95 or more to simply surf aimlessly for an hour or (heaven forbid!) get some work done.

Air Travel Hit by Recession

The Herald Tribune of Sarasota has an LA Times report that Air Travel over the Thanksgiving holiday is expected to be 4% lower than last year as the recession continues to take a toll on the travel sector.

They note that travelers are tending to stay at home or travel by car more than before.

WiFi in Flight Regulations may be hampering more rapid deployments

Travel Weekly reports that In Flight WiFi remains a very desirable amenity for travelers but is causing some headaches for carriers as they navigate the maze of regulations involved in WiFi enabling of commercial aircraft:

Passengers' growing appetite for electronic gadgets and WiFi access is creating problems for airlines eager to sate that appetite. The challenge lies in enforcing myriad company policies and federal laws covering wireless communications.

As airlines test and equip their planes for in-flight WiFi, they have to figure out how to catch people using prohibited devices (or approved devices at the wrong time) with no practical means of detecting radio-based technologies that can operate out of sight in briefcases, carry-on bags or even pockets.

Stuck at the Airport Blog by Harriet

If you are intrigued with airports (or frustrated with them, or just stuck in one) you'll want to check out Harriet Baskas' "Stuck in the Airport" blog where she details some of the features you may have missed in your mad rush between planes.

Especially now that WiFi is common in Airports I've learned to enjoy layovers with a combination of catching up on email and exploring in the many amazing Airports.

For example Beijing, China's fairly new international terminal is quite an (upscale) introduction to some of the cuisine, souvenirs, and styles you'll find there, and it would be a shame to fly in and out without a walk around that massive place. I'm not suggesting you'll learn a lot about culture, history, or even anything from Airports but it's nice to enjoy rather than dread the inevitable layovers.

Republic Airways adds Two Carriers

Republic Airways, the major regional carrier based in Indianapolis Indiana, has recently purchased Frontier Airlines via a bankruptcy auction. Republic also bought out Midwest Airlines only several months ago.

Republic now owns six US Airlines and serves much of the country with regular and connecting services to other airlines such as Delta and United.

From the Republic Airlines Corporate Website this is the history of Republic Airlines:

Chautauqua Airlines was founded in 1973 in Jamestown, N.Y. by Joel and Gloria Hall. The airline’s primary mission was to operate under a code-share agreement with Allegheny Airlines operating as Allegheny Commuter. Initial scheduled operations from Jamestown to Buffalo, N.Y. and Pittsburgh, Pa. were started with two new nine-passenger Beech 99 aircraft.

In 1984, the airline added five new 19-passenger Fairchild Metro III aircraft to its fleet. In 1986, Chautauqua Airlines was purchased by GAC. Later that year, the airline entered into an agreement with Saab Aircraft of America for the purchase of 12 30-passenger Saab 340 aircraft to replace the slower Shorts 3-30’s.

On May 8, 1994, the airline announced the renewal of its code-share agreement with USAir. The new agreement included a route realignment that required the airline to relocate the corporate headquarters to Indianapolis, Ind.

The Business of Aviation

Interested in the business of Aviation? Check out Dan Webb, a blogger at the "Things in the Sky" Blog. Dan spends a lot of time discussing aviation and the business decisions behind it.