The short answer
- Rideshare (Uber/Lyft): $16–26, 10–15 min — best default
- Bus (RTC Deuce/109): $2–3, 30–50 min — cheapest
- Taxi: $20–32 fixed-ish zones — best with luggage queues
- Shuttle: $8–12 pp — only for groups of one traveler with a schedule that flexes
Rideshare notes
Pickup sits in the dedicated zone; pricing at the airport tends to swing on convention cycles — Thursday afternoons spike. The Strip moves one stop up in cost past Sahara.
Transit notes
Route 109 to the airport connector, then the Deuce along the Strip. Buy round-trip passes if you plan on any walking-distance night out from downtown. The monorail stops short of the airport — it serves the resort corridor only.
What we would not do again
Hotel shuttles mostly vanished post-2020; the ones still running run a fixed loop through off-Strip terminals. For a solo traveler with bags and a schedule, rideshare remains the sane default in 2026.