# Is Las Vegas, NV considered part of a Special Route



## DowneasterPassenger (Nov 21, 2009)

I've taken a rewards trip from northern California to L.A. for 1000 points before, using the San Joaquin line under the category of "Special Route". The trip requires a bus connection from Bakersfield to L.A. which is included in the 1000 point redemption.

What if I wanted to go to Vegas? Would the bus connection from BFD be considered part of the San Joaquin Special Route?

Is the bus service to Vegas considered part of Amtrak California or national Amtrak?


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## sechs (Nov 22, 2009)

If it's a dedicated thruway bus for the San Joaquins, then it should be included.


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## vagabond (Nov 22, 2009)

SanJoaquinRider said:


> I've taken a rewards trip from northern California to L.A. for 1000 points before, using the San Joaquin line under the category of "Special Route". The trip requires a bus connection from Bakersfield to L.A. which is included in the 1000 point redemption.
> What if I wanted to go to Vegas? Would the bus connection from BFD be considered part of the San Joaquin Special Route?
> 
> Is the bus service to Vegas considered part of Amtrak California or national Amtrak?


No problem. I've booked this from San Jose to Las Vegas (but subsequently had to cancel) which included bus San Jose to Stockton, San Joaquin Stockton to Bakersfield, bus Bakersfield to Las Vegas. There is also an option to bus into Santa Barbara and take the Pacific Surfliner to LAX then bus to Las Vegas. That would be a more scenic route but makes for a very long day.

Considering that 1000 points can be purchased for $27 using AGR points, is a lot cheaper than buying a regular ticket.


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## dart330 (Nov 23, 2009)

I also booked this bus and had to cancel, but it was only 1,000 points. I work across the street from the Greyhound station / casino where it drops you off. Let me know if you need any additional info.


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## Phila 30th St (Nov 23, 2009)

How long of a bus ride is Bakersfield to Las Vegas?


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## dart330 (Nov 23, 2009)

5 hours from Bakersfield to Vegas, but from Vegas to Bakersfield it is 6 hours and 25 minutes, factoring in a lot of time so you don't miss the connection.


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## jmbgeg (Nov 23, 2009)

dart330 said:


> I also booked this bus and had to cancel, but it was only 1,000 points. I work across the street from the Greyhound station / casino where it drops you off. Let me know if you need any additional info.


The area around the Greyhound station is marginal at best, without an abundance of cabs ready for pick-up. Usually I have to walk a block to the closest casino (with luggage in tow).


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## GG-1 (Nov 23, 2009)

Aloha

A SCA once suggested I take the train to Needle, as the bus ride from there to Vegas is shorter


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## the_traveler (Nov 23, 2009)

GG-1 said:


> Aloha
> A SCA once suggested I take the train to Needle, as the bus ride from there to Vegas is shorter


The van (shuttle to/from the SWC) used to run to/from Needles. Now it runs to/from Kingman. There is nothing to/from Needles now.


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## jmbgeg (Nov 23, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> GG-1 said:
> 
> 
> > Aloha
> ...


I have taken both the Kingman bus connecting from the SWC and the Bakersfield bus connecting from the San Joaquins. I like the Kingman route better because of the shorter distance after the train. On top of that, you connect from a long distance train with sleepers.

Since I travel from the Northwest, it would be a lot more expensive for me to take the CS all the way to LAX; overnight at my expense; and take the SWC to Kingman (as opposed to taking the San Joaquins south from SAC, then the bus from Bakersfield). The one time that I went through Kingman I was coming from CHI on the SWC.

Unless you have lots of time and/or money, the option you choose will likely be driven by where you are coming from.


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## the_traveler (Nov 23, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> Since I travel from the Northwest, it would be a lot more expensive for me to take the CS all the way to LAX; overnight at my expense; and take the SWC to Kingman (as opposed to taking the San Joaquins south from SAC, then the bus from Bakersfield).


Actually, you can make a same day connection between the CS and SWC. But it involves changing at SAC to a bus to SKN, then a SJ to BFD, then a bus to LAX. But if you're in BFD anyway, why take a bus to LAX? :huh:

The more I think about this question, didn't I remember a post saying the Vegas Thruway from BFD was going to be cancelled? :huh:


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## sechs (Nov 23, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> The area around the Greyhound station is marginal at best, without an abundance of cabs ready for pick-up. Usually I have to walk a block to the closest casino (with luggage in tow).


The station is right next to the Plaza, which is at the end of Fremont. Hardly marginal and definitely not a block....


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## sechs (Nov 24, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> The more I think about this question, didn't I remember a post saying the Vegas Thruway from BFD was going to be cancelled?


I think that you have this confused with the frequency reduction which occurred relatively recently. There used to be two roundtrips; now there is only one.


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## the_traveler (Nov 24, 2009)

sechs said:


> I think that you have this confused


That's what happens when I'm off the train for more than 3 weeks! I get confused! :lol:


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## jmbgeg (Nov 24, 2009)

sechs said:


> jmbgeg said:
> 
> 
> > The area around the Greyhound station is marginal at best, without an abundance of cabs ready for pick-up. Usually I have to walk a block to the closest casino (with luggage in tow).
> ...


I have traveled via the Thruway Bakersfield to the Greyhound Station at least a half dozen times. All except two were on the old later Thruway that got in about 10:00PM. That second bus no longer runs. Ther only connection with the San Joaquins now gets in to Las Vegas early evening. The earlier arrival is good, and this is a guaranteed connection.

Now, speaking about my characterization of the area around the Greyhound station as "marginal", it is in the eye of the beholder I guess. Enough street people to make me uncomfortable, and I am neither small nor timid. You are correct that the casino is not a block away but the can stand at the casino is (at the far end of the casino hotel) almost a full block from the Greyhound station. I have walked that block several times after attempts to hail a cab in front of the Greyhound station took over 15 minutes.

What I would like to see for the Las Vegas Thruway is a set-up similar to San Francisco, where there is a series of stops and pick-ups (Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, etc.) on a set route, instead of dropping the whole busload of passengers at Las Vegas Greyhound. There could be a stop Downtown Las Vegas near the Golden Nugget, a second at the Caesars Palace intersection on the strip and a third near the MGM Grand complex.


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## dart330 (Nov 24, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> I have walked that block several times after attempts to hail a cab in front of the Greyhound station took over 15 minutes.


If you were trying to get a cab to stop on the street in front of the station, you could have stood there all day and they would of never stopped.

"Las Vegas Taxi drivers cannot pick up passengers off of the street (flag or hailed ride)." http://taxi.state.nv.us/Forms/DidYouKnow.pdf

Where you deboard the thruway, head directly North (basically across a large driveway, not more than 40 feet) and you enter the Plaza casino. Walking straight through the casino you will come to the main enterance on the right which is at the corner of Main & Fremont. The doorman will gladly have a cab pull around for you if there isn't one waiting. This walk is no more than 1/10 of a mile total and almost all inside which helps you avoid any panhandlers on the street.

Here is a map of the area:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source...mp;t=h&z=18

If you need to catch a bus, there is a bus stop another 300 feet North of the main enterance. The 108 will take you to the Sahara Monorail Station, convention center, the airport, and UNLV.


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## jmbgeg (Nov 24, 2009)

dart330 said:


> jmbgeg said:
> 
> 
> > I have walked that block several times after attempts to hail a cab in front of the Greyhound station took over 15 minutes.
> ...


Good guidance. Thanks. How come they don't have a streetside can stand in front of the Greyhound station?


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## the_traveler (Nov 24, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> How come they don't have a streetside can stand in front of the Greyhound station?


I wonder that too! Not to say that people riding Greyhound are low life, but it would seem that a transportation center should have a taxi stand. (The airport does. And the train station did - OK it was at the Union Plaza!)


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## dart330 (Nov 24, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> jmbgeg said:
> 
> 
> > How come they don't have a streetside can stand in front of the Greyhound station?
> ...


From my experiences of walking through there to scope it out, doesn't look like most of clientele could afford to take a cab (and it doesn't help that vegas cabs are so expensive). If you are riding greyhound, you probably aren't staying on the strip or flying, so not a big demand for cabs there. Plus when it was built, that was where the action was, there was no need to take a cab anywhere else as everything downtown is within walking distance.


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## sechs (Nov 24, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> What I would like to see for the Las Vegas Thruway is a set-up similar to San Francisco, where there is a series of stops and pick-ups (Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, etc.) on a set route, instead of dropping the whole busload of passengers at Las Vegas Greyhound. There could be a stop Downtown Las Vegas near the Golden Nugget, a second at the Caesars Palace intersection on the strip and a third near the MGM Grand complex.


This is a bit impractical, to be sure.
San Francisco is about seven miles from the ocean to the bay, but the Amtrak bus stops are less than 2.5 miles from one another. Just from Fremont Street to the Strip is almost five miles. And the Strip isn't even technically in Las Vegas. Even if there was a drop-off point there, it's not as if everyone was going to walk to their hotels, like they do in San Francisco.

I don't know what the load levels are on the bus, but I doubt that it's regularly enough to justify additional stops.


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## GG-1 (Nov 25, 2009)

sechs said:


> jmbgeg said:
> 
> 
> > What I would like to see for the Las Vegas Thruway is a set-up similar to San Francisco, where there is a series of stops and pick-ups (Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, etc.) on a set route, instead of dropping the whole busload of passengers at Las Vegas Greyhound. There could be a stop Downtown Las Vegas near the Golden Nugget, a second at the Caesars Palace intersection on the strip and a third near the MGM Grand complex.
> ...


Aloha

Sechs correctly points out just how spread out Downtown and the Strip in Vegas is. Vegas needs to make its transportation complete by getting their Monorail from the Airport to the Downtown Transport Center and maybe the hotels on the other side of the strip.


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## the_traveler (Nov 25, 2009)

GG-1 said:


> Vegas needs to make its transportation complete by getting their Monorail from the Airport to the Downtown Transport Center and maybe the hotels on the other side of the strip.


I haven't been to Vegas in a while, but I lived about 125 miles away in the 90's and visited about twice a month - for work  (my main office was in Vegas)! This was when the Monorail was being built.

Except for the MGM, Bally's and the Sahara, it doesn't even go within a block of the Strip or any hotel/casinos! I doubt many even know it's there! And even if they do, it's a long walk to their hotel or casino on the Strip! (Especially when it''s 100º!)

Did they ever extended it to the airport - like they wanted to? :huh:


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## dart330 (Nov 25, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> Did they ever extended it to the airport - like they wanted to? :huh:


Not yet, but it is in the "Master Plan". I think the taxi union / lobbiest / mob or whatever they have are trying their best to keep it from happening.


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## GG-1 (Nov 25, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> GG-1 said:
> 
> 
> > Vegas needs to make its transportation complete by getting their Monorail from the Airport to the Downtown Transport Center and maybe the hotels on the other side of the strip.
> ...


Aloha

Has not been extended, and from some debate I read, I wonder if the goal is to make it fail and not do the extension.

The Hotels served decided, for whatever reason, to have the stations behind the hotels so it is a long walk to the check-in lobby's, but most are enclosed and air conditioned. Why, Designers thinking maybe.

Considering the layout of the Strip in Vegas I totaly do not understand why it wasnt build down the center of the strip with moving walkways to the lobby's of each hotel on both sides.


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 25, 2009)

GG-1 said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > GG-1 said:
> ...


Good thinking Eric! If I remember an old post you plan to live in Vegas when you "retire"! Perhaps you can snag a gig as a designer to help Vegas with its worse than LA/Houston traffic mess, I doint get it either, the strip is the absolute worst and the mono-rail couldnt be anymore inconvient! :blink:


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