dsusan

My family will be visiting Los Angeles and Las Vegas. To avoid the aiprt hassle, we planned to drive to Las Vegas on a Thursday in August. Friends said we just find a cheap flight, but we like the dessert drive (with out delays). What is the likelyhood of encountering a traffic back up that will stretch a 4 hour drive into a much longer drive ?

easytraveler

It's really difficult to answer your question, as we have no idea from where you are starting out. Which LA freeway are you planning to take?

What TIME are you planning to drive?

If you could supply a few more details, I'm certain Fodorites will be more than happy to respond!

dsusan

The current plan is to stay in Santa Monica and we can drive anytime 8/19/04 (Thursday) to avoid the traffic. We were thinking it would be nice to arrive in Las Vegas around 6:00 PM. We could stay in Beverly Hills the night before if that would help out considerably.

Alisa

Will you be driving back? That would make a big difference. I, for one, will never drive to Vegas as I have sat in traffic for 6 hours trying to get back to Santa Monica on a Sunday looking at several car accidents on the way. People driving drunk on no sleep....terrible.

That said, Thursday may be better but I would still opt for a flight. Southwest has good deals, it will be easy from LAX on a Thursday.

Staying in Beverly Hills vs. Santa Monica will make no difference.

lvk

Driving to Vegas on a Thursday should be no problem. However, you might want to check the CalTrans web sites to see if there are any problems/construction on I-15. Last year a part of the road was washed out in a freak storm, and traffic was diverted to a route that would add 3 extra hours onto the drive. Any large accident can cause major delays, too. There is no way to predict this.

Alisa is right though. If you have to drive home from Vegas on a Sunday, you are much more likely to encounter delays.

IMO, driving vs. flying to Vegas from LA depends on a few factors. 1) how many people are in your travel group. If it is 4 or more, it is usually cheaper to drive. 2) How long are you going for, and will you want a car when you get there? Those taxi and shuttle fares can add up over an extended trip. 3) Can you organize it so you are not on I-15 on a Fri,Sat or Sun?

For example, last August we decided to drive because we were 5 people, we wanted to have a car there (DH wanted bring his golf clubs and drive to different courses) and we were avoiding a weekend drive.

This weekend, just the 2 of us are flying on a Southwest flight/hotel package, just for 2 nights. We'll take limos & cabs and maybe even the new monorail wherever we need to go.

Hope this helps!

joesorce

Southwest has a $45 one-way fare if you can book 21 days ahead (not sure what Thurs you're leaving...)

The flight has some nice views, and if you like a desert drive, I'd recommend doing it in Vegas, out to Red Rock Canyon or over to Lake Las Vegas/ Lake Mead.

If you drive, leave Santa Monica around 10:30 - 11am , and no later than 2pm.

dsusan

Thanks for the road advise. I can get cheap one-way airline tickets, but I was mostly interested in driving because I figured there was an one and a half hour wait to check in at the airport, preflight, and one hour flight, and at least half hour to get the luggage. So I was thinking between restricting our schedule to the flight time coupled with the 3 plus hours of airport to airport time, I would just spend over three hours to fly vs four hours to drive and I could leave when ever. Now I know not to leave after 2:30.

Surfergirl

Leaving SM or BH and drive would be best really early in the morning (6 a.m.) or around mid-day if you want to be there around 6 p.m. It does take about 4 hours, but there's often slow traffic on the 15 before getting into Vegas.

If you drive back on Sunday earlier rather than later, you'll avoid all the people and busses heading back on the 15 to L.A.

easytraveler

I'm with Surfergirl on this one. Start out as early as possible. It'll probably be a 6 hour drive from Santa Monica to Las Vegas.

You want to miss the afternoon heat. If you start out at 6am, you hope to get into Las Vegas around noon, which is pretty hot already.

If you can leave at 4/5 am, so much the better.

The same for the return trip.

I just talked with some friends who returned from Vegas last night. They had a wonderful time at the Bellagio, but - the first day of their arrival, it was 110 degrees by 9 am in the morning!

That's not unusual. I once arrived in Phoenix at 8am and it was 110 degrees in the shade!

Take lots of water. Make sure you have airconditioning in the car. If you have elderly or kids in your party, make sure they are well taken care of.

If you plan to get out of the car, bring hats and good sunscreen.

Enjoy the desert! It can be very beautiful there!