Vegas’ airport doesn’t have much in common with Vegas, except one thing

The airport

Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS).

Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS).Credit: Getty Images

The flight

Virgin Atlantic flight VS86 from Las Vegas to Manchester (MAN).

The arrival

We get to the airport in the way Vegas intended – in a resort-provided limo. An Uber from the north of the Las Vegas Strip is about $US23 ($35). Bus services, most notably the 108, link the Strip and the airport for $4. Harry Reid International is adjacent to the southern end of the Strip, which means you’ll get some eye-popping views of the extravagant resorts on the way. Be aware that if returning a rental car, you’ll need to get a free shuttle bus from the nearby rental car depot to the airport terminals.

The look

On the way to the E gates at Harry Reid International.Credit: Ronda Churchill/for McCarran International

Any expectations of neon garishness are quickly dispelled. At first glance, Terminal 3 is a long, grey-beige strip of interchangeable blandness. However, the check-in area hints at a penchant for displaying art – the back wall shows off a glass and metal work of what look like mother-of-pearl bubbles. Elsewhere, there are Peter Lik photos of natural landscapes at security and, by the E gates, an installation of hanging butterflies with airline logos on the wings.

Check-in

Several check-in desks are open, and there’s only one passenger in front at any of the queues, which means nobody even bothers to look at the self check-in touchscreens. It’s a remarkably swift and painless affair – a common theme in an airport that generally goes for function over frivolity.

Security

We’re sent through the special assistance lane, which means dodging a roughly 20-minute queue. From then on, however, security is a tedious faff – all electronics have to come out, shoes have to come off, and manually searching the bag with all the charging cables takes an eternity. Even less impressively, my wife is left sitting in her wheelchair for 10 minutes, waiting for a security officer to manually search her before she’s allowed to join the rest of us beyond the scanners.

Food + Drink

Alongside two food-court sections with the expected Burger King and Starbucks, the E gates have a handful of table service options selling fairly predictable burger, fish and chips and burrito fare, with prices generally in the not-outrageous $US17-24 bracket. Most interesting of these is The Local, which goes for a village pub vibe and makes a point of selling Nevada-brewed craft beers. A five-beer tasting flight, including a stout and hefe weiss, costs $US16.

Retail therapy

Several iterations of Hudson News sell laughably overpriced bags of sweets and bottles of water. Michael Kors and Pandora stores fight for the attention of bigger spenders, and there’s a duty free shop, but the shopping experience feels perfunctory rather than lavish. For souvenir sweatshirts, blingy water bottles and Las Vegas-branded shot glasses, the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada store takes care of most tourist tat needs.

Passing time

Some of the 1000 slot machines inside Harry Reid International Airport.Credit: Getty Images

In the most Las Vegas-style diversion possible, the airport has more than 1000 slot machines. There are several banks of gaudy, flashing money-drainers for those who wish to gamble away their reserves of US currency before getting on the plane. More wholesome time-killing can be practised at the Xpres Spa, which has massage chairs and treatment rooms. It’s $US50 for a neck and back massage or $55 for a pedicure.

The verdict

Harry Reid International doesn’t go for over-the-top Vegas razzle dazzle, but security aside, it is mercifully well-organised and compact. There’s minimal traipsing between drop-off and departure gate – something most airports can learn from.

Our rating out of five

★★★½

The writer was a guest of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (Visitlasvegas.com) and Travel Nevada (travelnevada.com).