By Harriet Baskas

Airport essentials In this article: Ground transportation options. Grab a bite for your flight. Do some gift shopping. More info on the Web: LAS Web site LAS ground transportation page Named for Patrick A. McCarran, a popular Nevada Senator, McCarran International Airport (airport code: LAS) ranks among the top 10 busiest airports in North America and the top 15 in the world. If you're a gambler, getting stuck here could cost (or net!) you a bundle: There are almost 1,300 slot machines scattered throughout the terminal, and it's not unusual to see travelers torn between getting on their planes and playing just one, two—or three—more rolls of quarters.

Get oriented Take care of yourself Take care of business Explore the airport Transportation

Get oriented Baggage note Luggage carts are available everywhere except the D Concourse. Cost is $3. A refund of 25¢ is offered when a cart is returned to a rack. Lockers using a new fingerprint-scanning system are available post-security throughout the airport. Airline locations in Terminal 1: A Gates: America West, British Airways, Champion Air, and US Airways B Gates: America West, British Airways, and Southwest C Gates: Aloha, ATA, and Southwest D Gates: 15 airlines, including AirTran, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Independence Air, JetBlue, Midwest, Northwest, Sun Country, and United Terminal 2 is used mostly for international and charter flights. You can walk from the main terminal out to the A and B Gates, but it’s a short Tram ride to the C or D Gates. To get your bearings, ask for a terminal map at an information booth, located in Baggage Claim, Terminal 1, and in the D Gates concourse. You can also view the terminal map at the LAS Web site. Take care of yourself Eat: If you haven't already eaten too much at the cheap buffets in town, you can dine on Southwestern cuisine in the Terminal 1 Esplanade (pre-security) at Don Alejandro's Texan Grill, or choose lighter fare at the Las Vegas Autoraceway Food & Spirits. Food note Best bet for a carry-on meal: The Las Vegas Autoraceway Food & Spirits, on the Esplanade in the Terminal 1, offers sandwiches packed for travel. Best sinful snack: Locally made Ethel M Chocolates, sold just past the A/B security checkpoint and in Terminal 2. Once past the security checkpoint for the A and B Gates, look for Budweiser Brewhouse, Fox Sports Sky Box, and a variety of fast-food outlets, including Taco Bell, Burger King, Pizza Hut Express, and others. Out at the C Gates, look for the Jose Cuervo Tequileria, the Las Vegas Sports Lounge, the Original Uno Chicago Pizzaria, Wolfgang Puck Express, and other fast-food options. Highlights out by the D Gates include the Prickly Pear restaurant, the 1940s-style Ruby's Dinette for hamburgers and classic diner fare, Harlon's Barbeque & Country Breakfast, Chili’s Too, Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, the Home Turf Sports Bar, Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom, Wolfgang Puck Express, Quiznos Sub, and more. Food choices in Terminal 2 include a bar and several fast-food outlets, including Burger King, Hot Dog City, Pizza Hut Express, and TCBY Treats. Relax and refresh: Finding a quiet place to rest, nap, or read a book is difficult, given the noisy slot machines, talking billboards, and chatty moving walkways, where recorded messages by celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Bette Midler, Dick Clark, and B.B. King remind you to "watch your step" or "stand on the right." However, there are a few out-of-the-way couches in a slot-machine-free area above Baggage Claim, next to the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum. McCarran has a branch of the 24-Hour Fitness Center chain (take the elevator on Level 2, above Baggage Claim). For a $10 per visit fee (price subject to change), travelers have access to showers and locker rooms, the steam room and dry sauna, a cardiovascular workout area, and lots of workout equipment. Massages and personal training are also available. Hours: Monday, 5 AM–midnight; Tuesday–Thursday, 24 hours; Friday, midnight–11 PM; Saturday–Sunday, 6 AM–9 PM. For more information, call 1 (702) 261-3971. Need to clear your head after a night of drinking—or prepare for one? Belly up to the Oxygen Bar at Gate C16 for a 10-, 15-, or 20-minute aroma-enhanced oxygen treatment. Each treatment includes a sample of the bars spa products and massage tools and all sorts of massagers and pampering products are for sale. There’s even a Wedding Package that includes two 10-minutes oxygen sessions, vitamins waters, and an herbal hot/cold wrap. Rather relax with a movie? A branch of InMotion Pictures, out by the D Gates, rents DVD players and movies. Or try your luck at one of the airport's 1,282 slot machines. Feeling faint from too little sleep or too much Vegas excitement? Stop by the first aid clinic, where they can not only check your blood pressure, but also offer immunizations and minor first aid. Smokers, take note: Smoking lounges are located in Terminal 1 in the A/B rotunda, in the C and D gate areas, and in Terminal 2. Take care of business In addition to free airport-wide wireless Internet access, travelers will find plenty of telephones with data ports and a smattering of self-service Internet kiosks throughout the airport. Business note Free wireless Internet access is available throughout the airport. Airline club members will find a lounge for US Airways/America West in Terminal 1, on the Mezzanine level, above the ticket counters, near the A/B security checkpoint. A full-service Wells Fargo Bank is located near the A/B security checkpoint. Hours: Monday–Thursday, 9 AM–5 PM; Friday, 9 AM–6 PM. There is also a full-service U.S. Post Office on the second level of the main terminal, right over the north Baggage Claim area. Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 AM–1 PM and 2:30–5 PM. Accessories for Wireless (pre-security by the C Gates) offers cell-phone rentals, cell-phone accessories, pre-paid phone cards, and an Internet kiosk. Explore the airport Shop: Leaving Las Vegas with cash in your pockets? You can easily empty them at the airport's slot machines or shops. In the Terminal Esplanade, look for a wireless accessories shop, Borders books, the Havana Honey Cigar Shop, Kids Wear and Toys, Mr. Boxer (boxer shorts and more), the Candy Shop, and gift shops for many major Strip hotels, including the Bellagio, Treasure Island, Excalibur, Circus Circus, the Mandalay Bay, New York New York, the Golden Nugget, and others. There’s also a kiosk at the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum offering a nice variety of aviation-related items. Shopping note Best souvenir under $10: Chocolate roulette chips, a roulette wheel lollipop, or cardboard slot machines filled with chocolate coins, all at the Nevada Market, by the D Gates. Out by the A and B Gates, look for Brookstone, Ethel M Chocolates, Fossil, Kids Korner II, and other gift shops. The C Concourse offers Ethel M Chocolates, T-Shirts Ltd., Las Vegas Fruit & Nuts, and others. Out by the D Gates, the choices include Altitunes, Bijoux Terner, Bose, Brookstone, Crabtree & Evelyn, Erwin Pearl, Kids Works, Las Vegas Gaming Supply, Nevada Market, Perfumania, the Body Shop, and more. In Terminal 2, look for a Duty Free shop, Ethel M Chocolates, PGA Tour Shop, T-Shirts Ltd, and several other shops. Sightsee: For free entertainment, visit the top-notch Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum on Level 2 of Terminal 1. The museum is home to a bright-red 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible and exhibits honoring Amelia Earhart, Hollywood stunt flyer Jack Frye, and eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. An original Hacienda Cessna aircraft used for a world-record, nonstop endurance flight in 1959 hangs above Baggage Claim as an advertisement for the museum. Additional museum exhibit cases can also be found elsewhere in the airport, including on the way out to C Gates and near the kids’ play area at the D Gates. Lookout: The best spot to view airfield activity is the Great Hall by the D Gates, where a 45-foot-high, south-facing window provides views of the city and the desert beyond. Cross over to any window on the north side to catch a peek of the glittering Las Vegas Strip. Play around: Kids of all ages will enjoy the exhibits in the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Heritage Museum in the Terminal Esplanade. Take younger kids to the children's play area behind the top of the escalators at the D Gates, where they'll be entertained by an interactive mini-control tower, a mock jet engine, telescopes, and great view of the airfield. Kids (and adults) will also enjoy the large desert creatures that greet passengers arriving at the D Gates. There are also several kids toy stores scattered about the airport, including pre-security in the Terminal Esplanade, in the A/B gates rotunda, and out by the D Gates. Transportation Transportation note For bus schedules, call the Las Vegas bus system (CAT) at 1 (702) 228-7433. It's just 9 miles—a 15-minute cab ride—from the airport to the end of the Strip. Downtown Las Vegas is only 12 miles away. Taxi rides to downtown cost about $21, while shuttles cost from $5 to $7.50. If you're heading to The Strip, the taxi ride costs about $16; shuttles run from $4.25 to $4.75. (All prices subject to change.) Citizen Area Transit bus routes 108 and 109 also serve the airport. The fare is $1.25 (price subject to change). For bus schedules and more information, see the CAT Web site or call 1 (702) CAT-RIDE (228-7433). For additional information about McCarran International Airport, call 1 (702) 261-5733.  Guides to more than 65 airports are available online from Expedia's Airport Information page, or buy the whole book, Stuck at the Airport: A Traveler's Survival Guide, at Amazon.com.

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