text: For a city like Vegas whose livelihood is based entirely on tourism consumption and glam to have such a lackluster airport is pretty ridiculous McCarran is old ugly and hassleridden and fails miserably as the gateway to its citynnThe terminal is dark and dated looking much like that old ghetto mall in your town that everyone used to go to in the s but is now just a collection of empty storefronts and paydayloan stores The old and inefficient design of the terminal means it is constantly crowded from the gate seating to the trams to the restaurants and barsnnAnd speaking of McCarrans restaurants and bars they mostly suck too All airports are known for expensive retail but most modern airports at least give you a good product for your dollar lots of restaurant options sports bars maybe even a brew pub or wine bar or a food court with some local flavor places geared toward helping people relax and kill time while they empty their wallets By contrast McCarran gives you a few uninviting bars some crappy fast food and a couple very overcrowded restaurants but do not worry they have still managed to preserve the high prices you are accustomed tonnMcCarran should have an inherent advantage because of its closeness to central Vegas but this benefit is pretty much canceled out by poor logistics that make it a hassle to get in and out easily When arriving baggage claim is notoriously long If you are picking up a rental car get ready for a nice long bus trip to the rentalcar mall which is strategically located in the middle of nowhere granted having a centralized rental facility is a good idea but not when it is this far offsitennThen when you are bringing your car back please enjoy the lack of signs directing you to the rentalcar facility which means you have to drive through the entire airport loop past your terminal where you are eventually going in order to see the first sign which then directs you back out on the highway to the rentalcar place several miles away Now experience deja vu as you take the bus back into the airport loop where there is only one dropoff spot per terminal so if you are flying Southwest like most Vegas patrons you will get deposited with your bags on the exact opposite end of the terminal from the checkin counternnAlso most of the staff seem to have a permanent case of the MondaysnnVegas is in desperate need of a new airport one that is shiny and nice and much more efficient an appropriate facility for the city it represents It is too bad that the city could not get its shit together during its last years as a boomtown and make this necessary capital investment Now that the economy is tanking and the housing crisis is hitting Vegas especially hard it might be a long time before they have the cash for a significant upgrade