McCarran International Airport Terminal 3

When I fly to Las Vegas, I like to fly on Hawaiian Airlines. At least I used to like it; now, I’m not so sure.

See, Hawaiian Air moved from the smaller and more intimate Terminal 2 at McCarran International Airport. That terminal used to be the original principal terminal in the ‘60s when our group used to fly into Las Vegas from Los Angeles, where we were attending college and after that, working.

Until earlier this year, Hawaiian flew into Terminal 2. After landing, it was a very short walk to baggage claim, and a very short walk to the car rental shuttle buses.

 

No more. Now, Hawaiian unloads at the D Concourse, then you have to take a short underground tram ride to the new Terminal 3 (or as they like to call it, “T3”). The T3 shuttle trams load and empty off the same huge circular concourse. Whereas you used to turn left (and still do) to get the tram to the main terminal, now you walk straight ahead to the T3 shuttles.

 

The shuttles are pretty frequent, and the ride is short.

However, the baggage claim area is quite a walk from the shuttles, and it’s much larger than Terminal 2’s. Unfortunately, once you get your bags, you need to walk the entire length of the terminal to get to the car rental shuttle buses. And let me tell you, it’s a pretty long walk.

 

I don’t know exactly how long T3 is, but it services all the international airlines, plus some smaller ones besides United.

 

It’s pretty big inside – long. A long walk from the Hawaiian check-in to the security screening area.

 

The security screening area is also impressively big. There were about a dozen machines in operation on the day I took my return flight to Hawaii and by the time I finally planted my butt on the shuttle, I was poop-ticated.

 

Not to mention that once I got off at D Concourse, I had more walking to do. Hawaii’s gates seem to be at the very end of the corridor. Why does that always happen to me?

A simple trip to Las Vegas isn’t as enjoyable as it was a month ago. I may have to rethink the whole idea of going there. Maybe … nah, I’ll find a way to handle it.

 

P.S. Here’s a tip: Do a web check-in, or you’ll have a helluva long wait in a helluva long line while those who did web check-in have twice as many agents serving them and that line moves pretty fast. You don’t have to print your boarding pass when you check-in on the web; you can print it out right there at the web check-in line. Believe me, you’ll thank me for this.