It’s been a while since Claire and I visited Vegas together. The last time I was there was in 2015. Before deciding to go to Vegas, we talked about different places to visit with the family: North and South Carolina, Seattle, Washington, New Orleans, and more. Initially, we thought of going with the whole family, but thanks to my in-laws volunteering to watch the kids, we had the opportunity to go just the two of us.
I’ve been to Vegas four times before, but I’ve never had the chance to visit the Grand Canyon. So this time, we decided to go. We had a total of 7 days, and we planned to spend the first two and the last two days in Vegas, with the middle 3 days for visiting the Grand Canyon area. There are three main stops on our itinerary: the first stop is Zion National Park, the second stop is Page, Arizona, where you can see Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, and the last day is reserved for the Grand Canyon’s south rim.
For our air travel this time, we used Southwest Airlines. Claire has a companion pass with me, which means she can fly with me for free. I also had a good amount of Southwest points, and I have Chase Ultimate Reward points that can be transferred to Southwest Airlines. We booked a direct flight from Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS). My ticket cost a bit more than usual at 6,700 Southwest miles due to the season and the non-stop flight. Still, it was a good deal since we only needed to buy one ticket. We also decided to rent a car from Fox Rental Car this time. The cost was only $170 for the entire week, which was a great deal. However, there was one drawback that I’ll explain later.
On the first day, our flight was around 10:00 AM, and we arrived at the airport around 8:30 AM. During check-in, we found out that our boarding group was C-45 and C-46, towards the end of the boarding sequence. In the past, our boarding group didn’t matter much because of the family boarding between groups A and B when we traveled with our kids. But this time was different, as it was just the two of us. When we boarded the plane, only middle seats were available. So, I ended up in the front row, and Claire sat in the back row. The 5-hour flight was uncomfortable for me since I was between two large passengers. On our return trip, we found a way to make the flight more enjoyable, which I’ll explain later.
Upon arriving in Las Vegas, we realized that Fox Car Rental wasn’t in the main car rental plaza, which was a shuttle bus away from the main airport. Fox and a few other rental companies were located off the airport grounds, but they had their own shuttle buses to transport travelers from the car rental plaza to their locations. So, to reach your rental car from the airport with Fox, you need to take two shuttle buses. It wasn’t a big issue once you knew where to go, but it was an extra step to consider.
After getting our rental car, we met up with Nan, an old friend. Claire and I have known Nan for many years; we were in graduate school together. He was a year behind me but a few years younger. Nan and his wife live in Vegas. We visited their house in a great neighborhood, and we enjoyed catching up. Nan took us to a Korean BBQ restaurant for a delicious meal. After dinner and a long chat, we checked into our first hotel of the trip: Wynn Resort. It was a busy travel day and a great start to our journey.