LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It is a busy weekend in Las Vegas, from Life is Beautiful downtown and the iHeartRadio Music Festival on the Strip, to the Las Vegas Raiders home opener on Sunday.
Getting around town will not be easy and getting a rideshare won't be easy either.
Drivers say they are reaching their breaking point while customers report frustrating wait times.
I asked riders at Harry Reid International Airport how long it had taken them to get a rideshare.
"Well now, probably like 20 minutes, but normally—because we come here quite often—you come in here, you get it and it's super fast."
"This line is pretty terrible so I'm thinking it's going to be about a 45 minute wait," the customer continued.
Las Vegas visitors say they have never seen wait times for rideshares this long.
Pamela Farrington and Ray Rosel flew in from the Bay Area. They say they regretted not getting a taxi after ordering their Uber and seeing the wait time.
"It was suppose to arrive in 13 minutes, now it went to 14 and it keeps going up from 24, 22, 14, back up to 24 minutes again."
Farrington says they come out to Las Vegas about four times a year and have never seen it like this.
I spoke with an Uber driver who says the job is not providing enough money to keep him behind the wheel.
Uber driver Francisco Sanchez has been in the rideshare business for nearly six years. He says for some drivers the wait to get a ride from busy areas like the airport or the Strip just isn't worth it anymore.
"If I am going out by 4 am, sometimes 4-6 a.m., to 7 a.m., with only one ride it's about $25, I can't survive off of this."
Sanchez says for the amount of effort to the job, the pay just is not worth it.
"You have to pay gas, insurance, rent, food , everything depends on the driver."
As for locals, Sanchez says don't worry about getting an Uber to places like the Strip or the airport, but getting a ride share from these locations back home could be a challenge.
As for visitors like Carlos Madrano, he's just hoping the rest of his Las Vegas visit will be a smooth ride.
"Wait times can be longer, then they just leave and then they don't come back— taxis take advantage of that and up their prices, its like $12 dollars and they charge $25," Madrano said.
