How to re:Invent, Episode 1 - Vegas, Travel, and Accommodations
I created a re:Invent guide in both 2024 and 2025, and with re:Invent 2026 closing in, it's time to refresh it for this year. I'm keeping the multi-post approach, sharing my tips and tricks on specific topics in each one.
I have attended re:Invent every year since 2016 and have collected a fair amount of tips and tricks on how to survive not only re:Invent but also Vegas as a city. If you read my guide before, you will recognize some parts but hopefully also discover some new hidden gems.
In this episode, I will look at travel, accommodations, and Vegas as a city.
AWS re:Invent means you should prepare to walk a lot, get very little sleep, gain a ton of learning, and meet some new friends!
Travel
So, you're coming to re:Invent, that's awesome! You will have an amazing time.
When booking your travel, there are some simple "rules" I have learned over the years that make things much smoother. First of all, I don't recommend getting to Vegas later than the Saturday, which is November 28th, if you travel internationally. My experience is that I need the Sunday outside in natural light to fight jet lag. The rest of the re:Invent week will mostly be spent inside with artificial lights. So, a full day of sun and natural light helps my body adjust to the new time zone. Badge pickup also opens on Sunday, and picking up your badge early is a good thing.
I normally travel back home on the Friday afternoon, December 4th. There are sessions planned until lunch on Friday, so an afternoon flight works well.
Other things to know are that re:Invent takes place the week after Thanksgiving, meaning it's a busy travel weekend. Expect longer wait times at airport security and immigration, especially if you arrive as early as the Thursday, November 26th, which is Thanksgiving. But the entire weekend is busy, so plan for that. Tight connections are probably not a good idea. I'd rather spend some extra time at the airport than feel the stress in the immigration line.
ESTA, Visas
If you're flying in from outside the US, sort out your entry paperwork early. This trips up first-timers every year.
Coming from a Visa Waiver Program country, like I do from Sweden, you don't need a full visa, but you do need an approved ESTA before you board. Apply on the official site, esta.cbp.dhs.gov, and nowhere else. There's a whole army of third-party sites that will happily charge you triple to fill in the exact same form. The real fee is $40 as of 2026, an approval is good for two years, and CBP says to apply at least 72 hours before you travel. I always do it the moment I book my flights, so it's done and I'm not refreshing my inbox at the gate.
If your country isn't in the Visa Waiver Program, you need an actual visa, and that's a completely different timeline. Interview slots at some embassies are booked weeks or even months out. So if that's you, start as early as you possibly can, ideally the moment you know you're going.
Immigration and MPC
Then there's the immigration line itself, which after a long flight is the last thing you want to deal with. This is where Mobile Passport Control helps. It's a free CBP app. No membership, no interview, you just download it and go. You enter your passport details and answer the customs questions in the app, then use a separate line that's usually a lot shorter. It works for US citizens and residents, and for returning Visa Waiver travelers with an approved ESTA, which covers most international re:Invent folks. Harry Reid in Las Vegas supports it. One thing to keep in mind, you clear immigration at your first US airport, so if you connect through Los Angeles or somewhere else, that's where you'll use it, not Vegas. Grab the Mobile Passport Control app before you fly.
Getting from/to the airport
Basically, you have two main ways to get from the airport to your hotel, Taxi or Rideshare (Uber/Lyft). Don't assume that Uber/Lyft will always be the cheapest; they often are, but during busy hours, the price goes up, and the wait can easily be an hour or even more. There is a fixed taxi rate between the airport and the hotels on The Strip (Las Vegas Blvd). Sometimes the drivers insist you use the meter, but it will always be more expensive than the fixed price, so don't fall for that trick. This is the first scam to look out for. Normally, I do use Rideshare, but I always check the price and the wait time. One good thing about Taxis is that they can drop you off at the entrance of the hotels, Rideshares are often referred to the side entrance.
For more information about fixed rates, visit Nevada Taxicab Authority
The Vegas Loop
New for 2026 is that there's a third option worth knowing about, the Vegas Loop. It's the underground tunnel system built by the Boring Company, where a Tesla drives you point to point through tunnels under the city. No stops along the way, and the ride between stations takes just a few minutes. A trip between resorts or the convention center runs about $4.25.
The Vegas Loop, the Boring Company's tunnels running under the Strip.
Before you get too excited, it doesn't cover the whole re:Invent campus yet. Right now there's only a handful of stations, mostly around the Las Vegas Convention Center, plus Resorts World, Westgate, and Encore up at the north end.
The interesting part for 2026 is the airport, and there's a catch worth understanding. As I write this, the Loop runs to Harry Reid, but departures only. You can grab a ride from Resorts World or Westgate to Terminal 1 or 3 for around $12, roughly between 10 in the morning and 9 at night. Landing is a different story. Airport pickups aren't live yet, so when you touch down you're still taking a taxi or rideshare like everyone else. So think of it as a way out, not a way in, at least for now. The dedicated airport tunnel is still being finished, and more of this may open up by the time re:Invent comes around, so check the current status before you plan around it.
re:Invent Campus
Before we get into where to stay, it's worth understanding how the re:Invent campus is laid out, because where you sleep really depends on where you'll spend your days.
The official re:Invent 2026 map. Yellow hotels are venues where sessions happen, blue ones are sleeping hotels only.
There are six venues this year, the places where you actually attend sessions: Encore, Wynn, The Venetian, Caesars Forum, Caesars Palace, and MGM Grand. The Venetian is the main one—it's where the Expo lives. Most venues double as sleeping hotels, but not all of them. Caesars Forum is venue-only, for example. No rooms there, so you sleep nearby and walk in.
New for 2026, Mandalay Bay is out and Caesars Palace is in. That matters more than it sounds, because it pulls the whole campus north. Five of the six venues now sit in one run from Encore down to Caesars Palace, all within a reasonable walk or short shuttle of each other. The odd one out is MGM Grand, sitting on its own down south by Tropicana. So if your must-see session of the day is at MGM Grand, you're committing to the south end for that day. Everything else clusters up north.
Here's the part first-timers never expect: the north cluster is connected by indoor walkways. You can get from The Venetian to Caesars Forum through the Expo, and from The Venetian over to Wynn and Encore, without stepping outside or waiting for a shuttle. A hop between them is 15 to 20 minutes on foot. That's why staying somewhere central, around the Venetian and Caesars cluster, is rarely a bad call.
The blue hotels on the map are sleeping hotels. No sessions, but they're part of the official campus with AWS room blocks. They run the full range, from the brand-new Fontainebleau at the far north end to mid-Strip favorites like Paris, Horseshoe, and The LINQ. I'll get into how to pick one in the next section.
The campus maps on the re:Invent webpage get updated as the event gets closer, so check back if you're booking early.
Accommodations
So, where should you stay? That's not an easy question to answer. Like I said above, most of the action sits in the north cluster around The Venetian, with MGM Grand as the southern outlier. So where you stay mostly comes down to your budget and how close you want to be to that cluster.
The Strip at night. Most venues cluster up at the north end, so staying central rarely hurts.
There are many good hotels in Vegas, and where you stay depends on your budget. To be honest, you will not spend much time in your room, so for me, a comfortable bed and a clean room are all I ever ask for. So, I normally like to stay somewhere in the middle. My favorite hotels include Paris and Horseshoe, but also New York New York and MGM in the south end. Venetian is a great hotel but prices are much higher. I feel that Horseshoe is an underestimated hotel; it's very close to Caesars Forum, and you can walk down Linq Ln, which is a great shortcut.
The hotel prices have increased a lot during the last couple of years, and the average price on The Strip is, at time of writing this in June, $216. AWS offers deals on several hotels on the campus from the re:Invent portal. To access that, you need to have a ticket in place.
During the last couple of years, I have said that you should not assume that the prices via AWS are always the best; you need to do some research, and most years I have managed to book at a cheaper price outside of the re:Invent portal. For 2026, it does look like the AWS prices are the best.
Here is an extra tip for you if you plan to come back again next year. All hotels in Vegas offer free cancellations, all money back. So, by booking already in February, you can score some sweet deals.
Getting Around
First of all, don't underestimate the distance between hotels. They might look close, but the time it takes to get from one hotel to another can be very long. Also, just walking from the entrance of the hotel to your room can be an easy 15 minutes; these hotels are huge.
The transportation options you have are:
Walking
I like walking! I tend to walk everywhere. Often this can be the quickest route, depending on traffic. But don't underestimate the distance. Walking from Venetian to MGM Grand is an easy one-hour walk. So, before opting for this, make sure to check Google / Apple maps to see how long it will take.
re:Invent Shuttles
AWS runs free shuttles between the venues, and they run continuously during conference hours. This is the backbone of getting around during the week, especially for the longer hops like up to the north end or down to MGM Grand. Exact routes and times get published in the fall, and they show up in the re:Invent app once you're on-site. One tip: check the app before you hop on, because sometimes walking is genuinely faster than waiting for and riding the shuttle.
Monorail
The Las Vegas Monorail runs along the east side of the Strip between MGM Grand and Sahara. The best part for us is that it's free for badge holders; you just show your re:Invent badge at the entrance. It's handy for north-south hops, but remember it runs behind the hotels, not on the Strip, so there's usually a walk on either end.
The Deuce
The Deuce is the double-decker public bus that runs up and down the Strip and all the way to downtown and Fremont Street, 24 hours a day and roughly every 15 minutes. It's cheap; a 24-hour pass is around $8, though RTC has been reworking its fares in 2026, so check the current price. It's slower than the shuttle or the monorail since it stops everywhere and sits in Strip traffic, but it's a great option in the evening for getting to dinner or down to Fremont. Bring exact fare or buy from the machines at the stops; the drivers don't give change.
What About the Loop?
I covered the Vegas Loop up in the Travel section. For getting around during the week it's still limited, just a handful of stations mostly up at the north end, so it's not a campus-wide option yet. Good to know about, but the shuttle will do a lot more for you.
Rideshare and Taxi
Uber, Lyft, and taxis aren't just for the airport; they work for getting around the Strip too. They're the fastest way to cross the campus when you're in a hurry or it's late at night. The same caveats apply as before: prices surge during busy hours, and Strip traffic can turn a short hop into a crawl. For the big distances, like MGM Grand up to the north end, it's often worth it.
Viva Las Vegas
You're not just going to a conference; you're going to Las Vegas, and it would be a shame to spend the whole week with blinders on. The city has gotten a lot more expensive over the last few years, so part of this is about not getting fleeced. But it's also everything else—what the weather's like, where to eat, what to see, and how to handle Vegas without it handling you. Let's get into it.
Vegas Weather
The winter weather in Vegas is very unpredictable. I have seen everything from snow to very warm weather. In the morning, it can go as low as 5-10°C (40-50°F), and in the afternoon, it can easily reach 25°C (75°F) in the sun. Layers, a light jacket, hoodies are your friend. It rarely rains, but when it does, it RAINS. If you have room in your suitcase, packing an umbrella or a rain poncho is a good idea.
Places to Eat
Even though there are meals being served, breakfast and lunch, at re:Invent, you still need to find some good food for dinner and if you arrive in Vegas early. Just to mention, during re:Invent, there will be a lot of free parties where you can also get dinner. But here are my favorite places to eat.
Breakfast
My absolutely favorite breakfast spot is Mon Ami Gabi by Paris. They serve some amazing Eggs Benedict, but their waffles are also really good. Now you can also get both brunch, lunch, and dinner here if you like.
Eggs Benedict at Mon Ami Gabi, my go-to breakfast by Paris.
My second breakfast spot is Eggslut inside Cosmopolitan; their egg sandwich is to die for!
Dinner
For dinner, I could mention so many good places, but these are four places that I truly enjoy. You could eat here without totally breaking the bank.
Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill Inside Caesars Palace, you will find one of Gordon's many restaurants in Vegas. Here you can get some classic pub food but also signature dishes like Beef Wellington.
Yard House On the Linq Promenade, you will find Yard House, a good chain restaurant with great food and beer for reasonable prices.
Virgil's Real BBQ Staying on the Linq Promenade, you will find this BBQ place. Is it the best BBQ in Vegas? No, it's not, but it's still really good and located on the Strip. Off the strip, you will find Rollin Smoke BBQ.
Peppermill and Fireside Lounge A classic restaurant that serves really good steaks.
As an honorable mention, I need to throw in Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen. Now this is really good food and a true experience, but it's super expensive.
Budget Tips
Cheap Eats Food in Vegas can be really expensive; there are so many nice restaurants. However, places with cheap and good food are rare. So, these are my favorite spots. All prices mentioned are at the time when I'm writing this post.
Burger Inside the Miracle Mile Shops in Planet Hollywood, you will find Ketchup Premium Burger Bar. Here you can get a burger for $6.
Vegetarian Also inside the Miracle Mile Shops in Planet Hollywood, you will find Tacotarian, an all plant-based taco place. You can get tacos for $3.99.
Chicken There are two locations for Dave's Hot Chicken, inside the Miracle Mile Shops in Planet Hollywood and by Grand Bazar shops by Horseshoe. Here you can get a chicken deal between $6-8. Don't be afraid of the Hot Chicken name; you can pick your heat level.
Morning Coffee Hack The lines at Starbucks can be crazy long in the morning when everyone is trying to grab that first cup of joe. Instead of waiting in line, go to the sportsbook or the center bar of your hotel; most hotels have this. Early in the morning, they will be serving affordable, freshly brewed coffee without any lines. Best survival hack ever for a coffee maniac like me.
CVS, Target, ABC Buying your snacks at the hotel convenience store is crazy expensive. See the Scams section. Instead, go to CVS, Target, or any of the ABC stores. Here you can get snacks and drinks for a fraction of the price. I normally go once and stock up for the entire week.
Five Things to Do in and Around Vegas
Vegas is the party capital of the world, and there are plenty of entertainment and things to do. During re:Invent week, you will be fully busy with re:Invent, so don't try to add a lot of other things to your schedule. If you arrive a few days before and want to mix things up a bit, this is what I would recommend.
Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon
Rent a car and drive to Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon. I have on several occasions done exactly this. Eagle Point in Grand Canyon West is a good location. This is around a 2.5-hour drive.
Las Vegas Bus Tours The hop-on hop-off bus tour is a great way to see many of the things. It travels up and down The Strip, and you can get on and off at several locations. A great way to see the Las Vegas sign in the south and ride all the way up to classic casinos like the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street. Check out the website for tickets and maps.
The Sphere
The Sphere opened in 2023 and it's still one of the most impressive things on the Strip. The main draw is the immersive film, which for a while now has been The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, the 1939 classic rebuilt for that giant 16K screen. It plays several times a day, so it's easy to slot in. There are also concert residencies, and the Eagles have a run going into late 2026, so check whether a show lines up with your week. The film that started it all was Postcard from Earth, the one I have seen, and I thought it was great. The lineup shifts through the year, so have a look at what's on when you're there.
Meow Wolf Las Vegas I have been to other Meow Wolf installations but never the one in Vegas. Meow Wolf is an interactive art installation, and the one in Vegas features the greatest supermarket experience in the world, created by over 300 artists. Prepare to have your perception of reality altered. Omega Mart is where reality checks out! Visit the website for prices and opening hours.
Neon Museum and Art Districts The Neon Museum is very popular and is a nonprofit open-air exhibition of over 200 old neon signs salvaged from old casinos and businesses. Many of the signs originally crafted by the Young Electric Sign Company are now preserved in the Neon Boneyard. There are guided tours that bring Las Vegas history to light through storytelling. Visit the website for prices and opening hours.
Five Free Things to Do in Vegas
Now, let's look at some free things to do in Vegas.
Bellagio Fountain The Fountains of Bellagio are a choreographed fountain spectacle, with water jets reaching up to 140 meters (460 feet) that are synchronized to music ranging from classical to pop. It opened in 1998 and remains one of the most iconic and frequently photographed attractions on the Las Vegas Strip.
Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens Located just inside Bellagio’s lobby, the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens features themed floral and plant displays that change seasonally. Often highlighting events like spring, summer, fall, winter, and Christmas. Open to the public at no charge, and offers a serene, artistic escape from the bustle of the Strip. Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
Las Vegas Sign
The Las Vegas sign is a bit overrated, but as a first-timer, it for sure should be on your list.
Walk The Strip
Just go for a walk down The Strip, take photos of all of the hotels. Walk into M&M Store, Hershey's, Coca-Cola, and several others.
Fremont Street Experience Fremont Street is the older part of Vegas, and this is where you find classic casinos like the Golden Nugget. Fremont is well worth a visit. Go in the evening, buy a beer, listen to some music, hang around, and eat some cheap food. The prices on Fremont are significantly lower than on The Strip.
Don't Get Scammed
When visiting Las Vegas and re:Invent for the first time, or any time for that matter, you don't want to go home and feel that you got scammed. In this section, I'll try to list some of the most common scams in Vegas; avoid them!
Bicycle Ride There is a new scam floating around, especially around The Sphere. There are people offering bicycle taxis to and from your hotel. Often without any listed price, and when arriving at your destination, they demand a large sum for the ride, upwards of $100 per person is not unheard of. Avoid them at all costs!
Hotel Convenience Stores
NEVER ever buy things from the hotel convenience stores; this is seriously overpriced. You can have to pay upwards of $25 for a bag of candy or snacks. The prices are also dynamic, meaning that things are more expensive during certain hours of the day. See the budget section for where to buy your snacks.
Hotel Minibar
If the convenience store wasn't bad enough, the minibar is a crazy scam. A bottle of water can be upwards of $25. Also, the minibar comes equipped with sensors, so if you remove an item, you will be automatically charged.
Show Girls and Characters
All over The Strip, you will find all kinds of characters, from Disney to Transformers, and show girls with big feather attire. All of them want you to take a picture with them, afterwards they will require a hefty tip, $50 easy. Now it is a tip, and they can't legally charge you, but at the same time, you probably don't want to make a big scene. IF you would like to take a picture with them as a memory, make sure to agree on the "price" before snapping the image!
Monk Scam
This is not unique to Vegas. All over, you will run into these fake monks that try to give you a bracelet. Just don't take it. If you do, they will start asking that you make a donation. If you then try to hand the bracelet back, they will argue that since you touched it, it has lost its "magic". Just avoid them, and put your hands up if they try to put the bracelet on you.
Fake CD Scam
Also not unique to Vegas, is people who try to give you a "free CD". They claim to be struggling artists and even sign the CD for you. Of course, they also want a donation for the CD. If you take it and hand them some cash, the CD is 100% blank.
Fremont Street Stands
The street stands on Fremont Street are crazy overpriced. If you want to buy from them, make sure to haggle a lot!
Tips, Tips, Tips Everywhere
Vegas runs on tips; many of the hospitality workers rely on tips. I personally don't like the tipping culture, but when in Vegas, make sure you tip the cocktail waitress, housekeeping, taxi drivers, and other hospitality staff. If you go to a re:Invent party with free drinks, tip the waitress. First of all, you will get great service, but second, as this is a free event, they don't make tips, so be kind and leave a tip. Make sure to bring cash for easy tipping.
Five Vegas Rookie Mistakes to Avoid
When in Vegas as a rookie, there are things you should know that maybe aren't classed as scams, rather mistakes to avoid.
Not Trying the $20 Trick The “$20 trick” is a popular Las Vegas trick for getting a complimentary room upgrade at check-in. When you hand your ID and credit card to the front desk agent, you discreetly include a folded $20 bill between them and politely ask if there are any complimentary upgrades available. While it’s not guaranteed to work, many times it works, especially during less busy times. That makes it a legendary, and sometimes effective, Vegas travel hack for better views, larger rooms, or extra perks.
Not Using In-Room Safe One of the biggest mistakes would be to not secure your room door or use the in-room safe. You don't want anyone to get into your room, but if they do, you don't want them to easily steal your laptop. Use the safe, people!
Hotel Minibar
This almost classifies as a scam! Be aware of the minibar in the room. The drinks and snacks are crazy expensive, and many of the minibars have sensors that detect if you remove an item and automatically charge you! There are normally some vague signs about it, just don't touch the items in the minibar, and absolutely don't remove something to keep the drink you bought at Target cold.
ATM Fees
Make sure you bring cash! The fees charged by the ATM machines in the hotels can be upwards of $10 per withdrawal!
Pot Builder Slot Machine
If you plan to play some slot machines, understand that the "Pot builder" machine, these are machines that show some form of graphics like gold in a pot, fireworks about to go off, pigs that get bigger and bigger. If the pot fills up or the fireworks go off, you win the bonus. This graphic is just a graphic and does not indicate that you are "close to winning".
Early Packing Tips
I will do a full episode around packing tips when we get closer to re:Invent. But I wanted to add some short advice already now, mainly related to Vegas and not the event itself.
Shoes Great walking shoes—trust me, you will be walking. On average, I walk between 25-30K steps per day. Also, bring more than one pair.
Chapstick and Moisturizer Vegas is in the desert—trust me! Your lips and skin will thank you!
Earplugs Hotels and casinos are loud. RePlay is loud. Your ears will thank you!
Travel Adapter and Power Bank If you live outside of the US, don't forget your travel adapter! For all attendees, a power bank is good to have to keep your phone charged all day.
Final Words
This was the first episode in "How to re:Invent." Stay tuned for more episodes on session planning, reserved seating, packing and survival, parties and rePlay, and a new one for 2026 on security now that re:Inforce joins re:Invent.
See you all in Vegas! Send me a message on LinkedIn if you'd like to meet up!
Don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn and X for more content, and read the rest of my Blogs.
As Werner says! Now Go Build!