Get Me to the Airport, Fast--and Make It Cheap

Solving the holiday airport crunch isn’t as simple as it sounds.

If you’re leaving town, should you drive and park at an airport lot? Or should you take one of the many door-to-door shuttles, a bus, a taxi or even a limousine?

Should you tell friends and relatives that you just can’t face the airport traffic and have them find alternative ways to get to your house? Can you get them to take a flat-rate shuttle or bus to a nearby hotel where you can pick them up?

The airport traffic is not to be taken lightly. Last year, from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through the Sunday after it, 321,205 cars entered and departed Los Angeles International Airport. The worst day was Wednesday--87,429 vehicles.

“Although airport traffic is down about 3% this year, Thanksgiving and Christmastend to be the busiest time of travel,” LAX’s Tom Winfrey said.

If the flight you are waiting for is late, you may have to drive around and around, or park. And take note: The short-term waiting rules for passenger pickup are strictly enforced by police who will issue a $13 ticket to scofflaws who leave their car at the curb in the waiting zone; the police charge an additional $48 if they impound the vehicle.

LAX already has urged travelers to help reduce the holiday jam by car-pooling or taking the flyaway bus or shuttle vans. Most airport travelers now tend to use shuttles, LAX public relations manager Lee Nichols said.

“People like the door-to-door service of the shuttles, and it seems they never did go back to the big buses,” he said. “Five or 10 years ago, people could drive their own car or have somebody drop them off. They stopped driving during the construction (of a second level at LAX) from ’81 to ‘84, and the shuttles really took hold. The individual car has held its own, but the parking has gotten pretty expensive, and the shuttles save people a lot of hassles.”

About 60 shuttle companies operate in Los Angeles and Orange counties. There’s little difference in most of their rates because they must be approved by the Public Utilities Commission, which licenses shuttle firms.

But it pays to shop around. Not all shuttles serve every Los Angeles community; smaller local companies tend to be a few dollars cheaper.

Logo Express, for example, serves Pasadena, with pickups and drops at local hotels and individual homes. Between LAX and Pasadena hotels, its fare is $10. That compares to SuperShuttle’s $12, Valley Airport Shuttle’s $13 and Prime Time’s $18.

Southern California Coach and Green Flag Airport Shuttle, which both run van service mostly in Orange County, seem more expensive than many competitors. Between LAX and Anaheim homes, Southern California charges $40 one way; Green Flag, $50. Compare that to $30 for Valley Airport Shuttle and $33 for SuperShuttle and Airport Transportation.

Big bus service is declining because of the vans’ popularity. Buses are cheaper but slower and they don’t offer door-to-door service.

Adult, Children Fare

Flyaway Van Nuys costs $4.50 for adults; $2.25 for children ages 2-12 from its Woodley Avenue location in Van Nuys to LAX. If you leave your car at the flyaway lot, the fee is $1 every 24 hours with a maximum of 30 days.

Do shuttles really save consumers money? It depends.

SuperShuttle, the nation’s largest door-to-door airport shuttle with 200 vans here and service to the five major Southern California airports--LAX, Long Beach, Burbank, Ontario and John Wayne in Orange County--charges $16 from most Hollywood homes to LAX. It’s $7 more for the second passenger traveling with you.

Prime Time and Valley Airport Shuttle, two major companies serving Los Angeles County, charge $15 from Hollywood to LAX for the first person, $6 for additional passengers from the same location.

Flight Line, which serves Downtown, Hollywood and the Westside, offers an $8 one-way fare.

To take a taxi (which is faster because they don’t make the multiple stops that shuttle vans do), the fare from Hollywood is about $25.

Take a Friend

So, if you’re traveling alone, shuttles are cheaper. But with a friend, a taxi--nonstop--is only $2 to $4 more, plus tip.

For plush travel, consider a limo service. Many have flat rates to and from airports. United Limousine Service in Inglewood, for instance, charges $38 for a town car from a Hollywood location to LAX, $45 for a limo and $60 for a stretch limo. They add a 15% gratuity charge to each fare.

If you live a long way from the airport, shuttles can be cheaper than cabs and limos. A taxi from Agoura to LAX would run about $60, while Prime Time shuttle quotes a $35 fee for the first passenger; $6 for the second.

Shuttle companies advise travelers to book 24 hours in advance for home pickup, especially in peak holiday travel periods. You can usually get a taxi at your door in 10 to 30 minutes.

Shuttles will schedule pickup for 1 to 1 1/2 hours before flight departure time; that lead time might be a deciding factor in choosing the service.

Shuttle vs. Parking

The length of your trip also might influence your decision on shuttles versus parking. If you’re thinking about driving and parking at a cheaper airport lot, $3- or $4-a-day spots, your fees will about equal a shuttle fare if you will be gone a week, 10 days or longer. The $32 round-trip SuperShuttle fare from Hollywood, for example, equals the fee to park in a $3 lot for 10 1/2 days.

LAX, with 27,000 parking spaces--the most in the world at an airport--has a wide variation of parking fees, as do the other major airports. At garages in the airport, parking is $10 a day. There are some metered spaces in the garages for people picking up passengers. But those are hard to come by, cost 25 cents for 15 minutes and have an hour maximum.

There are two cheaper airport-run outdoor lots nearby: Lot C at 96th Street and Sepulveda Boulevard is $4 a day with a shuttle available every 10 minutes to the terminal; Lot B at 111th Street and La Cienega Boulevard is $3 a day, with free, terminal shuttle service.

Private Lots

There also are private parking lots in the area; most charge rates comparable to the airport lots. The Car Barn on Century Boulevard costs $8 a day but vehicles go in a covered garage with 24-hour security.

If your relatives are coming in from Ohio and you’ve decided not to meet them at the airport, prearrange with them which shuttle company to call for transportation to your home. They can dial a specified number from a call board at any of the airports and a shuttle will be dispatched to pick them up, usually in 15 minutes.

If you want to save a few dollars, tell them to take a specified shuttle or bus to a hotel near you and meet them there. A SuperShuttle trip from LAX to a Hollywood home, for example, costs $16, while a drop at a Hollywood hotel is $11.