TRAVEL/TOURISM

Family Car Airport Relay: The idea hit former toy company executive Kenneth Clissold one day as he was thinking about the big airport parking bills he used to run up. Why not create a service that uses passengers’ own cars to shuttle them to the terminal?

For the last six months, Clissold has been trying out the idea. For $25, he will go to the home of anyone in the county and deliver them to John Wayne Airport, take their car home and park it in their garage. He will then pick them up in their own car when they arrive.

For service to Los Angeles International Airport, the round trip costs $50.

“I was looking around for ideas for a business when I thought of a more efficient way to get airline passengers to the airport,” he said.

Business so far is slow. Only about two passengers a month are using the service that Clissold runs out of his Laguna Hills home.

“It’s the kind of thing that people need to hear about,” he said, explaining that people hesitate to try the service because they do not know whether to trust him with their car. So Clissold said he relies on word of month--customers who will vouch for his service.

“They are not about to make a ‘cold’ call and trust somebody they don’t know,” Clissold said.

He said the idea has merit, though, because it lacks the overhead costs of taxi or shuttle services.