Best Travel Method to LAX

We live about 2 hours away from LAX, which can be 4-6 hours depending on traffic. If we have an early morning flight we stay overnight at The La Quinta right there in Century, they have a park and fly deal that is great. If you spend the night you get to park your car for free for the first 10 night, covered, patrolled and camera and they provide a shuttle 24 hours. If I need to park my car only I use the pre-pay website cheapairportparking.org/lax and choose Westin LAX which I can usually get for about $9.95 a night which is also covered, patrolled and camera also has a 24 hour shuttle, plus you can sit in the hotel in the air conditioning, use the restroom and wait for the shuttle. To get this rate you MUST pre-pay, print out the receipt and keep it with you to show upon leaving the garage or at the valet kiosk. They do get sold out so we book early. Watch out for the cheaper garages because they stack park your car, or are not covered etc. I just want to pull into a space, unload and get to the shuttle. Hope this helps!

We live in San Diego and find that it is often significantly cheaper to fly out of LAX to Europe. We have driven up the night before and stayed in an Embassy Suites that provided parking in a 24-hour supervised lot. Other hotels do this also (book online). We have also driven up, parked in one of those lots, and then taken a shuttle to the airport. Last trip we rented a car in San Diego, drove up early, dropped off the car and just chilled in the airport. Had a rental ready for our return trip which got us in very late and just returned the car the next morning. With three of us (two seniors and a 12-year-old) the shuttle is actually too expensive, and make additional stops to pick up/drop off others. Definitely give yourself more time than you think - we lived in Riverside years ago and found that it always took more time than usual if we had a deadline.

For 34 years we did exactly what Leticia recommends or we would do a one way car rental each way. If we found it helpful to sleep near the airport either for an early morning flight or a late night return, we'd look at a park and fly website to see who had the best hotel rate with length on free parking.

Not to create a problem where there is none, but check with http://bedbugregistry.com or another website before you book a hotel near LAX. Several years ago there was a problem at several hotels near LAX.

The public transit option, depending on where exactly you are, is to take the Riverside Metrolink line into Union Station and then the Flyaway bus from there directly to the airport. I haven't done this yet but am planning to in a couple months. The convenience probably depends on how close you are to the line and how it times out with your flights. It's cheaper for me as one person, but for two, the other options might make more sense.

What time is your flight, and is it a weekend or weekday? These factors can make a huge difference in the potential for traffic.

You folks totally rock! Thanks to your EXCELLENT suggestions, we've decided to drive and book a nearby hotel the night before (which includes 2 weeks of parking and an airport shuttle service).

We would have taken the Metrolink to Union Station to the Flyaway bus as KKC suggested, but we're a little too far away to catch the Metrolink. We also considered a one way rental car as Linda suggested. Good ideas!

Garrison

Gemartt-YEA!!! So glad you got a great fly and park deal. One less thing to worry about, you will be well rested and your car will be safe. I have gotten so much great advise on these forums that have made my travel experiences so much richer and rewarding and I look like a travel pro to my husband.