Ditch Uber: LAX Parking Hacks
There is a common thought process in Los Angeles that goes something like, “if you love someone, you’d take them to the airport, but if they really love you, they’d never ask.” That’s how we feel about our international travel gateway to all things magical, also known as LAX (This is the airport code for the Los Angeles airport, just in case you didn’t know). Yet even if you drive yourself, parking at the airport can be a pain and expensive with a daily rate of $56. If you have that money to burn, go for it, but if I’m trying to do all this work to save money on flights, why would I blow it on parking my car? To make every aspect of travel more enjoyable, I’ve compiled a few airport parking hacks.
Reserve Spot Off-Site
Cost: $21 daily
I found that you could park your car at locations a mile or two from the airport for half the price and then get a shuttle to drop you off at your terminal. If you Google “LAX airport parking” you are going to get a bunch of options like Wally Park. I also usually check Groupon to see if there are any specials. My favorite has been the Parking Spot which also offers student discounts that I ask for with no guilt whatsoever. There are valet, covered parking, and even car wash amenities. The cheapest price will cost you just over $20.
Shuttle to Airport
Cost: $19.50 roundtrip + $5 daily parking fee
The FlyAway bus is a shuttle that picks you up from either Union Station or Van Nuys and costs just under $20 roundtrip. You can buy your ticket online or pay on the bus with a debit or credit card if it has the “tap to pay” capability. The bus runs 24/7 from the hours of 12 am to 3 am, and shows up every hour. The frequency moves up to every half hour and then from 5 am to 11:40 pm, the shuttle arrives every 20 minutes to collect travelers heading to or from the airport. Another downside is that the bus is first come, first serve. This could mean that you may have to wait an extra twenty minutes to get the next ride if it’s too packed. Also, when leaving from LAX, the bus driver will wait a while to try and fill up the seats before it heads out so you should prepared to sit around a little bit. There is also a $5 daily parking fee if you decide to park at the FlyAway lots, but since I live so close, I will ask someone to swing by and drop me off. Our friendship will survive.
Rideshare
Uber/Lyft/Taxi
Cost: Depends
I list these as an option because sometimes the trips costs can be reasonable getting to the airport. However, the new layout means when you are heading back home, you have to take a shuttle to a separate area to meet your rideshare driver, which is called LAX-it, short for LA exit. In this case, you have to wait for the bus to get a car ride, which I find tedious and frustrating on many levels. If you want to go the old school way and just get a taxi, you must go through the same process and then still wait in a line to get a taxi. On my flight back from Atlanta, I tried it out by ordering an Uber and the surge pricing on Sunday just before midnight was $180. That was more than my roundtrip flight. I actually said “absolutely fucking not!” out loud and waited to get a taxi whose fare came out to $80.
Renting Out Your Car
Cost: Free and you might get paid
Avail is a car sharing service where you park your car at a parking garage right by LAX, they inspect it, clean it, and then put your car online to be rented by others visiting the area. If someone rents your car, you get a cut of the profits and when you return, your car is once again cleaned and waiting for you.
I had left my garage opener and a few pens somewhere and they zipped it up in a baggie waiting for me when I got back. They also sealed up my car registration so if the renter got pulled over, they had it to show the cops, but Avail would know it was opened. (This was my biggest concern since I would be out of town and the driver would have my home address to potentially burglarize my home.)
What actually happened was that I had a few marks on my car doors from someone opening the door too hard and hitting something and my sunroof cover was jammed closed. Avail buffed out the marks on my door but I had to take my car into a dealership to fix the sunroof cover. Avail asked me to get an estimate, and email it to them, they paid me that amount, I got the work done, emailed them the receipt and that was it. Avail is insured by Allstate so it felt reassuring that an established insurance company was handling the process.
For your car to qualify, it has to meet certain criteria, for example, it can’t be older than 2015, can only have so many miles, can’t have body damage, etc. Also, after all that, I made $60 for renting out the car. It was the first time I used Avail and it was stressful when I saw marks on my car, in which I had to flag it to the employees and wait for them to fix it after coming back from an international trip passing through customs. What added to the stress was that there was only one shuttle to get to the Avail parking garage and it was inconveniently located between terminals, so you have to frantically wave down the shuttle driver before they pass you.
Would I rent my car out again? Yes, because now I’m mentally prepared for what I’m in for and ironically the claims process was the easiest part. On the flip side, using Avail you can rent someone else’s car for cheaper than regular car rental places and if you use the referral code, you get a $50 booking credit. Just please don’t ding their car doors.
Before you settle on how to get to LAX, you should keep in mind the following:
- What time is your flight arriving/departing?
- How often do the shuttles run?
- Where is the shuttle stops?
- How tired are you going to be when you return?
- Do you have time constraints when you return that you must account for?
Think ahead and be honest about what type of traveler you are. Make an assessment of how tired you’ll be after a trip and how you’ll feel if you are waiting for a shuttle alone at 3 am for an hour and you have to be at work at 7 am. Sometimes paying $100 for a Uber might be worth it for peace of mind and knowing you’ll finally be back in your own bed that much faster.
