LAX airport hotel or beach ?

[Austman]

Sorry Austman ..I am a newbie to all this and need Travelling 101 ! What is a line-line freeway condition site ?

Guessing it is an alert re possible traffic jams from hotel to LAX ?

Sorry - a typo! I meant on-line! Just google search for "LA freeway conditions".

 

[Antoallison]

Right harvyk .. That confirms the information I originally had is correct, about having to collect bags at LAX after my early morning arrival from Oz and do customs there !!
then recheck my bags .. For whatever time and airline I choose for my internal flight to Washington that same day.

I was told by some girl at Flight Centre that was not the case and the bags would go straight through to IAD for customs check there !! I queried it and she still said yes .. FAIL !

 

[Pedwin]

Always found Santa Monica a good option. Reasonably close to LAX and whilst lots of boutique shopping, also a large mall with a Macy's - seem to have permanent sales.

 

[harvyk]

Right harvyk .. That confirms the information I originally had is correct, about having to collect bags at LAX after my early morning arrival from Oz and do customs there !!
then recheck my bags .. For whatever time and airline I choose for my internal flight to Washington that same day.

I was told by some girl at Flight Centre that was not the case and the bags would go straight through to IAD for customs check there !! I queried it and she still said yes .. FAIL !

Ah, it's a Flight Center booking... Rule 1 when dealing with FC, assume that the person you are talking to does not know anything about travel, because there is every chance that the FC person has never actually traveled to the location they are confidentially giving advice for. The safest bet is to confirm any questions you have with AFF members as I doubt you'll find many places on earth that hasn't been visited by at least 1 AFF member.

 

[Antoallison]

NO harvyk I would never book with Flight Centre again !

.. I have in the distant past .. Rubbish ! I just phoned them when I was trying to make sense of multiple flights after an LAX .. So flying from PER then LAX and hopping across USA from West to East and then back again.

With their constant adverts for staff and high turnover it is little wonder that I even with my limited geographical knowledge I know more than the 'professional' behind the desk.
I even think I can handle complicated multi-destination bookings myself online and in most cases direct with the airline not using a 3 rd party online booking service.

I now feel confident being able to call on the expertise from AFF members to do it all myself and save money to boot. Thanks everyone !

 

[wandering_fred]

If you really need to fly Qantas, MEL is by far the best airport for transferring to PER from the USA. Though it is likely I would choose CX via HKG for the better pricing of PEY exUSA (or YVR)

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[Antoallison]

If you really need to fly Qantas, MEL is by far the best airport for transferring to PER from the USA. Though it is likely I would choose CX via HKG for the better pricing of PEY exUSA (or YVR)

Happy wandering

Fred

hi wandering_fd, no I don't have to fly Qantas as I have Amex, Velocity or Altitude points to use up for this trip.

I just want it all ! The best price, the shortest connections, the shortest wait at an airport, the nicest experience I can get in an ecomomy seat !

What does PEY stand for ?

I could fly out of Vancouver after my Seattle vacation .. So CX is a possibility.

 

[RooFlyer]

PEY = Premium economy.

Note harvyk's advice well- check everything you might be told by Flight Centre here.

Here's a spiel I put together on things to do around LAX. NOTE: Its focussed around a stop-over at LAX, not a stay in LA and it was written before great improvements in LAX itself.

 

[RooFlyer]

See this thread for some USA shopping tips. You could go over there and ask some questions, but try to stay close to topic.

Also AFFers can guest you into the QF or other lounge at LAX if they are there, are inclined and know you want to get in. See this thread, but also don't be afraid to ask ahead of time if some-one can guest you in once you know your flight number/time/date.

 

[Quickstatus]

Quickstatus - I was planning that I would be flying into LA from Seattle at the end of a vacation, to maybe spend 2 to 3 nights to see around/shop in LA, then fly out home LAX to SYD on one of those late night flights... maybe on Saturday 11th September.

I will try and find the post of the AFF member who missed his flight though.

I understand to allow plenty of time to (a) get to the airport and (b) factor in 3 hours max TSA, and check in once there. Thanks

It was an AFF member report about someone checked through to Aus. Said passenger decided to go into town but returned late - blamed traffic apparently. His luggage has to be offloaded.

 

[Caversham04]

Always found Santa Monica a good option. Reasonably close to LAX and whilst lots of boutique shopping, also a large mall with a Macy's - seem to have permanent sales.

Agreed - I'd definitely choose Santa Monica over an LAX airport hotel if I was going to be in the Los Angeles area for a couple of days. If you're really worried about getting to LAX in time in the evening, take a day-room at one of the LAX airport hotels, travel there outside of rush hour and just chill by the pool for the afternoon. I've done that before at the Hilton LAX, booking via www.between9and5.com

 

[Antoallison]

See this thread for some USA shopping tips. You could go over there and ask some questions, but try to stay close to topic.

Also AFFers can guest you into the QF or other lounge at LAX if they are there, are inclined and know you want to get in. See this thread, but also don't be afraid to ask ahead of time if some-one can guest you in once you know your flight number/time/date.

Good idea Rooflyer about possibly being a lounge guest at SYD or LAX in August or September
- I am very quiet, well behaved and don't drink much ! May appear a little dishevelled after 18 plus hours in the air though !

 

[Antoallison]

Can't help with the shopping, sorry but I wouldn't call LAX 'crazy'. I'd say checking in 3 hours beforehand will be plenty of time.

thanks RooFlyer - I have read a bit from mrs.drron on older posts and she seems to have this shopping thing all sorted - I might contact her for some tips !

 

[Renato1]

Just wondering about suggestions for a good location for booking a mid price range hotel in LAX, so that I can easily access the shops.. Outlets rather than Rodeo Drive unfortunately !

Just thinking of having a couple of nights (for a first time visitor) flying in from Seattle - before boarding a late night LAX to SYD flight 2 or 3 days later. Hotels that run a shuttle service would be the easiest I guess.

As recommended international flight check in would be 3 hours before eg 9pm, but I have heard that LAX is crazy .. Should I aim to get there earlier ? ... Also as I don't have any chance of entry to Virgin or Qantas lounges, I was wondering if there is a Lounge that you can buy entry on the day ?

I was there last week. There aren't any shops near the LAX hotels, though you could catch a taxi to the Westfield Shopping centre several miles away from there.

We stayed at two relatively inexpensive hotels near LAX, both on West Century Boulevard, both with shuttles to the airport.
The Best Western Hotel Suites had a really good big room with lounge, a good breakfast in the morning (including hot eggs, bacon and meat patties) and was opposite a group of shops containing 7-11 and several take-away food places (including Panda Express with their great Chinese meals). But that set of shops looked run-down and my wife didn't like the location at all. Though it didn't bother me, as we had a car, and car parking was $12 a night.

We also stayed at the Marriot LAX, where the room was fine, but not as big as that at Best Western Suites. It has three restaurants, two of which I found pretty pricey, car parking was $34 a night. My wife loved the place, but while it was good, the closest eateries were about 2 miles walk away, and there were no shops around. Breakfast has a buffet for US$24, which is better value than their lesser priced breakfast meals, as you won't get as much as you would have got for free at Best Western. I also paid US$75 for Late Checkout, so that we could stay in our room till 7pm, and have showers before taking off. Late checkout is only available on the day if the hotel isn't too busy.

Car hire through Hertz only cost me A$49 a day for a Nissan Altima, and I was very happy at the Best Western as we used that as our base to drive all over downtown LA, Beverly Hills, Mt. Griffin, Venice Beach, Malibu without having to pay the exorbitant US$41 a night car parking fees in the hotel my agent had first booked for us in Beverly Hills. We got caught in freeway traffic jams most days, but I think those jams are worse in Melbourne.

We did the conservative thing and went to the airport three hours earlier for our 10.15 pm flight to Melbourne. We wound up spending nearly an hour and a half killing time in the departure lounge.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Denali]

If you are into guitars, Fender is about 2hrs drive from LAX and they do factory tours and they have a jam room at the visitors centre where you can pick a guitar off the wall and play. You can also buy off the wall, my husband came home with a new guitar (of course) and he got to meet the guys that were making his custom build Strat.

Gibson guitar factory in Memphis as well, I actually liked the tour and hubby came home with a Les Paul that trip.

For LAX airports, I did the Hilton day rate and got to the airport early and had a massage at Spa Express (Virgin flight). Over priced but still enjoyable.

 

[newmarket]

I was there last week. There aren't any shops near the LAX hotels

That's true but there is a very convenient shuttle bus, Ocean Express Trolley or something - All of the airport hotels will have the details. About $5.

It does a loop and will take you to Manhattan Beach (nice for lunch), on Manhattan Village (shopping mall with Macy's - lot's of other options a shortish walk down Rosecrans), and then to El Segundo Plaza.

Its very easy and specifically for tourist.

 

[Antoallison]

Thanks Newmarket for info on the shuttle. It looks like a hotel nearer the airport would not be the best as they are usually in pretty barren surroundings and I would have a trek for 2 days to sightsee LA - just for ease of getting to the airport on the last day. But my flight out would not be till late night anyway, so I would have plenty of time to store luggage at my hotel after check out, look around in the morning and early afternoon and still get to the airport early.

Manhattan Beach sounds nice and shops wher I can buy Toms and Sketchers shoes, and Benefit makeup... As much as I can with my luggage allowance ! Cheers.