Long LAX layover--luggage question
 

My daughter has an 8-hour layover at LAX and is not on a continuing flight, but a different airline.

She can't check in for her second flight until 4 hours before flight and will have 2 huge bags plus carry-on.

There are no luggage storage facilities at LAX--any suggestions? Any hotels with free shuttle that will store bags for a reasonable fee that anyone knows about? Any suggestions??

I don't know anything about the service, but something interesting popped up when I Googled "lax store luggage."

HTtY

I found that too, but really don't know how trustworthy they are.

Is renting a car for a half day an option? She could store the luggage in the trunk and drive to Manhattan Beach or Santa Monica to spend some time eating, shopping and people watching.

It appears that LAX Luggage Storage is a service of LAX Park on Bellanca. They share an address. LAX Park on Bellanca has favorable ratings on Yelp. I would give them a call and ask how the service works.

HTtY

We booked a day rate at the Sheraton Gateway in 2010. Here is my trip report on tripadvisor. Worked good for us.

http://tinyurl.com/crnz7cs

Good luck!
PamT aka WIBadgergirl

Is she going through customs at LAX? Have you checked to see if the two airlines have a baggage handling agreement? If so, she won't need to take her bags and re-check them at the counter of the new airline, she'll just pass through customs and then hand them over to the new airline right there.

Well, she's too young to rent a car! And going to the beach is exactly what she wants to do.

She goes through customs in Honolulu, so no help there.

I am looking into the day rate hotel angle, with a hotel with free shuttle.

<i>Well, she's too young to rent a car! And going to the beach is exactly what she wants to do.</i>

Without a car, it will be difficult to get to a beach. Were I her, I would rent a cart for my bags and find a quite place to cuddle up with a good book (or one of those devices young people use to amuse themselves).

HTtY

I recently read that a Zip Car location opened at LAX that rents cars by the hour and does so to those under 25.

Get the details at zipcar.com.

Any suggestions for specific hotels near LAX that have a free shuttle and a pool and might have inexpensive day rates?

I'll look into Zip Car but she has an overnight flight from Sydney to Honolulu (and doesn't sleep well on planes) with an 11-hour layover there. And then an overnight flight to LAX, so I'm not sure that she should be driving and dealing with LA traffic if she's tired.

I might call the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach if they could store her luggage for a few hours if she dines there. From the Shade it's about 4 blocks to the beach.

http://shadehotel.com/

She could take a taxi from LAX, might be about $20 each way.

Another option is to find a hotel on Century Blvd to hold her luggage, and use the Ocean Express Shuttle ($5 round trip) which has a stop near the Manhattan Beach Pier. They don't run 24/7 and only every 30 minutes.

http://www.gatewaytola.org/index.cfm...ocean-express/

She has separate tickets, not all one itinerary booked at the same time? And the airlines don't have a baggage agreement so that she can check her bags through to their final destination when she leaves Sydney?

Hacienda hotel and the Days Inn on Century are known for their low day rates. I wouldn't want to hang out at either one of their pools, but it's easy to get to Manhattan Beach (pier, shopping, dining, beach) from both hotels. I've also heard of people walking into the LAX Hilton and just checking bags for a few hours.

Thanks for all the tips.

Yes, she has separate tickets, not booked at the same time on the same itinerary. Got a good fare Sydney-LAX, but booking directly to our home airport was much more expensive than booking another one way from LAX on a discount airline. Since she has a lot of luggage (away for a year) she also factored in the airlines baggage costs, which made booking this way much cheaper.

We have a month to work on this, so the planning begins. We did find a good baggage storage service in Honolulu for her carry-on, so that's a start.

We flew Minneapolis to LA and then from LA to Auckland. Two different airlines booked separately. We did not rent a car in LA. Took the hotel shuttle to the Sheraton and from there caught the shuttle/trolley to the beach. Easy.

PamT,

I'm in the same situation you were in . . . I have a long layover at LAX and want to spend some time at Manhattan beach. When you purchased your tickets for the Ocean Express Trolley, did you need to give the hotel people a room number or anything? Or did you just buy your ticket? I want to use the Trolley, but won't be staying in a hotel.

Hi there:

I live in LA and I was thinking that this hostel on Venice Beach might fill the bill for her:

http://venicebeachcotel.com/location/

They have an inexpensive shuttle and they are right in the heart of Venice Beach. The beach area there is super young feeling-as others may tell you the area can be a bit run down but I think in a hostel setting with other your people, she will feel fine. Another choice would be the santa monica hostel-not quite as close to LAX but I think the hopper goes there too.

http://www.hilosangeles.org/