Taking The $9.75 FlyAway Bus To LAX Saves Money, Sanity

16.08.2023 - 23:35 / forbes.com

Visitors to LAX will find out what Los Angeles-based travelers already know; that there is limited public transportation from LAX to other parts of LA County. LA Metro may disagree, but there’s a big difference between taking a direct train to the airport, as in Europe, Japan and even JFK, versus taking a collection of buses, trains, and walking to get to (or away from) LAX.

LAX does have one highly efficient bus service, however. FlyAway bus has been serving the airport since 1975. It currently has two routes. One is to and from the Van Nuys terminal in the central San Fernando Valley, near Van Nuys Airport, which serves private and business aircraft. The other current bus line from LAX to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, allowing passengers to connect with Amtrak, LA Red Line subway, and other local bus and rail lines. (For example, the Dodger shuttle runs from Union Station to Dodger Stadium during the baseball season.)

Flyaway previously offered seven other routes, but most shut down due to lack of ridership. The last two, Hollywood and Long Beach, ended in March of 2020 with the advent of COVID-19 and were not revived.

But the original Van Nuys service, which Flyaway began with in 1975, is still going strong. Scheduled service runs 24 hours a day, with hourly service at off-peak hours and a bus every 20 minutes at peak. You can even track where the buses are with the FlyAway Shuttle Tracker.

Price is a major reason for the popularity of FlyAway. Depending on traffic, type of service and time of day, in the last year, I’ve paid between $50 and $116 for a one-way trip from or to LAX from my home in the San Fernando Valley via taxi, Uber, Lyft or Alto. The FlyAway is always $9.75.

Friends don’t let friends drive them to LAX, the saying goes. Convenience is another reason for FlyAway’s popularity, not just for airline passengers, but for the friends and relatives tasked with helping them get to the airport. The drop-off curb in front of the bus terminal was hopping when I was there.

On August 14, I was dropped off at the terminal (about four miles from my home) to catch a 12:40PM bus to LAX. The Van Nuys terminal was modern and clean, although it lacked snack stands.

Van Nuys has a big terminal, with plenty of seating and 2000 parking spaces for $6 a day, up to 30 days. You can even reserve a parking spot up to six hours in advance.

I went inside , quickly spotted the ticket booth, and paid the $9.75 fee. No cash accepted, credit or debit only.

I walked outside to wait for the bus to load, which began in minutes. There was a separate line for passengers with luggage to drop off their luggage for the belly of the bus. The porters quickly loaded the bags and people moved to the front of the bus