Originally Posted by
LAXative
So here's the quandary with that. If you rent carts at T1 but use the shuttle, you (your family) will have to haul the luggage onto the bus, leave the cart behind when you board the bus, get your luggage OFF the bus when you arrive at TBIT, then do something with your luggage to get to the check-in counter upstairs, meaning you'll have to rent carts AGAIN at TBIT.
(FYI, the A shuttle stops for you are T1 > T2 > T3 > TBIT)
Or, you rent the carts at T1 and make the walk. It'll probably be a nice day along the coast (because it's LA and all), so the walk should take <10 mins. Go up to the upper/departures level for sun and fresh(er) air, or stay on the lower/arrivals level for shade/cover.
Totally agree with this.
If you consider loading and unloading the carts to be a bit of work, think about doing that an extra couple of times into/out of the shuttle. Plus, the shuttle is on an island that's sometime crowded. The bus can't always park right up against the curb and it can be difficult to navigate.
It's not a terribly far walk and, the best part of it is if you take the upper level (which you should), you'll walk by the one open area between terminals (between 1 & 2) where you'll get some great views of the planes, runways and even parts of LA on a clear day. This is usually where the television news vans always park and broadcast from.