broms

Morning fellow FT'ers! I'm having such a wonderful time planning trips while stuck in this blizzard in the DC area, that now I'm having to find things to do to fill the time!

I'll be traveling to LAX in March and will be there for about 3 hrs..wondering if a quick trip up to Thai Town is at all possible? Google maps is showing about 25 mins driving (no traffic), but about 2hrs public transit - way to long. If there is traffic, the time is bumped to 70 mins - forget it!

Any hints/suggestions/ideas about getting from LAX to Thai Town and back in ~2hr window between 10am and 1pm on a Wednesday ?

fatfrog

Although I've lately been obsessed with Thai food and Thai town, that's going to be a very tight schedule for you and probably not worth the stress. It's going to take time for you to get the car and return the car in addition to the transit. Traffic should not be completely obscene between 10am and 1pm but there will be some. I would expect it to take you at least 45 minutes each way. If you were committed to it, you could probably call in an order, scarf it down, drive back (if you're going for food), but that seems rather harried. What are you looking for? There are other good places that are easier to make on a 3 hour roundtrip from LAX.

broms

fatfrog thanks for the reply. I'm actually hoping to dip in and pick up some small pastries, food, and other sundries to bring back with me - think security will give me any issues?

I've done a pickup like this before with other cities. I'm not filling my carry-on with food, just want to get a few things. I'm there - might as well. But if it sounds like its going to be a hassle, I'm probably going to forget it.

Not hoping to sit for a nice lunch or anything - really just pick up and go.

edit: Sorry, should have also mentioned, I'm debating between public transit and a taxi. I know that renting a car, even for such a short time, would waste too much time. I'm looking for opinions on taxi vs public transit in this time frame.

biggestbopper

I don't think it is possible to do this in three hours. Assuming we are talking about arrival time to departure time as three hours.

I am pretty nervy about this sort of thing and even I wouldn't try it--unless you can afford to miss your departure flight.

Perhaps you can google for a Thai store in the LAX area?

Craig6z

A possible alternative outing is to visit Mitsuwa Market in the Palms/East Santa Monica area. While certainly not Thai, it has more than purely Japanese groceries, and is about a 15 minute drive (9 miles) from LAX in no traffic. It's just west of I-405, near Venice Blvd, and Sawtelle.

http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/sant/eindex.html

As others have said, getting to/from Thai Town in your window is not workable. Also, be aware that taxi fares from LAX are not low. You would probably also need to have the cab wait for you, as it would be impossible to flag one in that area, when you are ready to leave. My guess is with a half hour of waiting time at the Mitsuwa store, you would run $60, before tip.

fatfrog

No way at all to make it with public transit and cabs are pretty expensive.

I was thinking of Mitsuwa as well. It's pretty accessible to the airport and you can get a great bowl of ramen at Santouka.

mlshanks

Getting to Thai Town would be tempting the fates...

One *might* be able to do it with a hefty cab fare...or one might just miss your flight if traffic and security lines conspire to slow you down.

Why not hit one of the better Thai places within a few miles of LAX?

Ayara Thai
6245 W. 87th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 410-8848

Wild Thai Restaurant
6081 Center Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 215-0209

Thai Dishes
11934 Aviation Blvd
Inglewood, CA 90304
(310) 643-6199

...and since they all do delivery, you might even see if you could get one of them to meet you in the pick/up or drop-off zone for a promised tip, and never even have to leave the airport!

broms

Thanks everyone for the hints, suggestions, and cautionary advice! Disappointed I can't make it in that window, but just gives me a reason to do a run back

On a better note, I am now certainly going to try one of those places recommended that are near LA - might as well have a good lunch while I'm there!

alcathiax

What about taking the LAX/Union Station Flyaway to Union Station and then the Red Line to Hollywood/Western station? The Flyaway bus is $7 each way card or cash and will cut down transit time by 65%.

But if you do decide on eating at a Thai restaurant in the LAX area, then I suggest going to Thai Dishes on Aviation Blvd. since it can be reached easily by the free "G" line bus to the Aviation Station stop and then south on foot to the restaurant.

mlshanks

If he had a *5* hour window, it might be worth chancing it...
...but no way he could make that run + lunch in 3 hours.

Allanf

Looking for a relatively inexpensive means of going from John Wayne/Orange County Airport to LAX. Actually need to go from Newport Beach Marriott to LAX but cost is $50 for a shuttle and I need to pick up a rental car at LAX.

Thanks for any advice!

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

Can you pick up your rental car in or near Newport Beach, instead of at LAX?

Ocn Vw 1K

Let's see of the readers of our Travel->LA forum can help. I'll move this there. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

tentseller

Many LA area car rental agencies will let you rent from one airport and return at a different one. I have taken advantage of this benefit many times over the last 30 yrs.

Non-NonRev

You could also take the Gray Line bus from SNA to Disneyland, then change there to the bus to LAX. At one time they offered a "through" fare (in other words, one ticket / one price for the SNA-LAX trip), but I don't know if they still do:

http://graylineanaheim.com/airport_info.shtml