Since... always and forever.

Actually, the red line does not go that near the convention center...
(and its a fair walk between the flyAway & the Red line)

....you'd need to take the red line to the blue line (7th Street/Metro Center), and then get off at the first stop, Pico/LA Convention Center.

Frankly, it would be cheaper and easier to take the Bus to the Green Line, the Green Line to the Blue Line, and the Blue up to Pico/LA Convention Center.

If you're looking for a cheap way to get to the cc, the above (bus-gl-bl-cc) is the way to go. It's about a 1/2 block from the Pico/LACC stop on the blue line to the entrance of the cc. I did the gl/bl combo to a convention & now if I just have to attend a cc downtown, I don't bother driving, just do the public transport thing.

Cheers.

I think it was $3.50 OW, $6 RT between LAX and Van Nuys. Then when the Union Station service began, it became $3 OW on both lines.

Honestly, I don't know the Shuttle>Green Line>Blue Line route would be any faster than FlyAway>Union Station>Red Line>Blue Line, because of the 15 stops. Taking the FlyAway would take 4 stops from Union Station.

Another option is FlyAway to Union Station, then DASH Bus Route D, which runs every 5 minutes during commute times M-F, lets you off near the Pico Blue Line station, and also costs only $.25.


In the context of this discussion, why would one talk about LAX-Van Nuys?

The LAX-Union Station FlyAway has always been $3.

For a blend of cheap and easy you could do the Flyaway to Union station and take a cab to the CC. Then again, I am usually only connecting at Union Station, I don't recall if I have ever seen a cab outside but I am sure they are there somewhere. Anyone caught a cab at Union Station?

Great Advice!
 

What a great suggestion the flyWay bus to Union Station was! Last weekend I flew in Friday afternoon (3pm) for a wedding (niece), and was loath to ask any relatives to pick me up. Drive to LAX Friday afternoon -- how ugly would that be. Anyway, I spent $4 on the FlyAway bus, $6.25 on a Metra train, and disembarked really close to my sister's home. If not for this thread, I would not have been aware of flyAway. And, since my relatives are standard "auto-centric Angelinos," so they had no idea.

Not only was this transit inexpense, was amazingly quick. ^^

Downtown LA to Newport Beach transportation?
 

Howdy,

Next month, I'll be arriving to the Amtrak station at 9:00pm and will need to make my way down to the Fairmont Newport Beach. Since I'm travelling alone, I'm looking for the most cost effective method of doing so.

I'm not too familiar with the LA area but have found a couple of options online:

1) Prime Time shuttle, for around $60 on a shared van service.
2) Change to an Amtrak train about an hour later to Santa Ana, then take a taxi.

My conern about the first option is that their last shuttle leaves at 9:35pm, so if the train is delayed from Seattle, I'll be SOL. I imagine Amtrak provides guaranteed connections if booked on the same ticket, so the second option might be safer, and cheaper (how much would the cab cost approx?).

So I am leaving to option number 2, however any advice or alternatives would certainly be appreciated. I looked into a one way car rental (I am departing the next afternoon from SNA at around 3pm) but that was going to be quite a bit more expensive when taking parking into consideration, and it seems that the Union Station rental counters close around 6pm.

Thanks! And if anyone happens to be in the area in the evening of October 4th or during the morning/afternoon of the 5th, I would certainly be up for drinks or lunch.

Fairmont Newport Beach is really more like Fairmont Irvine/Santa Ana. :) It's literally across the street from SNA, a good 15 minute drive from what most of us would consider "Newport Beach."

I'd probably just take the train to SNA, then take a taxi. Taxi shouldn't be more than $20 from the Santa Ana station to the Fairmont. Do your homework, though, and have a few numbers of local taxi services (the OC area is not really public transit-friendly, so you need to be prepared).

Why don't you want to rent a car? How will you get around in the OC? And, how will you get back to wherever you leave from? In the end, car rental is usually the best choice in L.A. area, unless you have lots and lots of time.

Won't need a car in SNA - the Fairmont has a shuttle to the beach and SNA airport where I'll be departing from.

Okay, now I have to ask...why are you taking the train from Seattle? :confused: :)

For fun :cool:

It's part of a longer two-week vacation. Originally I was going to spend a few days with my friend in Phoneix, but when that fell through I started thinking of things that would be interesting that would eat up a few days and decided on the Coast Starlight. Due to some strange quirk of illogical airfare pricing, coming back from Brussels to Vancouver via Phoneix ended up pricing the same as Brussels-Seattle then Santa Ana-Vancouver (also via Phoenix - still getting a dinner in with my friend there). So-loads of extra miles, and a scenic train trip sounded pretty good to me.... I've actually been down to the beach at Newport so may even skip that part depending how I'm feeling and just go shopping around the hotel. My flight isn't until 3:30pm so I have lots of time.

Whatever I chose, I'd leave a lot of leeway in my schedule...

(Hint: They don't call that train the "Star-LATE" for nothing...my bro once arrived in Seattle from LA over 10 hours behind schedule :td:)

Looking at www.amtrakdelays.com, the last three weeks of train 11 arrivals to LA have averaged a bit over an hour late...with two delays in the 4-6 hour range. That's not encouraging when the last Surfliner south to Santa Ana departs at 10:10... Yes, there's a couple of late night motorcoaches to Santa Anna... (12:40 am and 2:50 am), but you could end up sitting around LA Union station for a few hourswaiting for them.

Car!!! You can always drop it off at SNA, which is almost across the street if you REALLY don't need a car in Newport. You're kindof isolated at the Fairmont, so I would consider keeping it, but up to you. Always nice to cruise down to Laguna :)