LAX by taxi and Metro to Universal Studios

Does it make sense to get a taxi to the nearest Metro station to LAX then get the metro to UNiversal Studios? I thought this might reduce cost and potential hold-ups in traffic but I%26#39;m not sure which Metro station would be the best. Anyone see any problems with this plan?

KJB148

LAX by taxi and Metro to Universal Studios

The problem I see is that there%26#39;s no Metro at LAX!

What is your start point, then we can help you get to Universal.

LAX by taxi and Metro to Universal Studios

If you are staying at a hotel near the airport with shuttle service, take that back to the terminal(Lower level). Stand under the green bus sign at each terminal, and then take the FLYAWAY bus that goes to UNION STATION. $4 pp.

From Union Station, take the Red Line (North Hollywood) to Universal City. $1.25. Cross the street, wait for the shuttle or walk up the hill.

Trip will be 60-90 minutes.

www.mta.net

Thanks for replying. I obviously didn%26#39;t word that very well. We%26#39;re staying at a hotel near LAX. What I meant was taking a taxi from there to a Metro station (possibly Union Station if that is the closest) and then taking the Metro from there. I know there is a bus/metro option but I thought taking the taxi some of the way might be faster than bus/metro. And taking the taxi some of the way might be cheaper than taking it all the way. Is this wrong?

KJB148

You can take the Green Line near LAX (Aviation stop)and take it to the Blue Line (Wilmington stop) Transfer to the Blue Line which goes through south central LA and ends at the 7th Street Transit Center - Downtown.

From the Transit Center, transfer to the Red Line (North Hollywood) to Universal City.

You can ';google'; Green Line Los Angeles, and you find the station closest to your hotel. Do the same with the Blue and Red line to get a feel of where you%26#39;re going. Or, www.mta.net

The Flyaway bus runs every 1/2 hour, and is non-stop to Union Station.

Thank you! Is this likely to be faster than the flyaway during rush hour traffic?

KJB148

The Flyaway could take a little longer. The website says 30-50 minutes from Union Station to LAX. www.lawa.org - click on ground transportation - LAX Flyaway. It%26#39;s a large, comfortable coach, and you may enjoy it after walking all day at Universal.

If you have time, you may want to get off at Hollywood/Highland on the Red Line and see the Walk of Fame and Grauman%26#39;s Chinese Theater, etc.

Thank you all. That information is so helpful! I guess the Metro would be a new experience for us so we might take that- is the Aviation stop far from LAX?

KJB148

The Green Line (Aviation Station) is the closest to LAX and is about a mile from the terminal. (sorry, I picked this up from another thread).

The area around LAX is not pleasant. I would suggest you check with the hotel desk with regards to your best option to getting downtown and then on to Universal Studios.

The amount of time saved by taking the metro rail (green line to blue line to red line) is not going to be much compared to taking the flyaway bus to Union Station and then the red line. In addition, the ';all metro'; method involves three methods of conveyance (the three trains) whereas the flyaway bus + red line requires only 2 methods of conveyance. More importantly, in the latter case, you%26#39;re less likely to make a bad connection since the flyaway bus route ends at Union Station (so, when you return via this method to your hotel, there%26#39;s no way to get on the bus going in the wrong direction!). And, the red line metro rail also ends at Union Station, so when you get off the flyaway bus and transfer to the red line train, there%26#39;s no way to get on the train going in the wrong direction (although there is also a purple line train that pulls up to the same platform. Neirher train is painted red or purple, btw. They look the same. But there is a sign on the red line train that says: ';North Hollywood';. That%26#39;s the one you want.

But when you take the green line to the blue line to the red line, you will have to be careful to transfer going in the correct direction.

The other disadvantage to the ';all metro method'; is that you%26#39;re not guaranteed a seat on any of the trains whereas the flyaway bus does guarantee you a seat with your paid fare.

The last thing to consider is that, in additon to taking one of these 2 methods (involving either 2 conveyances or 3 conveyances), you%26#39;re also going to have a conveyance from your hotel to either the green line station (you will probably do this by taxi) or you%26#39;ll have to take the hotel%26#39;s shuttle bus to LAX to catch the flyaway bus.

But, wait, we%26#39;re not done yet. At the end of your outbound trip to Universal, after the red line train pulls into Universal City station, you still won%26#39;t be at Universal Studios. You%26#39;ll need to exit the station, cross the street twice (to the diagonally-opposing corner) and wait for the ';free tram'; up the hill to Universal. So, what is this: a total of 4 to 5 conveyances in each direction? The shuttle ride is pretty quick but it only runs once every 15 or 20 minutes.

If it were me, I%26#39;d either:

a. Rent a car for this. It will take the half the time and you get to sit down during the whole thing.

b. Visit Universal from Anaheim. There is a grayline coach that picks up from all of the hotels and takes you to Universal and brings you back for $30 -- door-to-door!

c. We don%26#39;t know exactly where you are staying in the airport area but perhaps, there is a local bus that you could take that would get you most of the way to Universal. From there, you could take a taxi. Tell us which hotel you are staying at.

Thanks so much. We are at the Montura Renaissance on Airport Boulevard. I have heard that some hotels have shuttles into Hollywood. Also thought about a taxi to Union Station to avoid the shuttle to LAX but no-one seems to recommend that. We leave tonight so will not be able to gather any more advice after that. I think our airport is directly opposite a rental car park! So we may be able to go there and get a car. But we drive on the left hand side in NZ and not much traffic where we live so it would be a big ask! Also read that you can get a flat rate taxi fare to down town. Maybe we could Metro from there??? Still considering so any input would be great. There are four of us so Grayline from Anaheim would be $120. Pretty steep !

KJB148