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Layover guideLos Angeles · LAX

Getting out of the airport in Los Angeles

There is no train from the gate: the rail station sits away from the terminals and you reach it on a free shuttle bus.

Baron Maddock / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
All of Los Angeles

The LAX/Metro Transit Center is a separate site from the passenger terminals. Metro's own instruction is to connect between the terminals and the station on a free, frequent shuttle, which loads at bus bays 1 and 2 on the station side.

From that station the Metro C Line and K Line run into the rest of the network, and Metro bus lines 102, 111, 117, 120 and 232 also call there.

Metro is a flat 1.75 dollars a ride, transfers are free within two hours when you tap, and the daily total is capped at 5 dollars. Pay with a TAP card, a contactless credit or debit card, or Apple Wallet. Cash works on buses only.

The FlyAway coach runs between LAX and Union Station seven days a week and every 30 minutes at peak. At LAX it loads on the lower arrivals level in front of each terminal at the blue FlyAway columns; at Union Station it uses bus bay 1 in Patsaouras Plaza.

FlyAway tickets are not refundable. Metrolink sells a through ticket that adds 15 dollars to the rail fare, and Metrolink monthly pass holders ride the FlyAway free on production of a same-day LAX boarding pass.

  1. LA Metro: LAX/Metro Transit Center · checked 2026-09-03
  2. LA Metro: fares · checked 2026-09-03
  3. Metrolink: FlyAway bus to LAX · checked 2026-09-03

The rest of Los Angeles

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Ride-hailingUber, Lyft and Opoli are LAX's authorised ride apps, and they pick up at the LAX-it lot next to Terminal 1.Local laws that catch crew outCannabis is legal in the state and still barred from federal land, and your phone is inspectable at the border.Staying connectedFree Wi-Fi covers the public areas of every LAX terminal, in unlimited 45-minute sessions after a short ad.WeatherDry and mild at the coast for most of the year, and the sea is more dangerous than a calm afternoon suggests.Eating near the crew hotelsA letter grade on the door tells you the inspection score, and the menu price is never the price you pay.What to buyTax is added at the till, the rate changes with the city boundary, and there is no refund counter on the way out.TippingA tip is the employee's property by statute, and it is on top of a full minimum wage, not instead of one.