How to save money on Uber, Lyft and other rideshares from LAX

Yesterday, TSA officers screened 2,158,117 people at airport checkpoints nationwide and I was one of them. I flew from freezing cold New York City to warm Los Angeles and multiple things happened along the way, including trying a new way to save money on an Uber from LAX.

Firstly, I was shocked that it almost cost me more to take a standard Uber or Lyft from the Jacob Javits Convention Center located in Manhattan’s West Side (35^th Street and 11^th Avenue) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (15 miles) than my American Airlines plane ticket to fly 2,500 miles across the country.

The last few days in the Big Apple I learned that ride share prices have really gone up and it’s not because of the new congestion pricing. FYI: According to the Official Website of the City of New York, “vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone, local streets and avenues at or below 60 Street, are being charged a toll.” Toll rates vary by vehicle, time of day and payment method but app-based for-hire vehicles are only being charged $1.50 per trip.

I paid $133 for a standard Uber and that was cheaper than Lyft. What’s even more disheartening is that the drivers only get around 65 of those dollars.

How to save money on Uber, Lyft and other rideshares

After having an eventful late-night flight to LAX, I arrived at midnight and I wasn’t happy about paying Uber/Lyft’s high prices for a Black car to pick me up curbside or dealing with taking one of the packed LAXit (pronounced LA Exit) shuttle buses to take me to the rideshare and taxi lot where you can order much cheaper standard cars or a taxi. Since I arrived at Terminal 4, which is pretty much right smack in the middle of the airport, and with the exception of TBIT (the International Terminal), the furthest from the rideshare lot, I didn’t want to walk, especially so late at night.

So instead, I walked outside of the airport at Departures (the upper level) and jumped on the first hotel shuttle. This allowed me to not only escape the crowded horseshoe of LAX but avoid all the extra taxes and fees rideshare companies and the airport authorities charge.

I jumped on the Holiday Inn and Four Points shuttle. The driver asked me which hotel and I said the Four Points but I really just wanted whichever one it stopped at first. I gave her a cash tip in advance, stored my bags on the rack and took a seat. She stopped at Terminals 5, 6 and 7 before getting on Century Boulevard.

Turned out the first stop was the Holiday Inn Los Angeles – LAX Airport, which was 2.1 miles from T4 and right next to a McDonald’s. As we were about to pull up, I ordered a Lyft to take me home and saved over $15 and, more importantly, time.

Now obviously the hotels aren’t going to like this and neither are the drivers so I would only do this if you’re traveling solo, don’t have a lot of bags so you don’t take up much space on the van and you tip your driver well.

KEEP READING

–How to save money with a secret third carry-on
–How to use your wireless headphones to watch in-flight movies
–10 airport security hacks every traveler should know
–How to get the best coach seat on the plane
–The sleep hack every traveler needs to know

Want more travel news, tips and deals? Sign up to Johnny Jet’s free newsletter and check out these popular posts: The Travel Gadget Flight Attendants Never Leave Home Without and 12 Ways to Save Money on Baggage Fees. Follow Johnny Jet on MSN, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube for all of my travel posts.