Free LAX shuttle to In-N-Out Burgers

by Neil Woodburn on

Stuck at LAX for a few hours on a layover and hankering for one of the best burgers in all of California? Well, you’re in luck.

There’s an In-N-Out Burger just around the corner from the airport, and Gadling knows a little trick to get you there for free.

An In-N-Out is located on nearby Sepulveda Boulevard right next to the Parking Spot–a parking structure that conveniently provides free shuttle service. All you have to do is wait under the red “Hotel and Courtesy Shuttle” sign outside of any airport terminal, and when the yellow and black polka-dotted Parking Spot shuttle swings by, jump on board. It will take you literally next door to In-N-Out. Follow your nose through the back door, across the parking lot, and right inside where you need to order a double-double and fries to enjoy the best layover of your life.

There are a few things to be very careful about, however.
First off, you need to make sure that you get on the Sepulveda Parking Spot shuttle; otherwise you will end up at the Parking Spot’s Century location. Additionally, you should allow yourself at least two hours to be extra safe. The shuttles come pretty regularly and the drive is only five to ten minutes, but the line at In-N-Out can be as long as 20-30 minutes during peak hours. And then you’ve got to get back to the airport and through security once again.

Since we are unfairly exploiting the generosity of the Parking Spot here, I’d like to take a moment to recommend their services. I actually use them any time I am flying out of town for a few days. They are the one of the closest parking lots to the airport without actually being on airport grounds (and charging airport rates). They a little more expensive than some of the nearby lots, but the structure is clean, has security and friendly staff, and will even valet park your car if you are running late. And, most importantly, after a long flight you can enjoy an In-N-Burger before jumping in your car and driving home. Yum!

Two jets collide at San Francisco airport

by Catherine Bodry on

It’s finally happened: after a year of reports on near misses, overworked air traffic controllers and airports as clogged as a teenager’s pores, two jets finally bumped into each other.

Despite the dramatic headline, it was actually a gentle collision and there were no injuries. The accident happened at San Francisco International Airport when two airplanes being pushed by “tugs” backed in to each other. One was a United Airlines 757 and the other was a SkyWest commuter jet. Good thing it was only a gentle bump, because that 757 could totally beat the commuter jet up.

Maybe this will be the collision that fires everyone up and makes the skies (or taxiways, or runways) safer.

Good thing an Airbus A380 wasn’t involved! We’d sure hate to hear about a disturbance on such a peaceful flight.
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Related: Obama’s plane clips another aircraft at Midway Airport

Rats spotted at Newark Liberty International Airport

by Justin Glow on

Shocking, I know.

But seriously — Travel answer-man Christopher Elliott fielded a question today from a gentleman who spotted a family of rats in Newark International Airport.

“I’m sitting in Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport – in the gate area for gate A14,” he wrote. “I’m supposed to be a couple of gates down, but when I went to sit down I was alarmed to see a small, dark brown rat peeking out from under the seat. I figured I’d go someplace else.”

Upon further investigation, the man found that the rat had at least one other friend. “I’m not the shrieking, stand-on-a-chair type – but I’m also not willing to just ignore them. Who should I call?”

Elliott recommends that he, or anyone at Newark’s airport fortunate enough to spot something small and furry, call the non-emergency number for the Port Authority.

Honestly, it’s hard to imagine a complex as large as an airport being completely devoid of little critters, but still, you don’t want them sharing a seat with you.

Related (yes, mice in and around planes is a regular occurrence…):

Drink your prohibited alcohol or the terrorists win

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Yesterday I wrote about the time I stole a furtive gulp of Becherovka while going through airport security after I was told I couldn’t bring the bottle with me on the plane. Over at the San Francisco Chronicle’s travel site, Mark Morford’s new article “How to get drunk at the airport” describes how the author recently found himself in much the same situation after a bottle of port wine was pulled from his bag by a security agent in Spokane, Washington. In his predicament, though, Morford was dealing with one of the more sympathetic security guys in the country. He writes:

“I was ready to suggest the security guy take the port home and have a lovely new year, ready to extol the virtues of this particular not-at-all inexpensive Krohn 1991 vintage and say it wasn’t no cheap swill, that he should maybe light a fire and sip it carefully after dinner and wouldn’t that be nice, when he said the words I didn’t expect to hear.

‘You want to go have a few sips before you come back through?'”

Yes, yes he did. He finds an empty spot by the baggage claim, opens up his packed lunch, and has himself a nice little feast right there in the airport, declaring, “The terrorists lose again.”

Read the whole thing here.