Long time between disembarkation and flight

Our flight departs LAX at 5:45 pm to Vancouver after disembarking from the Coral Princess on Sept. 19. Any suggestions on how to kill 6- 7 hours? We do not want to rent a car and drive on those busy freeways. The ship has an excursion to Venice Beach and Santa Monica but would drop us off at LAX 1 pm, which still leaves us with 4 hours.:rolleyes:

Other then the Princess tour before they drop you off at the airport how about finding a hotel right by the airport that has a room rate for just a half day. At least you will be comfortable while you wait. Then take the hotel shuttle to the airport.

I’d book the tour then have lunch at LAX. It’s recommended that you check in for international flights three hours before your flight which means you d want to be at LAX by 2:45pm anyway.

A suggestion is to take the tour, check in, drop off your luggage, take a hotel shuttle, have lunch at the hotel or nearby and then shuttle back to the airport.

I always have my Kindle with me at home or on a cruise so I never mind waiting for an hour or three. :)

Hi Pam, that sounds like a good idea. Can you recommend a hotel for a good lunch?

Hi Pam, that sounds like a good idea. Can you recommend a hotel for a good lunch?

FYI, I did this several years ago in Newark after a cruise. Several friends did it with us and it wound up being a great way to pass the time. Perhaps others on your roll call with late flights would like to join you.

What to NOT do--do not plan to eat at the airport, at least if you are flying Air Canada. We recently did LAX to Vancouver, and arrived at the airport to requested time in advance. Daughter asked for food...and I dutifully got in line at a place that offered hamburgers and such, after determining that there were no other suitable locations (there were some fancy, sit down locations). After standing in line for 20 minutes, an employee came out and announced that they were currently so backed up that it was 45 minutes from the front of the line to your food being served. As I was nowhere near the front of the line, I quickly realized that we'd be boarding before I got food. I found a place that sold a bottle of diet coke for $4!

Bottom line--it may not typically be this busy, but plan ahead!

You might see if you can get a day pass to the airport lounge for you airline. We have a similar situation in January. Considering that you should arrive at the airport two hours before your flight, that's 3:45 p.m. I'm with Pam, I'm happy to sit in a chair and read a book for a couple of hours.

As the above poster said, I recommend buying a day pass for one of the airport lounges, most serve light meals, and complementary beverages, and have free wifi . I've spend many a hour in lounges in airports around the world, and it's a very civilized way to kill a few hours away from the hustle and bustle of modern airports

LAX has wide mix of lounges in every terminal, and all airline frequent flyer program lounges allow the purchases of day passes

Srpilo

Ask if you can change to an earlier flight. Maybe the fee wouldn’t be too bad.

I have checked into an earlier flight but it would be 10 am and the next is 5:45 pm which is the one we're on. I called the Sheraton and Marriott at LAX and they said for day rate rooms you have to call the day you disembark, no advance booking:(. Not sure if other hotel chains near Lax have the same policy. Has anyone else been able to book a day rate room in advance, if so, please tell me where. We're not to keen on spending 5-6 hours at an airport lounge, neither of us do much reading. Much rather be spending that time at a hotel pool enjoying the Calif. sunshine.

Our flight departs LAX at 5:45 pm to Vancouver after disembarking from the Coral Princess on Sept. 19. Any suggestions on how to kill 6- 7 hours? We do not want to rent a car and drive on those busy freeways. The ship has an excursion to Venice Beach and Santa Monica but would drop us off at LAX 1 pm, which still leaves us with 4 hours.:rolleyes:

4 is better than 7.

Hi Pam, that sounds like a good idea. Can you recommend a hotel for a good lunch?

The Westin has a free shuttle. Daily Grill in the lobby is good eats and drinks. It’s also a good location to spot D list celebs.

Many thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Hi Pam, that sounds like a good idea. Can you recommend a hotel for a good lunch?

We took the shuttle to the Hampton Inn in El Segundo then walked down the street to a restaurant. I think we went to Rubio's.

I recently came across an app called StoreMe. It came recommended by a travel blog I read. Basically it lets you store your luggage for several hours at various places near you. They have dedicated cameras setup to monitor your items and it’s fairly inexpensive. I could have used this last December in LA where we had several hours from our debark and flight out. Haven’t tried it yet but seems like a great concept to drop your bags and explore for a while.

https://getstoreme.com

ETA: sorry I just noticed it’s only available in the New England area. Hopefully they expand soon, seems like a great concept.