Triangle Trip

If you are stranded at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for more than a couple of hours or have a long layover with a craving for In-N-Out Burger, here’s how you can get your hands on an “animal style” Double-Double!

Unfortunately LAX does not have an In-N-Out Burger at any of its terminals. To satisfy your craving for that Double-Double, you will need to exit the LAX terminals and head to the nearest In-N-Out Burger in Westchester, which is Northeast of LAX (see map below).

You can spend $7 or so by hopping in a cab that will take you there. However, you may have trouble finding a cab to take you back to LAX. So I am going to recommend the following free approach:

As you can see from the map, there is a parking structure right next to the In-N-Out Burger. The parking structure is a long term parking lot operated by The Parking Spot. The Parking Spot has shuttles that circles LAX terminals. You can catch the Parking Spot Shuttle on the middle island of the arrivals area.

Hop on one of the free Parking Spot Sepulveda shuttles that will take you to the long term parking structure which is next to the In-N-Out Burger. Note that I have highlighted “Sepulveda” as the Parking Spot has another shuttle that goes to their “Century Boulevard” location. Make sure you get on the shuttle that has “Sepulveda” or an “S” at the end of the shuttle (see picture below).

Even thought the In-N-Out Burger is less than a mile from LAX, make sure you give yourself enough time to get back to the terminals and pass through security so you don’t miss your flight!

Ever been on the road and wanted to check out a restaurant’s menu before actually physically going in?  Of course you could do some research online beforehand but what if you just left the client site or hotel and was looking for a place to eat with decent selection and prices?

Well if you have an iPhone you are in luck!  I recently checked out a new app for the iPhone called Unimenu.  It’s main goal is to be able to look up menus for restaurants in an easy manner.  You can view a restaurant’s location/address, look at what items they offer with prices, and directly call the restaurant from the app.  Additionally, it has some neat features as well.

Let’s say I’m craving some Japanese food in LA.  I can filter by cuisine in LA (it locates the metro area I’m in automatically) and select the “Near Me” button.  It then lists out the closest 10 restaurants near me serving Japanese cuisine, which then I can look at each menu and restaurant information accordingly.

Also, if ever you find yourself ordering from the same restaurant frequently, you can add that restaurant’s menu to your favorites and you’ll always have it handy, even if you don’t get any reception from crappy AT&T (or T-Mobile).

Lastly, I think the most creative feature of the app is the ability to add specific items from a menu or menus to a list, afterwards which you can email out if need be.  This is particular handy if you are ordering for a big group of people: you can just pass around your iPhone and have people select what they want.  Of course, you may want to wipe down your iPhone after you get it back.  One day I hope they come up with an iPhone app that de-sanitizes the phone.

Right now the app supports New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Chicago (the app also allows you to filter by neighborhoods specific to those cities).  I do most of my traveling between New York (city of blinding lights), SF (I left my heart there), LA (California dreamin’), and Chicago (my kind of town) so this app is perfect for me (who’d wanna go anywhere else anyhow?).  They also have a corresponding website at www.unimenu.com for those without iPhones. So for all of you who have ever walked into an unknown restaurant and been caught off guard by the prices or selection of the menu, check this app out.

All major airlines except Southwest are using domestic change fees to make up for lost revenue. United is notorious for imposing strict penalties on changes to your airline ticket. Below is an example of how they are doing it.

I will not be able to depart on my scheduled return flight from JFK to LAX on March 11, 2009. I went to United.com to modify my itinerary to change my return date from JFK to LAX to next Sunday, March 17, 2009. I noticed United has repriced my ticket to: $319 plus a $150 change fee making the new ticket $469. United then subtracted my original ticket of $279 and tells me I will need to pay $190 for the change. Below is a print screen directly from united.com.

I then went to Kayak to see how much the one-way JFK to LAX ticket for the same flight with the exact same date and time is worth. The result (below) is $200.

United is basically telling its customers that they are getting a $10 discount for making a change on a return flight vs buying a new one way ticket. United and other airlines should reward their customers for booking round trips with them. Booking a round trip used to be cheaper and customers were rewarded for being loyal. Under this circumstance, I do not see why I should be booking round trips with United or any airlines that charges a hefty change fee. I recalled back in 2005 when United would only charge you their change fee ($50 or so) and put you on the next available flight.

Based on my current finding, I will cancel my United return flight on the very last minute to make sure United cannot sell my seat to another person. As long as you cancel before the flight takes off, United must issue you a credit. In the meantime, I will monitor Kayak and other sites for a cheaper return – I noticed American has a 9AM return on the same date for $180 which is a $10 saving.

Taking advantage of customers through change fees should be reviewed by our Justice Department. Here’s a link to my previous post regarding airline change fees making your ticket under $200 worthless.