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I have a morning flight into LAX and I'd like to do some sightseeing before taking a Metrolink train out to the suburbs in the evening to stay with a friend. I'm looking for luggage storage so I don't have to carry around my bags all day.

Looking online, it looks like there used to be lockers at Union Station (seven years ago). But Amtrak's station information page says "No Lockers". They do have "Baggage Storage", but since I'm not traveling on Amtrak, so that option might not be available to me.

I tried calling Metrolink. They referred me to Amtrak and LA Metro. LA Metro told me that there are no options due to security reasons. Amtrak said I'd probably have to be a ticketed passenger to use the service.

Are there any other options in downtown Los Angeles* that'd keep me from dragging my luggage around all day?

*Hollywood area would be acceptable too since it's only 15 minutes by subway from downtown

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    Is there such thing as a fully refundable Amtrak ticket? That would technically make you a passenger, but you could then refund your ticket after picking up your bags.
    – Greg Hewgill
    Mar 24, 2014 at 22:04
  • Hmm, that's actually an idea... the Metrolink line I need to travel on goes at least partially along the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner route. Maybe I could buy a partial ticket and transfer (or just not show up...)
    – Jeff B
    Mar 24, 2014 at 23:50
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    One time I was stuck I just left my luggage with the concierge at a hotel chain I frequent (even though I was not a guest that day). Gave them a nice tip and everyone was happy.
    – Spehro Pefhany
    Mar 25, 2014 at 7:19
  • @SpehroPefhany, I presume such a tip is left when dropping it off?
    – Jeff B
    Mar 25, 2014 at 12:30
  • @JeffBridgman when picking up.
    – Spehro Pefhany
    Mar 25, 2014 at 12:48

3 Answers 3

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I ended up reshuffling plans a bit so I didn't need to do this, but I'll share what I found.

The Amtrak baggage storage service is just for Amtrak passengers, but they do provide the service for local routes, so potentially you could buy a ticket for the Pacific Surfliner to Glendale (the closest station) to store your bags. Looking at prices for today, it'd cost you either $8 (Value fare, not refundable) or $18 (Premium fare, fully refundable before departure).

However, I'm not sure how legit this is to do. Amtrak might consider it an abuse of their service and if it becomes a common-place travel-hack, make policy changes to prevent this kind of use of their service. Try at your own risk (but do comment and let us know if it worked for you).

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    Amtrak now allows baggage storage for non-passengers (for a higher fee).
    – gparyani
    Oct 11, 2022 at 7:40
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I needed to store my luggage in Hollywood because I had a 12 AM flight and arrived early in the day from another city, so all I did was order a cheap bunk at a backpacker's place. Then the good thing was I got to take a shower before getting on the flight.

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  • Creative solution!
    – Jeff B
    Apr 24, 2015 at 0:08
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If you're traveling light, your best bet is probably to use a luggage service like http://www.laxluggagestorage.com/. Their rates seem reasonable, but I have no experience with the company.

If you've got more bags, you might be able to book a day room (hotel room just for the day). It would be a convenient base for your day trips, and provide a place to keep your bags.

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    Their address appears to be 8911 Bellanca Avenue - which looks to be more near the airport than downtown? (I don't know LA that well, I just looked at google maps)
    – Mark Mayo
    Mar 28, 2014 at 2:06
  • Yea, being at LAX, it'd cost me $16 and nearly 2 hours to go (by FlyAway) retrieve my luggage from downtown, so this doesn't really work. Also, there's no clear/easy way to get there by public transit.
    – Jeff B
    Mar 30, 2014 at 6:02
  • It seems like they do baggage delivery too. You could drop them at the airport and perhaps have them delivered to the train station, though the logistics of that could be tough. I couldn't find any bag storage services downtown.
    – ColeS
    Mar 31, 2014 at 14:18

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