UPDATE 28 April 2008 – Reader Russ suggests that Lot B is not a good place to park.
He writes:
We parked in LOT B for 5 days, April 21 - 25, 2008. Upon returning at 9:30pm on Friday night, we found that our brand new tires had been vandalized along with several other cars in the lot. Security and the lot employees told us that it happens all the time. Their excuse is that the lot is too large to watch 24/7. Thugs walk in and out of there all day. DO NOT PARK HERE!!
Original post follows:
Here’s an easy quiz question for you, blog aficionado. Blogs are for:
(A) Grousing about The General State of Things
(B) Pretty pictures
(C) Revealing the odd workings of one’s mind to the rest of the world
(D) Sharing useful information
(E) All of the above
My experience is your gain, dear reader, for here is an entry that falls under ‘D.’ We rarely park at LAX, but on a recent trip we parked in Lot B. Lot B is operated by the airport, and is a bargain at $8.00 per day. For your $8, you get to park right under incoming aircraft. After 5 days in the lot, our car was dirty from the exhaust, but not as bad as I expected.
The shock was returning to the car to find a parking ticket. Reason for the ticket? Well, I’m not sure because “other” is checked, with $52.00 written in. I asked the lot attendant about it, and she guessed it was because we didn’t have our front license plate on.
The Scout has been reticent to put on the front plate, because if he’s using the car in location photos, the front plate is a “visual distraction.” Which is true, but we are supposed to sport our front license plates nonetheless (he could always take it off for the photos).
So Lot B parker beware—the lot is patrolled by the City of LA looking for easy money. Mind your license plates, your registration stickers, anything that gives pause and cause to eager ticket writers.
Our endeavor to save money in Lot B ended up costing us more than a covered Wally Park spot with AAA discount would have cost. But if I hadn’t gone to Lot B, I wouldn’t have discovered The Proud Bird (I’m a sucker for kitch). I didn’t eat there, and probably won’t– I’m taking this 4/23/07 review to heart. Still, a drink with a view is always a fun thing.
A lot of LAX employees park in Lot B, so the bus had far more employees than fellow travelers.
If anyone else has a Lot B experience, I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, thank God for Burbank.
West Coast Grrlie Blather 
Welcome back!
While I would not appreciate a parking citation of any kind ever, especially when returning from a trip I thought I would share a bit of information.
Having NO FRONT PLATE is a violation of the California Vehicle Code and has been a statewide law for decades. The Vehicle Code is not easy reading, but in my profession it comes with the territory. Transportation planners in many cities have problems with people speeding and going through red lights. It’s something everyone who drives experiences, and unfortunately escalates into road rage. The reason LAPD, the Sheriff and the airport police are enforcing the NO FRONT PLATE code section is to get people to comply. The fact of the matter is the freeways and local roadways are being monitored. In the event of a crash and/or hit and run of a pedestrian the front plate is often needed to document the vehicle and who was driving. There was a fatality on Fountain Avenue recently that proves my point. An individual hit a young man opening a car door for is girlfriend and was killed. The driver took off, but because of photo enforcement the driver was apprehended. That does not bring back the boy, but I hope you would see the benefit of the law if you or one of your friends or family were in this situation. It’s sad. It’s a bummer following a trip, but we have laws for a reason. I bet your being upset is nowhere near the trauma of the guys who see this stuff all the time and hope giving you the citation may save someone’s life.
let me be the second (!) to welcome you home.
We’re drinkin’ soon, right?
sorry to hear about your ticket. i used to park in B, but then i found out about this site:
http://www.parkrideflyusa.com/index.php and once got a deal with covered parking for about $4 day! the lot was a little dark and scary with no people around but my car was there when i got back.
need direction to go to lax parking lot B
Norte,
It is well within reason to site a driver for no plate…agreed.
However, to purposefully and nefariously promote cheaper, convenient parking – – only to lurk between “nose-in” cars to spot offenders is well beyond the intention provided.
It is nothing short of a means of collecting revenues. To that point, I didnt even have to show proof of correction .. just send them my money.
Never again!
We parked in LOT B for 5 days, April 21 – 25, 2008. Upon returning at 9:30pm on Friday night, we found that our brand new tires had been vandalized along with several other cars in the lot. Security and the lot employees told us that it happens all the time. Their excuse is that the lot is too large to watch 24/7. Thugs walk in and out of there all day. DO NOT PARK HERE!!
Got a ticket in the B Lot about a year ago for the front plate thing, so I started putting it on the dash when I park there. That worked for a while but just got back today from a trip and was greeted with a another ticket. This one says “no front plate on bumper” (which, btw, is not what the law says). Anyway, I took a pic of it with my phone because the ticket for no front plate was placed on my windshield right on top of my front plate! So stupid.
So next time I’ll put a couple of pieces of rolled up duct tape under it, stick it on my bumper, and rip it right off before I leave the lot.
Doing my part to stick it to the man……
I got a ticket in lot B for the front license plate thing. I put a 9/11 commemorative plate on the front of my car after 9/11 and have never been ticketed even when stopped by an officer. I usually get a compliment. I was parked nose in so I guess they must walk around the cars looking for revenue…lol. But the law is the law so what right do I have to complain? None.