Karmel Shuttle - anyone tried it?

[AlexJanessa]

So this is one of the last things I have to decide on before our trip in February. I've heard pros and cons to many shuttle services from LAX to our hotel (BW Raffles). I'm hesitant to use one of the main ones, Disney Express and SuperShuttle I believe they are called as I've heard some scary stories (some good ones too).

I did some research on Karmel and they SEEM good. They guarantee that they won't circle the airport and they have a kids ride free special on now ($80 round trip for our family of 4).

I can't seem to find much info on here for them though. Has anyone tried them? Were they great to deal with? Did they live up to their promises (no circling, etc)?

 

[AlexJanessa]

No one?

If not Karmel, is there another shuttle service that you swear by?

 

[OregonDisneyFanatic]

We have used them 3 times. They were always on time and very friendly. I would use them again!

 

[AlexJanessa]

We have used them 3 times. They were always on time and very friendly. I would use them again!

Excellent! Thanks! I think I'll give them a try.

 

[grandpa6]

So this is one of the last things I have to decide on before our trip in February. I've heard pros and cons to many shuttle services from LAX to our hotel (BW Raffles). I'm hesitant to use one of the main ones, Disney Express and SuperShuttle I believe they are called as I've heard some scary stories (some good ones too).

I did some research on Karmel and they SEEM good. They guarantee that they won't circle the airport and they have a kids ride free special on now ($80 round trip for our family of 4).

I can't seem to find much info on here for them though. Has anyone tried them? Were they great to deal with? Did they live up to their promises (no circling, etc)?

We just used Karmel on Christmas Day and New Years Day. They were great. There were 7 of us and we were the only ones picked up, and taken directly to our hotel. We flew in early Christmas day and wanted to get to the park as soon as possible. We knew we would need a shuttle service that didn't drop off lots of people at lots of different stops. They were at our stop within 15 minutes of calling after all bags were collected. They were within 5 minutes of our pick up time to take us back to LAX. Our first driver even took us to the 7-11 to get water, so we wouldn't have to carry it back to our hotel. Gave us a little tour on the way to our hotel about where to eat and not eat. Great service.

 

[OregonDisneyFanatic]

Carla,

There is a $4.00 off per person coupon for Karmel Shuttles on the Anaheim Visitors Center web site. Its close to the bottom of the page.

http://www.anaheimoc.org/Articles/Archive/Webpage10153.asp

 

[AlexJanessa]

Carla,

There is a $4.00 off per person coupon for Karmel Shuttles on the Anaheim Visitors Center web site. Its close to the bottom of the page.

http://www.anaheimoc.org/Articles/Archive/Webpage10153.asp

Thanks! I think the kids ride free promo is a better deal for us and you can only use one promo at a time (both would have been nice though).

Booking today! One more thing off my list!

 

[pycees312]

used them from long beach airport. loved them and will use them again.

 

[AlexJanessa]

Thanks everyone. I just booked them and everything looks good! Glad to hear there are so many good reports. They seem really good and guarantee that they don't wait for more passengers or drive around which seems to be the big negatives on the larger shuttle services.

Shuttle booked - CHECK!

 

[Tink lives with me]

I will never use another shuttle company. They are amazing, and yep, I have tried all of the others.

 

[Priory]

I had to bump this thread to praise Karmel. We took them last weekend and they were excellent. We arrived at the terminal and called and they were there within minutes. They picked up one other party (they promise 2 parties maximum) from the same terminal and took them to the same hotel (very well organized). On the way back to the airport, we had the shuttle to ourselves.

It was worth every penny to not be sardines in a Super Shuttle while circling the airport and other resorts for ages.

 

[mellers]

So this is one of the last things I have to decide on before our trip in February. I've heard pros and cons to many shuttle services from LAX to our hotel (BW Raffles). I'm hesitant to use one of the main ones, Disney Express and SuperShuttle I believe they are called as I've heard some scary stories (some good ones too).

I did some research on Karmel and they SEEM good. They guarantee that they won't circle the airport and they have a kids ride free special on now ($80 round trip for our family of 4).

I can't seem to find much info on here for them though. Has anyone tried them? Were they great to deal with? Did they live up to their promises (no circling, etc)?

My husband used them to get to our hotel last year (we had to fly out separately). His quote, "The inside of my eyelids while I sat in the shuttle waiting to get to the hotel looked just fine. The driver woke me up when I got there, took the luggage off, and that was all I needed."

 

[MVBowers111]

We used Karmel when we went in September and I was a little disappointed. After we got our bags, I called the phone number and the guy told me it would be 20 minutes before the shuttle would get to us. I was shocked...and then we actually ended up waiting 30 minutes...in this time I saw several other Karmel shuttles but none were the number that was for us. When I finally saw ours coming, he pulled into the lane that was furthest from the curb and had to circle around again, he could tell I was mad and within a couple minutes, a different numbered shuttle picked us up.

I didn't let it ruin my day or anything, but I had been under the impression that it would be mere minutes before our shuttle would arrive, not a half hour. The new driver was super nice and dropped us off first at our hotel, so that was nice. We were sharing a shuttle with two other people. And when it was time to go back to the airport, our shuttle was right on time. I'd probably use them again, I just figured it was maybe a bad day for them.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I used them when I came in from LAX, they were reliable and easy to use. I would use them again if I flew into LAX. I liked that they would only make one other stop, fortunately we were the first stop. If I flew into SNA I would probably just use a taxi as I did when I flew in and out of there.

 

[bumbershoot]

I like them. I've had two good experiences, and one just OK experience. This is a better track record than my experiences with Supershuttle, though.

Having been the unwitting "victim" of the airport-trolling once, at Ontario airport on a hot day when I was dressed for Seattle instead of CA and DS was incredibly tired, the fact that they don't do that makes them winners from the get-go.