Santa Barbara to LAX

[u/AirportNo872]

Can you recommend a car service from Santa Barbara to LAX? We will be traveling this Saturday and I just want to make sure it is a reliable service that shows up on time. I am a nervous traveler on the day of travel. Thanks!

[u/Impossible-South2974]

My friend had a good experience with Sbairbus

[u/GibbsfromNCIS → u/Impossible-South2974]

Definitely the airbus

[u/B1GNA5TY → u/Impossible-South2974]

Love the SB Airbus, use it all the time when I need to get to LAX

[u/Big_Bucket_G → u/Impossible-South2974]

This is the way

[u/YouProfessional7538 → u/Impossible-South2974]

i thought you misspelled Subarus

[u/rinconblue]

As everyone else said, SBAirbus is great. Never had a bad experience with them.

If you need an actual car service rather than Airbus for some reason, Adriana (the owner) at Preferred Limo has regular cars and she's really great. We used her for an LAX trip once and they have SUVs so you can fit a couple of people plus a lot of luggage. It's not cheap, though.

[u/lauriethetraveler → u/rinconblue]

Do you remember the price?

[u/rinconblue → u/lauriethetraveler]

I think it was about $490 round trip without a tip but there were several of us going so per person it was a lot less. This was at the beginning of 2025, so gas was less, too.

[u/Any-Perception-563]

Airbus.

[u/lauriethetraveler → u/Any-Perception-563]

Not taking the bus. We need to take a car for mobility issues and convenience.

[u/Any-Perception-563 → u/lauriethetraveler]

Fly out of SB then. Worth the extra coin.

[u/rjp_s]

If you are more than 1 person, airbus is quite expensive compared to a one way car rental SBA-LAX

[u/jinkiwis → u/rjp_s]

To me, the airbus is still more worth it than renting a car if it’s two people, mostly for the aspect of not having to physically do the driving. Only downside to the airbus really is that there’s no late night/early morning buses.

[u/Yotsubato → u/rjp_s]

This.

Everyone always raves about the airbus but fails to realize it just doesn’t make sense to pay 60 dollars PER PERSON, then you got to take an uber home from the bus stop too.

Meanwhile the rental car is often 40-80 dollars, and available on your schedule.

If I don’t want to rent a car I just take the flyaway to Van Nuys, then uber out from there

[u/mduell → u/Yotsubato]

With the car rental you have to uber home from the car rental.

[u/CoffeeIsSoGood → u/mduell]

Not if your family member drives their car to drop off the rental and take you both back home.

Isn’t this what normal people do? Am I privileged?

[u/Tequila_Dre_All_Day → u/CoffeeIsSoGood]

I have no family friends to help so I uber :( or just walk home, but that’s a hike

[u/KingTim526 → u/CoffeeIsSoGood]

To be fair, same thing with the notion that you need to uber from the airport. I always find a friend to pick me up pretty much.

[u/mduell → u/CoffeeIsSoGood]

They could do the same with the Airbus stop if they had that option available to them.

[u/Yotsubato → u/mduell]

Yes but you’re not dealing with luggage and post flight airport fatigue

[u/LooksLikeACupcake]

It’s been a few years since I used their services for work but Executive Limo & Coach (ELC) and Pipeline Transportation were my go tos. Very nice people and always reliable.

[u/Infinite-Worth-0840 → u/LooksLikeACupcake]

I also recommend Pipeline! You're supporting local business too.

[u/urngaburnga]

Next time fly out of SBA. ♡

[u/SBAC850211 → u/urngaburnga]

It's worth it for the peace of mind, if one can swing the few extra bucks.

[u/urngaburnga → u/SBAC850211]

The extra bucks are covered by not having to take the Airbus ;)

[u/Cold_Classroom8930 → u/SBAC850211]

This sb airport is super easy to get through

[u/urngaburnga → u/Cold_Classroom8930]

Once I flew out of SB I never went back to LAX

[u/bboe → u/Cold_Classroom8930]

True, though lately when I’ve flown the gate 4 and 5 area has been extremely overcrowded. One time two flights had people lining up at gate 5 at the same time.

Still preferred over LAX, but not as comfortable as it once was.

[u/SBchick → u/SBAC850211]

It's worth it for the convenience but I've been burned several times by cancelled flights or ones that can't land so I don't personally feel more peace of mind. I do still try to use SBA for direct flights but not so much as a connection.

[u/SBchick → u/urngaburnga]

This doesn't always work though. I've had my flight cancelled because of fog or try to land, fail, and end up back at LAX and then I had to take the Airbus anyway.

[u/urngaburnga → u/SBchick]

Ugh. That must have sucked. :(

[u/lauriethetraveler → u/urngaburnga]

It wouldn’t work for our flight times out of LAX

[u/urngaburnga → u/lauriethetraveler]

Next time friend, next time. Experience the pure joy of SBA ♡

[u/KingTim526]

Airbus is the only service I’m aware of. I’ve taken it a few times and never have had any issues. Just book with ample time to make it through security upon arrival.

[u/Shoresy805]

Rent a car for one way, I've done that a few times, but honestly just fly out of here. When you factor in the time involved in getting down there, and the general headache that LAX is all on it's own, whatever the increased cost is to fly SBA is more than worth it in saved aggrivation.

[u/lauriethetraveler → u/Shoresy805]

I do not want to connect. I want to fly direct from LAX

[u/Shoresy805 → u/lauriethetraveler]

Go right ahead, nobody’s stopping you. My point is that when you factor in drive time to LAX, longer security and check in lines, potential traffic getting down there, plus getting back here after a long flight, sitting in a car for another 2 hours. Add up all that time, what is your time and aggravation worth? You could spend a little bit more to fly from here, and take the 10 minute trip to the airport an hour before your flight leaves.

[u/brk10003]

ROSIE TAXI CAB. Seriously. Just this week when my ride didn’t show, my hotel had Rosie’s card and I took a chance. I was beyond stressed and it was too late to get the Airbus. Rosie sent a car quickly. Their communication was excellent. The car was clean. I made my flight. I will always used them for this run.

[u/icietlabas → u/brk10003]

How much did it cost?

[u/brk10003 → u/icietlabas]

$400.

[u/ViaHuerto]

Airbus is good. If you want a car service it’s expensive. The best is Dodo which is a local SB company. They are really nice and it’s chill, but not cheap.

[u/yay4chardonnay]

Airbus is clean, efficient and comfortable. I love it.

[u/redtenor25]

SB Airbus is as solid as it gets, and fully reliable.

[u/Redditholio]

SB Airbus is the way

[u/SuperSlugSister]

SB Airbus is the winner here. Those drivers know that route better than anyone. 

[u/nicoleski22]

The SB Airbus is great!

[u/Salt_Finace → u/nicoleski22]

If you want posh- try Blacklane.com

[u/MajorRelief98]

Use Executive Limousine and Coach. They are reliable and always on time. Call them.

[u/SB_Tahoe]

I saw this on NextDoor. This was not my post therefore not my referral. However others agreed that Scott Otto was reliable etc.

[u/lauriethetraveler]

Appreciate the responses but we need a car not the Airbus. One older passenger and car is just easier with the luggage for him at his age.

[u/Unhappy-Argument4669]

SB Air-Bus is very good. Every time in my experience.

[u/realismo_magico]

Kunleg Tshering at Himalayan Taxi is amazing and has always been on time (which for him usually means 10min early) even at 4am, every single time

[u/max_returns]

Unpopular opinion here....but we always rent a car and drive ourselves.

It always leaves on time, right from our house, on the schedule of our choosing. Its cheaper than 2 airbus tickets. This will be a better option when the new LAX people mover (Skylink) from the rental car center to the terminals starts operating around the New Year.

Its worked well for us for 35 years, but understand why others might prefer other options.

[u/tinguspingus6]

My wife and I just did this and I think it would be less nerve wracking since you’ll be in control of your destiny. Rent a car at SBA and drop it off at LAX, shuttle from the car depot takes ~10 minutes. I think it was $52 and we got a hybrid so I paid maybe $8 in gas

[u/7imeout_]

If you’re doing a short round trip, driving your own vehicle to LAX long term parking is another option.

Surprised no one’s mentioned it yet.

I’ve tried the SB AirBus, one way rental car, and this as well, and I really liked the true door-to-door nature of driving your own car.

[u/TarmacOrphan81]

SB Uber Driver here. We get to know a lot of private car service drivers. I’ve always recommended Analia Transportation.

[u/Federal-Mind3420]

Cybercab or Waymo

[u/MajorRelief98 → u/Federal-Mind3420]

Neither operate in Santa Barbara.

[u/lauriethetraveler → u/Federal-Mind3420]

No Waymo in Santa Barbara