Updated September 2026

Where a private car actually picks you up at LAX, where it drops you off, and what has changed since the LAX-it lot opened in 2019 — updated for the current construction phase and the still-pending SkyLink train.

The short version

If you book a licensed car service (a California PUC TCP-licensed operator like LA Private Car Service), nothing about the LAX-it lot applies to you. LAX-it is the remote pickup area for Uber, Lyft and taxis only. Chauffeured vehicles still come to the terminal.

• Drop-off: Upper / Departures level, at your airline’s terminal curb — same as always.
• Curbside pickup: Lower / Arrivals level, outer island curb (the white-painted curb across the inner lane, under the overhead “Passenger Pick-Up” signs). Inner-lane pickup is not permitted for anyone.
• Meet & greet: Your chauffeur parks in the Central Terminal Area garage, meets you inside baggage claim with a name sign, and walks you to the car. This is the option we recommend for international arrivals, families and anyone with a lot of luggage.

What changed in October 2019

LAX moved all rideshare and taxi pickups out of the Central Terminal Area to the LAX-it lot next to Terminal 1, reached by shuttle or on foot. The airport called it temporary — a bridge until the automated people mover opened in 2023. It is still in service today.

TCP-licensed limo and livery operators were treated differently from day one: we kept terminal access on both levels. The only real change for chauffeured cars was the move from the inner curb to the outer island on Arrivals, shared with private vehicles, FlyAway buses and other commercial TCP carriers.

Where things stand in 2026

SkyLink (the people mover) is not open yet

LAX’s elevated SkyLink train has been in full-scale testing since spring 2026. The most recent target for passenger service is early October 2026, and the airport and its contractor are in a contract dispute, so treat any opening date as provisional. When it does open it connects the terminals to the LAX/Metro Transit Center, the rental-car center and economy parking. It does not change how a chauffeured car reaches the terminal curb.

Rideshare airport fees went up

The per-trip fee Uber and Lyft drivers pay at LAX rose from $4 to $6 in April 2026 and is scheduled to reach $12 once SkyLink opens, on top of the walk or shuttle to the LAX-it lot. Those costs get passed to riders. A flat-rate LAX car service is quoted before you book and does not move.

Construction still eats curb space

Terminal renovations and the SkyLink stations inside the horseshoe mean pickup zones shift week to week. Our dispatch tracks the closures; your chauffeur will tell you exactly which island and door number to walk to, or simply meet you inside.

How a pickup works with us

Coming back to LAX? The LAX car service page covers both directions, flat rates by vehicle, and the full 11-question FAQ.

LAX pickup questions

Updated September 2026

A short history of the chauffeur — where the word came from, how driving for hire became a profession, and why the job description in Los Angeles today looks nothing like it did in 1899.

Where the word “chauffeur” comes from

Chauffeur is French for “stoker” — literally “one who heats.” The earliest motor cars were steam-powered, and the person who kept the boiler lit and the engine running was the chauffeur. When gasoline engines replaced steam, the name stayed attached to the person behind the wheel.

A chauffeur, then and now, is someone employed to drive a passenger vehicle — historically a large sedan, limousine or town car. The distinction from a “driver” was never about the car. It was about the standard: the chauffeur was responsible for the vehicle, the route, the schedule and the passenger’s comfort, not just the steering.

1899–1920s: the private employee

The first chauffeurs were household staff. Cars were expensive, unreliable and mechanically demanding; wealthy owners hired a man to drive, maintain and repair the vehicle, the way they employed a coachman for horses. Early chauffeurs were often trained mechanics first and drivers second.

The demand outgrew the households. By the 1910s, companies began offering both the car and the driver on hire — for an evening, a week or a standing contract. That is the model the entire chauffeured car service industry still runs on.

1930s–1970s: the limousine era

Hollywood, corporate America and the airlines turned chauffeured cars from a household luxury into a service business. Studios kept fleets for talent. Airports created the airport transfer. Stretch limousines became the visual shorthand for the industry, for better or worse, and “limo service” became the phrase most people used for any chauffeured car.

1980s–2000s: the black car

Corporate travel departments wanted something quieter and more useful than a stretch: a black sedan, a professional in a suit, a flat rate and an invoice. The black car service was born, and it is still the backbone of executive ground transportation. LA Private Car Service started in 2004 squarely in this tradition — sedans and SUVs, corporate accounts, airport runs.

2010s–today: the rideshare years

Uber and Lyft did not replace the chauffeur; they made the difference clearer. A rideshare driver is a gig worker using a personal vehicle with a dynamic price. A chauffeur is a vetted, background-checked professional driving a commercially insured, PUC-permitted vehicle at a rate you agreed to before the trip. The 2019 LAX-it changes, which sent rideshare pickups to a remote lot while licensed car services kept terminal access, drew that line in public.

What a chauffeur does in Los Angeles in 2026

That is the difference the word has always carried. The vehicles changed from steam to gas to electric; the standard did not.

Questions about chauffeurs