Personally I take public transit to the airport if it is all possible but I know few Americans who do it. Despite the silly airport trains I think the BART at SFO and the JFK connection to the NYC Subway are great. The train to Reagan airport in DC is is nice as the train to Schiphol airport. Also there is a premium shuttle bus from LAX to Downtown LA which gets you to Hollywood and many other places on the Metro, you can certainly find a good hotel near a transit stop and limit how much you need to lug luggage.