11:15 flight time out of LAX....enough time?

[gleach4259]

We are sailing on the Island Princess April 27-May 11.... Going from Ft Lauderdale and ending in Los Angeles. The itinerary shows we will be docking at 7am. Can I book an 11:15 flight out of LAX or is that cutting it way too close? There is a later flight (3:30 ish), but if I could avoid hanging around the airport all day it would be nice.

 

Thanks for any advice

[Pam in CA]

11:15am is taking a risk. Not a big risk but still a risk. Disembarkation in San Pedro starts later than in FLL and it can take 30-60 minutes to get to LAX. You can opt for self-disembarkation where you carry everything off yourself and down an escalator with one hand free without any assistance.

 

Last year, disembarkation wasn't planned to start until 8:30am. We disembarked at 9am and the lounges were still packed. LAX recommends checking in two hours before a domestic flight, three hours for an international flight.

[gleach4259]

Thanks for that quick reply. You pretty much reinforced what I should have known. Darn it....now I am going to be stuck in that airport all day :(

 

Maybe we can people watch at the airport;)

[DrivesLikeMario]

We made a 10:30am flight once, but we literally ran to the gate. We booked a later flight, but decided to give it a try and make the earlier one.

 

You might be able to make the 11:15am flight, but since you're supposed to check in about 2 hrs. early, that means you'd need to be at LAX at 9:15. You're coming in on a weekday morning. Traffic will be heavy. I'd anticipate a taxi taking about 45-70 mins. to get to the airport and possibly longer if you chose to take a shuttle that may stop at multiple places prior to the airport. Earliest I've ever been off a ship in LA is 7:35am and that was a long time ago.

 

If you plan to keep that flight time, you would absolutely have to do walk-off disembarkation, take a taxi to LAX, print your boarding passes while on the ship and be able to pray that traffic won't be bad, that the ship arrives on time, the Immigration agents show up to work on time, their computers don't break down or freeze up (they have a couple times before for us) and no other delays happening. If all goes smoothly, you should make it in time. :D

[watergal]

We are sailing on the Island Princess April 27-May 11.... Going from Ft Lauderdale and ending in Los Angeles. The itinerary shows we will be docking at 7am. Can I book an 11:15 flight out of LAX or is that cutting it way too close? There is a later flight (3:30 ish), but if I could avoid hanging around the airport all day it would be nice.

 

Thanks for any advice

 

We had a 1 pm flight ex LAX and we booked a private sedan with Prime Time Shuttle. Princess sends an info sheet around prior to disembarkation and you can specify the time of your flight whereby you can choose to take your luggage off yourself, if manageable, so you're one of the first pax off the ship. As Princess was aware of our early afternoon flight they ensured we were one of the earliest off the ship....at 8:15 am. We walked to the curb right outside the terminal after picking up our luggage where Prime Shuttle had their kiosk/depot and a nice comfy sedan took us directly to LAX. Regardless it was early morning traffic, we arrived at 9:30 so this is something you could consider. The price of the sedan was $75 (plus tip) for 2 pax. Or you can go by shuttle which seats several pax and takes a bit longer. At the end of the day, Pam is always the smart voice of reason! ;)

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for that quick reply. You pretty much reinforced what I should have known. Darn it....now I am going to be stuck in that airport all day :(

 

Maybe we can people watch at the airport;)

 

Can you fly out of LGB or SNA instead? LGB is actually closer to the port and SNA (Orange County - John Wayne Airport also known as Santa Ana or SNA) isn't that much further. They might have flights that are better and cheaper for you.

[Princess Patches]

My general policy is no flights before noon out of LAX when disembarking at San Pedro. The best case scenario is arriving at LAX at 9:45 a.m. (that is my best time). That means disembarking at 8:00 a.m., walking off with your own luggage, no customs delays, no parking lot delays, and absolutely no freeway traffic. Since you are coming in on a Friday, there will be heavy traffic during morning rush hour. I would definitely book the later flight.

 

Why don't you have a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room before disembarking the ship? You could spend a little more time on the ship rather than in the airport that way.

[5fathom]

We had an 11:15 flight when we disembarked the Sapphire last Oct. We took "Early Walkoff" and found many taxi's waiting. It is (or was) a flat charge of $50 + tip. We were at the airport with plenty of time to spare. I might add however this was on an early Saturday morning. Not sure what traffic problems would exist on a weekday.

[DrivesLikeMario]

The OP is coming in on a Friday morning. Traffic will be totally different than on a Saturday morning. It'll be heavy, but at least not as bad as the other weekdays as long as there are no accidents or CalTrans work.

[VOR]

We are sailing on the Island Princess April 27-May 11.... Going from Ft Lauderdale and ending in Los Angeles. The itinerary shows we will be docking at 7am. Can I book an 11:15 flight out of LAX or is that cutting it way too close? There is a later flight (3:30 ish), but if I could avoid hanging around the airport all day it would be nice.

 

Thanks for any advice

 

You should be OK, but that is a weekday, so traffic between the port and LAX is a variable.

 

I would book later if you can, but I am guessing you can save a bundle not flying friday afternoon.

 

Check frights from LGB and SNA as well, you might find a better departure

[gleach4259]

My general policy is no flights before noon out of LAX when disembarking at San Pedro. The best case scenario is arriving at LAX at 9:45 a.m. (that is my best time). That means disembarking at 8:00 a.m., walking off with your own luggage, no customs delays, no parking lot delays, and absolutely no freeway traffic. Since you are coming in on a Friday, there will be heavy traffic during morning rush hour. I would definitely book the later flight.

 

Why don't you have a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room before disembarking the ship? You could spend a little more time on the ship rather than in the airport that way.

 

I like your suggestion about staying on the ship a little longer. There is an afternoon flight ( same cost) so I guess it would be safer this way. No point in getting all stressed out at the end of the vacation!

 

Thanks to all for they great imput.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We had a 1 pm flight ex LAX and we booked a private sedan with Prime Time Shuttle. Princess sends an info sheet around prior to disembarkation and you can specify the time of your flight whereby you can choose to take your luggage off yourself, if manageable, so you're one of the first pax off the ship. As Princess was aware of our early afternoon flight they ensured we were one of the earliest off the ship....at 8:15 am. We walked to the curb right outside the terminal after picking up our luggage where Prime Shuttle had their kiosk/depot and a nice comfy sedan took us directly to LAX. Regardless it was early morning traffic, we arrived at 9:30 so this is something you could consider. The price of the sedan was $75 (plus tip) for 2 pax. Or you can go by shuttle which seats several pax and takes a bit longer. At the end of the day, Pam is always the smart voice of reason! ;)

 

 

You're lucky. We had booked with PT to pick us up from home to take us to the port and then two weeks later, the reverse. Unfortunately whoever does the scheduling for them messed up on both ends and sent the van to the other location. When we had gotten off the ship, I handed the email confirmation (which had the info correct) to their rep at the shuttle pickup, and he said we weren't on his list. He called his office, and the woman on the other end argued with him that we were supposed to be waiting at our home as that's where our driver was. We won't use that service again.

 

As for the OP, there are times that disembarkation starts late at that port. Plus the 405 is notoriously bumper to bumper at most times of the day (I have seen it jammed even at noon). Don't know if it being the Friday before Mother's Day will affect volume of passengers flying out of LAX.

[Pam in CA]

I might add however this was on an early Saturday morning. Not sure what traffic problems would exist on a weekday.

Before I moved from MA to CA almost five years ago, I'd heard horror stories about LA traffic. Having commuted to Cambridge for several years, I thought: "Boston has terrible traffic. It couldn't possibly be worse than Boston." Yup. It can. FAR worse. I'm about 40 minutes south of San Pedro and I've had it take an hour and a half at about 9:30am, when Boston traffic eases up. LA traffic seems to be bad... and badder. :) I once drove to Glendale to visit friends for lunch and was warned to leave no later than 2pm to miss rush hour traffic. I was having such a good time, I left at 2:30pm. Finally drove into my garage, totally exhausted, at 7:30pm. It took only about 1 hour 15 minutes to get there. I could go on but the bottom line is that LA traffic can be awful. Even if you get to LAX by 9:30am, you still have very long lines to check in and go through Security. LAX itself can be a nightmare. :(

[dw64]

We had a 3:30 flight, & the airlines called yesterday & changed our flights to 12:30PM. So; you all are saying, we will be ok with a 12:30 PM flight out of LAX on a Sat?

[Loonbeam]

12:30 on a Sat is probably doable. I'd still get off the ship ASAP.

[Pam in CA]

We had a 3:30 flight, & the airlines called yesterday & changed our flights to 12:30PM. So; you all are saying, we will be ok with a 12:30 PM flight out of LAX on a Sat?

You should be fine. I've made 12:20pm flights several times with room to spare.