LA Airport Comparisons

[CSMissouri]

I'm driving myself crazy comparing airport options for cruise out of San Pedro, so would appreciate help of those familiar with LAX, LGB and SNA.  We'll be flying in one day pre-cruise (Friday, probably late morning/early afternoon), staying at Crowne Plaza in San Pedro.  Will flyout on Saturday, after disembarking from cruise.  It seems there is lots of discussion favoring LGB over LAX, but I don't see a lot about SNA.  I'm interested in travel times to/from port, transportation (if there are any differences), is there something about SNA that people don't like, etc.  Thanks for any help.

[pbenjamin]

John Wayne is twice as far from  the port than Long Beach is.  They are both reasonable airports, easier to deal with than LAX.  If you had a better (cheaper or better for your schedule) flight in and/or out of John Wayne it would be a reasonable alternative, but if all things were equal I'd stick with Long Beach.

[CSMissouri]

Thank you, pbenjamin.  Can you comment on approximate travel time SNA/port versus LAX/port versus LGB/port?

[pbenjamin]

A lot has to do with time of day and blind luck.  All 3 routes involve the 405 which can be a parking lot at times.  Google Maps says  SNA/port 45 minutes, LGB/port 21 minutes, LAX/port 24 minutes.

[Bruin Steve]

The Greater LA area is served by FIVE airports...

LGB is approximately 16 miles from the port in San Pedro.

LAX is 20 miles from the port.

SNA (John Wayne) is 34 miles.

Burbank (Bob Hope) is 36 miles.

Ontario is 60 miles away.

 

LAX is a massive airport--the FOURTH busiest airport in the world--hosting over 86.5 million passengers per year.  The size can be intimidating to some...But, OTOH, realize that, if you are just flying in and out, you are not dealing with the entire airport...The size only gets hard to deal with if you are making a connection--say your flying from the east coast and arriving at Terminal

1, but your international connection is from the Bradley Terminal...Getting around the airport is difficult because there is not, as of yet, any sort of rail or transit system...and worse if flying the other direction and you have to go through customs.

 

But, if you are only flying in and out, you only deal with getting from gate to curb or vice versa.  Some people complain about long lines for check-in and/or security...But I travel in and out of LAX often and I've NEVER had a difficult line...except one time when there was a terrible storm back east and lots of flights were cancelled causing the agents to be overwhelmed...and that can happen almost anywhere.  The advantages to LAX are that there are LOTS of flights to and from everywhere and at all times of day and night.  Also, there are many choices of ground transportation.

 

The other airports are far smaller...however they also have far fewer airlines with fewer flights and fewer flight times...And,, except for LGB, you do increase your ground transportation costs and time...Ubers cost more, shuttles cost more, taxis cost a lot more...They all base their fares on time and distance...

 

The best reason to use any of SNA, BUR or ONT is if you have pre- or post -cruise plans in those areas.  Burbank is VERY convenient to Hollywood and Universal City...SNA is convenient if your plans include Disney or Newport Beach.  ONT is really only convenient if you have relatives you're visiting in the IE...or maybe you're heading to Palm Springs (though it's got it's own airport).

 

A lot of folks like LGB because it's the smallest of the area airports...but, again, it's got very limited flights to a lot fewer places...and less of a choice of times...And, in terms of traffic time or transportation costs, you are really not saving much vis-a-vis LAX--only about 4 miles (assuming freeway routes as opposed to driving straight across on surface streets and facing several dozen traffic lights and stop signs).

 

IF you can find flights that work perfectly out of LGB, go ahead...If not, don't get intimidated by LAX...When you land, you'd just be heading straight to baggage claim, then out to the curb for your ground transportation...Flying home, you're getting dropped off at the curb, going through security and straight to the gate.  And, of course, like anywhere else, it helps a lot to check in online the day before and to have TSA Pre-check...

[CSMissouri]

Thank you, Bruin Steve.  Super information!

[DiTomCruisers]

Hi CS..

We took a cruise in February.  My boss is from Long Beach and said it was 400% easier to come into and out of Long Beach airport than LAX. 

I used LAX a few times for business (carry on luggage and I have TSA pre-check, which makes things easier) and without my wife and a few bags.

My boss was right, LGB is a snap.  No lines, easy luggage check in, small, efficient, quaint, etc.  They have the walk up and walk down ramps not the sky ways.  Luggage after the flight was right there.
I heard that the ending scene for Casablanca was shot there.

Anyway, we came in a day early, stayed at a local hotel with an airport shuttle (Doubletree?), new, clean and safe.  There was a shopping plaza next door too.  We took an Uber to the San Pedro dock and it was maybe 25-30 minutes?  No problem.

 

Good luck.

[CSMissouri]

Thank you for the info, DiTom.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

NOT LAX!  We just flew LGB for the first time and it's a snap.  Good news it's small, bad news it's small with nothing to do once you clear security.  Food options are horrible and seating can be a challenge.    All around my fav So CA airport is JW.  Easy to get around, fast security, plenty of bars and restaurants after security.  That being said, we usually head south from JW to San Diego or visit family in Irvine.  BUR is OK if you are up that way, but don't go out of your way to fly out of there.  It's old with just OK security.    

Edited April 5, 2019 by ATSEAMYLIFE

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 3/31/2019 at 12:36 PM, pbenjamin said:

Google Maps says  SNA/port 45 minutes, LGB/port 21 minutes, LAX/port 24 minutes.

 

Google Maps lies.

 

I can't imagine too many circumstances where LAX is 24 minutes from the port. It could, at 3AM, when there is no construction going on overnight, be 24 minutes, but that it is to the theoretical address of LAX. To actually get to your terminal can be 20 to 30 more minutes.

 

LGB or SNA are MUCH nicer experiences. SNA has one terminal (two wings) and there is an offramp on the 405 that goes in directly to the departure area.

 

I do whatever I can to avoid LAX. SNA is so much nicer, it is usually more expensive; which is one reason some people choose LAX over it.

[wheezedr]

I find a little Yogi Berra humor here.  “Nobody goes there anymore because it is too crowded “.   Everyone avoids LAX but it remains the worlds 4th or 5th busiest airport.  Is it my favorite airport, NO, but there sure are a lot of flight options to get there when I need to travel to LA.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

17 hours ago, wheezedr said:

Everyone avoids LAX but it remains the worlds 4th or 5th busiest airport.  Is it my favorite airport, NO, but there sure are a lot of flight options to get there when I need to travel to LA.

 

I would say, "everyone who can avoids LAX". If you can afford the higher fares at SNA and live closer to SNA (or have a choice from the LB and LA cruise ports), why would you choose LAX? If you are flying international, your options are limited and there is no choice if you are going to Asia or Europe.

 

But from Corona del Mar, if I want to fly to New York, I'd rather change planes in DEN, DFW or SLC with an hour layover than drive to LAX (60-90 minutes?). Total time from my door to my hotel in NYC is faster SNA-DFW-LGA than LAX-LGA non-stop, all things considered.

 

When I lived in the Valley, I used and loved BUR.

 

LAX has great schedules, good fares and crappy everything else.

 

PS CPB at LAX is horrid. If I fly international I'll leave via LAX and come home through SFO.

[Bruin Steve]

58 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

I would say, "everyone who can avoids LAX"....

 

Well, Scott...clearly not “everybody”.  The numbers sort of bear that out.

For YOU, John Wayne makes a whole lot of sense...because you live near there...

 

I live a little closer to Burbank than LAX (and fight a lot less traffic getting there)...and, if all things were equal, I would prefer to fly out of Burbank.  But all things are rarely equal.  I would NEVER take a flight schedule that includes stops or changes of planes out of Burbank (or out of John Wayne when I used to live down that way) over a nonstop out of LAX...Far too much can go wrong with those stops.

 

And LAX really doesn’t bother me.  I fly out of LAX a lot (I’ll be doing it on Friday to head to my trip to Portland and subsequent cruise out of Vancouver...and again in June for my cruises out of Amsterdam—I have the KLM LAX-AMS nonstops, the same flights I took last summer... and I flew out of LAX nonstop to Hong Kong for my recent cruise over the holidays).  I have NEVER spent any unusual time getting through check-in and security at LAX...usually curb to gate in 20 minutes or less.  Yes, It helps to check in online and to have TSA Pre-screen.

 

Again, as long as you are not connecting between flights in different terminals there, you are not dealing with the whole airport.  You take an Uber or shuttle to your terminal, walk inside, check your luggage, go through security and straight to your gate.  In the other direction, you deplane, walk to baggage claim, wait for your luggage (the only really annoying part...and I’ve had my luggage delayed or lost at smaller airports, too), then right out to the curb for your ground transportation.

 

And, you get a very wide choice of destinations, airline and flight times...and often at better rates than from the smaller airports...And you are closer to the port than at John Wayne or Burbank.

Edited April 6, 2019 by Bruin Steve

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

I live a little closer to Burbank than LAX (and fight a lot less traffic getting there)...and, if all things were equal, I would prefer to fly out of Burbank.

 

Thanks for confirming that "everyone who can" prefers another airport.

 

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

 have NEVER spent any unusual time getting through check-in and security at LAX...usually curb to gate in 20 minutes or less.  Yes, It helps to check in online and to have TSA Pre-screen.

 

Mmmmm, I fly three to four times a month (down from 2 times a week a few years ago), I have TSA pre-screen and a Sentri Pass and "20 minutes curb to gate" seems VERY optimistic unless your gate is one of the first gates. It also ignores the "getting to the curb" time. There is always a bottleneck at the entrance, that depending on the time of day, can take 10-15 minutes to get through, and if you fly American, like I do primarily, it can be 10 more minutes to get to Terminal 4

 

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

Again, as long as you are not connecting between flights in different terminals there, you are not dealing with the whole airport.  You take an Uber or shuttle to your terminal, walk inside, check your luggage, go through security and straight to your gate.

 

You must go to a different LAX, because I seldom check luggage (only if I am going on a cruise of more than 8 nights) and there is no way I could check luggage, get through security and get to my gate in 20 minutes. When I do check luggage, I usually check curbside and even that has lines.

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

And, you get a very wide choice of destinations, airline and flight times...and often at better rates than from the smaller airports...

 

Rates and selection were the pluses I gave for LAX.

 

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

And you are closer to the port than at John Wayne or Burbank.

 

Slightly disingenuous as you know distance has nothing to do with anything in greater LA. There is almost always more traffic going to LAX from the port than to SNA. All factors added in, port to gate, I'd bet SNA is faster 8 in 10 times.

[Peckishpixie]

I hate every single thing about LAX. I would rather drive all the way to Burbank. Long Beach is easy to get to and the airport itself is pleasant