California Coastal / LAX Flight Question

[DisneyTech]

Hi Everyone!

 

We are booked on the Discovery Princess for a California Coastal cruise out of LA in March. We have never cruised out of LA, and it has been a couple of decades since my last Princess cruise and I have a question about flight times.

 

We are flying home to Florida on disembark day, and currently, the best option in terms of pricing and time of day is a JetBlue flight that leaves LAX at 10:35AM...

 

Is this a terrible idea? 

 

We have TSA Pre-Check and we would take a taxi / uber, so we didn't have to spend any time waiting on a shuttle... My thought process is: 7:30am self disembark (we would carry all of our luggage with us), in a taxi by 8am hopefully, and at the airport by 8:30-8:45am, just at or slightly less than 2 hours ahead of time.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks Everyone!!!

[skynight]

We found that due to the 3 hour time change when flying from the west coast back to the east coast it was best for us to stay overnight at a hotel near the airport. It was more relaxing. We booked a morning flight which arrived on the east coast late afternoon. You might wish to think about this option.

Your timing is close to possible if nothing goes wrong. It is also a plus if disembark is on the weekend with less traffic.

[skynight]

Adding. You might look into flying out of John Wayne airport. Not as crowded and less road traffic. 

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

On a Saturday or Sunday, these times might work. During the work week, not so sure. You would have to be very lucky. I too would check out John Wayne Airport, AKA Orange County, which is closer to the port I believe.

[roxievegas]

I think a 10:30 flight is too early, would not book anything earlier than noon

 

We have gotten off ship at 7:30a and sometimes it has been after 9:00a

[tonit964]

When I was on the Discovery last April, I did walk off with my own luggage which was the first group to get off the ship and that was at 8:20am.

 

I think your flight is too early.

[cruzsnooze]

I would not look at John Wayne airport, too far, If anything I would look at Long Beach airport which is 15 minutes from the pier. Although 10:30 is close I think it's doable. With your precheck and getting dropped off it's likely you'll be fine. It shouldn't take more then 30-35 minutes to get to the airport.

[Cruise Raider]

I would never book a flight before 1:00 PM out of LAX after a cruise…but, that’s me.  Now that they are filling the ships and there may be more than one ship in port, it will probably be very congested both at the pier as well as at LAX.  
If you have the option, I would suggest flying out of Long Beach airport.  It’s not only a bit closer but the airport itself is so much less crowded.  Not sure if that will work for you but if it does, I’d jump on it.  
If you do choose that Jet Blue flight, you may want to have a back up plan in place.  
 

[partybarbie]

Another vote for Long Beach airport. Your current flight choice is risky at best. If you have to fly home from LAX, look for a later flight. 

[mtnesterz]

3 hours ago, DisneyTech said:

Is this a terrible idea? 

I was going to ask what day of the week. You know, like Sunday (least traffic) as opposed to a Thursday (the worst) but you know, it doesn't matter. Terrible idea, no, risky yes. Spend a few dollars for peace of mind.

[cr8tiv1]

It is unfortunate that Jet Blue pulled out of Long Beach.  It was a perfect match.  There are not many non-stop options to Florida from LAX.   LAX is under construction.  Traffic around the Terminal is bad.  jet Blue is further down the line.
 

Check your day.  Check TSA website for how long the lines are.  
 

Good Luck.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

6 hours ago, DisneyTech said:

pricing and time of day is a JetBlue flight that leaves LAX at 10:35AM... Is this a terrible idea?

 

Yes, it is a terrible idea.

 

You MIGHT make it, but I think it  unlikely. Even on a Saturday, which is what it is, I think you don't have enough time.

 

Yes, both LGB and SNA (John Wayne) are better. Even though LAX is closer than SNA, both SNA and LGB airports are very small.They are smaller than the West Palm Beach Airport. It is much easier to clear security and get to your gate.

[DisneyTech]

Thanks for all of the replies. 
 

This would be on a Saturday. Unfortunately, we are using points for JetBlue, so our options are limited for other airports. 
 

Princess let’s you book flights from LAX starting at 11:45. I was hoping that they had an hour or so of buffer in there to account for using their transfers. 

[cr8tiv1]

https://www.dhs.gov/check-wait-times

 

I just checked.  JetBlue flies out of Terminal 5.  Past the halfway curve.  Wait time this afternoon (4PM) is 15 minutes.

 

Google maps also says (4 PM), 20 miles and 30 minutes.

 

You won't be able to use EZ luggage service.  Good luck.  Doable without any hitches, delays, or accidents.

[karatemom2]

Here is my two cents - how much risk are you willing to accept? If you are ok with some risk, then it would likely work out for you.

 

We live about an hour and half from LAX and so of course we drive to and sail out of San Pedro quite often. Because we live within easy driving distance, we generally do walk off and hop in our car and drive home. Generally we are off the ship by 7:45 and home before 10 a.m.

 

If you can get off expediently and either have a car waiting or get a taxi asap, you would likely get to LAX fairly quickly on a Saturday unless there is some kind of accident or other traffic issue. Anything can happen and mess up traffic pretty quickly here.

 

But in our experience getting off on Saturdays, we have driven home quickly with no delays and live about an hour and 45 minutes from the port. We are generally passing the exit for LAX within 30 minutes of leaving the ship.

 

Since this is not an international flight, even if you were there to make sure to get your luggage checked at least a full hour in advance of your flight you would probably be fine as long as the security lines aren't horrible.

 

Chances are pretty good that you could make it work and all would be fine. But you would have to make the decision knowing that any hiccup in ship arrival, clearing customs, traffic issue could cause you to miss your flight. Only you can determine the level of risk you are willing to take but I think your odds are good.

Edited September 14, 2022 by karatemom2

[DisneyTech]

@karatemom2, thank you so much for the first hand experience. You’d experiences sound similar to what I had in mind, time wise. 
 

We know that there is some risk involved, but thankfully there are later flights, however they are all connecting through JFK instead of direct. So hopefully, if the worse were to happen, we could still get home the same day, just 10+ hours later than expected. 

[cr8tiv1]

I'm having the same problem getting to FLL next year.  It's either leave early AM, or arrive late PM or red eye (hate these).  Not a lot of direct flights to FLL at the times that work for me.   Ha Ha.

 

[san diego spartan]

Traffic in Los Angeles is so unpredictable. I think technically you should be fined but if there's an accident or something on the freeway man you may not make your flight. I think guy grew as people as just how much risk you are willing to take. If there is any wiggle room to take a later flight I think peace of mind would With the later flight. However I have a husband who likes to gamble and he would probably be OK with us getting on that early flight keeping fingers crossed at everything goes OK with the walk off from the ship and getting a taxi or Uber

[KeepCalmBearOn]

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I'm having the same problem getting to FLL next year.  It's either leave early AM, or arrive late PM or red eye (hate these).  Not a lot of direct flights to FLL at the times that work for me.   Ha Ha.

 

 

I know it is nice that FLL is darn near walkable from Port Everglades, but we almost always fly in and out of MIA for the very reason that it is much easier to find convenient flights to and from and it is only 30 minutes south.