Airport Indecision

[mel2014]

I'm looking far ahead to a brief weekend visit in February 2020 and trying to pick an airport/flight.

We will be upgrading park hopper tickets to Flex Passports in November and will be hoping to make park reservations for a return visit February 8&9. My kids have February 10 off school and that is a "good to go" day, so we'll be able to make a 3-day visit. We're coming down Friday from Sacramento, so it's a short flight. Kids will be 9 and 11 and definitely do better with more sleep, especially for a short commando visit. We already have hotel reservations at Desert Inn and Suites. Since we're not sure we're going to be able to get reservations, Southwest is our airline of choice, so we can get the ticket credit back if we have to cancel.

The flight times and prices to SNA and LGB aren't attractive -- we would either have to leave work early (and eat up vacation time) or land at 9 (LGB) or 9:45 (SNA), which makes for a late bed time. Tickets are around $120 each or $480 total for the four of us.

LAX has better pricing ($344 for 4 tickets), but the same timing issues, exacerbated by the longer distance and potential traffic from LAX to Anaheim.

Burbank has similar pricing ($352 for 4 tickets) and a more desirable flight time -- leaving at 6 o'clock, which would allow us to put in a full day of work if we get in early, and landing at 7:10. It seems like even if it takes 2 hours in traffic from Burbank to Anaheim and the Lyft ride is substantially more expensive, we'd still end up arriving earlier and at a lower cost from Burbank than SNA/LGB.

We've flown into all of these airports multiple times, and LGB is my favorite, followed by BUR, SNA, and lastly LAX.

I'm leaning toward Burbank, but wondering if there are factors I'm not considering. Thoughts?

 

[ParkHopper1]

At 7:30-8pm that could easily only be a one hour drive by that time. While I am fan of SNA, BUR makes sense if it works out logistically in your case.

While there are ton a factors in choosing airports and flight times that you have considered, there are some people will disrupt their ideal travel plans for hours just to avoid a few minutes of traffic..that never made sense to me if you arrival time ends up being more ideal.

Also remember, just because you land at BUR does not mean you need to depart from BUR. Just book two one ways on what makes the most sense to leave from as well.

 

[Becca1007]

Book ALL the flights as one way, and check if booking them one at a time results in a lower fare than booking 4 at the same time. Also what ParkHopper1 said is true, you can potentially see some benefit from returning home from SNA.
Burbank is a great airport as it is quick to get off the plane (they use both the forward and rear doors at the same time).

 

[Lesley Wake]

I would agree in looking to see if you can fly in/out of different airports. Also, check out Ontario airport. It is closer than Burbank, so could be a possible option.

I think only you really know how the timing will work for your schedules. I really dislike LAX, even though that is my usual airport. Traffic is just a pain (not just getting to the airport but getting around the airport). The airport itself is just stressful and crowded.

Burbank is definitely one of my preferred airports, as it is nice and small. Security is easy and traffic is pretty clear around the airport (it is LA though, so there is traffic everywhere, just not as bad as LAX). Ontario is bigger than Burbank, but still relatively calm and uncrowded. It's also further away from the major traffic congestion areas.