Arriving through LA or Anaheim?

[Tinkaboo]

Yes, rideshare is best but depending upon your day/time of day, it can be CRAZY. Lots of cruise ship people use this airport so it depends on when the cruise ships are coming and going. Someone else on here who cruises can describe it better. I have been at the airport when it was practically empty....and when its jammed packed. If i recall, it's usually Friday/saturday.

Also in December (my most recent trip), there was a lot of construction around dropoff lanes that also created havoc. But the trip itself is about same time /distance as John Wayne so would say your time allotment is plenty.

Also be aware that there are not a lot of dining options there...and def no Starbucks.
But if you just had breakfast, not a problem.

One more thing...you might want to book your Uber in advance for that morning...sometimes it might be a 15 minute wait to get picked up.

 

[LKing]

I love LGB! It is a great airport that is easy to get in and out of and usually has short, quick, security lines.

I believe rideshare/taxi is going to be your best option. Both are easy to pick up at LGB.

If your flight leaves at 12:45 you'll want to be there by 11:30 ish. Regardless, leaving Disneyland at 10 am should give you enough time to get to LGB by 11:30 am.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Avoid LAX at all costs. If you can go through ONT, SNA or LGB from your airline go through there. Much smaller and easier to navigate.

 

[Lumpy1106]

First Disneyland trip coming up and we are flying into and departing from LGB in Long Beach. Just curious if anyone has experience with LGB and could answer a few questions:

1. Is using a rideshare/taxi still the best bet price wise to get to and from the airport? I looked at a few shuttle services, but they seemed to be a lot more expensive.

2. Our flight returning home leaves at 12:45pm. We have a morning breakfast reservation at 8:35am. Figured we should be able to eat, get back to the room and checkout by 10:00am. Does 2 hours, 45 min give us enough time to comfortable get back to LGB?

Thanks in advance!

Long Beach local here. Yes, you should have plenty of time. Give yourself about an hour, DL to LGB - that's more than enough considering you will be travelling after rush hour. As @Tinkaboo said, LGB is (was?) doing construction. The purpose was to move the rental car counters into the historic old art deco terminal (instead of the portable trailer in the parking lot). I believe this is now complete, but you will know for sure when you arrive.

Local tip; if the traffic is bad in the loop, just have your driver drop you off on the road in between the parking structures or even in the cell phone lot. The walk to the terminal is EASY, and TSA is a breeze.

Avoid LAX - it's at least another 30-45 minute drive plus the hassle when you are there. I just got back from a trip where I had to use LAX and it took me an hour from the time I got off the plane to when I got in my car in the remote lot. Yes, it really is that much worse.

 

[Psymonds]

For me the issues around LAX are the typical big airport issues, if you rent a car, it's at the rental car center, not across the airport drive in the garage. They're doing away with the shuttles and offering easier access to the terminals, but I've had the rental car shuttle take 30 minutes, and not infrequently. Of course I'm also flying routes where I have 4 other options (from the bay area) so it's easy for me to complain about 20 or 30 minute inconveniences, because I can fly 8 times a day into SNA or LGB on 2 different airlines. I have the same discussion here with OAK and SFO and I try to avoid SFO... but today I'm flying SFO to SNA for work, because that was the time that worked.

 

[barbaq24]

Flying into SNA should always be preferred over LAX, but it has limited flights. I fly direct to SNA from EWR. If you have to connect to fly to SNA it's probably worth it. It is further from LA so you have less traffic, it's a smaller airport so everything moves faster, and lastly it's very close to Disneyland. You can get there without using highways, in fact during rush hour, google maps may route you locally. It's about 27 mins with traffic.

 

[LAS2AMS]

This topic comes up almost weekly. It’s a lot less time consuming to use LAX if it’s your destination vs. origin. For a destination passenger, the terminals are small and it’s much easier to navigate than most large airports.

If you have a direct flight into LAX but need to connect to SNS/ LGB/ ONT, the total trip will take longer with the connection and there’s a much larger chance for delays/ cancellations/ misconects.

This fourm is too soft. There’s no reason to avoid LAX, it it has the best flight schedule and price.

 

[mdmost]

Well sure there's a reason. I can leave late on a flight from SNA and spend part of my day at Disneyland versus transversing LA to get to an airport as the main portion of my final day. You're right on the best flight schedule at LAX but I've found the price is negligible from DFW. I would never dream of even trying to spend a morning at Disneyland if I had a late flight out of LAX. There's just too much to chance.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Well sure there's a reason. I can leave late on a flight from SNA and spend part of my day at Disneyland versus transversing LA to get to an airport as the main portion of my final day. You're right on the best flight schedule at LAX but I've found the price is negligible from DFW. I would never dream of even trying to spend a morning at Disneyland if I had a late flight out of LAX. There's just too much to chance.

Yes but you’re fortunate that DFW has multiple nonstops to SNA. Only a handful of communities outside the West have service to SNA, and several operate just a few times per week.

The lion’s share of people reading this fourm would be better served by LAX.

 

[LKing]

Yes, rideshare is best but depending upon your day/time of day, it can be CRAZY. Lots of cruise ship people use this airport so it depends on when the cruise ships are coming and going. Someone else on here who cruises can describe it better. I have been at the airport when it was practically empty....and when its jammed packed. If i recall, it's usually Friday/saturday.

Also in December (my most recent trip), there was a lot of construction around dropoff lanes that also created havoc. But the trip itself is about same time /distance as John Wayne so would say your time allotment is plenty.

Also be aware that there are not a lot of dining options there...and def no Starbucks.
But if you just had breakfast, not a problem.

One more thing...you might want to book your Uber in advance for that morning...sometimes it might be a 15 minute wait to get picked up.

Are you saying that when a cruise ship arrives, they have shuttles to the airport so there are a lot of people checking in or waiting around for their flight? I don't know if it I'm just lucky, but I fly in and out of LGB regularly and I've never encountered that.

We flew in and out of LGB last month. We arrived on a Saturday and didn't call for a rideshare until after we got our bags. The rideshare lot is so close that it only took a couple minutes for the driver to round the bend and pick us up. Again, maybe we just lucked out.

Regarding construction, all drop off and pick up lanes are now open. https://lgbroadimprovements.com/

 

[VGCgroupie]

First Disneyland trip coming up and we are flying into and departing from LGB in Long Beach. Just curious if anyone has experience with LGB and could answer a few questions:

1. Is using a rideshare/taxi still the best bet price wise to get to and from the airport? I looked at a few shuttle services, but they seemed to be a lot more expensive.

2. Our flight returning home leaves at 12:45pm. We have a morning breakfast reservation at 8:35am. Figured we should be able to eat, get back to the room and checkout by 10:00am. Does 2 hours, 45 min give us enough time to comfortable get back to LGB?

Thanks in advance!

Recently flew out of LGB. Flight was at 1:20pm. Breakfast was at 8:20 Storytellers. We left breakfast walked back to Villas at Disneyland spent about 25 min at the room and left, we had SO much down time at the airport, I do have TSA/Clear but the lines at LGB weren't that long.

Edit: Breakfast was at 8:35 just like you.

 

[LKing]

The purpose was to move the rental car counters into the historic old art deco terminal (instead of the portable trailer in the parking lot). I believe this is now complete, but you will know for sure when you arrive.

Hasn't that been open for a while? Google says it opened in July 2024.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Are you saying that when a cruise ship arrives, they have shuttles to the airport so there are a lot of people checking in or waiting around for their flight? I don't know if it I'm just lucky, but I fly in and out of LGB regularly and I've never encountered that.

We flew in and out of LGB last month. We arrived on a Saturday and didn't call for a rideshare until after we got our bags. The rideshare lot is so close that it only took a couple minutes for the driver to round the bend and pick us up. Again, maybe we just lucked out.

Regarding construction, all drop off and pick up lanes are now open. https://lgbroadimprovements.com/

The lion’s share of cruise passengers at San Pedro and Long Beach drive to the port. It’s usually the weeklong cruises that generate air traffic, and they are on Saturday - the day LGB sees its lowest service levels.

For reference, we last cruised on Carnival and there was only two busses (compared to several dozen to LAX) headed to LGB, per the schedule they gave us.

 

[LKing]

That makes sense. LGB is predominantly a SWA airport. Hawaiian has two flights out of LGB and Delta has one. Other than that, all of the flights are SWA. https://www.longbeach.gov/lgb/airlines-destinations/

 

[AlohaNow]

First Disneyland trip coming up and we are flying into and departing from LGB in Long Beach. Just curious if anyone has experience with LGB and could answer a few questions:

1. Is using a rideshare/taxi still the best bet price wise to get to and from the airport? I looked at a few shuttle services, but they seemed to be a lot more expensive.

2. Our flight returning home leaves at 12:45pm. We have a morning breakfast reservation at 8:35am. Figured we should be able to eat, get back to the room and checkout by 10:00am. Does 2 hours, 45 min give us enough time to comfortable get back to LGB?

Thanks in advance!

I flew into LGB for DLR and just grabbed a flat rate cab from the second ‘island’ outside the main door. The first island was jam packed with people waiting for rideshares they had summoned. I waltzed across to the second island, confirmed the DLR flat rate fare with the first cab driver in the taxi line, and we were off. It was the fastest I’ve ever gone from exiting an airplane and being on my way to my destination. I can’t answer your second question because I always depart from SNA on the way home. Have a great trip!

 

[Jane VanTassel]

I always fly into LAX: number one reason is direct flight for me. It's busy and chaotic: but very manageable. At least thus far. I take Black Car Service: this way I'm picked up right out side of LAX: because all other options you have to shuttle over to a designated parking area. So far, have never had an issue with traffic. Fingers crossed this continues!

 

[Lumpy1106]

This topic comes up almost weekly. It’s a lot less time consuming to use LAX if it’s your destination vs. origin. For a destination passenger, the terminals are small and it’s much easier to navigate than most large airports.

If you have a direct flight into LAX but need to connect to SNS/ LGB/ ONT, the total trip will take longer with the connection and there’s a much larger chance for delays/ cancellations/ misconects.

This fourm is too soft. There’s no reason to avoid LAX, it it has the best flight schedule and price.

If that's what you want to do, knock yourself out, but disagree. I just did it two weeks ago - it took me a solid hour from the time the seatbelt sign went out until I got to my car in a remote lot. That's Parking Spot and their shuttles are far more efficient than the LAX lot shuttles. From there you are a solid 45 minutes on the freeway further away from DL than LGB or SNA. Let's add it up; that's 1:45, and that time is far from relaxing. YMMV, but I would much rather have a 1:45 layover and switch planes then deal with LAX and LA traffic for 1:45.

If I have to, sure, LAX is a viable choice. But if I don't have to...

 

[LAS2AMS]

If that's what you want to do, knock yourself out, but disagree. I just did it two weeks ago - it took me a solid hour from the time the seatbelt sign went out until I got to my car in a remote lot. That's Parking Spot and their shuttles are far more efficient than the LAX lot shuttles. From there you are a solid 45 minutes on the freeway further away from DL than LGB or SNA. Let's add it up; that's 1:45, and that time is far from relaxing. YMMV, but I would much rather have a 1:45 layover and switch planes then deal with LAX and LA traffic for 1:45.

If I have to, sure, LAX is a viable choice. But if I don't have to...

A 50 minute connection adds over two hours to the total trip time - landing and taking off, unloading and loading, etc. take time. From the time you the seatbelt sign turns off at SNA, until you reach DLR, is realistically about 40 minutes - if you parked in the garage.

So, you think paying more to connect at SNA, and spend an extra hour AT LEAST of your time to avoid LAX is worth it? You must not value your time much.

What happens when you misconnect? We had two SNA-CLT fights misconduct last year. The first required us to wait over 3 hours to be rebooked. There were no hotel rooms so we had to sleep in the airport. We were there almost 20 hours. The second was to MCO and the next available flight with enough seats was two days later. We ended up playing the standby game and splitting our party up. We had to pay for an overnight at CLT (both delays were weather), lost one night at AKL (Rented points) and had to pay over $400 extra for a car rental (rate was only guaranteed for 24 hours and it was a must). So, 30+ hours in CLT and over $1,000 lost.

Still worth it to avoid LAX and LA traffic?

 

[Lumpy1106]

A 50 minute connection adds over two hours to the total trip time - landing and taking off, unloading and loading, etc. take time. From the time you the seatbelt sign turns off at SNA, until you reach DLR, is realistically about 40 minutes - if you parked in the garage.

So, you think paying more to connect at SNA, and spend an extra hour AT LEAST of your time to avoid LAX is worth it? You must not value your time much.

What happens when you misconnect? We had two SNA-CLT fights misconduct last year. The first required us to wait over 3 hours to be rebooked. There were no hotel rooms so we had to sleep in the airport. We were there almost 20 hours. The second was to MCO and the next available flight with enough seats was two days later. We ended up playing the standby game and splitting our party up. We had to pay for an overnight at CLT (both delays were weather), lost one night at AKL (Rented points) and had to pay over $400 extra for a car rental (rate was only guaranteed for 24 hours and it was a must). So, 30+ hours in CLT and over $1,000 lost.

Still worth it to avoid LAX and LA traffic?

If I can fly direct, OF COURSE that is my preference. If that direct takes me to LAX instead of LGB or SNA...I'm thinking twice about it. Just responding to your post is giving me LAX PTSD. Drivers are rude, it's hard to find the right place to meet shuttles, you have to lug your bags, in some cases that is upstairs but zero signage or anyone there to tell you that, there's almost always a pervasive smell of pot - YEESH is that place an inner circle of hell.

Meanwhile, at SNA, you just walk out to the curb, shuttles are right there. LGB there are no shuttles the airport is so small. No pot, no rude drivers, it's...like being on vacation.

Either way, enjoy. Life is too short.

 

[LAS2AMS]

If I can fly direct, OF COURSE that is my preference. If that direct takes me to LAX instead of LGB or SNA...I'm thinking twice about it. Just responding to your post is giving me LAX PTSD. Drivers are rude, it's hard to find the right place to meet shuttles, you have to lug your bags, in some cases that is upstairs but zero signage or anyone there to tell you that, there's almost always a pervasive smell of pot - YEESH is that place an inner circle of hell.

Meanwhile, at SNA, you just walk out to the curb, shuttles are right there. LGB there are no shuttles the airport is so small. No pot, no rude drivers, it's...like being on vacation.

Either way, enjoy. Life is too short.

LOL, I wrote that for most people the direct option form LAX is a better choice than connecting to get to SNA and you responded that you’d rather have an enjoyable connection than deal with LAX. So, your argument is flipping.

I travel regularly and have to pass SNA and LGB to get to LAX. All things equal, I’d take SNA. But things are rarely equal.

For people that come to this forum for objective information, a direct flight to LAX will be faster (to DLR) than the shortest connection at SNA. Spending more money for a longer trip makes little sense. LAX is not the big, scary place people make it out to be. The worst part is dropping or picking somebody up, but the people in this tread are visiting.