Flying out of eaither Seattle or Bellingham

[BLAZEY]

We live in Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Flying out of Victoria is crazy$$$$. Vancouver isn't much better especially since we need to take the boat and stay overnight in a hotel. We are attending a wedding in Diamond Bar, and going to Disney with our DD3 on our other days (the brides family is organizing a group intersted in going). By flying out of Washington State we save about 1/2 even including ferry and hotel costs.

Our options are Bellingham and Seattle. We would take the BC ferry to Vancouver and cross the border at Peace Arch on Thursday evening (August 30) and stay overnight at a hotel close to the Bellingham airport with a shuttle to the airport an leave our car at the hotel.

2nd Option: Take the Clipper from Victoria to Seattle, again Thursday August 30 and stay in a hotel close to Sea-Tac, and fly out Friday morning. No car to park. Must be back in Seattle in plenty of time on Tuesday Sept 4 to catch the 3pm Clipper back to Victoria. At port of Seattle by 2pm.
Has anyone done either or similar options?

There seems to be a variety of airports in the LA area? Any Advantages to the smaller Airpot over LAX? I would prefer a direct flight travelling with a young child, this will be her first airplane ride. Loves the ferry boat when we take it. I am not loyal to any particular airline? Are ther any other options I haven't though of about flying. DH does NOT want to drive all the way to Southern California.

Thanks, any help or ideas are appreciated.

 

[Geemo]

We find flying into the John Wayne airport in Orange County "SNA" makes for an easy drive to the hotels. It about 15 miles and takes about 20minutes by cab or private shuttle.

SNA is small. When we went through TSA there a few weeks back, there were no lines. It was a breeze. I believe Alaska airlines has non-stop flights from SeaTac to SNA. Maybe even Southwest Airlines.

I've never used LAX. Looking at it.... It's huge... I guess that's an International airport for ya.

 

[IndayMichelle]

I prefer the smaller airports too. Long Beach (LGB), Orange County (SNA), and Ontario (ONT) are all worthwhile. ONT is really close to Diamond Bar. SNA is really close to Disneyland. LGB is closer to Disneyland than ONT. SeaTac is an Alaska Hub and all three airports have several flights a day from here.

I've never flown out of Bellingham. I know there's an airline that flies directly to LGB.

 

[Sally_fan]

Hi there! Vancouver girl here! On all of my trips to Disneyland I have only flown out of Vancouver twice. We usually fly out of the SeaTac airport. We have only flown Alaska Air although I am seriously considering giving Jet Blue a go next time (1 checked bag each free vs $20 per checked bag>$160 for us). We stay at a hotel that offers park & fly pkgs (have tried both the Sleep Inn SeaTac & the Best Western) & grab a shuttle to the airport from there. We have flown into Long Beach & LAX. Both are okay....Long Beach is small & cozy which I prefer but I will fly into wherever has cheaper fares. I have never tried Orange County but would in a heartbeat if they had cheaper fares than the others. I have heard good things about that airport as well.

We have never flown out of Bellingham to CA but we have to Hawaii. Loved that airport! Cheap parking, very small...would be great to be able to fly out of there to CA. Have you found any good flights out of there to CA? I have seen some on Alegaint but I don't want to fly with them.

We have driven as well (a few times) but imo if you factor in hotels, gas & extra time taken off to travel....it's much cheaper to fly. It is a beautiful drive though!

 

[specialks]

We fly out of SEA into SNA. Most of the time when I price Bellingham flights, they have a stop in Seatac. I'd rather drive that than fly it (we live between the 2). We park offsite at a shuttle park company and get online coupons for about $10/day. I just flew Alaska Air at the end of Jan from SNA at 9am arriving in SEA around 1145am. Shuttle (SuperShuttle) from our DLR area hotel picked up at 625am, arrived at SNA with plenty of time.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I have flown SeaTac to Long Beach once, but almost always fly to SNA. The price is usually within $10 of one another, and they are both fairly close to DL.

LGB is a much smaller airport, and therefore less complicated check-in and all that, but also nothing much to do while you wait, and no food vendors for snacking. There are fewer flight options/times SEA-LGB.

SNA has some shops, food vendors, and some room to walk around a bit. There are more flight times to choose from, so we can maximize our vacation time. Since I'm usually travelling with my kids, I prefer SNA.

 

[MorganM]

Another +1 for SNA, we always fly from SEA to SNA and have not had a problem yet. It seems quite close and its never too busy. Have a great trip!

 

[Pinocchio #1 Fan]

My wife and I just bought airline tix to Seattle fore our upcoing Disney cruise, ans we got a direct flight on Jetblue from LGB to SEA for around $90 one way. They may have similar deals flying in the other direction.

 

[WestWind]

Lots of good information and opinions in this thread.

We have flown out of SeaTac before and are doing it again this year... SeaTac to Long Beach on JetBlue. This will be our first time with JetBlue and to Long Beach airport. We have gone to LAX before and it is very large and busy - and an hour or more from Disneyland. I like the smaller airports in the area.

At SeaTac we use the private parking services - a little more money but better security.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Don't forget Allegiant flys out of Bellingham. Good deals, worth checking out.

 

[BLAZEY]

Thanks for all the positive reviews of flying out of SEA into any of the LA area airports. Now to stock the websites to grab some flights

 

[SeattleRedBear]

I haven't seen anyone mention this fact yet. Another plus on taking the clipper is that if you don't have a lot of luggage, you can take public transit the entire way to Sea-Tac airport.

The Clipper arrives at Seattle Waterfront, Pier 69. Just in front of Pier 69 is the free waterfront bus (#99) that takes you to the International District. Get off at 5th and Jackson and walk 2 blocks to 3rd and Jackson and catch the light rail to the airport. Many of the Sea-Tac hotels are walking distance to the light rail station or offer a shuttle from the light rail station to the hotel.

Or if you have too much luggage, then you can always catch a shuttle or cab from Pier 69 to your hotel.

Depending on the timing of the Clipper, I would think you would be able to catch an early morning flight out of SNA and be back in Victoria the same day on the Clipper. Just a thought.

 

[ethanwa]

Family of four with two kids here in Seattle....

We always do SEA to LAX. We can usually find the cheapest tickets that way, and they have the Disneyland shuttle which we just take to the hotel. Sure it's a longer drive but it's not bad.

We usually take Virgin America. Sometimes they have flights to LAX as low as $80 during sales, and we have a rewards credit card with them and they don't go to SNA.

I may look into SNA next time though... it looks like the Disneyland shuttle is cheaper and shorter from there. Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[wbl2745]

If you can find the flights, flying into either John Wayne (Orange County) Airport or Long Beach Airport is much preferable to flying into LAX. My record at Long Beach is 20 minutes from leaving the plane to driving out of the airport in a rental car. That included a potty break. Long Beach is very small, and very easy to manage. John Wayne is a little closer to the Disneyland Resort than Long Beach, but if you take the main road out of the airport at Long Beach (there's only one road!) and just drive straight you end up on Ball Road, which is on the north side of Disneyland. Really easy to manage.

There's a shuttle bus from John Wayne to Disneyland, but from Long Beach you either rent a car, take an airport shuttle, or a taxi.

Have fun!

 

[IndayMichelle]

The Clipper arrives at Seattle Waterfront, Pier 69. Just in front of Pier 69 is the free waterfront bus (#99) that takes you to the International District. Get off at 5th and Jackson and walk 2 blocks to 3rd and Jackson and catch the light rail to the airport. Many of the Sea-Tac hotels are walking distance to the light rail station or offer a shuttle from the light rail station to the hotel.

Or if you have too much luggage, then you can always catch a shuttle or cab from Pier 69 to your hotel.

I never knew there was a free bus down there!

Cabs from the waterfront and most places downtown are a flat $32 to SeaTac. Just make sure it's a Yellow Cab.

 

[BensDaddy]

Second vote for Allegiant because I'm a big fan and I hear they're not doing so well in Bellingham. That said I'm going to be looking for airfare to SNA for Our trip in Nov. LAX is a pain.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Having used all of the LA area's five airport (and three in the past two years), my observations:

LAX: Lots of affordable flights. Because it's a big airport, departure/arrival and rental car pickup/return will take longer. Decent rental car prices. Depending on traffic and time of day, getting to DLR can be a 45-minute proposition or it can take two hours. Try not to arrive/depart anytime near rush hour.

LGB: The first time I walked on the tarmac of LGB, I felt like I had stepped back 60 years. Quintessential California experience. Easy to get in and out of and to pick up a car. 30 minutes to DLR and on highways less prone to congestion. Car rentals generally much more expensive that other airports (on one trip, we paid more per day for our car rental then our Priceline hotel). No Disney express shuttle. Flights comparably priced (sometimes cheaper) than LAX.

SNA: Cheaper car rentals available. Medium sized airport with great access, so pretty quick to get in and out (rental car pickup only slightly farther away than at LGB). Closest airport to DLR (20 minutes and with carpool lanes on both 5 & 55, very rarely congestion). Much cheaper DL express shuttle. Even though flights are generally a little more expensive, we've decided the tradeoff in convenience and cheaper rental car is worth it.

ONT: Inbetween SNA & LGB in size. 45-minute drive but away from LA so generally not as much congestion. Occasionally, there are sale fares to be had, so it's a viable alternative to other airport.

BUR: Too far away to be viable if your primary purpose is to visit DLR. An OK alternative if you're doing other sightseeing.

 

[tanyaewa]

We flew westJet YVR to SNA last sept for 99 each way.
WestJet has great fares to SNA which is THE BEST airport IMO. I will never fly into LAX again if I can help it! That being said the prices from BEL and SEA can be very tempting. Check Allegiant, JetBlue and Alaska for fares from both.

Good Luck!