Help with flights options (LAX or SNA)

[LAS2AMS]

American Airlines no longer flies in/out of there. I think it’s solely southwest now.

Delta serves Long Beach as well but has limited flight options (3-4 daily to Salt Lake City).

Long Beach is easy in, easy out but it’s only 20 minutes south of LAX on the 405. The flight options presented by the OP will have their family traveling when traffic volumes are light. The best option is to go with the direct flights to/from LAX.

Things can go wrong no matter which flight option you choose but when possible it’s always best to go with the direct option that has the most frequency. For Fourth of July, we traveled SNA-CLT-MCO on AA and the CLT-MCO flight cancelled (after we boarded it). Next available flight accommodating our family wasn’t for 24 hours, and we tried unsuccessful to standby for earlier options. Expensive, too - AA had no hotels, the meal vouchers barely covered a bottle of water, we had to pay for one night’s lodging we missed and we had to rebook our rental car for $400 more over two weeks.

And now you know why I go out of LAX when SNA is 10 minutes away . This was our second blown connection in 6 months (coincidently both on AA and at the same airport).

 

[OlliePop27]

AA also flies to Ontario and Burbank. I'd look at those, especially Ontario (Burbank is very far and traffic riddled, so would not be my priority). It might not be an option nonstop from your city, but I've flown into Ontario before on AA and found it to be a good experience for DL (note, direct and nonstop flights are not the same thing, so make sure you're looking at nonstop).

If the options are limited to LAX and SNA, I'd choose LAX with the flight times you've listed. I love SNA and I'm fortunate to fly there most of the time, but I do LAX when more convenient (as appears to be the case for you).

One other note - AA does allow you to book round-trip on their website into one airport and out of another. They consider all SoCal airports the same for purposes of round-trip bookings. I've done it before (I just flew into San Diego and out of SNA a few weeks ago round-trip but I was in SD for another reason). Try playing around to see if you can fly into one and out of the other. I almost exclusively fly AA, so have lots of experience with them.

 

[LAS2AMS]

AA also flies to Ontario and Burbank. I'd look at those, especially Ontario (Burbank is very far and traffic riddled, so would not be my priority). It might not be an option nonstop from your city, but I've flown into Ontario before on AA and found it to be a good experience for DL (note, direct and nonstop flights are not the same thing, so make sure you're looking at nonstop).

If the options are limited to LAX and SNA, I'd choose LAX with the flight times you've listed. I love SNA and I'm fortunate to fly there most of the time, but I do LAX when more convenient (as appears to be the case for you).

One other note - AA does allow you to book round-trip on their website into one airport and out of another. They consider all SoCal airports the same for purposes of round-trip bookings. I've done it before (I just flew into San Diego and out of SNA a few weeks ago round-trip but I was in SD for another reason). Try playing around to see if you can fly into one and out of the other. I almost exclusively fly AA, so have lots of experience with them.

Good post but I’ll point out it’s 2024 and language has evolved; airlines themselves refer to nonstop flights as direct flights. You’re correct that prior to hub development in the 1980s, airlines scheduled Flight 1 NYC-Chicago-Los Angeles, and the portion from NYC-Los Angeles was referred to as a direct flight since passengers didn’t get off the plane.

That’s no longer the case . The flight number use to also indicate direction but that’s no longer the case either. Instead, today Flight 1 may be LA-Chicago-LA. The major airlines ended through (direct) flights years ago and have generally stopped using tag flights in lieu of using the same flight number for both directions.

Southwest is the exception but uses the phrase “through” instead of direct.

 

[dina444444]

AA also flies to Ontario and Burbank. I'd look at those, especially Ontario (Burbank is very far and traffic riddled, so would not be my priority). It might not be an option nonstop from your city, but I've flown into Ontario before on AA and found it to be a good experience for DL (note, direct and nonstop flights are not the same thing, so make sure you're looking at nonstop).

If the options are limited to LAX and SNA, I'd choose LAX with the flight times you've listed. I love SNA and I'm fortunate to fly there most of the time, but I do LAX when more convenient (as appears to be the case for you).

One other note - AA does allow you to book round-trip on their website into one airport and out of another. They consider all SoCal airports the same for purposes of round-trip bookings. I've done it before (I just flew into San Diego and out of SNA a few weeks ago round-trip but I was in SD for another reason). Try playing around to see if you can fly into one and out of the other. I almost exclusively fly AA, so have lots of experience with them.

I nowadays try to book all my flights as one ways. There’s usually no advantage to booking it as a RT airfare since the price is typically the same and if your turning in miles those are priced by each leg anyways. Makes it easier to make changes to a single flight etc

 

[OlliePop27]

Good post but I’ll point out it’s 2024 and language has evolved; airlines themselves refer to nonstop flights as direct flights. You’re correct that prior to hub development in the 1980s, airlines scheduled Flight 1 NYC-Chicago-Los Angeles, and the portion from NYC-Los Angeles was referred to as a direct flight since passengers didn’t get off the plane.

That’s no longer the case . The flight number use to also indicate direction but that’s no longer the case either. Instead, today Flight 1 may be LA-Chicago-LA. The major airlines ended through (direct) flights years ago and have generally stopped using tag flights in lieu of using the same flight number for both directions.

Southwest is the exception but uses the phrase “through” instead of direct.

Thanks for sharing. I've personally seen different within the past 15 years and note the language difference from experience. I'm glad to hear it has been addressed! It is confusing language for sure and best to use the terms interchangeably without the possibility of having an unexpected stop!

 

[maleficent55]

I understand how this is a hard decision.
We live in california but it’s still a good 11-12 hours of a drive for us, so sometimes we drive and break it up to two days of driving and sometimes we fly.

When we fly I am often in the same LAX vs SNA conundrum.
We are at a disadvantage of that only United flies out of our airport. Well, Avelo too, but that only goes to Burbank and the flight times are awful.

I am driven by departure times more than arrival times.
I would PREFER to arrive at a nice time to check in and have dinner somewhere in Downtown Disney.
However, it is CRUCIAL for me not to have an early departure time. This is a hard and fast rule for me. Wherever I stay, but especially if I stay on property, I want to sleep in after 3+ park days and ideally have room service breakfast or a nice breakfast in Downtown Disney.
So for me I’d be more focused on when the flight leaves. After a Disney trip it is SO hard to wake up early and rush out to an airport.

 

[jimmymc]

I would get the 9:40 am landing in LAX. Traffic at the airport seems to get worse as the day goes on. Once you exit the airport, it'll be around 11 am or 9 pm, and both of those will be fine for taking the highway to Anaheim.

Even with precheck and carry ons, I would still plan on getting to LAX 2.5 hours before departure. Sometimes the traffic just to get to the dropoff lane from the main road is at a standstill.

 

[keishashadow]

SNA. The drive is such a hassle out to LAX. The only real benefit would be if you were rotating around and doing Disney, Universal, Hollywood/beach area, and then down to fly out of LAX.

We often stop a night or two in Vegas since flying over it lol

Found it easy to then fly into BUR & grab ride to U for HHN

Set up Uber black for ride to knotts for their event.

Uber again to DL on Sunday and flew out AM on Friday using a recommended shuttle to SNA from DLH. multiple stops in Irvine to pick up others. No issue with traffic. Took a little over an hour

Have taken several AM flights into LAX, confusing for transport. It didn't take more than 1-1/2 hours to get to DL once we had luggage

Only one 'bad' experience leaving West Hollywood at 6 pm to great wolf lodge that took over 5 hours. Driver said no event, just 'rush hour traffic'

love SNA. It's so compact and easy to navigate. That being said, that early morning flight back would be a killer for me. On our departure day, I like doing a slow morning, eating one last breakfast at the resort, then packing up to leave.

We have no NS options from my market to the area. The reason we rarely bother TBH. Love DL but 8 -9 Hr flights are rough vs less than 2 to wdw.

We do try for the latest departure ( 11 am to 1 pm) that have a 2nd connection available if things do go south

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

SNA is great, until it isn’t. Any weather delays and you run the risk of not being able to land at all (ask me how I know), and with only one flight you may not be rebooked for days.

I go through this a lot with my mom. She prefers flying through White Plains instead of Newark, but once a year at least I have to scramble to get her rebooked because something went wrong.

It’s up to you if you can deal with the uncertainty.

 

[VandVsmama]

Planning a first time trip out to DL from the East Coast.

AA hostage here, they're the only ones who fly direct to SNA and even to LAX (besides Spirit) plus we have AA points.

For reference, looking at Wed. Dec. 11-18 or Thurs. Dec. 12-19. Early 40's with teenagers.

The drawback with SNA is that there is just one direct flight per day and the times aren't optimal. 8:18pm arrival and 7:45am departure. Meaning our first DL day we would likely be tired and would be more of a half day and our departure day we'd probably have to leave before 6am. Staying at the DL Villas so hotels aren't cheap, hate to waste. Plus we'd have to go Wed-Wed which isn't ideal due to several factors.

So...I started looking into LAX.
If we were to land at 9:40am OR 7:30pm on a Thursday.... Depart 1:30pm the next Thursday (12/19). What's the feeling on traffic? I'm thinking those times would avoid the worst of rush hour(s)?
For departure flight at 1:30pm on a Thurs. how early should we leave? We have precheck and won't have any checked bags.

I don't want want to make everyone miserable with a painful airport/commute experience after a 5.5hr flight - but the logistics of the trip would be better with the different flight times at LAX. Thoughts??? Would appreciate any input

Landing at 9:40 am or 7:30 pm will pretty much avoid rush hour traffic. I'd probably prefer the 9:40 am arrival.

On departure day, if plane departs at 1:30 pm, you'll probably need to get to LAX 2 hr before departure and plan for up to 90 min to get TO the airport (this gives you wiggle room in case there's a horrible accident on the freeway or something).

If flying cross-country to go to DL, yeah, I agree with you. I'd absolutely avoid landing in the closer airport that only has 1 flight per day to/from my home airport. Going in and out of LAX is a little farther, but it's a much larger airport and if there's plane delays or weather issues, the odds are much higher that you'll still be able to get there on your planned arrival day.

 

[LAS2AMS]

We often stop a night or two in Vegas since flying over it lol

Found it easy to then fly into BUR & grab ride to U for HHN

Set up Uber black for ride to knotts for their event.

Uber again to DL on Sunday and flew out AM on Friday using a recommended shuttle to SNA from DLH. multiple stops in Irvine to pick up others. No issue with traffic. Took a little over an hour

Have taken several AM flights into LAX, confusing for transport. It didn't take more than 1-1/2 hours to get to DL once we had luggage

Only one 'bad' experience leaving West Hollywood at 6 pm to great wolf lodge that took over 5 hours. Driver said no event, just 'rush hour traffic'


We have no NS options from my market to the area. The reason we rarely bother TBH. Love DL but 8 -9 Hr flights are rough vs less than 2 to wdw.

We do try for the latest departure ( 11 am to 1 pm) that have a 2nd connection available if things do go south

5 hours from WeHo is not normal traffic . I commute regularly from the heart of WeHo to my home in South Orange County. At peak rush hour traffic - which is typically around 3:30pm - 5pm - I would typically drive past Disneyland after 2 to 2.5 hours. After 6pm, it’s around 90-minutes. After 7pm, it’s just over an hour. Of course, accidents/ etc. can make the drive much longer.

 

[keishashadow]

At peak rush hour traffic - which is typically around 3:30pm - 5pm - I would typically drive past Disneyland after 2 to 2.5 hours. After 6pm, it’s around 90-minutes. After 7pm, it’s just over an hour. Of course, accidents/ etc. can make the drive much longer.

That's a long haul for you

I had taken the driver at his word. There probably was some sort of snafu in there somewhere

 

[FGT770]

We flew back to Atlanta last week on American from San Diego. Very easy 1.5 hour drive down I-5 from Anaheim. Rental car return was a breeze as well.

 

[LKing]

We flew back to Atlanta last week on American from San Diego. Very easy 1.5 hour drive down I-5 from Anaheim. Rental car return was a breeze as well.

What time of day was that?

 

[FGT770]

What time of day was that?

Got on I-5 at Katella at 9:45AM and was out of my rental at 11:20AM. Used the HOV lane (as we had six of us in a van) and had no issues with traffic at all.