How much better is John Wayne Airport?

[Valbot]

LA traffic is way worse than Chicago. Only downside of O'Hare is having to fly on United.

Yes and no. If your trying to go from the southside to northside it's a nightmare.
Plus the ro

Gotcha. Just be aware that simply riding as a passenger in a car or bus through LA traffic is often enough to make you want to pull your hair out. It can be absolutely infuriating.

Yeah last year when I went the ride back to lax was pretty rough with the traffic.
I was happy not to be the one driving lol.

Up until last year I was commuting in Chicago while not like L.A it's still pretty terrible plus pot holes everywhere.

 

[WonkaKid]

LA traffic is way worse than Chicago. Only downside of O'Hare is having to fly on United.

No, no -- I often fly Alaska Airlines (used to be Virgin and was better then). They're one of the best airlines I've ever flown. Also, the Blue Line (subway) will take you all the way from downtown to O'Hare. When I visit home, I simply jump on the BL and it drops me across the street from my door.

 

[GeneralTso]

Sooooo much better! Avoid LAX at all costs.
You are so close to Disneyland from OC Airport.

 

[Twinkletoesjohnson]

Getting ready to book airfare and SNA is more but not that much more. What if anything makes it a better option than LAX? We fly out of O'Hare so big airports don't really bother us. Is there something else?

If there isn’t a huge price difference, SNA for sure. It’s a small airport, really easy to navigate and Disneyland is about 20 minutes a way. LAX is sprawling, badly designed and then the traffic from there to Disneyland can be horrific.

 

[PiratesMansion]

SNA is definitely easier and closer, IF you find a flight that works for you, which has become more difficult and rare over the years for me personally.

However, I think the terribleness of LAX is vastly overstated, and it definitely wins for selection and price most of the time. If you're used to O'Hare, as I am, it's not that bad (it's WAYYYY better than the horror that is LaGuardia at any rate). The complaints about the traffic in and out is legitimate, but otherwise, not that bad.

Don't forget that there's also Long Beach, Ontario, and Burbank; although I have yet to find a direct flight from Chicago to any of those places, perhaps you will have better luck.

 

[hopemax]

One time from LAX, I got the “Express to DLR area” shuttle and we made stops in Compton and Brea because the driver wanted more fares. Meanwhile, I just flew into SNA. Scheduled landing was 9:30AM. By 10:45 I was on the Monorail into the park.

There are just too many traffic unknowns going to LAX, plus since SNA is smaller, my experience is bag drop and security are super quick.

 

[dcraytho]

I’m all about Ling Beach. It’s a bit further than SNA, but I love how easy it is to get in and out pretty fast.

 

[stardusty21]

I prefer Long Beach, so easy to get in and out. My second is SNA and I try to avoid LAX at all costs.

 

[MillauFr]

No, no -- I often fly Alaska Airlines (used to be Virgin and was better then). They're one of the best airlines I've ever flown. Also, the Blue Line (subway) will take you all the way from downtown to O'Hare. When I visit home, I simply jump on the BL and it drops me across the street from my door.

Yes Alaska and Virgin are far superior to United. Did Virgin/Alaska ever fly between Orange County and Chicago? I always thought they flew into LAX?

 

[DLgal]

Yes Alaska and Virgin are far superior to United. Did Virgin/Alaska ever fly between Orange County and Chicago? I always thought they flew into LAX?

Alaska flies into/out of SNA. Virgin never did.

 

[MillauFr]

Alaska flies into/out of SNA. Virgin never did.

But Alaska never flew between Chicago and Orange County. Looks like it is only United and American that fly that route. I think I would rather fly Spirit than either American or United.

 

[DLgal]

But Alaska never flew between Chicago and Orange County. Looks like it is only United and American that fly that route. I think I would rather fly Spirit than either American or United.

That route, specifically, I don't know. But Alaska has been at SNA for a long time. I think it is only in recent years that Alaska has even flown outside of the west coast, isn't it? Wasn't it a regional airline before the Virgin deal?

 

[Megan27ist]

I've only flown into SNA, but as someone who rarely flys, SNA is a fairly straight forward airport. We had time to burn, so we window shopped a lot. But when it came time to leave, it was very easy to find the way out and to the shuttle we were taking to our hotel near Disneyland

 

[Elle23]

Last summer, I was terrified to fly into LAX and drive to Disneyland, especially considering I was going to be hitting it at the height of morning rush hour.

I actually found LAX not that bad and I managed the drive without difficulty to Disneyland (granted, I live in a big city and am used to traffic).

I would love to fly into SNA on our upcoming trip, but there was literally only one direct flight per day from Dallas. LAX had numerous non-stop flights throughout the day to choose from. And they were much cheaper.

I could have managed with the flight times to SNA, but I was also worried that if that one flight got canceled for some reason, I would be out of luck with getting another direct flight that day.

 

[twodogs]

Last summer, I was terrified to fly into LAX and drive to Disneyland, especially considering I was going to be hitting it at the height of morning rush hour.

I actually found LAX not that bad and I managed the drive without difficulty to Disneyland (granted, I live in a big city and am used to traffic).

I would love to fly into SNA on our upcoming trip, but there was literally only one direct flight per day from Dallas. LAX had numerous non-stop flights throughout the day to choose from. And they were much cheaper.

I could have managed with the flight times to SNA, but I was also worried that if that one flight got canceled for some reason, I would be out of luck with getting another direct flight that day.

That is really weird. We are in Dallas and always fly to SNA on American. There are usually 6-9 Nonstops per day, each way, between DFW and SNA. Not sure out of Love Field on SWA, but American has numerous non-stops every day to SNA. We love the proximity to DLR, short drive, small airport, super fast security lines, and they even have a (small) Admirals’ Club. Also you have to factor in the savings of an Uber from SNA and an Uber from LAX, as SNA is much much closer.

 

[Elle23]

That is really weird. We are in Dallas and always fly to SNA on American. There are usually 6-9 Nonstops per day, each way, between DFW and SNA. Not sure out of Love Field on SWA, but American has numerous non-stops every day to SNA. We love the proximity to DLR, short drive, small airport, super fast security lines, and they even have a (small) Admirals’ Club. Also you have to factor in the savings of an Uber from SNA and an Uber from LAX, as SNA is much much closer.

Howdy neighbor!

I was talking about Southwest out of Love Field. I personally would rather fly Southwest to LAX than American to SNA if those are my options.

 

[ChanellF]

If you have the option, I would consider flying into LGB. It's an even smaller airport and has a lot of flights with Southwest and JetBlue. It's literally a breeze to navigate (super small - 2 terminals) and driving to DL only takes 20-30 minutes from there depending on traffic.

 

[DisTXMom]

We can only get direct flights to LAX, and so we do that. I’d rather spend the extra time in an Uber then catching a connecting flight that may or may not be on time. We never check bags or rent cars, so navigating baggage claim/rental car areas aren’t things we have to deal with.

 

[twodogs]

We can only get direct flights to LAX, and so we do that. I’d rather spend the extra time in an Uber then catching a connecting flight that may or may not be on time. We never check bags or rent cars, so navigating baggage claim/rental car areas aren’t things we have to deal with.

I agree that flying direct is better than connecting, even if direct means LAX. For those with a choice of direct flight options, SNA, LGB, etc can be a lot less stressful and closer to DLR. I feel fortunate we have so many options to get to DLR!!

 

[2 Pinks]

Twice we have flown into SNA and that is usually my first option due to how close it is to Disneyland. But this time we are flying into LAX as the fares were cheaper and the time options for the dates we wanted where so much better! There were only 3 options for times at SNA (two early in the morning and one in the evening) but there were 7 at LAX. The extra fare for the car ride has negated the savings of the cheaper airfares but we are getting to the hotel when we want to, its a non-park day for us so I didn't want us to be there super early in the morning.

If SNA had the same times available for the flights, we would have gone there.