LAX vs SNA on a Saturday?

[SarahWI]

Question on airport and drive times - we can get into LAX (11am) 3 hours earlier than SNA (145pm) and return flights are both 630am. We are arriving and departing on Saturday.

for those of you with more LA experience, what is traffic like in general and is the 3 hour earlier arrival worth the relative hassle of a longer drive time to DL?

thanks in advance!

 

[Erin M]

My answer is always SNA. The traffic to and from LAX is so unpredictable and the airport is way more work to navigate. If you’re not planning a park day on arrival day, SNA is the clear winner.

 

[OKW Lover]

Go with SNA. Much easier airport to get around and so much closer to DL.

 

[pharmama]

I’d say you’ll lose at least an 1.5-2hrs of that to the drive and extra time needed at LAX. Are you renting a car? Picking up checked bags? All of that will take longer at LAX.

Same on the return- you’ll have to get up a fair bit earlier to make it to LAX in time vs SNA as you’ll need to allow more time for security etc at LAX in addition to drive time.

 

[SarahWI]

Thanks everyone! That was my suspicion but wanted to double check!!

 

[DLgal]

Even if you take the later SNA flight, you will arrive earlier to DLR than you would with the LAX flight. Last time I flew into LAX, I had to wait 75 minutes for my checked baggage to arrive on the carousel from a Southwest flight.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Absolutely go with SNA unless you urgently need to be somewhere on your day of arrival and aren't renting a car.
LAX is one of the worst airports in the world to pick up a rental car because each company operates its own separate shuttles to off-site parking facilities so you can end up waiting 30+ minutes each way. At SNA, you basically just cross the street outside baggage claim.

 

[Cheburashka]

Question on airport and drive times - we can get into LAX (11am) 3 hours earlier than SNA (145pm) and return flights are both 630am. We are arriving and departing on Saturday.

for those of you with more LA experience, what is traffic like in general and is the 3 hour earlier arrival worth the relative hassle of a longer drive time to DL?

thanks in advance!

No. If the prices are similar, I recommend avoiding LAX.

 

[SarahWI]

Thanks all! We would be using car service and not doing a rental. The earlier arrival was tempting until reading all your posts! We used SNA last time and it was a snap. Pricing is roughly the same so SNA it is!

 

[crazyventures]

Thanks all! We would be using car service and not doing a rental. The earlier arrival was tempting until reading all your posts! We used SNA last time and it was a snap. Pricing is roughly the same so SNA it is!

You won't regret it. SNA is the right answer on any day of the week, especially if it's about the same price!

 

[JeffB13]

No. If the prices are similar, I recommend avoiding LAX.

mid SNA is higher… I still vote SNA… I always fly in there and Uber to the hotel. Quick and easy.