Lax vs SNA?

[bumbershoot]

It's also a large airport and if you're unfamiliar with it, it can be overwhelming.

See, that's what I don't get. To me, LAX is arranged in "pods". Unless you are connecting to/from an international flight (as DH once got to do), you arrive in the "pod" where your luggage will be, so you just walk from the funky circular gate you arrived in, follow the signs, and there you are. It's not like Seatac where there's a mile of luggage carousels; at LAX you are basically directed exactly where your bags will be.

Getting to a flight it's been just as simple (except for when they randomly change their TSA lineup, LOL).



And while my second most annoying TSA experience happened there (their machines had, apparently, been set on HIGH and my *barrette* was setting off the metal detector immediately after DH's shorts zipper had done the same, and they almost took both of us off for extra screening while forgetting about 3 year old DS waiting there), once I took that barrette out (thank you, anonymous lady behind me who reminded me of the 1.5 inch long Goody barrette), and in all trips before and after that, I've had the most chipper, happy, and KIND TSA agents I've ever encountered there!

 

[SomeDude78]

Agreed with everyone here, SNA is a much quicker jaunt to DLR but probably not worth significantly more money if budget is critical. LAX is actually a really tiny airport for the metro area it serves, there's no room to expand it which is what leads to the issues there.

I do a lot of flying for business purposes and despise layovers, so the fact that LAX gets you a non-stop and saves you a couple bucks would seal the deal in favor of LAX for me.

P.S. Just be sure to arrange shuttle transportation to/from LAX beforehand. A taxi from the DLR area to LAX is $80 without traffic and more likely $100-$130 in practice (versus only $40 or so to SNA) so you'll eat up the savings quickly unless you arrange for a shuttle.