LAX vs SNA

[E.Jane]

We are travelling from Canada, and I was just about to book our flights to SNA, which involves a connection in Vancouver. Total travel time with layover approx 8 hours.

This week, a Canadian airline has announced a direct flight from here to LAX. Cheaper than doing the SNA flights, and total travel time just less than 4 hours. Sounds great at first, but the days and times of these direct flights don't coincide with our original travel dates, but we could work around that. The return flight from LAX is 8 am, which will mean a crazy early morning to come home, compared to an 11 am return flight from SNA. The time we arrive home really never bothers me....I'm always more concerned about what time we need to leave the hotel for the airport.

So I'm wondering if LAX is a complete nightmare, especially considering it's further out than SNA. The savings in airfare should cover the added shuttle cost, but I guess what I'm asking is... if you had to choose, would you pick a layover in Vancouver and longer air travel so you could fly into SNA with better return flight times; or fly to LAX for the convenience of shorter travel day, but bigger airport, further from hotel and inconvenient return flight time?

Decisions, decisions....

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'm following along because I was thinking the same things for our next trip (though from Omaha, NE.)

 

[KPeterso]

I live maybe 10 minutes from SNA. I definitely prefer to fly from there when I can. But given a choice of Direct/non-step versus something with a layover, I pick LAX. In fact, I am going to WDW next month and driving up to LAX so I can take the non-stop flight instead of something with connections. LAX really is not all that bad in my opinion. And then saving the money makes it even better in my book. Even with paying to park the car near LAX (I use the Marriott up there), I still spend less going to LAX versus SNA with someone dropping me off.

 

[disneymouse16]

I have never had a problem flying into LAX. Flying into SNA for the first time in our next trip. I personally would do LAX to not have layovers.

 

[Monykalyn]

Prefer direct whenever I can-less chance for a leg somewhere to be delayed/cancelled/lost luggage etc. Don't really care for LAX but I prefer saving $ lol

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

My family initially booked SNA. Our airline carrier cancelled the flight and moved us to LAX. I wasn't happy but what do you do.

Our family had little problem with LAX. It is a busy airport, but this is Los Angeles and LAX is the largest airport in the region and one of the busiest in America.

I hired Lansky for private transportation. It's expensive but it was worth every penny in my opinion. They were very professional and I felt Lansky did a good job with communication. My wife and I received text messages 1 or 2 days before our flight reminding us of our pickup. Our driver called us when we arrived. Our driver was prompt with pickup at the airport and DLH when we returned back to the airport. The vehicle was a Chevy Suburban so we had plenty of room. My experience was good.

 

[SamCat]

Hello fellow Canadian,
I was recently struggling with this same issue. We've done LAX twice and SNA at least 3 times and I'll do everything I can to go via SNA. It's so much closer and less hectic in traffic if I rent a car, but we usually just take a cab. This upcoming trip in November, we decided to fly Alaska Air going down and Air Canada back up because AA had such lousy departure times from SNA. Cost a bit more, but worked out in the end because of less expensive cab fare.

 

[Raech]

It is a much longer drive from LAX. I book SNA now that my airport is no longer doing non stops to LAX (went away with the pandemic). Is construction even done at LAX? I hate that zoo of an airport.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I vastly prefer SNA and would take the layover to avoid LAX. I'm not sure what time your other flight is but the traffic factor can also be huge. I also hate getting up early so that would work against the 8 am flight for me. JMO

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

Is construction even done at LAX?

Ha! Absolutely not. The $2 Billion (more or less) project won't be done for a few years as I understand it.

 

[tobikaye]

I have only flown into LAX and it was quite easy to get baggage claim and find the car service I hired. Last trip, I drove to Las Vegas so haven’t done a return from LAX, but will next month. I just really do not like layovers so unless I have no direct options, I will just fly in and out of LAX.

It really doesn’t seem any different than any other larger market airport I have been. Granted, my first flight was through Atlanta at 14 yes old with terminal changes and the return was solo through Atlanta. So, my thoughts on airports may be different than others.

 

[Aladora]

Another Canadian chiming in! We've flown into LAX a couple of times and SNA 10-ish times. We vastly prefer SNA, even though it always costs more. The travel time from SNA to DLR is the biggest selling point for us but the ease of getting through the airport is another important one. LAX is fine but it takes much longer to get to DLR.

Now, we are on the West Coast so either fly through YVR or Seattle, there are never direct flights because we are on Vancouver Island.

 

[Helaman]

LAX is okay if you are not renting a car. Since the agencies are offsite, the time saved on a connection gets eaten up fast if you need a car. An 8h flight is also a nightmare imho. If you do not need a rental car, consider flying into LAX and out od SNA at 11h.

 

[wassily]

How about Long Beach Airport? Are the flights better/cheaper for you?

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

One thing to keep in mind is that if everything goes wrong your options in and out of SNA are more limited. Eg in April there was a bad storm on the east coast, and our flight in Newark was grounded due to wind. We sat for quite a while and at one point the pilot said that if we couldn’t depart in the next 5 minutes we wouldn’t be flying at all because there are restrictions on when you can land in SNA. Rebooking would have been a nightmare because the plane was completely full, so who knows if/when we would have made it.

My mom lives near a regional airport. She prefers flying in and out except when flights are cancelled, and then I almost always have to figure out how to get her to Newark or JFK so that she can make it home. For me it’s not worth the inconvenience. I also hate layovers if I can avoid them as it just increases the chances of things going wrong. She has gotten stuck lots of times at the connecting airport until I manage to get her on the last flight to where we are.

 

[GoingSince1990]

In general I would always do LAX nonstop as opposed to SNA with a connection. But if it’s 8 AM out of LAX versus 11 AM out of SNA, I would do SNA.

 

[gmi3804]

SNA is superior for trips to DLR in every way except frequency of flights. Still, if you can get one, that's the way to go. 15-20 minutes from the resort, much smaller airport.

 

[Raech]

Ha! Absolutely not. The $2 Billion (more or less) project won't be done for a few years as I understand it.

It has already been going on for several. Yikes. So my worst experience there was when they said we had to get into the little cart with a lady driving to get to our next plane. And she drove like a bat outta hell expertly (yet still scary) between planes that were some moving and some not, until we got all the way to our next terminal.

 

[disneymum58]

I'm trying this next week. Calgary -> Vancouver -> SNA. I MUCH prefer the SNA airport, both for size and being closer to Disneyland. I really hate travelling through LAX so I'm seeing how the stopover works for me.

 

[afan]

While the air portion travel time is shorter, you need to account for the longer travel time to/from lax. That combined with the 8am departure from lax would make me stay with sna.

Would you clear customs in Canada flying to lax? I know you would clear in van but you didn't mention your first airport and I'm bot positive they all have this. That would also play into the decision. Things like this and traffic will eat into any time savings you get flying into lax.