Layover Time Flying to LA - what would you do?

[Frozen2014]

Hi,

We're looking at booking flights from Toronto Pearson to LA (flying to Burbank). We're coming with our kids who will be 12 and 8. The 12 year old is good with travel as he's totally occupied with his DS game system, but my 8 year old isn't as good. She has movies but doesn't hold her attention.

We have two flights we are looking at...both with 1 stop

• Fly to San Francisco (5.5 hr flight)...1 hr 15 min layover ...then fly to Burbank (1 hr flight) --> arrive at 12:45pm, which is our Ontario time of 3:45pm
• Fly to Denver (3.5 hr flight)...3 hr layover ... then fly to Burbank (2.5 hr flight) --> arrive at 8:18pm, which is our Ontario time of 11:18pm

The San Francisco flight has a better arrival time in Burbank as it won't be super late for our kids . But I'm worried of the short layover. On the other hand, it minimises our total travel time.

The Denver flight has a more comfortable layover...but at the same time makes for a super long travel day. However, the flight is broken up evenly which mentally may feel shorter. But, the arrival time is really late for our kids (since our bodies we'll still be in Toronto time). It doesn't arrive until 11:18pm our time...and after our fight we still need to get luggage, check into hotel, etc.

I assume they wouldn't offer these flights if they weren't doable (and the SF layover time isn't just offered once but on many flight searches). Having said that, when DH was starting the bookings, it looks like the arrival and departure of the layover flights are different terminals for both options. ...I suppose worst case if we miss the SF to BUR flight, it's a popular airport and there are other flights that day. Not sure about Denver....And not sure about the airports in general of how easy it is to get from one terminal to the other.

Anyone know about layovers? What would you do with kids? I think I prefer the San Francicso option, but as stated, am wondering about the short layover.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Have dinner would eat up some of the 3hr wait

 

[Frozen2014]

Have dinner would eat up some of the 3hr wait

Thanks...but my main concern isn't how to fill the 3hr wait. It's...do we have enough time for the 1hr connection with option 1 and if not, option 2 will be really late for our kids since we'll still be on our local time.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

For argument's sake, is there any reason you're not looking at a direct flight from YYZ to LAX?

 

[Frozen2014]

For argument's sake, is there any reason you're not looking at a direct flight from YYZ to LAX?

Yes. Unfortunately the direct flight from Pearson to LAX us $1000 more expensive. So the savings is worth the inconvenience.

 

[mkmommy]

I worry most about the departure time. Customs at Pearson in the morning is usually pretty hectic and slow, so I prefer to depart later in the day.

Also a late arrival might help with the time change, and avoid kids up at 5:00 AM Pacific time.

 

[kuhltiffany]

I'd be looking at alternate airports or flights. My kids are 11 and 12 and seasoned travellers and I wouldn't do either of those options.

We're flying in February from Montreal to LAX direct. I set up a flight alert with Hipmunk and it let me know when the price changed, I found a sale with great rates without much effort...

 

[Frozen2014]

I'd be looking at alternate airports or flights. My kids are 11 and 12 and seasoned travellers and I wouldn't do either of those options.

We're flying in February from Montreal to LAX direct. I set up a flight alert with Hipmunk and it let me know when the price changed, I found a sale with great rates without much effort...

You must be flying a different time of year than us. I just checked Montreal to LAX for our travel dates in August and cheapest direct flight is $768. That's about $50 more than the direct flight from Toronto to LAX. Yikes. Both pricey. :-(

 

[kuhltiffany]

That's about the same price it was when I started looking, but one day it went down to $500, so I jumped on it (we just decided on the trip a few weeks ago!). I miss when we lived near Toronto, we used to go down to Buffalo and get cheap flights on Southwest!

 

[bcwife76]

What are the flight prices like into SNA (John Wayne airport) since that is the closest to Disneyland?

 

[Frozen2014]

When I look at flying into Burbank (Bob Hope)...since we will be starting in LA and then flying out of SNA (John Wayne), the cost is $444 for the flights we are looking at mentioned above. (Flying to and from SNA is similar)

The direct flight from Toronto to LAX starts at $679, and that is with leaving at 6:50pm at night. Next price range with decent departure time is $715.

Big difference, especially with a family of four.

 

[kuhltiffany]

I wouldn't book yet, it's early and more flights could be released with better time options…

Have you checked Buffalo? Just plunked in some dates and Jetblue has direct flights to LAX for $466 CAD return...

 

[Tattylou]

I'd go with the 1hr 15 min layover. When we fly during spring break we generally have to get a layover bc prices get so high and I try to shoot for a 1 to 1.5 hr one. Always seems to be just perfect to get off one plane, get to the next one and grab a coffee, snack, etc in airport and no waiting around too long. I've done 3 hr layovers and it's been torture just waiting around....esp with kids. My kids are 6 and 8. Maybe we've been lucky that it's never been a problem or delay with plane #1, but it hasn't ever been an issue.

 

[Frozen2014]

I wouldn't book yet, it's early and more flights could be released with better time options…

Have you checked Buffalo? Just plunked in some dates and Jetblue has direct flights to LAX for $466 CAD return...

Yeah, the only direct JetBlue flight I see has awful flight times...arrives in LA at 9:24pm (which 12:24pm for us). And for the return, it's a red eye. Don't think that'll work when flying with kids.

 

[Frozen2014]

I'd go with the 1hr 15 min layover. When we fly during spring break we generally have to get a layover bc prices get so high and I try to shoot for a 1 to 1.5 hr one. Always seems to be just perfect to get off one plane, get to the next one and grab a coffee, snack, etc in airport and no waiting around too long. I've done 3 hr layovers and it's been torture just waiting around....esp with kids. My kids are 6 and 8. Maybe we've been lucky that it's never been a problem or delay with plane #1, but it hasn't ever been an issue.

Great to hear! Was this from Toronto with a layover in San Francisco? If no delays, then this is great. I guess the fear is that the plane leaves late.

I did notice one more option...there is a flight that leaves 6:30am, with the same San Francisco to Burbank flight. So since it leaves earlier, the layover is 2.5 hrs instead of 1hr 15 min. Thus it's a more comfortable layover, but that means getting up at 3:30am or so. And then in CA, won't help with the time change since our kids will be wiped at night, but we need to gain 3 hrs.

 

[Tattylou]

Great to hear! Was this from Toronto with a layover in San Francisco? If no delays, then this is great. I guess the fear is that the plane leaves late.

I did notice one more option...there is a flight that leaves 6:30am, with the same San Francisco to Burbank flight. So since it leaves earlier, the layover is 2.5 hrs instead of 1hr 15 min. Thus it's a more comfortable layover, but that means getting up at 3:30am or so. And then in CA, won't help with the time change since our kids will be wiped at night, but we need to gain 3 hrs.

No, I fly out of Boston - usually going to WDW in FL. That being said, I've done the 1.5 hr layover in several airports (Newark, DC, and others) and we've always had enough time. I guess we've been lucky on the no delays thing. I did do a trip with a 3 hour layover and it was torture trying to entertain kids in an airport for that long and then still have another leg of the flight (my kids were 3 and 5 at the time). We vowed never again with 3 hour layover. I'd rather run through an airport to my next flight -lol - (that's never actually happened).
Ironically, it is always easier and cheaper for me to get a direct Boston to LAX flight on spring break than to get a direct decently priced Boston to MCO/Orlando.
If you feel more comfortable with 2.5 hr delay then I'd say go for it. I'm a 2 hr delay max kind of girl after spending 3+ hours in a NJ airport with small bored kids.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

.Have you tried jetblue into long Beach? It is my favourite airport to fly into when going to disneyland and I know jetblue flies there.

 

[Frozen2014]

.Have you tried jetblue into long Beach? It is my favourite airport to fly into when going to disneyland and I know jetblue flies there.

Thanks. I just checked and they all have a layover. If we are going to add a 3hr drive to Buffalo, then the flight would need to be direct.

 

[ssmurphy28]

When we fly to the US, we almost always fly with United. I haven't been to SF for a few years, but Denver is one of my favorite airports to do a layover at. It's a very simple design, with some good restaurant choices.

I tend to book on the side of precaution and assume that flights will be delayed, so although 1h15m is probably doable, if I had the choice, I would probably choose the 3 hour layover. That being said, I don't mind pacing back and fourth in an airport for a few hours.

One thing to consider is the planes to SF might be quite a bit nicer. We often fly Calgary to Denver and sometimes the planes are smaller and outdated. You may get a much nicer flying experience doing the longer flight. When we fly to Houston (4.5 hours) vs Denver (2.5 hours), we usually get much better planes on the longer flights with United.

 

[Frozen2014]

When we fly to the US, we almost always fly with United. I haven't been to SF for a few years, but Denver is one of my favorite airports to do a layover at. It's a very simple design, with some good restaurant choices.

I tend to book on the side of precaution and assume that flights will be delayed, so although 1h15m is probably doable, if I had the choice, I would probably choose the 3 hour layover. That being said, I don't mind pacing back and fourth in an airport for a few hours.

One thing to consider is the planes to SF might be quite a bit nicer. We often fly Calgary to Denver and sometimes the planes are smaller and outdated. You may get a much nicer flying experience doing the longer flight. When we fly to Houston (4.5 hours) vs Denver (2.5 hours), we usually get much better planes on the longer flights with United.

Thanks so much for the reply and for sharing your experience. Good point about the actual plane depending on where you are flying. Didn't think of that.

I was searching and showed DH another compromised option

• when going there...fly direct from Toronto to LAX
• when returning...fly from SNA to xxx then to Toronto (different options for the one stop such as San Francisco or Houston)

This is a much better option for our trip there. For one thing, it avoids the stop. And another biggie is that there are flight time such as 8am - 10am (12pm for us) and 10am-12pm (3pm for us). So that in itself is much better than either having to wake up at 3am to catch a 6:30am flight....or arriving at 8:20pm at night, which is 11:20pm in our time.

There is still the shortish stopover time (e.g. 1hr 20 min in Houston, 1hr 40 min in SF)

DH seems ok with the compromise....so lets see. It's still more than doing the stop over both ways but a difference of $500 vs $1000.
PS - These are United flights as well.