OT (update post 15) need advise for LA wedding trip in Aug

[miss missy]

Hi All!!!

I have never flown to LAX but we have a wedding in mid Aug. Need advise on cheapest deals. We are close to Boston but can do Providence RI or Manchester NH too. I use Prov a lot Anyone from those areas have any advise?? It is looking like we will be lucky to get 300.oo range for Nonstop per person. Not sure if we need or we may be able to handle a stop to save $$?? But we are only thinking to go for a Thur to Sunday, just to save on hotel too. I know sometimes mid week flights are much cheaper, but then more hotel nights are not...

If you are someone who knows these routes please give any advise you can.

Notes:

we can get the hotel at 139/night with the family block they have, but is there better choices in the area???

Any advise on all parts of this trip is needed!!

Thanks!!



details:

Hotel:

Courtyard by Marriott Burbank Airport
2100 Empire Avenue · Burbank, CA 91504 USA

Reception:

Elegante Banquet Hall,
10519 Victory Blvd,
North Hollywood, California, 91606

 

[Amilo]

I've taken a lot of flights from Manchester to Chicago, I'd imagine you could probably get to LAX easily from Chicago! It's been a few years though so it might have changed good luck!

 

[BellsFam]

Have you thought about BDL? We are in central MA so the distance to BDL and PVD is the same and the flights were $300 cheaper... We got BDL to MCO direct via SW for $282 pp...

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I've taken a lot of flights from Manchester to Chicago, I'd imagine you could probably get to LAX easily from Chicago! It's been a few years though so it might have changed good luck!

You can easily get flights to LAX from airports all over the US; I don't understand what you are saying.

OP, you should book soon. Personally, I think you can count on paying a lot more than $300 RT in August; probably will be more than $500 each for MHT-LAX.

 

[cel_disney]

We paid 280pp R/T from BOS to LAX last September on Jet Blue...

Jet Blue, Virgin Atlantic, and maybe united? usually have the best prices.

I would book soon for August though - you might be forced into a 500$ fare at this point depending when in August..

 

[miss missy]

You can easily get flights to LAX from airports all over the US; I don't understand what you are saying.

OP, you should book soon. Personally, I think you can count on paying a lot more than $300 RT in August; probably will be more than $500 each for MHT-LAX.

We were simply looking for ways to save on the flights. I can save going to MCO but never flew to LAX so I was looking for ideas from those who have... different airports to try and such...

Thanks for your reply. I agree we need to book real soon!

 

[miss missy]

We aren't near Central Ma... we are 15 mins south of Boston. I'm going to look into everything people mentioned here tho thanks all!!

 

[Amilo]

You can easily get flights to LAX from airports all over the US; I don't understand what you are saying.

OP, you should book soon. Personally, I think you can count on paying a lot more than $300 RT in August; probably will be more than $500 each for MHT-LAX.

Sorry to be confusing. I was simply weighing in based on past experience flying from Manchester to LA. Since it's clear across the country, one would likely have to stop somewhere. Since Chicago (in my experience) is a major hub, I was thinking there would be a plethora of flight time options, etc. I was also recommending Chicago over other potential stops like Philadelphia or Newark, which I've only had negative experiences with. Just my two cents

 

[kbwright]

Logan is going to have more options and likely more nonstop flights to LAX. American and Virgin def have a few a day and I believe JetBlue as well. I usually prefer nonstop flights if I can get them. Getting to LAX from Green is all 1 stop (at least that I have ever seen) but you have the tradeoff of the ease of going to Green vs Logan; short lines, cheaper parking, quick baggage, one terminal

When I lived in the city it was always Logan but since I am on the SouthCoast now Green is closer and usually makes up for the slightly higher airfare in not making me homicidal

 

[miss missy]

I updated my OP with details.... HELP!!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Last summer we found it to be slightly cheaper for nonstops from BOS to fly into Long Beach instead of LAX. This was with JetBlue. When checking JetBlue, search for Boston to LA Area instead of just LAX. I'd also check to see if JB has anything from Worcester to any of the LA airports.

When I checked, I don't think there were any nonstops from Manchester to any LA area airports. Then again, I generally stick to only SWA and JB so I don't know if other airlines have nonstops from MHT or not.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I know it was not asked about but if using rental car remember to factor in LA traffic rush hours into time factors from any LA airport. could double the travel times

 

[leebee]

Use Kayak.com, which will give you some idea of what prices are for the various locations. Put in your airport of choice on either end, and click the "additional airports" toggles located under the airport code. It'll give you all the flights, in both directions, from/to a whole bunch of airports. Enter your dates of travel, and then click "more search options" over beneath the "find flights" toggle. This will give you the option to click on "+/- 3 days." Then click find flights. Kayak that will return a matrix that shows the cheapest RT flights in and out of area airports over multiple day spans, so you can see (a) the cheapest airports and (b) the cheapest days on which to fly.

It sounds complicated, but play around with it. You can do the same thing with orbitz.com Good luck… you will probably have to pay about $500pp to fly Thur. to Sunday, but can get it to about $380 if you want to stay a week. Yes, that'd mean more hotel nights, but maybe you could turn it into a real family vacation! (It's about $495 to return on Sunday, $412 to return on Monday, $400 to return on Tues, $385 to return on Wed. Prices also may vary with the actual dates, I just punched in a Thur/Sun. combo in early august… late August might be cheaper).

You can also search for hotels using these sites. After I find a price I like, I look up the hotel on trip advisor.com and read the reviews. The reviews on TA are pretty accurate, and haven't yet steered me wrong. If TA reviewers say it's an icky hotel, believe them!!

 

[hops&dreams]

Last summer we found it to be slightly cheaper for nonstops from BOS to fly into Long Beach instead of LAX. This was with JetBlue. When checking JetBlue, search for Boston to LA Area instead of just LAX. I'd also check to see if JB has anything from Worcester to any of the LA airports.

When I checked, I don't think there were any nonstops from Manchester to any LA area airports. Then again, I generally stick to only SWA and JB so I don't know if other airlines have nonstops from MHT or not.

My sister lives about 20 mins from LAX, and also suggested to me to fly into other airports when I visit her. That's what she does - flies into more obscure airports. She said LAX gets so crazy, especially if a celeb is there and papparazi are swarming (she and her kids have gotten caught up in a swarm before). Her kids thought it was cool. Her, not so much.

OP - how close are you with the bride/groom/anyone local in the bridal party? Have you asked them for any additional suggestions, hotel and/or transportation wise?

 

[miss missy]

update:

This is our Niece's wedding. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed everyone was talking prices of LAX, but I was confused because the hotels name is Courtyard by Marriott Burbank Airport. But LAX was where all family from here are going to... so we jumped on flights I found BOS to LAX with US Airways with a stop in NC, leave on a Thurs, BOS at 5am we arrive in LA at 945am for 203.50 PP. BUT now I find out most are doing LAX because they are going early and staying longer So now we need a rental to get to Burbank when we could of flow to there. DARN! But we didn't get flights back yet so we can leave from Burbank. Bummer it wasn't clear about if you were vacationing or not.

So now what should I expect of LAX on a Thurs at 945??? getting a rental and getting to Burbank? I already looked at Alamo which I use for Disney... and got a car booked... not too bad at 215.00 but I will probably change it to drop at Burbank now. The flights are non exchange so we are stuck with that. Does anyone know if we can use our Insider card to pass the Alamo lines like Disney?? I have the business account and go right to the car at Orlando, can I do that at LAX? ( I know there is a shuttle)

What other suggestions do you all have on this trip???

Thanks!!!

 

[leebee]

It's too bad you didn't check the smaller airports in the LA area, as several of us suggested, because you could have flown into Burbank. NOW, when you price your return fares, remember that there will probably be a hefty one-way rental charge from Alamo if you decide to fly home from Burbank; in Florida they quoted me a $200 drop fee (on top of the rental charge) if I rented a car at the Car Care Center and returned it to MCO.

Good luck booking your return fare. You might do best just flying home from LAX if there's a huge drop-off fee on the car.

 

[islandtimect]

I think $300 nonstop from the northeast is a bargain and I would take it! I've paid that and more to MCO.