West coast USA flights

[jns]

Thinking of going to the west coast this Oct for 16 days with DH and DS14
Planning on LA,las Vegas and San Francisco by car
Looking at flight but don't know which way to do them either start and finish at the one airport or fly in to one and out of another , as usual we are looking at the cheaper most direct routes
Any advice would be great thanks

 

[wayneg]

We flew into Vegas then back out of LA. It was only an extra £20 to add an internal flight between the 2 so we flew but if I was to do it again I would drive, they are so close together by the time we returned the car, checked in at the airport, flew, got luggage in LA, got another car then drove to Disneyland (back towards Vegas) it would have been as quick to drive.

If we ever go again I want to fly into Vegas drive to LA & Disney then upto San Fran and fly home from there or opposite way if cheaper.

1st time we flew from London direct, 2nd time from Man indirect, for us far easier from Man indirect.

 

[Samaya]

Thinking of going to the west coast this Oct for 16 days with DH and DS14
Planning on LA,las Vegas and San Francisco by car
Looking at flight but don't know which way to do them either start and finish at the one airport or fly in to one and out of another, as usual we are looking at the cheaper most direct routes
Any advice would be great thanks

Maybe also check out for any festivals at each of the major cities, it would be a shame to just miss out on one by a day for two.

As an example it's Fleet Week in San Francisco from October 4 to October 8, see http://www.fleetweek.us/page_events.html

Also at PIER 39 on October 6-7 they have their own celebration honoring the men and women of the nation's armed forces with live military band performances, interactive exhibits, military vehicles and displays, and they say best viewing spot of the Parade of Ships and the Blue Angels' air show, see http://www.pier39.com/Events/

 

[Chilly]

We've been twice. First time we flew into LA, then flew to Vegas, then flew to San Fran then flew home. I think Vegas has the more expensive flights normally which is why we did it this way. We looked into car hire but it was very expensive and the internal flights were much cheaper and saved us time.

Second time we flew into Vegas (because we went to a wedding) then flew up so San Fran, then drove down the coast to LA.

 

[irisheyes123]

I done the west cost in November/ December time. I flew Dublin to Vegas it was indirect through Chicago with Aerlingus then Vegas to Orlando and then Orlando back to dublin again with Aerlingus it cost me just under €600 pp but that was in an Aerlingus sale we drove to LA

 

[JoyB-UK]

If you have the option I would avoid flying into LAX it's a nightmare, tooks us 2 hours to get through it. We came back from Phoenix so I can't help with the rest of your itinerary but I definitely wouldn't choose to go through LAX again.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

We flew into SF and out of LA. We drove down to Yosemite, Santa Barbara and finished in LA.

 

[TheFram4]

We have done Vegas-LA-San Francisco the last couple of years. We have always driven from Vegas across to LA and then caught the Coast Starlight train from LA union station up to SF.
The Coast Starlight is a nice relaxing slow(!) train ride up the california coast. it is worth upgrading to a sleeper carriage - (the super liner bedroom has a private toilet and seating for 3) - which is considered first class and includes two 3 course meals in the dining car, coffee, fruit and snacks.
The Coast Starlight leaves union station around 10am and has an exclusive waiting area in the station - we have always caught a connecting train around 8am from Anaheim and checked our luggage straight through from here.
The train gets into Oakland station around 9.30pm and then an Amtrak coach takes you into the centre of San Francisco (numerous stops)

If you have the time this is a great way to travel with great service.

 

[jns]

thanks everyone some great info

 

[arielrocks]

We flew into San fran, got a southwest flight to la, drove from la to Vegas, then flew Vegas to Orlando, orlando back to London. Seemed rude not to see mickey while we were there

 

[ABZDisneyFan]

It really depends on how much you want to drive, I used to spend a lot of time in the West Coast & have done the LA / SFO / Vegas thing various ways.
For what it's worth the last time we were there we flew from the UK to SFO, you don't need a car in SFO & public transport is great.
We then flew to Vegas, you can drive but your looking at a day out of your holiday & when I say a day I mean a good 12 -13 hours of solid driving, I have done it once & vowed never again.
You don't need a car in Vegas if your not planning on venturing out of the city.
Hire a car for the day that your planning on heading to LA, the drive is about 4 hours & is fairly straight forward.
You probably know this, but you will need a car in LA.
If I were you, I'd plan to fly back from LA, why waste another day of your holiday flying back to SFO to catch a flight when you can fly from LA?

Hope this helps.