<p>My mom and I (math/sciency junior) are planning a trip through Cali for spring break. This is our first college trip, not to mention first trip west of the Mississippi River. We've already booked big flights and tours--5 days in Cali; arrive noonish on the first day, and then a day at each of Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech, and Harvey Mudd, with a flight the morning after Mudd, but we're not quite sure exactly how to get around in between (mom wants to rent a car, but I'd much rather stick with public transport).</p>
<p>Right now, the biggest issue is getting from San Fransisco to L.A. Taking a flight from SFO to LAX seems like the best option, but does anyone know how well alternatives (bus/train) work? </p>
<p>Anyway, any help/comments/etc would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Oh boy. We’re really a culture of cars here. I love driving from SF to LA, right up I5, music on loud, watching inland California go by…takes about 6 hours. Trains and buses, if I remember correctly, make a ridiculous number of stops.</p>
<p>Well, we considered driving from SF to LA, but we don’t live in the area, so we’d have to rent a car the entire time… And while our flight in goes to SFO, our flight goes out from LAX, and renting a car that gets returned somewhere else apparently costs about $1000 (according to my mom), so that’s sort of out of the picture…</p>
<p>Yeah… Wasn’t there a bill for that a while ago or something?</p>
<p>Also, are there any smaller airports in the region that might possibly have cheaper fares? And is it cheaper to buy online, or in the airports themselves?</p>
<p>Post your itinerary and schedule. Arrival airport. Departure airport.
Order of campus visits.
You can fly from NorCal to SoCal by Southwest Airlines.
Train/public transportation too inefficient for your time frame.</p>
<p>Don’t rely on public transportation over those distances. You’d have to rent two cars and book a flight if you drove around Stanford/Berkeley then flew to SoCal. Is this cheaper than returning a rented car somewhere else? Does Uhaul rent out normal cars? (Just a crazy question)</p>
<p>KIC…
I think flying is your only option from SF to LA. But check out the different airports…
Oakland is a great alternative to SFO, especially if you are seeing Berkeley. I don’t know which order you are seeing SoCal schools, but also look into flying from either Oakland or SFO to 1) Ontario (ONT) (closest to Cal Tech & HM) 2) Orange County/John Wayne (SNA) or 3) LAX.
Try Southwest…but, I still think you’ll need rental car in SoCal… </p>
<p>Cal (and locals do not call it “Cali”) is not great on public transit. It can be done, but with your limited time, it would be difficult…</p>
<p>Question on taking smaller airports: How would car rentals work? My mom had been planning on getting a flight straight from SFO to LAX and renting a car at SFO for the first half then from LAX for the second so that it would be easier to rent/return.</p>
<p>Ooops, KisC, you gave times for tours but not days… how long do you have?
My D and I did almost exactly these schools in a wonderful week-long bonding trip. Flew to the Bay area, rented a car and returned to the same airport. We had the time so enjoyed the trip. There is NO decent way to get around California without a car - your decision it whether to break the trip into two parts and fly between. Imagine yourselves on, say the BART system in SF with multiple suitcases. If you can travel for the whole trip with one little rollerbag or backpack, it might work.
If you decide to drive, you might want to drive through CalPoly in SLO, although with California budget problems it becomes less attractive.
If you fly into the LA area, look at Ontario airport. Avoid LAX. Similarly, in the bay area, try for SJC (San Jose) or Oakland instead of SFO.
I’m guessing you are a math/science/engineering major - if you have time in the bay area, swing by Santa Clara U. Not a hyper-tech school but might offer merit money if that is a consideration.</p>
<p>Smaller airports have the major car rentals, I have rented at the Santa Ana airport many times, very convenient. Have done it at San Jose, pretty good also.</p>
Yep, right on the money about math/science/engineering.</p>
<p>Where is Santa Clara U, exactly? (My parents don’t know of any colleges other than the “name brand” ones that they’ve heard of from; getting them to let me visit Caltech and Harvey Mudd was a bit of a stretch, just cause they’re not as well-known.)</p>
<p>Well, I think my parents have/are/in the processing of booking a hotel about 1.5 miles away from Stanford for the night of the 28th (the day that we arrive). We’re not really planning on doing anything the first day, just getting ourselves settled and maybe working out a bit more of the trip itself (in other words, me learning maps so that my mom doesn’t get lost since she isn’t the strongest navigator :P).</p>
<p>Rent a car at SFO.
Drive to Palo Alto. Tour Stanford.
Drive to Berkeley. See Cal.
After Cal tour. Drive to Oakland Airport. Turn in the car.
Fly into Burbank Airport. Rent another car.
Drive to Pasadena. Caltech.
Drive to Claremont. Tour HM.
Drive to LAX. Turn in car.
Fly home.
Southwest Airlines is the most economical for your flight needs.
You can book web special only one way flights from NorCal to Socal for about $100 (that includes taxes, airport fees- luggage is free) per person currently.
You will need to fly from Berkeley via Oakland Airport to Burbank Airport which is the closest to Caltech in Pasadena.
SFO and LAX is too inconvenient to use for the in state flight for the schools you have posted.
Have you chosen where you will spend each night- which cities?
You need to book your Southwest flight while the web special is still on. Take a look.
Any other questions?</p>