<p>Trying to arrange travel in August back to Chapman from the east coast so D can start school. She will be accompanied by one parent and not very much luggage (since we plan to support the local economy as far as sheets towels, shampoo, etc.) Prices from the DC area to OC are pretty steep right now. Which other airports should I be looking to come into besides SNA/John Wayne? LAX scares me, (particularly for the return trip, returning rental car, getting there on time), and you have to go through all that traffic! Long Beach? Ontario? Not that flights to any of these are cheap from here, but I'd like to have more options on the CA end. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Hi S-fan!
If the flight lands you at LB or Ontario in off-rush hour, the drive from each will be 45min with no traffic or about an hour with light traffic. In rush-hour, however, the drives could be bumper-to-bumper for 20 miles and I’d avoid that if possible (could make the drive 1.5 hours). Between the two, I’d opt for Ontario. Try to land in the evening or late morning, and you should be ok. Allow extra time to get back to the airport for the flight home.</p>
<p>PS. Rush-‘hour’ starts very early and lasts a long time. You’re probably in good shape if you hit the freeway between 9-3pm or after 7pm. Just a general guideline.</p>
<p>LAX is not as bad as you would think. The rental cars are all on outlying lots. You return the rental cars to their locations and they provide free shuttles into the airport directly to your terminal. Driving from Ontario to Chapman would be a bit of a drive especially if you hit rush hour. I would recommend LAX but just pick the correct hour. Arrive in mid-morning to early afternoon and you will be fine. And leave say from LAX in say late morning or early afternoon and you will be fine also. You could also try Long Beach airport. It is a much smaller airport so not sure how many flights leave from there though.</p>
<p>John Wayne’s relatively small, so you might have to connect somewhere, e.g. Las Vegas, Atlanta, etc.</p>
<p>Also, LAX isn’t that bad either, as long as you’re not flying from out-of-country. The hard part’s going to be traffic.</p>
<p>My vote is LAX especially if you can fly non-stop from one of the major east coast airports. I was making the trip to Orange from JFK every 3 weeks or so for about a year (just stopped recently) and overall I found LAX the best option. Also you can take supershuttle (the cost from the Ayres is less than $20 including a 20% tip–not sure if it is the same to the Dorms–it is less than $40 to a private residence). Funny son is at UCLA and it is more for him to take supershuttle from LAX to his dorm than it is from the Ayres in Orange–go figure). As said above traffic is definitely a factor so you do need to plan (regardless of which airport you opt to use).</p>
<p>Yes, it’s all about the traffic! In traffic, all three drives are terrible. Actual driving distances from LAX, Ontario or Long Beach are immaterial, or, at least, very much secondary to traffic conditions.
That said, I’ve made the drive home from Ontario to OC daily for twenty years; it’s 40-45 minutes tops <em>without traffic.</em> It’s almost exactly the same to Long Beach and similar time/distance to LAX (also made that drive too many hundreds of times to count!). So, any option can work; deciding factors should be cost and whether the drive can be made in OFF-HOURS.<br>
Bias Alert: Having used LAX for decades, I’ve come to hate its cacophony and congestion. I fly out of the smaller (human scale), local airports whenever possible.</p>
<p>S-fan, What airline are you flying? There are different options you might consider: if you plan to fly in and out of LAX, but don’t mind to make extra stops along the way, you can give Shuttle2LAX a try for only $20.
[Shuttle</a> 2 LAX | Airport Shuttle To LAX | LAX Shuttle | LAX Shuttle 20](<a href=“http://shuttletolax.com/]Shuttle”>http://shuttletolax.com/)</p>
<p>Another option: take a commuter flight from LAX to SNA. I believe Delta, United, and US Airways have commuter connections, but it may cost a little more. Another one would be to fly into San Diego (SAN) and connect to SNA, or fly into Burbank (BUR) and connect to SNA. The other posters have given good advice to fly into Long Beach or Ontario, those airports are less congested than LAX if you’re able to find flights. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks, all!</p>
<p>No idea what airline I’ll/they’ll be flying at this point. The one that takes us from DC to CA for the best price, (at the best time, with the most convenient connections), I’d say. BTW, we definitely plan to rent a car since we’ll be driving all over OC buying supplies. </p>
<p>Here’s my next question, if the drive from Long Beach and Ontario airports is 1.5 hours in rush hour, does it makes just as much sense to fly to San Diego rent a car there and drive up there if I can’t get a decent price (time, connection) into John Wayne/SNA? (Not that flights from here to SD seem to be any cheaper…) It can’t be more than 2 hours drive, can it? Is the traffic between SD an OC that bad too?</p>
<p>In the DC area we have the second worst traffic in the country, so I am quite used to planning around it. I’d say the calm hours here are only between 10:00 and 2:00, though. It’s mainly just one E-W highway an one N-S one and a big scary beltway around the place. You folks out there in CA have all these roads with 5’s in them I don’t understand.</p>
<p>Yes. It’s a good idea to fly into SAN if you’re unable to get a flight into ONT. SAN is less congested than LAX, so it’s worth the drive. From SAN to OC is about a couple hours drive give or take depending on traffic. Also, the carpool lane works well in the OC.</p>
<p>Although, San Diego is an option IMHO it is not a great option, in general flights into and out of San Diego are more expensive than into LAX; additionally there are less direct flights. Traffic from San Diego to OC can also be be brutal the 805, 5 and 15 as well as 163 can be very congested out of San Diego (frequently congested to Oceanside or Escondido-if you do 163/15)–then you might have to contend with the border checkpoint --which can also slow you down a bit . </p>
<p>I think Jet Blue goes non-stop from Dulles into Long Beach, and Virgin America non stop into LAX. Obviously your D will be making this trip a regular basis and at times alone–so I would seriously consider the benefits of non-stop travel. If she boards at Dulles and goes non-stop you can be pretty sure she will end up in southern CA --you won’t have to worry about her missing her connecting flight, or that her connecting flight does not departing as a result of weather (winter break) or other issues. Trust me having a kid miss a connecting flight can be very stressful. Another thing to consider are the number of flights into/out of the airport of choice–she plans to fly in Ontario and her flight is delayed and then cancelled you will have a more difficult time getting her rebooked. As others have said there are issues with LAX but for me and my kids LAX is definitely the best option. Also , rental cars are generally cheaper at LAX (over Easter) we rented a full size car from Dollar for a week and the total–including tax, fees… was less than $160. </p>
<p>Check for flights on orbitz and Kayak but book directly with the airlines. When living in San diego I was a very loyal UA flier (about 75K miles each year for 15 years) but now when at all possible I fly Virgin America (domestically), with jet Blue a close second, one positive for Jet blue is that they don’t charge for your first piece of luggage (it is $25 on Virgin America)</p>
<p>Good luck and remember it all comes down to price, convenience and peace of mind (but not necessarily in that order).</p>
<p>Thanks, crunch! </p>
<p>I had just discovered that Jet Blue flight direct from Dulles to Long Beach and was thinking that’s the best option. And you know, it never occurred to me about the many hassles that can come with stop overs and connecting flights, but you are so right! I will check into the rental car scene at Long Beach.</p>
<p>S-fan, Have you also looked into departing from the BWI airport? Southwest Airline has 2 non-stop flights from BWI into SAN. Just a thought, it may even be cheaper than IAD to LGB. Also, keep in mind that you can check-in 2 bags for free with Southwest. Jet Blue’s option from IAD to LGB is also a good idea. The only down side is they only have one non-stop flight. Sounds like you have a few options to play with. Whichever fits you better. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes, i forgot–I would much rather have my kid fly SWA into San Diego and then make the “Trek” to Chapman than fly JetBlue to Long Beach—you gotta be kidding. I know, I know Chapman is a better school than Standford too! LOL–Whatever!!!</p>