I just booked a tour of USC that will end at 4:30 on a Wednesday afternoon. My flight options are LAX, either a 7:00 or an 8:00 flight. Or Burbank with a 7:15 or 8:00 flight. The LAX 8:00 is more expensive than the other 3. We will be taking an uber from campus. Which airport and flight would be best?
If you get off campus at 4:30 you should make the 7pm at LAX. My student says worst travel time to LAX was a little over an hour and he did it at least 25 times as a student there (always uber’d). He said their security line moves pretty well. Of course, either 8pm flight would be totally safe time wise if you want to take the leisure approach. I personally don’t like the drive to Burbank, but I suppose it is an easier airport to deal with. It sounds like any of those could work. Enjoy your tour!
Normally I would say you have time to make the 7:00 LAX flight. However, LAX is undergoing a major overhaul right now and both traffic and security times are unpredictable. It took me 45 minutes just to drive the airport loop last week. Security lines are slower than usual too. I like the Burbank airport better but it is farther from USC and traffic at that time of night is terrible. I’d go with the 8:00 LAX flight.
When our kids were at USC and when we went to visit them, the only airport we ever used was LAX. To this day, I’ve never flown in or out of Burbank. We generally have used SuperShuttle, tho my kids sometimes do use Uber or Lyft. I believe the shuttle between USC & LAX (if you take the one that has the contract for USC) is only about $15.
Super Shuttle doesn’t have contract with USC anymore, 99% of students are gonna take Uber so you aren’t picking up any other passengers along the way and take 3 hours to get to LAX like shared vans can (They do have a discount with a shared van service called Prime Time Shuttle, which is aimed more at arriving international students.) Shared vans sorta went the way of the dinosaurs for USC since Uber is just as cheap in these modern times.
Ya, I agree with @takitallin - during summer travel and with all the construction (that has been going on for years btw) it is unpredictable. And while I think you would be fine for your 7pm since you are just dropped off by uber and they know how to get in there, for me personally, I would take the 8pm. My student would take the 7 cause he knows LAX so well, but I would go later and enjoy (not stress) a magazine and Jamba Juice if too much time on my hands. This is why we fly Southwest all the time from LAX to Norcal - they are so flexible at jumping on an earlier flight if you get there sooner than expected!
Thanks all. I think we’ll take the 8:00 and have extra time at the airport.