Which airport is best?

[2tinkerbell]

I was just pricing this out. While I can get direct flights into LAX and the times are more convenient, I only save approx. $60. I am flying into SNA because it is that much less hassle to me. Don't forget to factor in time and ground transportation.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

From where I live, the only airport that has direct flights is into LAX. We fly to DLR in December, so I prefer direct flights to avoid getting stranded in layover cities because of unexpected snowstorms. If we get a cancellation, at least we're at home.

Flights with connections are priced about the same into SNA as LAX. However, there's a great low-cost nonstop that arrives at 9:21 a.m. into LAX. The earliest flight with a connection arriving into SNA s 12:30 p.m., three hours later. It's about the same price as the direct.

So factoring in direct vs. connecting and an earlier arrival by three hours, we fly into LAX. Is it a nightmare? No. I feel no anxiety flying into LAX because the process is the same, just on a larger scale.

 

[jlwhitney]

From where I live, the only airport that has direct flights is into LAX. We fly to DLR in December, so I prefer direct flights to avoid getting stranded in layover cities because of unexpected snowstorms. If we get a cancellation, at least we're at home.

Flights with connections are priced about the same into SNA as LAX. However, there's a great low-cost nonstop that arrives at 9:21 a.m. into LAX. The earliest flight with a connection arriving into SNA s 12:30 p.m., three hours later. It's about the same price as the direct.

So factoring in direct vs. connecting and an earlier arrival by three hours, we fly into LAX. Is it a nightmare? No. I feel no anxiety flying into LAX because the process is the same, just on a larger scale.

Similar situation for us. I’d prefer SNA but LAX I get a direct flight for about $100 cheaper and we have to buy 5 tickets so that is a big difference

 

[CO2CA]

We've done both SNA and LAX. SNA seems to be getting steeper in price, so have no problem going with LAX. Surprisingly, LAX seems just as easy to navigate. Not sure why it gets such a bad rap?

 

[LilyJC]

SNA is definitely the closest, but another option to check prices is Ontario (ONT). It’s about the same distance from DLR as LAX but without the insanity. I despise LAX and will do just about anything to avoid flying in/out of that nightmare!

 

[sheba201]

The value of your sanity is far higher than any dollar amount LAX will save you. It’s the one airport i swear I’ll never go back to

 

[Sjwillia]

We love LGB. It is small and fewer airlines service it but if you can get a direct flight it is great. We usually fly Jet Blue. It is about 30 minutes to hotels by Disneyland.

 

[Sunstar]

So what about flying into Burbank? Our flight was considerably cheaper going into BUR. I know it's further out than LAX, but what's drive like?

 

[Happyjenz]

Anyone know approximately how much Uber or lyft is from Long Beach airport?

 

[amyg1975]

In August we paid $23 from the airport, and then $28 to go back to the airport. In May and June we paid no more than $30.

 

[Shanti]

The flights to LAX are cheaper but is it worth the extra to fly into a closer airport? We are a party of 2 adult ladies so we'd also require cheap (and safe) transport back and forth from the airport to the hotel. We'd be staying at The Disneyland Hotel.

First time to California so I know nothing of the logistics there.

We hate LAX, and find SNA to be pleasant.

It's really a matter of how much money you'd save via LAX after taking into account the greater transportation costs between LAX & DLR.

 

[Shanti]

We've done both SNA and LAX. SNA seems to be getting steeper in price, so have no problem going with LAX. Surprisingly, LAX seems just as easy to navigate. Not sure why it gets such a bad rap?

LAX is an absolute cluster if you have to transfer from a domestic flight segment of your itinerary to an international segment of your itinerary, or vice versa. Never again will we do that with LAX as the connecting airport...

For purely domestic flights, our chief complaint is that it's run-down and parts always seem to be under (or badly in need of) renovation.

 

[CO2CA]

LAX is an absolute cluster if you have to transfer from a domestic flight segment of your itinerary to an international segment of your itinerary, or vice versa. Never again will we do that with LAX as the connecting airport...

For purely domestic flights, our chief complaint is that it's run-down and parts always seem to be under (or badly in need of) renovation.

Ah, yeah we're only domestic flyers so maybe that's part of it.

Maybe it was the terminals we were in (Frontier and then United), but it seemed comparable to our home airport as well as SNA. Maybe we weren't there long enough to notice much. The one thing I will say is that we didn't like the options for food at the airport, nothing really quick service for on the plane. Had to load up on snacks from the mart for lunch haha

 

[skuttle]

We flew into LAX in June for our first Disneyland trip. We picked LAX because we could get a direct flight, and the flight to LAX was $1000 cheaper for our family of five compared to SNA.

I don't know what I was expecting, but we didn't find LAX bad at all. I guess I read so many horror stories on here, I was prepared for something much, much worse. Or maybe we got lucky. We didn't find it difficult to navigate, didn't find it took too long to get our luggage or get the shuttle to the rental car place, didn't find traffic terrible. To save as much as we saved, I'd fly LAX again without hesitation.

We also went to NYC earlier this year and flew into Laguardia. Now that place was a dump.

 

[drjackal31]

We had our trip booked through LAX, but just changed to Long Beach. Were getting in later in the day, but we saved 2 dollars. Lol. But we are also going to save money and time on transport compared to what we were looking at before.

 

[DL_Forever]

SNA is our airport of choice but this time around the cost is too much for our family of 4. If you had to choose Long Beach or Burbank, which would you choose and why?

 

[serendipityaey]

SNA is our airport of choice but this time around the cost is too much for our family of 4. If you had to choose Long Beach or Burbank, which would you choose and why?

I’ve never been to Burbank but LGB is small and easy to get through and newly completely remodeled, very nice. Plus you load and unload outside with stairs so you can get on and off at the back of the plane too which I love because it’s convenient and I kinda feel like a 60s movie star. And LGB is closer to Disneyland I believe.

 

[pharmama]

SNA is our airport of choice but this time around the cost is too much for our family of 4. If you had to choose Long Beach or Burbank, which would you choose and why?

Absolutely choose LGB over BUR. They are very similar in terms of size (LGB is a little smaller) and quaint old school feel but LGB is MUCH MUCH closer to DLR. From BUR you will have to cross the LA basin to get to DLR. NOT worth it unless you are starting your trip at Universal or something (in which case BUR is a GREAT option but then consider your trip back to BUR at the end...).

 

[LALA8971]

Another vote for Long Beach. It's very small and easy to navigate. We used Lyft to get to DLR (my 1st time) and it was super easy!