Sorry, another airport ??

[MrsMud]

I have read a few posts regarding which airport to use, but have not seen EXACTLY my situation, so please bear with me. I am planning on 4 days in Anaheim, driving to San Diego for 3 days there. I most likely won't fly into Orange County, as it is too expensive and/ or no nonstop flights. My choices are: 1) Fly into Long Beach and out of San Diego:
This seems better in terms of driving distance and traffic, BUT: It is about $150 more, and more importantly did I read there are no car rentals onsite at San Diego? We will have a car to return.
2) Fly in and out of LAX:
This is cheaper, and it will be easier and cheaper in terms of car rental and return, BUT: Is it worth it in terms of drive time and traffic? I am not familiar at all with CA, and don't know the relation of LAX to San Diego.
Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[karylrocks]

I think I would try to avoid driving from SD to LAX - from what I understand that would be about a 3 hour drive. I believe the SD car rentals are right by the airport and do have shuttles to/from the airport so that should not be a problem, just allow a little extra time. If the extra money is not too much of a problem you will be much happier with your first choice and can avoid driving into LA altogether.

 

[barbarabee]

Consider flying in and out of Ontario airport, it's about a 45 minute drive from Anaheim, cost is usually lower to fly there. Ontario is not too bad for driving to/from San Diego, either. There are rental car companies on site at Ontario, too. At San Diego it's not TOO bad, the rental companies are all off site, but within a couple of miles of the airport, so there are many shuttles available.

 

[karylrocks]

How long would it take to drive from Ontario to SD, as opposed to Orange County to SD or Long Beach to SD? For me this would be in the late evening, so not during high traffic.

 

[DisneySlave]

Fly to San Diego first then drive to Anaheim(2 hr) for your 4 days then drive back to Diego for the rest of your trip.I had to do that to avoid a higher fare,it is expensive to fly in to one airport and out of another. Or do the opposite,just avoid seperate airports.

 

[karylrocks]

It is expensive to fly in to one airport and out of another.

That depends on where you are coming from; for me it is the exact same fare to fly into SD and back from Orange County than it is to fly in/out of either SD, OC or LAX (all non-stops).

 

[dletz]

I would not want to drive to LAX, ONT, or LGB after about 3 pm from San Diego. Traffic going to all those areas is awful. Do a web search on the san diego airport, there is a site (don't remember the name) that lists all the different airports, and for each airport it give ground transporation info including car rentals. If you have more than one adult returning a car to an off site location isn't bad (or if you're by yourself). Arrive a bit early drop off all passengers and baggage, then drive to the drop off location take shuttle and meat up with family. No luggage to lug around. We've done it a few times and they stand in line and check in with the bags, and then I just have to get my boarding pass.

 

[MrsMud]

Thanks, I think I will stick with the first plan of flying into Long Beach and out of San Diego. It would be on Jet Blue, which doesn't charge any extra for the two airports. The cheaper fare (in and out of LAX) would be on Song. It doesn't seem worth all the extra driving, though. We will only have one extra day when we will be driving down to San Diego and taking a break from the parks. I would hate to have to spend half of a park day driving back up to LA. Thanks for the info!

 

[castleri]

Southwest is usually pretty good about flying in and out of different airports. We went into LAX and out of Ontario last trip and it was well worth it for the lower airfare.. We did Santa Monica the first day , drove to San Diego and spent a couple of days there, then to Anaheim for 5 days and out of Ontario. Someone else did the driving. I am flying in and out of Ontario this trip as I remember the traffic being less in that area and I hate traffic. Actually I may end up quivering on the side of the road but am hoping for the best. Good luck with your decision whatever it turns out to be.

 

[MrsMud]

I love Southwest. I always fly them into Orlando and Tampa. I am not considering them for this trip, for two reasons. One, they don't fly nonstop and I really want nonstop! Two, no TVs. If I have to fly 6 hours with my family, I'd rather have TVs to keep the kids occupied!