kenish

If you're still investigating adding on a OW ticket to a roundtrip, also look at "flipping" the itinerary and using ARN as the "gateway" instead of AMS. Then get a ARN-AMS ticket at the front end of the trip. It's worth comparing the price.

The stopover between the roundtrip and one way tickets increases your risk. I'd allow at least 4 hours for possible arrival delay, Customs/Immigration, transferring and re-checking your luggage onto the next flight and re-clearing security. Ideally, spend the night. Flying from ARN-AMS at the *end* of the cruise is less risky since you're homeward bound and there's no cruise to miss.

Hope this helps.

Mid-day traffic on a Friday should be OK from the dock to SNA. About 1 hour curb-to-curb as Bruin commented.

Can you have an inflatable booster seat shipped to a "south of the border" friend or colleague? Or have it held for pickup at a UPS or FedEx depot or store?

Car rental is literally across the street from the terminal and taxi stands. Maybe 500 feet of walking, max. http://www.lgb.org/travelers/directions.asp

I assume you mean the Long Beach cruise terminal which is Carnival only (with a few rare exceptions). Your signature at the bottom lists a Carnival cruise this month. Almost all other cruises use the LA World Cruiseport in San Pedro, about 10 miles farther away from LGB.

What airline are you flying into LAX? And is the inbound flight to LAX and the connecting flight to YVR on the same ticket? You may not have to carry your luggage to T2 and re-check it. Instead you may only need to claim your luggage in the Customs area for inspection, and put it on a transfer belt as you exit Customs.

In any case, transferring yourself from TBIT to T2 involves going through security at T2. You can walk to T2 (about 1km and 15 minutes). As you exit TBIT, turn left so you're walking clockwise around the loop. You will pass T3 on your way to T2. The lower level is sheltered from what little weather we have in LA but rather claustrophobic...the upper level is open and a good way to get some fresh air and sunlight after your long flight. There are sidewalks on both levels.

If you are too tired or have luggage, an inter-terminal bus circulates in a counterclockwise direction. After TBIT it stops at T4-T7, then T1 and T2. So you make almost the entire loop and stop at each terminal enroute to T2. It will probably take 30-40 minutes by the time you wait for a bus.

So don't get those two confused, either, or else you could inadvertently fly into a very hard cloud.

AKA, "Cumulo-granite" :)

The altitude instructions remind me of when I was departing Amarillo. The controller had a Texas twangy drawl... "Cezzna fowar fahv Bravo, Ama-rilla departure. Clam and maytain nahn thousand fahv hunnerd. Report gittin' thahr " I could barely read back the instructions without laughing!

Another caveat: Be SURE her inbound and connecting flights are both through Haneda (HND)! For example it's fairly common to get an itinerary that arrives into Narita (NRT) and has a ground connection to a flight out of HND (or vice-versa). If that is the case, 4 hours is needed to get between the two airports by bus or train...and it's risky during morning or evening rush hour.

Our years of experience with terminology like "eligible active and retired members" has so far always included Reservists.

 

The other airline is United and their info is here:

 

It says "Active U.S. military personnel and their dependents:

Dependents of active U.S. military personnel will have the same exemptions as the military service member whose status provides the benefit, as long as they are traveling on the same reservation."

Even though every other company you've experienced "so far" has treated the words in a certain way, it a huge assumption that both Air Canada and United will match your experience, especially since neither specifically states reservists. When it comes to airlines, assume absolutely nothing!

Insane idea- why don't you contact both airlines and ask? Since free bags are guiding your choice of airlines, it's especially important to have clarity...preferably do it by email, so you have written proof when you check in with both airlines. Be sure to state your date of ticket purchase and the date travel....baggage rules are rapidly changing and what is in place today may be different a day or a month from now.

SNA is my local "hometown" airport. It's quick and easy to get from curbside to gate. If you arrive 90 minutes before scheduled departure (1pm in your case), it will be ample time. Since the airport caters heavily to business travelers, weekends are fairly laid-back.

One tip- SNA has 3 "terminals" A/B/C but they are all zones in the same structure. (Westjet is 'A') After checkin, there is one security area for each terminal. If the closest one has a long line, look down the terminal at the lines in the other areas and go there instead if they're shorter. Once you're through any of the 3 security checks, all gates are accessible.

Most of us SoCal residents dislike or even detest LAX. Even so, LAX holds a strong advantage over DFW for your situation. There is one and only one nonstop to Oz from DFW, and it doesn't operate daily. Ditto for IAH to NZ. QF8 DFW-SYD has an excellent track record, but if anything goes amok with your travels the "recovery" options are limited. Ironically it will probably involve rerouting you to LAX for a flight the next evening.

If you connect through LAX in the first place, there are many flights and a lot of capacity to Oz. If something goes amok you're exactly where you need to be, and not 3 flight hours away at DFW/IAH. QF has 1-2 flights every evening, each to SYD, MEL, and BNE and AA has a new flight (not a codeshare) to SYD. Even if you are routed to a different city in Oz, you're on the right continent...and since you arrive in the morning there are numerous domestic flights to get you back on track. Add DL, UA and DJ to the mix.

You complained about the construction at LAX. It's completed at T4 (American) and TBIT (international). TBIT is greatly improved, though IMHO it still falls short of many Asian airports. Sort of like one of our high-end LA shopping malls with aircraft parked outside :) And the T4-TBIT tunnel makes it unnecessary to go outside security.

Southwest has many multi-stop flights that hopscotch across the country. 6 or 8 stops is not uncommon. Southwest obfuscates "nonstop" and "direct" on their website, by calling both "direct". Unless you notice the number of stops, you may think you're booking a nonstop and get a rude awakening.

Also, most airlines have a few direct flights that require an aircraft and gate change! From the passenger perspective it's no different than connecting flights, except you will only get the "nonstop" frequent flyer miles. Made up example- a direct LAX-DEN-RNO flight will only receive the mileage from LAX-RNO. Connecting in DEN will earn the total mileage of both flights.

Absolutely, miss the first leg & the entire ticket is cancelled :(

An even more encompassing answer: "no-show" (fail to check in or be at the gate by the cutoff times without contacting the airline), and the remainder of your ticket is worthless and all remaining flights cancelled. Your situation also applies, for example, if you buy an ELP-IAH-EWR ticket because it's $100 cheaper than IAH-EWR. When you try to board at IAH you will find out being no-show at ELP cancelled your flights.

Over on the Elliott travel forums a family missed their Carnival cruise a few days ago. They were driving from Austin to Galveston "day of", and the flooded roads caused them to arrive too late at the docks.

Have you considered the "every man for himself" approach to booking tickets? Or maybe you're already doing that and just wanted to fly the same day. People always seem to be posting difficulty booking airline tickets when they are trying to coordinate for the entire group.

If your group is made of several parties paying separately, always agree in advance how the total fare will be split. Let's say you and your friends total 5 people, and there are two fares remaining at $180, two at $470, and six at $525. If you book all 5 people at the same time, the airline websites charge the highest fare that accommodates your entire party...in this case you would pay 6 x $525 = $3150. Four people in your party will pay more than they needed to.

Now, assume you're savvy to this and book two at a time. Then you will pay 2x$180, 2x$470, and 1x$525 = $1825. Do you individually charge the fare actually paid? Who in your party "bought" the cheaper fares, and what will happen when the people who paid more find out? Or, do you average for everyone and charge $365 per person? Two people are subsidizing the other 3. Of course it's up to you, but letting everyone take care of purchasing their own tickets is often the best bet.

Should have read.....

An alternative to parking at the stadium is to take the Red line from Hollywood/Highland to Union Station ($1.75 each way + $1 TAP Card)

then take the free Dodger Express from Union Station.

Yes !! +1 !

Next to LAX there's the Ralph's supermarket mentioned above, and a CVS drugstore. But I agree with others to go down to the port instead of staying around LAX. In either case, this is the age of car sharing services like Uber and Lyft. So there's no reason to be "stranded" at the hotel or pass up a good hotel room rate because it's not within walking distance of restaurants and stores.

Well, since you're being vague on the city you live in (honest, we won't stalk you!), it's difficult to give any specific info. There's a fare estimator on the Uber website, google "Uber Los Angeles",

FYI there is a very small but interesting museum in the basement of the Casino.

Friends recently used Uber post-cruise from Carnival to LAX. The fare was $32 (which can fluctuate) and they tipped $5. That's essentially the same fare as a shared van. The car showed up within 5 minutes and of course it's was an exclusive trip with no stops enroute.

Agree that SAN to Oz with a LAX connection is easy and has little additional cost. It's quite possible that it's cheaper to fly from SAN than from LAX due to the Kafkaesque world of airfares!

It's especially easy flying American Airlines from SAN-LAX and connecting to Qantas or another AA flight to Oz. AA and QF have a very close partnership at LAX and there's a shuttle bus between T4 and the International Terminal (TBIT) that eliminates the need to go outside security to change terminals. (The bus will soon be replaced with an interconnecting tunnel). That said, the terminals are adjacent and you may want to walk the short distance outside before the very long flight.

You can always Uber if you have too much to carry or you don't feel safe walking.

You will be fine.

I'm an avid bicyclist in the LA area. Bike theft is rampant, especially high-end, expensive bikes. There have been "smash and grab" thefts where the bike was inside a locked car or SUV! So my answer is "Yes", it will be a problem.

Good you've decided to fly the day before. One of my sayings- "Every man has a plan that will not work...." :)

@rblos- As a local, I second the Huntington Beach recommendation. It depends on the type of beach DW likes but HB is a nucleus for the California beach / surfer lifestyle (some of it authentic, some of it a facade).

In the interest of equal opportunity, DW can pick up some young surfers while you're scoring the girls. Just maybe not this HB surfer dude:

For 4 people and their luggage, you probably need Uber XL. The Uber website shows the LAX -> Carnival fare as $46-$60. That's for the trip, not per-person.

Uber really doesn't do "round trips", nor is it necessary. When you're off the ship and ready to roll, just fire up the Uber app and hail a car.

I *highly* recommend setting up Uber at home and having someone with experience show you the ropes.

uberX is $25-33 and uberXL (larger car) is $42-54 For 2 people, UberX is similar cost to a shuttle.