Earliest Flight for LA's SNA airport

[DVC_Chris]

I have read a lot of people saying 12:30 is really the earliest you should book a return flight out of LAX, but does anyone have any advice on what a good time would be for SNA? I know it is a few miles further distance, but I am not sure what that equates to time wise. We will be sailing the Disney Wonder next February.

[yogi2929]

The only difference is that it is less crowded at SNA than at LAX. Traffic can crop up on any freeway anytime. Right now I am listening to a complete shut down of the 5 Fwy in the Valencia area. Nowhere near SNA but things can and do happen and unfortunatelty need to be planned for.

 

A flight at or after 12:30 sounds like a good time for less stress.

[PatriciaF]

I was thinking 1 Pm, but 1230 is probably okay, if you are departing on a weekend. Weekday, I would recommend 1 PM or later.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The only difference is that it is less crowded at SNA than at LAX. Traffic can crop up on any freeway anytime. Right now I am listening to a complete shut down of the 5 Fwy in the Valencia area. Nowhere near SNA but things can and do happen and unfortunatelty need to be planned for.

 

A flight at or after 12:30 sounds like a good time for less stress.

 

That was a horrendous accident up in the 14/5 area...some fatalities so that closed the freeway for hours. It happened late Sunday night which does illustrate that accidents can occur at any time of day or night and even on weekends. It was pouring at the time, but there are other causes of accidents besides the weather.

[kenish]

I agree with others....flight time is about the same out of either LAX or SNA. Assuming no traffic, travel time is 15 minutes longer to SNA but curbside to gate is faster and makes up the difference.

 

If you're returning a rental car, SNA wins hands down. From the car return it's a 3 minute walk to the check-in counter...LAX requires a rental car shuttle from the remote lot. Assuming there is no wait for a departing shuttle it's 5 minutes to T1 and 10-15 minutes to T6/T7.

[jlines]

We just did this last week. We arrived on a Saturday and drove to SFMM (just had to ride X2). The traffic was horrendous and it took over 2 hours. We disembarked on a Sunday at about 8:00, took a bus to LB Budget, went back and picked up our DD and SIL, dropped them at LAX, went to KBF for 1 1/2 hours, and still make it in plenty of time to drop off the car and make a 2:15 flight from SNA. So if you travel on a Sunday I would say no problem, a Saturday I'm not so sure.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We just did this last week. We arrived on a Saturday and drove to SFMM (just had to ride X2). The traffic was horrendous and it took over 2 hours. We disembarked on a Sunday at about 8:00, took a bus to LB Budget, went back and picked up our DD and SIL, dropped them at LAX, went to KBF for 1 1/2 hours, and still make it in plenty of time to drop off the car and make a 2:15 flight from SNA. So if you travel on a Sunday I would say no problem, a Saturday I'm not so sure.

 

Took me a few minutes to figure out you mean Magic Mountain (we don't refer to it as Six Flags Magic Mountain here...too long to say). You talking about driving all the way up the 405 and then the 5. Took my girl to a birthday party in Santa Clarita last month on a rainy day and it took a while and we're closer (almost 30 miles). I'm guessing you're including time to find a parking space as a Saturday in early April (while some schools are on spring break) would take some time.