Best Airport to fly for Port of Los Angeles?

[teeredi2cruise]

Traveling in April on the Bliss and need to lock in air. I Currently have a flight on hold (with miles) for in and out LAX, but see some other feedback that either Burbank or Long Beach may be better. I am traveling in the day before, so not as concerned about the incoming airport, but definitely concerned about making departure travel timing in LAX. 

 

Any feedback and assistance is greatly appreciated.

[roger001]

Burbank is over the hill into the San Fernando Valley which makes it much further from the Port.  Long Beach is very close but limited number of flights.  However, our SWA flights, which we always use seem to always favor LAX, so we always stick with that.  Without a bigger traffic mess than usual, LAX is a pretty easy commute.  Lots of shuttle vans running that route.    But, on two occasions LAX has had the biggest delays and check in mess we've ever encountered.  Getting to the airport was not bad. But then the check in lines, baggage check, and security lines were out the doors and down the street.  You never know.  

Edited January 9, 2019 by roger001

[NLH Arizona]

Long Beach airport is closer and much less traffic.

Edited January 9, 2019 by NLH Arizona

[katyjeka]

Go with LAX.  We flew in December and had no issue with the airport.  We had 4 kids, 8 suitcases and were able to get our car and out of the airport in 45 minutes. We had no delays coming or going.

[Tapi]

We flew into LAX and flew out of SNA (Orange County). LAX, as expected, was a nightmare due to its sheer size, thousands of passengers, and congestion just getting out of the airport. We also had to wait about 30-40 minutes for our gate due to ramp congestion. We flew in the day before and selected a hotel in the Long Beach area (Hyatt the Pike) which was an absolutely fantastic decision. We loved being in that are and close to the port. 

 

For our return, we flew out of SNA simply because the flight schedule worked better for us. Yes, it's a longer drive than LAX, but the airport is small, modern, and crowd free. We arrived at the airport around 9:00am for our 12:30pm flight. There were zero lines at the security checkpoint, and once inside the gate area, it was nice and quiet. We just found a spot by the window to wait for our flight. 

 

LGB (Long Beach) is the closest airport to the port, but it also has limited flight options. Had we flown from there, we would've needed to wait more hours for our departure, connect on a small regional jet to Salt Lake City to then catch a flight home. The extra hassle wasn't worth it for us

Edited January 9, 2019 by Tapi

[teeredi2cruise]

Thank you everyone. We are on the Bliss and are holding a 11:15 a.m.  "Sunday" return flight. We are also TSA precheck. Do you think this is doable?

[klfhngr]

Long Beach, hands down! Easy to get in/out of! No crowds, smooth flow and close to San Pedro! We live in SoCal and try to fly out of LGB whenever possible. Last few trips/cruises have been out of LGB. Also, we live even closer to SNA, but prefer LGB if that helps.

[don't-use-real-name]

41 minutes ago, teeredi2cruise said:

Thank you everyone. We are on the Bliss and are holding a 11:15 a.m.  "Sunday" return flight. We are also TSA precheck. Do you think this is doable?

 

Having the TSA Pre-Ck is a BIG PLUS

Traveling in the Business or First Class cabin another

Affinity relationship with the airline that helps too

 

What you have planned is do-able - highly recommend a walk-off with luggage and take a cab or small shuttle bus

to LAX and everything should be comfortably fine. 

 

You did not indicate or tell us where you are flying from/to ? And airline ?

 

LGB is a small airport with limited service - basically only non-stop flights west of the Mississippi river - anything east

of that and a plane change connection is required (think small regional jets).

 

BUR forget that - way too distant and even more limited services to the cities flown to.

 

LAX beset by a potential granddaddy of all traffic jams - the 405 and the 110 - but then if everyone is behaving themselves

it works and it works well in spite of the horrendous amount of traffic movement. The LAX airport recently went through

some major airline movements (Delta moving from T5 to T2 & 3) a lot of construction signage etc.

Things seem to have settled down - if using any kind of shuttle or NCL transfer service DO NOT board the conveyance

if it is going to make multiple stops before getting to your airline i.e. Leaving on United the bus stops at all the rest of

the airlines first - Southwest Delta American and a bunch of others in between before getting to United. Does not apply

if your bus is dedicated just for United. Ask ???s !

Your arrival on SUNDAY should not present any major traffic problems unless Hollywood is filming a chase scene !

 

Not mentioned in the transportation is -

SNA - Santa Ana Orange County (John Wayne) airport - a tad further with

non-stop flights to the east coast - fares maybe not so competitive but a suitable option to consider if LAX doesn't have

the seats.

ONT - Ontario/San Bernardino  (NO not that Ontario in Canada) but with limited regional service much

like BUR - Hollywood Burbank (Bob Hope).

 

Putting the time versus distance puzzle together -

Factor NCL cruise terminal is on West Coat time Pacific time and there are 3 time zones going east - Mountain - Central

and then the East.

Flying to the Mountain Zone - flights are 1.5 to 2 hours long

to the Central Zone - flights are 2.5 to 4 hours

and the East Zone - 4.5 - 6 hours

 

So you want something early leaving from LAX to arrive before or at sundown in the east zone - you are going to be

pushing the time envelope for a 10 AM departure to arrive at 6+PM at say New York City ***

*** this is not going to happen unless you have a police escort

If you leave at 4 PM arrival at NYC is going to be 1+AM the next day

Leaving on a Red-Eye at 10 PM or later arrival is the next day at sun rise 7+AM  

 

Going to Universal Studios or Disneyland is not going to solve the time travel problem.

Consider having an alternative plan in case NCL is late getting you off the ship.

 

Good Luck  

[candigirl41]

I have a friend who flies down from San Francisco twice a year.  He flies into Long Beach if it is economical.  This March I told him to do LAX as it was a lot less money.  In October we are flying to Vancouver for a cruise that ends in Los Angeles.  He is looking at both LAX and Long Beach.  I told him to pick the most inexpensive.  If it's a few dollars more for Long Beach that is what he will do.  Long Beach is so easy to get in and out of and not far from San Pedro hotels.  

 

Candi

[teeredi2cruise]

14 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said:

 

Having the TSA Pre-Ck is a BIG PLUS

Traveling in the Business or First Class cabin another

Affinity relationship with the airline that helps too

 

What you have planned is do-able - highly recommend a walk-off with luggage and take a cab or small shuttle bus

to LAX and everything should be comfortably fine. 

 

You did not indicate or tell us where you are flying from/to ? And airline ?

 

LGB is a small airport with limited service - basically only non-stop flights west of the Mississippi river - anything east

of that and a plane change connection is required (think small regional jets).

 

BUR forget that - way too distant and even more limited services to the cities flown to.

 

LAX beset by a potential granddaddy of all traffic jams - the 405 and the 110 - but then if everyone is behaving themselves

it works and it works well in spite of the horrendous amount of traffic movement. The LAX airport recently went through

some major airline movements (Delta moving from T5 to T2 & 3) a lot of construction signage etc.

Things seem to have settled down - if using any kind of shuttle or NCL transfer service DO NOT board the conveyance

if it is going to make multiple stops before getting to your airline i.e. Leaving on United the bus stops at all the rest of

the airlines first - Southwest Delta American and a bunch of others in between before getting to United. Does not apply

if your bus is dedicated just for United. Ask ???s !

Your arrival on SUNDAY should not present any major traffic problems unless Hollywood is filming a chase scene !

 

Not mentioned in the transportation is -

SNA - Santa Ana Orange County (John Wayne) airport - a tad further with

non-stop flights to the east coast - fares maybe not so competitive but a suitable option to consider if LAX doesn't have

the seats.

ONT - Ontario/San Bernardino  (NO not that Ontario in Canada) but with limited regional service much

like BUR - Hollywood Burbank (Bob Hope).

 

Putting the time versus distance puzzle together -

Factor NCL cruise terminal is on West Coat time Pacific time and there are 3 time zones going east - Mountain - Central

and then the East.

Flying to the Mountain Zone - flights are 1.5 to 2 hours long

to the Central Zone - flights are 2.5 to 4 hours

and the East Zone - 4.5 - 6 hours

 

So you want something early leaving from LAX to arrive before or at sundown in the east zone - you are going to be

pushing the time envelope for a 10 AM departure to arrive at 6+PM at say New York City ***

*** this is not going to happen unless you have a police escort

If you leave at 4 PM arrival at NYC is going to be 1+AM the next day

Leaving on a Red-Eye at 10 PM or later arrival is the next day at sun rise 7+AM  

 

Going to Universal Studios or Disneyland is not going to solve the time travel problem.

Consider having an alternative plan in case NCL is late getting you off the ship.

 

Good Luck  

 

Thank you everyone for your amazing feedback!

 

WOW  - Do-Not-Use-Real-Name!!!! This is so thorough and helpful. Right now here are some specifics:

 

Currently the ticket on hold is an award ticket with AA First Class leaving LAX at 11:15 a.m. with one connection arriving at my destination at 9:15 p.m . No priority status with the airline other than seating and credit card.

 

 I am trying to make sure that this departure time may work taking traffic considerations and LAX as the airport before finalizing the flight.  I am still monitoring and looking at all of our options and trying to be flexible.

 

Due to this being an award booking, I have some limitations on flight itineraries that some others may not have and other itineraries right now appear to require red-eye travel leaving either too early or much later. Everything available to me right now is connecting and most are red-eyes. Award travel will let me change times if something better becomes available fee free as opposed to purchasing the ticket and incurring a change fee. So I will keep checking times. 

 

Transportation to airport from the Port can be Uber or Private transportation. I have one Private car quote so far that says pickup for 11:15 a.m. LAX flight is 9:15 a.m. 

 

Backup Plan - One of the reasons I was sticking with LAX is hoping to have more flight availability to be re-booked on in the event that we can't make it in time and downgrading seating from FC to Coach to accommodate the missed flight.

 

 

 

[bfree32]

Lots of variables for you. American is pretty good at LAX. And first class and TSA gets you to the gate quicker

 

In general, Agree that LGB is best and closest if they have a late morning flight. In general, I would definitely fly into LAX. If price was similar and LGB not an option, my second choice for departure would be SNA. 

Agree that Burbank and Ontario are too far and there would need to be a significant savings to justify the drive.

[memoak]

Long Beach is the closest but is small with less flights.  We tend to fly into Long Beach and fly back from LAX

[Gunner22aa]

LAX without question.

 

[kevmoley]

Long Beach might be closer but LAX has more flights and better pricing most of the time. LAX is a 30 minute shuttle ride to the Pier with Supershuttle.

[BirdTravels]

If you are on AA, then LAX is their major hub. It is a better airport to fly out of.

 

We caught a supershuttle to LAX last time. They had a row of vans waiting, and as soon as one filled, it was on its way to LAX.

 

Whoever mentioned Burbank,,,, ahhhh,,, no. 

[need2cruisesoon]

LBC

[katyjeka]

8 hours ago, Tapi said:

We flew into LAX and flew out of SNA (Orange County). LAX, as expected, was a nightmare due to its sheer size, thousands of passengers, and congestion just getting out of the airport. We also had to wait about 30-40 minutes for our gate due to ramp congestion. We flew in the day before and selected a hotel in the Long Beach area (Hyatt the Pike) which was an absolutely fantastic decision. We loved being in that are and close to the port. 

 

For our return, we flew out of SNA simply because the flight schedule worked better for us. Yes, it's a longer drive than LAX, but the airport is small, modern, and crowd free. We arrived at the airport around 9:00am for our 12:30pm flight. There were zero lines at the security checkpoint, and once inside the gate area, it was nice and quiet. We just found a spot by the window to wait for our flight. 

 

LGB (Long Beach) is the closest airport to the port, but it also has limited flight options. Had we flown from there, we would've needed to wait more hours for our departure, connect on a small regional jet to Salt Lake City to then catch a flight home. The extra hassle wasn't worth it for us

We were really lucky. Flew in December 5th on a cheap Spirit flight.($51.00 from Pittsburgh nonstop)We collected our bags, kids, and rental car and were on our way to the Ronald Reagan museum in under an hour. I was prepared for a nightmare and warned my husband ahead of time as he HATES traffic but it was a breeze. Our return flight was just as easy. The only thing we found strange was our rental car company gave us a ticket for the shuttle back to the airport. This is the only airport we have ever needed a ticket to get on a shuttle back to the airport. 

[newmexicoNita]

23 hours ago, teeredi2cruise said:

Traveling in April on the Bliss and need to lock in air. I Currently have a flight on hold (with miles) for in and out LAX, but see some other feedback that either Burbank or Long Beach may be better. I am traveling in the day before, so not as concerned about the incoming airport, but definitely concerned about making departure travel timing in LAX. 

 

Any feedback and assistance is greatly appreciated.

Absolutely Long beach if you can: it is a super small air port, friendly and very close to the port. If not, LAX is your next bet. NO, not Burbank; it is an ok airport but much further from the port. I have a little knowledge about the airports in the area: I was born and raised in L.A. and still visit from time to time, plus having a lot of family and friend still living there.