1025 AM Flight out of LAX on Disembark Day

[valuemkt]

We dock at 6am Celebrity Solstice at San Pedro on a Saturday Morning . First time cruising in and out of that port. We have a 1025 flight to east coast out of LAX. We are experienced travelers with Delta Platinum status, TSA Pre Check and CLEAR. Even with taking our own luggage off ship, are we being too optimistic on making that flight / The next flight isnt until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, landing us around midnight. Thoughts ? 

[CruiserBruce]

No way would I take it. You might make it, but its going to be a stressful day.

 

Docking at 6am doesn't mean getting off at 6:05.

[rkacruiser]

Not a flight that I would consider.  LAX is some distance from the port and if you get a driver of a taxi or bus that doesn't really know where he/she is going and miss the exit for the airport (I have had that happen), getting to LAX will take a bit longer.  Avoid the stress on disembarkation day.  Take the later flight.  

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, valuemkt said:

We dock at 6am Celebrity Solstice at San Pedro on a Saturday Morning . First time cruising in and out of that port. We have a 1025 flight to east coast out of LAX. We are experienced travelers with Delta Platinum status, TSA Pre Check and CLEAR. Even with taking our own luggage off ship, are we being too optimistic on making that flight / The next flight isnt until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, landing us around midnight. Thoughts ? 

6 AM is a guesstimate for San Pedro. And, even with a reliable car service (e.g., Execucar), the 405 will be just like the Pacific: smooth sailing unless it’s not (aka crawling). Then there’s LAX’s TSA security where the PRE and CLEAR lines can be longgggg too.

I wouldn’t do that 10:25 AM flight and I expect that Celebrity would recommend “noon at the earliest.” 

[crystalspin]

As a former So.Californian, I would not do this. The line for a taxi was incredible the only time we landed there -- and we just had to go to off-airport parking, where we had left our car. Other ships may also be disgorging passengers, tying up ground transport even more. 

 

I would dally on the ship until being ushered off. Taxies will be handier. Start drinking at the airport? but moderately of course.

[bonsai3s]

Solstice docks at 6am...

Let's say you walked-off or self-assist at 7am...or 7:30am.

Using a private transfer, Uber or Lyft...it's takes 30 minutes from San Pedro to LAX.

Let's say there's traffic on the 405, and it took an hour (there is a carpool lane), and you get to LAX at 8am...or even 8:30am. Add check-in and the security line.

 

Can you make a 10:25am flight? Perhaps it's possible...just make sure you have a Plan B.

 

[navybankerteacher]

A 10:25 flight means you MUST be at the gate by 9:25, which means you SHOULD be entering the airport departure area by 8:25, which means you NEED to be in your ground transportation by 7:25, which means you HAVE TO  be off the ship not later than 7:00.  Yes, it can be done - and probably can be done - but have you any workable plans for what you will do if one or more of the necessary preconditions do not work out?

[jsn55]

Yup, go for it.  Just have your Plan B.  Arrange for lounge access and figure out how assure two seats on the later flight.  I'd not try, the last thing I want after a relaxing cruise is stress making the flight. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

7 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

Yup, go for it.  Just have your Plan B.  Arrange for lounge access and figure out how assure two seats on the later flight.  I'd not try, the last thing I want after a relaxing cruise is stress making the flight. 

Still a bad idea.
Given the current state of both domestic and international air travel shortcomings: Depending on what s/he paid for the tix, their place in the rebooking priority might see that “next” plane being two days later. Even high FF status doesn’t carry the weight it used to - having been replaced by pricing priorities.

[jsn55]

2 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Still a bad idea.
Given the current state of both domestic and international air travel shortcomings: Depending on what s/he paid for the tix, their place in the rebooking priority might see that “next” plane being two days later. Even high FF status doesn’t carry the weight it used to - having been replaced by pricing priorities.

You're right.  I thought our OP would figure it out him/herself when I advised to be sure the next flight had seats available.

[Joebucks]

This is how threads get created like "Celebrity prevented me from getting to my flight. Refuses to refund me for problems THEY caused"

[wikoffclan]

I have the same dilemma LAX to MSY. Try for an early flight or get in close to midnight. I opted to plan for a leisurely tour of LA post-cruise and overnight at an LAX Marriott. Get home in the daylight and stress free.

[skrufy]

22 hours ago, valuemkt said:

We dock at 6am Celebrity Solstice at San Pedro on a Saturday Morning . First time cruising in and out of that port. We have a 1025 flight to east coast out of LAX. We are experienced travelers with Delta Platinum status, TSA Pre Check and CLEAR. Even with taking our own luggage off ship, are we being too optimistic on making that flight / The next flight isnt until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, landing us around midnight. Thoughts ? 

Experience with flying out of LAX from Long Beach, only a few miles further than San Pedro is never schedule before 1:00pm. 

[JeffT237]

Being from Southern CA I'd say yes it can be done but like others have indicated, there are a lot of potential risks .  SoCal traffic even on a weekend is very unpredictable, plus Cal Trans always has projects scheduled over the weekend especially with the toll lanes/carpool lanes.  As many times as I've flown out of LAX in my lifetime it always seems some type of road construction is going on around the airport. The obvious key to the whole thing is docking on time and getting off early, there are plenty of routes to the LAX area, but once inside the horseshoe design of LAX things tend to bog down, even on a Saturday.  And is far as the 24 minute time estimate on Google Maps I'd say no way, nobody gets anywhere in SoCal in 24 minutes!  But if you're a risk taker, go for it!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 8/6/2022 at 12:49 PM, valuemkt said:

The next flight isnt until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, landing us around midnight. Thoughts ? 

 

Check flights out of LGB, SNA and even BUR for other options.

 

Oh...  and no, I'd never book that flight.

[Ashland]

Just used LAX arriving home last night and I who have flown many many times out/in of there can say it's more of a mess than I have ever seen...Beware !!!! 

[juksing]

We just got off Navigator of the seas this morning(Monday) at San Pedro for our 11:40am WestJet flight LAX to YYZ We walked off at around 7:30, went through immigration and went to the medium/pickup area in front of Berth 92 (7:40) and called an Uber from there.  A little confusing as if we tried the Uber app earlier inside the terminal it kept picking spots outside the parking lot for pickup.  But it worked fine once we were actually standing in the pick up area.  It took about 10 minutes more for the Uber to arrive, we were at LAX terminal 2 at 8:41.  There was a major traffic jam where we changed from 110 to 405 and again when we exited near sepulveda that slowed us down quite a bit.  The total Uber ride was 50 minutes, 60$.  We got our boarding passes at around 8:55(after a potty break and there was no one was in line at WestJet) walked over to terminal  3 (9:00) and with TSA precheck we were through to our crazy crowded gate area by 9:08am , nearly  2 hours before boarding.
 

So things worked well for us and we had plenty of time to spare but just FYI, we normally would never get a flight before Noon or so but based on advice from folks on this forum we decided on this 11:40am flight, the alternative was a late afternoon flight with a connector in DTW with a 2.5 hour layover.

 

[dreams_of_travel]

I came to this section of the forum to look for this kind of info.  I had a flight that was supposed to leave LAX at 1:25 pm, but then AA changed my flight time to 11:30am.  I haven't called them yet to get put on a later flight.  I am wondering, same as the original poster, about if I could make my current flight time.  We disembark on a Wednesday, in November.  I know that LA traffic is notorious.  You can luck out one day, and be stuck for hours another.  Before I spend time trying to change my flight time, and after reading this thread, it looks like it may be possible to still make the current flight.  🤷🏻‍♀️

[jsn55]

17 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

I came to this section of the forum to look for this kind of info.  I had a flight that was supposed to leave LAX at 1:25 pm, but then AA changed my flight time to 11:30am.  I haven't called them yet to get put on a later flight.  I am wondering, same as the original poster, about if I could make my current flight time.  We disembark on a Wednesday, in November.  I know that LA traffic is notorious.  You can luck out one day, and be stuck for hours another.  Before I spend time trying to change my flight time, and after reading this thread, it looks like it may be possible to still make the current flight.  🤷🏻‍♀️

This is a tough one, especially when you add in a few more flight changes before November.  BTW, you should be able to change the flight online ... read AA's rules on waivers of change fees.  As everyone knows, I just book a hotel and fly home the next day.  I don't like stress!

[dreams_of_travel]

1 minute ago, jsn55 said:

This is a tough one, especially when you add in a few more flight changes before November.  BTW, you should be able to change the flight online ... read AA's rules on waivers of change fees.  As everyone knows, I just book a hotel and fly home the next day.  I don't like stress!

Thanks for that suggestion.  I have looked at the offered options, and they are trying to charge me more. 🤦🏻‍♀️  I will wait another few weeks, after the Sept holiday rush, and then try to get this resolved.  After reading so much about the summer travel meltdowns, etc, I was hesitant to call any sooner.   I may just choose to stay the extra night, as well. If the cost of the hotel is less than the fare change cost, it makes sense.  I am stress adverse, too.