John Wayne or San Diego Airport?

[jenhelgren]

Airfare rates keep fluctuating and I cant make up my mind!! Currently we have a evening flight from San Diego and will need to return a rental car which I think requires a shuttle transfer. For not much more we can now fly out of John Wayne in the morning. Do any rental car companies at John Wayne require a shuttle or can it be walked? Will we have trouble with a 9:30 am flight from SNA as far as traffic or long security lines with a morning rush? I know that San Diego is much more of a drive but we were going to spend the day driving down the coast so the distance is not really an issue. I am just looking for the best airport setup as flying is not my husbands cup of tea and he really wants it as painless as possible!!

 

[gary1955]

as I recall the major companies are in the parking garage across the street from the terminals, so you wait for the light and cross the street.

 

[HydroGuy]

The rental car companies at SNA (John Wayne) are right across from the terminal. In your case I would do SNA over San Diego. The rive to SD can be a traffic nightmare. I just did it myself last month (flew into SNA and drove to north San Diego - it took almost two hours. On a Saturday. To get the the airport would likely have taken another hour. It happens to me every time. I used to live in SD.

I have never experienced long security lines at SNA. I have at SD where I barley made a flight one time after running through the terminal. But my sample size is small so I cannot say what the general rule is.

 

[emilyalexis]

Personally I would choose John Wayne. It is a small airport, but it's really nice. Everything happens very quickly because of the size, so it's easy to get your bags. We rented a car last time and it is literally just across the crosswalk in the parking garage. Quick and easy, and close to Disneyland.

 

[jenhelgren]

Thanks for the advice! SNA was our original plan and it was so much more expensive than LAX or SAN it just didn't make sense. Family scared me away from LAX so we settled on the drive to SAN but now for a little more I think SNA might be worth it-we have never flew into any of the CA airports so I am having a hard time deciding what will be best with traffic etc when I have not prior experience whatsoever!

 

[carrierael77]

Was there in april. 20 min drive to SNA from DL. Drop car off literally cross 4 lane road in the airport (drop off and pick up lanes) and you are there. SNA is tiny. I would even say only need to be there an hour ahead max.

 

[bumbershoot]

I know that San Diego is much more of a drive but we were going to spend the day driving down the coast so the distance is not really an issue.

Well, if that's part of your plans that you wanted to do, stick with SAN.

And why be scared of LAX? As a traveler it's so easy to use. With the rental car you add a little extra work, but it's well signed and not that bad. Hardest part about LAX is dropping someone else off or picking someone else up.

SAN rental cars, assuming you got the airport sites, are right there. We actually got a neat situation on Wednesday. Had three bags to be checked (once is carryon sized but Alaska offered at online checkin to check it for FREE so we did), a couple carryons, a personal item for each of us. As we pulled into the National lot the guy scanned the sticker and asked if we had a lot of bags. I didn't think so but DH said "yes", and he said to just have the driver move and they would just drive us over to the airport in that car! No shuttle at all. Cool!

But even the shuttle doesn't take long; DH has rented there before.


Figure out what you WANT to do, and make your decision based on that. Hurry, of course, so you don't lose that rate. But hey, think about LAX, too, if the rate is even better. And make sure that SNA flight doesn't stop and change planes in LAX, because that would be silly.

 

[Imdboss]

We always fly in and out of SNA. It's a nice small airport. Security lines are pretty much nonexistent. The longest I've ever encountered was maybe 15 min long. As someone else stated you really only need to be there an hour before your flight leaves and even that's plenty of time! That makes some feel a bit antsy so I'd say 1.5 hours max. Our last trip we left DL area at 5:45 pm on s Friday and it took less than 20 min to get to the airport.

 

[ktlm]

We love SNA. When your arrive there is not a long wait for baggage, and the rental car counters are right by the baggage rounds. The rental cars are picked up in the parking garage which is right outside of the terminal. It is about a 15 minute drive to DLR. It is a small airport so there are no really long walks for anything. When you are ready to leave, typically the lines at the counter to check bags are not horribly long, and the lines for security are short. We were at DLR in July and were flying home on a Sunday in the mid to late afternoon and we only had 2 people ahead of us in the security line.

 

[jenhelgren]

The 20 minute drive and only arriving one hour before the flight sold DH on John Wayne. I was looking forward to driving the coast since our SAN flight was not until 6pm but I know my hubby would have been rushing us all day to "make sure" we were close enough to the airport because he's a nervous Nellie flying and we don't fly much. So now we have the convenience of getting home around dinner rather than 2 am and a short drive and security lines. Our flight is on a Wednesday at 9:25 am. Is leaving PPH between 7:30 and 8 am a good estimate?

 

[bumbershoot]

I would go for the 7:30 over 8, but I'm a "walk in the door of the airport 2 hours before" person, and it so even that would be stressing me out. We get to the airport, even SNA, 2 solid hours prior to our domestic flight.

 

[Pinocchio #1 Fan]

Im not sure if it's an option for you, but the Long Beach airport is very easy as well. Probably the easiest airport I have wver used, anywhere.

 

[jdb in AZ]

The 20 minute drive and only arriving one hour before the flight sold DH on John Wayne. I was looking forward to driving the coast since our SAN flight was not until 6pm but I know my hubby would have been rushing us all day to "make sure" we were close enough to the airport because he's a nervous Nellie flying and we don't fly much. So now we have the convenience of getting home around dinner rather than 2 am and a short drive and security lines. Our flight is on a Wednesday at 9:25 am. Is leaving PPH between 7:30 and 8 am a good estimate?

Good choice. SNA is so much more convenient than LAX.

 

[Bud Ice]

John Wayne is nearby coast and 405. Could go all the way to Laguna Beach and back to SNA reasonably. Gets a little iffy beyond Dana Point. If the intent is to goto Oceanside, might as well use San Diego.

 

[ADLFAN]

We tried to drive to San Diego over Labor Day weekend, but had to bail out at Dana Point because the traffic was just insane. Granted, there were a ton of people traveling that Saturday! We couldn't relax into the journey, Google maps showed stop and go accident traffic like 4 more times on the route, it just was not vacation-y! I would hate to run into that when I was trying to spend the last few hours of vacation enjoying the beach before hitting the airport...

We love SNA, it is totally the Disneyland airport! I have never been behind anyone in the TSA security line, it is so not busy! I accidentally left a full bubble gun in my carry on once, and they were super nice about it.

Have fun!

 

[cheekybulldog]

Yes, good choice on SNA! Three or four months ago I would have said fly into SD and enjoy the coastal drive, but they have started construction on the 5 between Oceanside and San Juan Capistrano, where you can't hop on the PCH as an alternate, and it has been a traffic nightmare. We use to drive up to DL about every other week, but because of the traffic its been cut back to maybe once a month or once every other month. Last weekend it took me 2 3/4 hours to get home. It's was rough.

 

[justgrace]

We don't really have any experience with rental cars, but have tons of experience with John Wayne airport itself. We love that airport, and feel it is much nicer than the huge airport that we travel out of. We've had nothing but excellent experience with the TSA there as well as the staff around the airport. We love it!

 

[sgrap]

Our first choice is Long Beach, 2nd Orange County .

 

[jillyasu425]

We flew into SNA this past August and definitely will fly there again in the future over LAX. It's a relaxing atmosphere, not chaotic like LAX. Sucking in all those LAX exhaust fumes while waiting for ground transportation can be a downer for excited-heading-to-Disneyland-kids . My only setback was using Budget Rental cars at the SNA terminal. I went to the counter near the baggage claim, took about 35 minutes (3 people before me), got all my paperwork, walked across the street and down an elevator to pick up car, only to stand in line at the counter there (another 20 minutes) for more paperwork and picking up the actual key, and then it was in the middle of shift change. Oh boyee. Took me an hour from picking up my bags to getting in the car. I think I'm spoiled by the quick service at Las Vegas . So my advice if using budget rental cars is to go straight to the car pick up place across the street from the baggage claim and do the paperwork at that counter, not the the counter inside the airport terminal. But despite any mishaps that may occur.....heck you're going to Disneyland!!!! Happiest Place Ever!!!! Have a great time!!! We sure did