Long Beach Airport

Well, they are the ones behind it, but it is clearly posted on the airlines website under each airport and on the airports website, as well as TSAs to arrive 90 minutes early.....not hard to find out said information.

Ok, but that seems to be standard airport advice, for every airport. They are just covering themselves. No one *needs* to arrive 90 minutes early for a flight out of LGB. They can, certainly, but who wants to sit around for 80 minutes in those uncomfortable chairs? We fly out of there a lot and roll up no more than an hour ahead and have never had our baggage not make it. It literally has to travel less than 100 yards.
 
Ok, but that seems to be standard airport advice, for every airport. They are just covering themselves. No one *needs* to arrive 90 minutes early for a flight out of LGB. They can, certainly, but who wants to sit around for 80 minutes in those uncomfortable chairs? We fly out of there a lot and roll up no more than an hour ahead and have never had our baggage not make it. It literally has to travel less than 100 yards.
The problem is my dad showed up about 60 minutes in advance once and his luggage took two days to get to him, he was headed home so it wasn't a big deal.

Additionally had he been even 1 minute later they would have not allowed him to check in at all since he had a checked bag.

So, yes, there can be issues when you don't follow the advice.
 
The problem is my dad showed up about 60 minutes in advance once and his luggage took two days to get to him, he was headed home so it wasn't a big deal.

Additionally had he been even 1 minute later they would have not allowed him to check in at all since he had a checked bag.

So, yes, there can be issues when you don't follow the advice.

Was he flying international? What airline was that? Jet Blue requires you check bags 30 minutes before domestic flights out of LGB. It says so right on their page. That's the only airline I fly out of there, but even Southwest is 30 minutes as well at every airport I've ever flown out of with them, LGB included. Those are the 2 main airlines that operate out of LGB.

Bags can be mis routed at any time, at any airport, for any destination. Since it took 2 days, it obviously was put on the wrong plane and got to fly around a bit before reaching its destination.
 
Nope, domestic and they were quite clear, they would not check you in at less than 60 minutes out.
 


Thanks for the advice guys! We have an afternoon flight from Texas so we will have time for dinner at Downtown Disney (luckily black tap is finally open for a shake that I’m forcing my husband to buy) and pool time at our hotel. Our flight home is around 9am so I think we should miss any issues with the airport closing. We’ve never flown it before but I thought it might be nicer to be closer to Anaheim this time around. Also, short TSA lines are always great but we never have long lines at LAX either (20 minutes max there). But I think it might be a good experience so thanks!
 
I was originally booked for LGB for my summer trip, but changed to SNA when Southwest rescheduled my original connection to require a long layover. Too bad, really, as I had been looking forward to the no-jetbridge thing. The other "fringe benefit" is that you can drive to DLR from LGB without using a freeway. Oh well, maybe next time.
 


I flew into this airport a year and a half ago. Personally I don't find it anymore convenient than John Wayne, and in someways much less convenient. For Southwest you walk down stairs off the jet and into a terminal building that you're out of in maybe a minute. Then you walk around outside until you get to the baggage claim which is literally just a rickety 75 foot conveyor belt which a guy on a cart pulls up to and unloads bags onto. Hopefully that has been updated/changed. The airport itself is very small so traffic flow can really get jammed up when a jet lands. When I flew out of on an early morning flight I showed up to find the check in counter closed. We had to wait half an hour for the Southwest staff to show up at 5:30am. Also we sat on the runway 3+ hours because the airport was fogged in when we were leaving.

Obviously people have had good experiences there but to me it felt like an airport that's trying to compete with LAX/SNA but just isn't getting there. ONT is an example of a small airport that's run very well. I wouldn't fly into Long Beach again unless I was saving $100+/ticket. I find SNA to be a much much better experience.
 
I have flown into LB and SNA about a dozen times over the last couple of years and ONT 4 times. SNA is my usual first choice because of more flight options than LB, but they also have a noise ordinance so no flights after 10 pm. This was a huge issue last Sunday as there were multiple flights delayed and ours was eventually cancelled. We got shuttled over to ONT and eventually got a flight out at 11 pm. That flight was also delayed.

The drive to DL from ONT is about 30-60 minutes depending on traffic, LB and SNA are between 15-45 minutes to DL depending on traffic.

SNA and ONT are pretty similar in layouts, long walks between terminals, which can be an issue if you have to walk between them. SNA seems to be the easiest of the three to get in and out of. SNA is slightly behind LB for ease of rental cars (however, way more options than LB). Rental car return at ONT requires a bit of a drive and then a shuttle back to the airport. We prefer Jet Blue over Southwest when it works out for flight times, their planes are way more comfortable and usually have way more entertainment options.
 
So just an update: we did use this airport last week and it wasn’t really a bad airport at all. Easy going through TSA (but truthfully always is with Precheck), my daughter liked the tarmac idea but my husband hated the steps, short walk to the gate which was nice. But unfortunately we will probably not use this airport again as we were not impressed with Jet Blue at all and we don’t fly Southwestern since we can’t pick seats. Maybe one day if a flight from American is cheaper here than lax.
 
So just an update: we did use this airport last week and it wasn’t really a bad airport at all. Easy going through TSA (but truthfully always is with Precheck), my daughter liked the tarmac idea but my husband hated the steps, short walk to the gate which was nice. But unfortunately we will probably not use this airport again as we were not impressed with Jet Blue at all and we don’t fly Southwestern since we can’t pick seats. Maybe one day if a flight from American is cheaper here than lax.


Hi, I just searched for this topic as we are flying into Long Beach with Jet Blue in November, also our first time. May I ask what you did not enjoy about Jet Blue?
 
We love Long Beach airport and we love flying JetBlue! It is a small airport, everything is right there, but they have been remodeling it and it is so pretty. It's been a few years since we flew into there, so I don't know if the luggage carousel situation has changed. I don't remember a person bringing the bags out. Seems like they came out on the carousel. Personally, the outdoor (covered and like 3/4 enclosed) baggage claim is part of its charm. What is more Southern California than walking off the plane on an outdoor ramp and picking up your luggage from an outdoor baggage carousel? And it is never busy, in our experience. SNA is a little closer, and seems to have more flights, but if we find a good time and fare on JetBlue into Long Beach, we definitely choose that. Plus, JetBlue has screens on the back of every seat and the best snacks! :-)
 
Personally I have found Jet Blue to be highly variable. When I've flown them cross country (SFO-JFK) it was great- plane was very nice, awesome snacks (and beverages) that you can help yourself to, great infotainment system etc. But when I flew them on a shorter trip (OAK to LGB) the experience was very different. Plane was more cramped and grungy, snack/beverage service was traditional and didn't have any particularly special options. I can't remember if there weren't any seat back screens or if they were so old as to be unusable but either way was not impressive.

None of that would make me not fly JetBlue again as it wasn't really that different from plenty of other airlines out there (I fly a lot for work on a variety of different carriers. I had an awful American plane/experience two weeks ago on my return leg, for example, but had a really a nice one on my outbound leg) but the difference between the two experiences was striking. JetBlue went, for me, from a bit above the rest for domestic airlines to pretty much the same as everyone else. I think that's one mark in Southwest's favor- their's is a pretty consistent experience. There are ways to ensure you are "head of the line" and get to be first on board and effectively pick your seats but even without those I've never had an issue getting a satisfactory seat on SWA both flying solo or with the family.
 
Mostly what we did not like was the entertainment portion. Out of our 4 seats only 1 screen worked and only 1 headjack worked (not the same screen and headjack) both times. They told everyone who complained about this that “don’t worry we have Wifi just watch it on your device” well then turns out their WiFi was down the entire trip (both times) so we could only use our downloaded movies/shows. We didn’t push to hard on downloading any for our daughter though (she had like 2 short shows downloaded) because hey they have WiFi and a screen and she’s the one we have to keep entertained on trips. They also had no plug ins to charge your own devices. It’s very hard to be stuck in an airplane for a few hours and have nothing to do at all. It also just seemed very rowdy with young kids more than we are use to (my husbands seat got kicked for 4 hours straight) probably because nobody could keep them entertained and quiet at 8am.


Hi, I just searched for this topic as we are flying into Long Beach with Jet Blue in November, also our first time. May I ask what you did not enjoy about Jet Blue?
 
We’ve flown Southwest before and did like it. The problem we have right now is we can’t 100% choose our seats and my teen daughter has to sit with me or my husband due to neurological issues. Last time we booked with them we even made it aware that she needed to be preseated with my husband (the way they told us to do it to guarantee she sits with one of us) and they denied it at the gate because she was fine that day. But when she has a seizure and is confused for hours and doesn’t even know it it’s a safety risk. So we’ve stopped flying with them

Personally I have found Jet Blue to be highly variable. When I've flown them cross country (SFO-JFK) it was great- plane was very nice, awesome snacks (and beverages) that you can help yourself to, great infotainment system etc. But when I flew them on a shorter trip (OAK to LGB) the experience was very different. Plane was more cramped and grungy, snack/beverage service was traditional and didn't have any particularly special options. I can't remember if there weren't any seat back screens or if they were so old as to be unusable but either way was not impressive.

None of that would make me not fly JetBlue again as it wasn't really that different from plenty of other airlines out there (I fly a lot for work on a variety of different carriers. I had an awful American plane/experience two weeks ago on my return leg, for example, but had a really a nice one on my outbound leg) but the difference between the two experiences was striking. JetBlue went, for me, from a bit above the rest for domestic airlines to pretty much the same as everyone else. I think that's one mark in Southwest's favor- their's is a pretty consistent experience. There are ways to ensure you are "head of the line" and get to be first on board and effectively pick your seats but even without those I've never had an issue getting a satisfactory seat on SWA both flying solo or with the family.
 
Mostly what we did not like was the entertainment portion. Out of our 4 seats only 1 screen worked and only 1 headjack worked (not the same screen and headjack) both times. They told everyone who complained about this that “don’t worry we have Wifi just watch it on your device” well then turns out their WiFi was down the entire trip (both times) so we could only use our downloaded movies/shows. We didn’t push to hard on downloading any for our daughter though (she had like 2 short shows downloaded) because hey they have WiFi and a screen and she’s the one we have to keep entertained on trips. They also had no plug ins to charge your own devices. It’s very hard to be stuck in an airplane for a few hours and have nothing to do at all. It also just seemed very rowdy with young kids more than we are use to (my husbands seat got kicked for 4 hours straight) probably because nobody could keep them entertained and quiet at 8am.
I don't want to discount your experience, but I'd use it as a "lesson learned" and just have the content downloaded before you get on the plane and bring external battery packs. Jet Blue and Southwest are both awesome compared to the competition, and flying into LGB is a dream compared to LAX.
 
We’ve obviously have had very different experiences. We usually have stuff downloaded but not always. We also don’t want to use up all of our battery packs when we have a full day also planned and need battery packs for that and no I don’t want to bring multiple of battery packs for each person. My husband has flown Jet Blue before and was not 100% happy with it either but it was our first time together. Southwestern can never guarantee my daughter will be with one of us therefore it’s a no go because if she has a seizure it’s a huge safety risk for her. We’ve tried the preboard with a medical condition before but they denied my husband boarding with her because “she was fine” and a teenager but then makes the preboarding useless as she needs a parent with her.

We did have a short wait at LGB but we also had to stand outside and so if it’s hot or wet that would never be fun. We’ve had positive experiences with both Alaska and American and have never waited in line more than 10 minutes at LAX (we have precheck that we usually use but not always).

This was just how our personal experience went others may be different but this was ours.

I don't want to discount your experience, but I'd use it as a "lesson learned" and just have the content downloaded before you get on the plane and bring external battery packs. Jet Blue and Southwest are both awesome compared to the competition, and flying into LGB is a dream compared to LAX.
 
I wanted to clarify we had to stand outside to get our luggage and if it was hot or wet it would not be fun waiting almost 20 minutes for luggage
 

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