Airfare prices [NYC] to Los Angeles

Hello, I am planning a trip to Disneyland during presidents week (NY Students are off that entire week) and I am trying to figure out if the current fare of $410 per person is a good deal. I am flying from NYC to LAX 2/13/15 - 2/21/15 and would appreciate all advice.

Trudy

Check flying into Orange County airport. It's much closer to Disneyland. I know Southwest flies that route, their prices might be less. However, SW isn't booking that far out yet.

You also might want to check Jet Blue, which I believe flies into Long Beach. Farther than Orange County, but closer than LAX.

I just checked those dates for Jet Blue and the price you quoted is less.

$400 coast to coast is not far from as good as it gets.

To get cheaper you are on the redEye and other antisocial flight times.
If the carrier and the timing us right I would book it.

Southwest flies into Orange County, but from LaGuardia, and it isn't non-stop. The Feb. prices aren't out yet.

Jim

Right now it seems $400rt is about normal. I just paid $199 one-way LAX-MCO for a meeting, and about the same returning from another east coast city. I agree with the earlier comment about jetBlue, and don't forget they include one bag free...


Sent from my iPad

Ken555 said:

Right now it seems $400rt is about normal. I just paid $199 one-way LAX-MCO for a meeting, and about the same returning from another east coast city. I agree with the earlier comment about jetBlue, and don't forget they include one bag free...


Sent from my iPad

Click to expand...

However, the fares for Jet Blue for the dates the OP wants are currently higher than what she quoted. So what she's got is the best price currently.

The only thing I'd suggest is also pricing flights into Orange County as that is much closer to Disneyland.

Luanne said:

However, the fares for Jet Blue for the dates the OP wants are currently higher than what she quoted. So what she's got is the best price currently.



The only thing I'd suggest is also pricing flights into Orange County as that is much closer to Disneyland.

Click to expand...

Prices change, especially this far out from travel. I wouldn't buy until later this year at earliest.


Sent from my iPad

LA airfares

Thanks everyone for all the input. I am strongly considering purchasing now because I am not a gambler, but my husband says wait. I just wanted to get a feel of what others who travel that way thought. However, I will look into other nearby airports.

Thanks for all the help.

Trudy

LA airfare cost

I checked the Orange County airport and for the 4 of us it's a little under $1,000 more. Also, Longbeach airport has no direct flights.

Trudyt623 said:

I checked the Orange County airport and for the 4 of us it's a little under $1,000 more. Also, Longbeach airport has no direct flights.

Click to expand...

Did you check Jet Blue? It looks like they have a direct flight JFK to LGB (Long Beach).

Did you try www.spirit.com?

Disclaimer: I have never used them - heard of them 2nd hand. Limited routes and schedules, but looks very inexpensive if they have scheduled flights that meet your needs.

Also, I have been playing around with https://www.google.ca/flights/ - Google does it again!!!
You can do your search with a geographical twist - you can see close by airports and pricing - or bar graphs for which days to leave. Warning, you may spend a lot of time playing with this if you have never seen it before.

I hope the above will help you (or someone else).

Best of luck finding something appropriate.

Regards,

Craig

Thanks again. I did book with Jet Blue going to Long Beach and got the same rate of $406 r/t including 1 free bag, so I saved on baggage fees and it's a shorter drive.

Also, a rental car through Costco is about $90 less when renting at LGB Vs LAX. So as always, Tuggers are always full of useful info.

Good deal. I haven't flown in or out of Long Beach, but I can guarantee it's going to be a lot easier to get in and out of than LAX. Pick up time for the car rental will probably take less time as well.

LAX has a major construction project going on right now.

I would avoid it at all costs.

A series of unrelated buildings connected by a traffic jam.

buzglyd said:

LAX has a major construction project going on right now.

I would avoid it at all costs.

A series of unrelated buildings connected by a traffic jam.

Click to expand...

Is this something that's started in the last week? I just flew into and out of LAX, and didn't experience many construction related traffic snafu's. There was a road closure that forced a minor re-route in returning our rental car, but nothing a GPS couldn't easily figure out.

Trudy,
I'm late to this thread, but I think you hit a home run with the JetBlue purchase. My daughter flies back & forth to college in the NYC area several times a year now, and she LOVES JetBlue. The seats are comfy, they have better amenities for coach (free wifi or TV in the seatbacks?), plus the 1 free checked bag.

Usually we are able to get non-stops on JetBlue or Delta (which is worth a LOT) especially in winter, when there is no shortage of weather related-problems, and missed connections. After having so many problems with connections, we do only non-stops now. Also, no more flights in or out of LaGuardia airport. Any serious weather problems (rainstorms, snow, etc.) and no flights are going to be going in or out of LaGuardia. Meanwhile, JFK still has flights taking off and landing like it's nothing. We know this because she is always flying at the worse times - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Spring Break + beginning/end of the school year.
Anything around $400 round-trip is a pretty good fare these days. We just paid $432 for her next trip back at Thanksgiving.

--- Rene

Elan said:

Is this something that's started in the last week? I just flew into and out of LAX, and didn't experience many construction related traffic snafu's. There was a road closure that forced a minor re-route in returning our rental car, but nothing a GPS couldn't easily figure out.

Click to expand...

Not sure what the current status is but LAX is getting a major facelift according to the LA Times.

LAX was built long before the current security protocols and is just horribly designed for the way it's handled now.

buzglyd said:

Not sure what the current status is but LAX is getting a major facelift according to the LA Times.

LAX was built long before the current security protocols and is just horribly designed for the way it's handled now.

Click to expand...

LAX was horrible to get in and out of even before all of the "new" security. Lived in southern California for years and if there was any other airport option, we'd take it.

Luanne,

Okay, but maybe different strokes for different folks.

We live in San Diego, but we love LAX because it is easier to get non-stop flights, and there are often cheaper airline tickets in/out of LAX. We flew to Europe in June for $200 per person less than San Diego, plus it was a non-stop flight. We parked at LAX Lot C, which has cheaper offsite parking than anything you can find near the San Diego airport.

Later this summer, we drove 2 hours from San Diego to LAX to pick up our daughter in July, and we had no problems. We parked in the short-term parking night next to the Bradley International Terminal, met her right where the passengers exit, rolled her luggage over to the parked car & off we went (slowly but surely). Yes, the traffic is always slow moving at LAX, but its that way at most airports if you're there during busy departure or landing times.

I don't find LAX all that difficult even with the construction going on. But we are in our late 50's and used to driving in San Diego's rush hour traffic congestion. If someone were in their late 70's or beyond, or not used to heavy traffic, LAX or even Los Angeles freeway traffic, might be too much for them. I just want to provide a second, alternative viewpoint, so that people would not feel that LAX is so awful that it should be avoided at all costs. Some people might feel that way, but not everyone shares that same opinion.

--- Rene

Luanne said:

Lived in southern California for years and if there was any other airport option, we'd take it.

Click to expand...

If you're not flying into SoCal from another major metropolitan area, the other options often aren't even anywhere close (cost, choice of flight times, direct flights, etc). I didn't at all mind our recent trip into/out of LAX. It was easily worth the $500+ savings in airfare to drive a few more miles. Our drive from LAX to Disneyland took about 40 minutes. Yeah, it would have been a shorter drive from SNA or LGB, but not $500 shorter.

Okay, let me clarify. I grew up in Glendale, then spent a lot of my adult life in Orange County.

We used LAX when it was the most viable option. That meant for years if we were going to Hawaii. But for most other flights we'd use Burbank (when living in Glendale) or Orange County. I've also flown in and out of Ontario.

Living in the Bay Area for years we felt somewhat the same about SFO. Not as difficult to get in and out of, but still............. But again, sometimes it was the best option for direct flights.

Just my opinion of course.

Luanne,

I totally understand what you are saying. I think we are probably comparing apples and oranges here. You are thinking more about everyday flying to/from LAX as your local airport. But we are thinking more about "big trips", either in travel distance (cross country or international), or because you are buying 4 or 5 airline tickets, which often translates to a big amount of money. The airline tickets have always been the largest expense of our timeshare vacations, whether it's Hawaii, Cancun, or even a trip to the East Coast.

We are happy that both JetBlue and Delta now have non-stop flights from San Diego to JFK, and they are usually around the price as the LAX nonstops to JFK. Makes it a no-brainer to fly our college kiddo in & out of the San Diego airport. But there are some routes - Hawaii, Europe, Australia, even Cancun - where there is a huge savings because of all the airline competition into mega airports like LAX or JFK. It's also nice that Expedia has the "QLA" code for all Los Angeles airports, and "NYC" for all New York City area airports (JFK, LGA, EWR) so you can weigh "time" vs. "money" as you shop for airfares.

-- Rene

It all depends

I live in 15 from John Wayne Airport. LAX, Ontario, Long Beach and San Diego are all viable options for me.

Although John Wayne should be my most viable choice, it usually isn't. There are so many variables with rates and times of travel and to where that it takes me time to figure it out.

When I initially made my plans to go to Hawaii for this year, the best rate was coming out of San Diego. However, Delta made flight changes that affected my inter island flight so I had to fly out of LAX because I needed a non stop flight and John Wayne was not an option for that.

My son goes to college in New York as well. The closes airport for him there is JFK. However, the cheaper flights are out of La Guardia and they go to LAX. The cheapest flights are actually coming out of Newark Airport, but he's in Long Island so I don't want him to have to travel so far to catch the plane.

But what must also be taken into consideration is that if the flight cost difference is only about $25-$50, I am sticking with John Wayne because of the hassle of traffic and gas to drive and time. That's for my son only. If it's $25-$50 per person and there four of us traveling, then I have to give LAX or San Diego some consideration.