As for LAX, I have regular work in Riverside and I take the change to ONT rather than flying to LAX NS.
I have customers in three locations, Dallas/Chicago/Houston, in which I have to drive right past the big airport to get to my customer. I generally can fly into DAL/MDW/HOU, get off the plane and get my luggage, get a rental car and drive by the big airport quicker than I can get out of the big airport with my rental car. On the way home it is even more important. At ORD, you can spend an hour stuck in traffic watching planes land before you actually start towards your destination. The difference is that those three airports are direct or NS for me.
One of the great unsung benefits of WN is the routes they run into smaller airports.