Option #1
Departs JAX 11:20am - one stop/no aircraft change in DEN - arrives LAX 3:45pm (travel time 7:25)

Option #2
Departs JAX 1:15pm - 1 hr 15 min connection in ATL - arrives LAS 5:20pm - 1 hr 20 min connection in LAS - arrives BUR 7:40pm (travel time 9:25)


The price is within a few dollars or ~500 points for both options. I'm really familiar with all of the airports in option #2 and can run between gates for sure, although the connection times look ok.

From what I understand, DEN is better equipped to handle major snow/ice in winter, much more so than ATL if there was a fluke storm there.

Staying on a single aircraft all the way from JAX to LAX with just one short stop at DEN would be awesome.

But, BUR is just 8 miles from home compared to 25-30 miles to LAX. It's an easier and way faster trip to BUR for the person who will be giving me a ride, plus which it's so much nicer to fly into BUR. It's obviously way more of a rat race to end up at BUR instead of LAX - it adds an extra stop with more chances of misconnects or mechanical/weather issues, not to mention the inherent hassle of boarding and deplaning three times instead of once.

So, the tradeoff is an easy flight from JAX--->LAX (assuming no weather issues in DEN with just a stop/no aircraft change) and then a hassle on the way home from LAX

OR

JAX--->ATL--->LAS--->BUR with decent connections if all goes well and then a fast ride home from BUR


I edited the OP to make it way shorter, hoping for more responses after 114 views and only 1 response. There were originally many more words and four options, now down to two after sleeping on it. nineworldseries thank you very much for taking the time to read and respond to the extremely long OP - I actually woke up this morning leaning toward flying into BUR before I even saw your response. That would give two extra hours with my parents in JAX as well.

But, a single aircraft does give less chance of things going wrong and it'd be a way nicer trip - but it's through DEN, father north/higher elevation - has anyone flown this one stop/no aircraft change through DEN before? And would anyone else be able to comment on the two options?