AH! Thanks, didn't know ITA had that feature. Will certainly check it out.

Wexflyer
I believe in my heart of hearts LAX to Europe should be cheaper, and LAX is not much further from where I live in north SAN, but the fares ex SAN or LAX are almost identical. SNA and CLB are even higher.

One of the cheapest fares I found today was SAN-SFO-LAX- codeshare on Alaska, or SAN-SJU-LAX on American Eagle then on to Europe or the east coast. Like I want to spend an extra 3-4 hours before starting the real part of the trip.

AA has apparently eliminated most of the SAN-LAX-SFO flights and now relies on Alaska direct flights, SAN-SFO. Sounds good until you notice the miles you don't get and the AC lounges that aren't there.

The result is, there are very few SAN-LAX flights these days, and one could wait at LAX for 3-5 hours before getting a commuter flight back to SAN. So flying out of SFO may be the way to go.....