DaileyB

I will be flying to California and staying with my sister and two children in remote Northern San Luis Obispo County (from Ohio) on 12/21/17 and flying back on 1/4/2018. I have checked the fares from Monterey to LAX and they are $160 round trip, which is OK. My two children for different reasons identified in the previous thread, want to visit Hollywood. I am thinking of leaving Dec. 26 or 27 and returning on 1/1/18. I am not 100% sure that the trip to LA is feasible, but there is a good chance that it will work.

Am wondering whether the tickets now are cheap enough that I should buy them now and take the small chance that I won't make the trip or whether I should wait a day or 2 ahead of time and see if I can get cheap fares. If for some reason (less than 10% chance), I can't go to LA it won't kill me to lose the $480 although obviously, it will hurt. (Since I am staying with my sister, I am saving a lot on motels). In any event, I would appreciate thoughts on the pros and cons of buying tickets now or waiting to buy them.

TWA884

There are several apps and websites that predict the best time to buy ariline tickets:
I've tried Hopper; wasn't terribly impressed.

abmj-jr

Just remember that the drive from northern SLO to Monterey is no longer as easy as it used to be. With Highway 1 closed near Big Sur, you would have to drive out and around on 101. It is still doable, just not quite as direct.

You might also want to look into the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner.

Gardyloo

Assuming an hour to get to MRY from wherever you're staying, an hour at the airport, an hour in the air, and 90 minutes to get from the airport to Hollywood, if you drove you'd probably be halfway through your meal at Mel's Drive-in by the time you got there. Way cheaper, too.

SanDiego1K

Personally, I'd drive assuming you have a license and are comfortable with it. This way, no money is at risk. You leave when you want, you have transportation in LA, and you return when you want.

RichardInSF

Plus, the longer you rent a car for, usually the lower the price per day, especially if you shop around.

DaileyB

San Diego 1k "Personally, I'd drive assuming you have a license and are comfortable with it."

It is a 7 or 8 hour drive and would take too much time. Plus I don't like driving in mountains.

Would also add that I checked the Surfliner and it takes way too long. Something like 10 to 14 hours. However, I did use it to go from Santa Barbara to San Diego one time and I liked it.

dhuey

You wouldn't really be driving in mountains if you take US-101. That said, I think this is a close call. Gardyloo makes a good point above about all the extra time air travel can entail. Still, I would much rather waste an hour lounging in an airport terminal than driving on a highway. Same for your gate-to-gate time in the plane. Alas, LAX is such a pain these days. It's neck-and-neck between LAX and LGA for worst major USA airport.

Ultimately, this is about your personal preferences and budget. I'd opt for the flights.

Lost

If you're already in San Luis Obispo County then you're already pretty far south, especially considering the Hwy 1 closure. If you really want to fly then go out of either San Luis Obispo (SBP- nonstop to LAX), or out of Santa Maria (SMX- nonstop to BUR).

I just found $175 r/t on Mokulele SMX-BUR for your dates. BUR is also close to Hollywood. SBP-LAX is $259 on United/Skywest for your dates.

But I personally would drive. 101 isn't a terribly difficult drive (I would only consider a couple very short stretches borderline mountainous- just follow the speed limit and it's no issue), it's absolutely gorgeous, and you'll have a car when you're there. The only difficulty I've had is occasional heavy traffic in some areas after Santa Barbara (less likely for you since lots of people take that week off).

Eastbay1K

(1) $160 is a good fare to anywhere to/from MRY.
(2) Drive. You'll need a car in LA. Drive time + fly time + rental car @ LAX time, etc. will be similar, and if the weather is nice, it is a pleasant drive.

MSPeconomist

I'd drive. The car will be useful anyway and it's a beautiful drive. If you're concerned, you could plan to stop roughly halfway in someplace nice and still save money compared to three place tickets and taxi etc. fares to/from airport etc.

darthbimmer

The drive to Hollywood is a smidge over 3 hours from San Miguel, close to 4 from San Simeon (both these towns are "North San Luis Obispo County") if you time the trip to avoid traffic. Though even the worst traffic isn't going to add 4 hours to that. And as others have noted, the route along US-101, which you'd be driving most of the way, isn't particularly mountainous. I'd drive because not only is driving relatively easy, the alternatives are heinous in terms of cost and time spent.

KathyWdrf

I have to wonder how you came up with this time estimate.

dhuey

Whoa -- I somehow missed the part of how the OP would need to drive all the way up to Monterey from northern SLO county. That makes no sense. That's a little under two hours right there.

I agree with the consensus -- drive.

guv1976

I don't know exactly where you will be starting from, but Google Maps puts the drive time from SLO to Hollywood at about 3 hours, 15 minutes one way (depending on traffic, of course). You can get a week-long rental of an intermediate car from the downtown SLO Budget office for under $175, using the $25-off coupon code found on the "Deals" tab of budget.com. Not sure if there is a closer car-rental outlet to where you are staying.

Amtrak takes about 5 hours one way from SLO to Burbank.

But, of course, if you prefer to fly you, that's entirely your decision.