dennyzrh

Hi folks,

I need a little suggestion for our next trip

We arrived with BA285 at 1:55PM on Monday at SFO and fly out with AA271 from LAX to OGG on Wednesday at 11AM.
Our plan in first place was to go with Amtrak`s Coast Starlight on Tuesday. But after studying the latest reviews, there`re only offer microwaved food, which is also often out of stock and there`re often hours late. So we abandoned this plan.

Another idea is to rent a car and drive down. We make a few trips on PCH, but always we had bad luck that the stretch between Big Sur and San Simeon was closed (due to Bixby Bridge, a slide or wildfire) when we were there. I think we can easily make it to Carmel for a night stop on Monday. On Tuesday we would start before sunrise and plan with a few stops to arrive for Lunch in San Louis Obispo or Pismo Beach. After Lunch we take 101-405 to our LAX Hotel and return the car. With a 6am departure in Carmel, we will arrive easily at 6 or 7pm at LAX I think.

comfy plan is to fly down on Monday eve and hang up a day in LA.

what do you guys think about this? Is it worth to drive down the PCH or the better way to fly?

Thanks and best regards

TWA884

PCH is a spectacular drive, however, what time of year are you considering driving from San Francisco to LAX? There have not been any closures since April 2021.

dlaue

Or, you could fly to San Diego and rent a one-way car to LAX. Stay the night in San Diego or Laguna Beach, then drive to LAX and catch your flight to Maui.

If you fly to LAX, you will still need a car to do anything in Los Angeles.

22calbr

I’d be wary of driving that many hours due to jet lag / irregular sleep. What’s stopping you from bringing along a “picnic” for Amtrak? Otherwise fly and rest up for the flight to Hawaii

LAX2Anywhere

Fly down.

I have done the drive between the Bay Area and LA MANY times on different routes. Your time frame is either too short or too long, depending on how you look at it. Too short if you really want to enjoy the trip, especially along the coast. Too long if your only goal is to get there.

dennyzrh

sure, we arrive at SFO 2/28 and fly out LAX 3/2

I be mostly concerned about delays. There‘re several reports about 3-4 Hour late arrivals at LA Union. Normaly it’s a 12,5h ride with an 9PM arrival

When we fly down, we want to stay in San Francisco. Is it possible to go with AA2891 dep. 8:01am SFO, arr. 9:37am LAX for a 11:01am connection to AA271? Or is it too short

TWA884

That's during the rainy season in California. Most of the closures on PCH are due to mud and rock slides caused by heavy rains. The last closure was from January to April of last year.

Both of those flights are mainline. The domestic to domestic minimum connection time published by AA for LAX is 40 minutes, so you are well above it. Today, AA2891 arrives at Gate 49B and AA271 departs from Gate 46C; these are less than a five minutes walk apart.

That being said, there are several caveats. First, if you have luggage, AA will check your bags through from SFO to OGG only if both flights are on the same ticket or PNR. If they are not, you will have to retrieve your bags and recheck them at LAX; that can easily add a minimum of 30-45 minutes and that does not factor in the time that it will take you to re-clear TSA security.

Second. That's the rainy season in California. Due to inadequate runway separation at SFO, takeoffs and landings are substantially reduced in poor visibility and during inclement weather. That can result in long delays and cancellations. Short haul flights are the first ones to be affected, as long haul flights receive priority. If you are on one ticket, AA will protect you on a later flight to OGG, there is a second one at 5:19 pm. If you are on separate tickets, you will be accommodated on a later flight on a standby basis.

Those are questions for which you will get better advice on the AA board.

Have a great trip!

dennyzrh

many thanks!

SFO-LAX will be on another Ticket and yes, we‘ve luggage. So we need to fly down on the evening before. complicated

We put our routing to SFO, because to LAX or SAN was no First-Award availiability with BA at the time of booking.

Hornetcoach

If it were my trip, I would get a hotel near SFO on Monday night, fly to LAX Tuesday morning, hotel at one of the beaches from Santa Monica down to Redondo Beach for Tuesday night. Figure out whether rental car would be cheaper than taxi for LA.

guv1976

Is AA271 a cash ticket? An award ticket? In either case, have you considered cancelling that ticket, and rebooking SFO-LAX-OGG on a single ticket so that you wouldn't have to overnight near LAX? (Check prices for a new ticket first, of course.)

dennyzrh

We make the decision, to fly down to San Diego with AS on Feb 28 and take the Pacific Surfliner on Mar 1 to get to LA.

USA_flyer

I've used the Surfliner. It's relatively easy to buy tickets from an automatic machine in the train station downtown, queues for window service can take a long time. Give yourself plenty of time to join the queue to get onto the train, it's a bit of a free for all finding a seat. The earlier you join the queue, the more likely it is you will get a seat.

I didn't eat while on the train so can't comment on the food service. Other passengers used it and seemed reasonably happy though.

if you sit on the left side of the train you'll have ocean views, on the right side of the train, cities, roads, hills.

its a pleasant way to travel to L.A.