Consolidated "Best/cheapest/most reliable way to get from SAN-LAX or LAX-SAN" thread
 

Because of allowing time for security, flying does not seem the way to get from a meeting in LA to one in San Diego. And I don't want to drive. What kind of options are there, busses, car services, trains, ... ? The LA meeting is at the Westin, maybe even the airport one, the San Diego meeting will be in the Mission Bay area.

Suggestions, please

Sylvia

Assuming you are at the LAX Westin, I would fly, more so if you have carry on. If you have luggage, is more of a pain.

It is harder in the AM, otherwise, not so bad as I think security is cooling down a bit. However, checking luggage now is gonna be a major pain!

I have always rented a car to go to San Diego. The fares used to be dirt cheap but
now they are insane. Southwest doesn't fly it, so they charge as much to go to Seattle, crazy. I would rent a car to save the wear and tear on my car, and would have to go near LAX, Long Beach, or Orange County Airports on the way, as all 3 are directly on the routing to San Diego. While LAX may be cheaper, more cars, more options, etc., it is way longer, more hassle. ( I used to be able to get free parking at LAX)

The train-Amtrak, is out of the way, as the station is downtown or Orange County, Anaheim I think. They really do need a station out on the Westside, near LAX, or Torrance, etc...

Buses, same thing, downtown... (YUCK! http://www.flyertalk.com/airports/ft...orum/smile.gif sorry )

If you have the money and if time is an issue, I would fly.

Also with renting a car, in case you don't know, we have some of the worst traffic anywhere, and it can take hours going down. Normally, with good traffic, it takes about 2 hours(from the LAX area to SD), but on a Friday afternoon, stupid I know, http://www.flyertalk.com/airports/ft...orum/smile.gif, it took about 4. Saturday it is insane. Hope this helps.

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MD
AA PLT,1 MLN Miles+
Hilton Gold
Sheraton Gold

From LAX to SAN and back
 

We need to find transportation means from LAX to SAN on Dec 27 pm and back on Dec 31 pm, for two adults and two children, at a reasonable cost. Please anybody out there who can advise. http://www.flyertalk.com/airports/ft...forum/cool.gif

I'd hazard a guess that renting a car would be a wquick and convenient option.

I agree, that renting would be the best option. Sometimes Enterprise has holiday/weekend specials.

Have to agree with the car rental. We have rented in San Diego and driven to LAX to catch flights several times. It's a two hour trip. We are driving to LAX and parking the car to fly to LHR on Christmas. Too bad public transportation in Southern California is abysmal. You could take AMTRAK to San Diego and back, but first you have to get from LAX to Union Station. I would defer to another FTer for an assessment of that.

How about a limousine/van service from LAX to SAN for four persons?

I would venture to say that Limo/Van service would be very expensive, and probably comparable to flying. I know that it is about $20- OW on SuperShuttle to Anaheim, so I would say it would be at least $75-$100 to go all the way to SAN. I would rent a car and drive it...

SAN-LAX r/t
 

I'm taking a flight out of LAX and am looking for the best way to do SAN-LAX r/t. Wednesday outbound, Saturday return.
My return schedule is very tight, so I've considered flying the LAX-SAN segment (there is no pricing disadvantage to buying a one-way fare). However, $140 is still more money than I'd like to spend for a 30 minute flight. I looked into AAdvantage availability, but none of the times worked for me. I can't do Hotwire or Priceline because I need specific flight times. I'm hoping that UA might have a web special that weekend (as they do for the next two weekends), because I could buy a round-trip for $108 and do TAT. I also have a UA $25 cert, but I think it can only be applied to fares of $150 or more.

My current plan is Amtrak to Union Station and a cab to/from LAX It's $20 each way for the train and $40 for the cab working out to $120 round-trip. If I can make it work, I'll take the Metro one-way to save the cab fare.

I can't rent a car because I'm not 21 yet.

Any ideas/thoughts? Thanks.

Are there not any limo/van services from LA to San Diego? We will be several people and many bags, so we would have to rent two large rental cars.

Any ideas?

Consolidated "Best/cheapest/most reliable way to get from SAN-LAX or LAX-SAN" thread
 

Hi All

I'm trying to get from SAN to LAX for an international flight on the 11th of Dec WITHOUT spending $400 for 2 people to make that super short flight. Do I rent a car in SAN and return in LAX??? Do I take the train to someplace close and then taxi to the airport? Do I shuttle from SAN to LAX?

Your help is very much appreciated.

Thanks!
Tofoi

National tends to be reasonable for one-way rentals -- but the problem with anything ground is that you're at the mercy of the freeway. The biggest benefit of paying the price for the prop flight SAN-LAX is that you may get to check in @ SAN, which can't be worse than checking in @ LAX, especially if you're at TBIT.

If you have TONS of time (and patience) and light baggage, you could always use public transport (bus/amtrak/light rail) but as the Amtrak fare by itself is USD 32 for each person, the car comes out cheaper (by a considerable amount, actually).

Therefore, the one-way rental is the obvoius choice. One good thing is that a portion of your journey can use the relatively new toll road (Route 73) in Orange County - this has a relatively low charge (no more than USD 4) and will save time.

The trick is to allow PLENTY of extra time. If you get lucky and encounter no significant delays, celebrate your upcoming international trip by having lunch before refueling and dropping off the car. :)

So we're going to rent a car and drive up to LAX and then on the return take a cab from LAX to Amtrak and take the train down, since we'd be heading out of LAX in prime traffic time .. 4:40ish.

Thanks!
Tofoi

Doesn't Amtrak go out of Union Station? If you have to go through rush hour downtown to catch Amtrak, you may as well do another 1-way rental & drive to San Diego cuz you're certainly not saving any time doing downtown & then the train vs. driving, even in rush hour. Cheers. Sharon