WendyJD

We are travelling to Oceanside, CA on March 3 thru March 10. The flights to SAN which is our perferred airport are $525 right now. I've heard the traffic would be better traveling from SAN to Oceanside and there would be more to do as we would be spending our last day before flying out in the city we fly out of.. The ticket price to SNA is $279.70. Why such a price difference? Is the traffic from SNA that much worse than from SAN ? Please HELP. We're coming from Milwaukee, WI

Git-er-dun

I'd go through SNA and save the money. It's only an extra hour to drive and you are going away from LA traffic.

hyflyer

On a Saturday (March 3), the difference should be no more than an extra 20 to 30 minutes coming from SNA versus from SAN. Same on the March 10th which is a Saturday.

If you were doing something during the week, then I would maybe consider SAN, but on a Saturday I would definitely go with the significantly cheaper fare.

WillTravel4Food

To make a specific recommendation it is necessary to know when you would be arriving. I've done the SNA and LAX drive to San Diego. If you arrive outside of the weekday rush hours, you should be fine. I would opt for SNA. The drive to Oceanside should be under 1.5 hours if you time it right. Time it wrong and you could be looking at 3+ hours.

From SAN will also depend on arrival time and rush hour. I would estimate the drive to be 30-45 minutes. Rush hour could push it over an hour.

All things considered, I don't think the time saved is worth the higher cost.

I can't explain the higher fares into SAN. They're pretty common though.

The other consideration will be the cost of a rental car. Last week I had a rental car out of LAX at $100 for four days. SAN rental cars can vary. I've had really good and really bad rates.

WendyJD

I should have given more info, sorry. We are staying in whatever city we fly into until Sunday AM then driving to Oceanside, and driving back to whatever city we fly out of on Friday sometime. We will be in a timeshare until and have to be out by 10 AM on Friday morning. We will drive back to SNA or SAN and return the car and then stay overnight and fly out on Saturday AM.

glbetrotter

Know the area quite well, so my 2c: the driving distance difference between SNA/Oceanside vs. SAN/Oceanside is about 10 miles. Driving time is nearly the same. On a Sun morning, your drive will not take more than an hour from SNA (unless there is an accident or something unusual). In short, driving time is pretty much not a consideration. Driving back on Friday morning/day should be fine too. Late afternoons/evenings are worse, but not disastrous (even if you choose to spend the day after you check out from your condo in San Diego North County; the coastline is beautiful all the way to Orange County, easy to kill the day just enjoying it before you check in to your hotel near SNA). If car rental prices are not prohibitively high at SNA, I would go with it. I love SAN airport, but cant really justify the additional cost in your situation. Enjoy, the weather has been gorgeous here!

And welcome to FT!

WendyJD

On Sunday and on Friday what are the times of day to avoid being on the road for high traffic? We can travel anytime.

jrl767

all the rental cars at SAN are a shuttle bus ride from/to the terminal, whereas at SNA the major agencies are in the garage immediately across the street ... this can save 15-30 min both coming and going (although 3/3 and 3/10 are both Sat, so probably not that much of an issue)

if time is less of a consideration than money, you might look into picking up the rental car in the Disneyland area and returning it to SNA ... shuttle van service to the hotels is about $15, but you will save about $50 in airport surcharges ... last fall I got a Sebring convertible for a week at one of the Anaheim locations on a promotional rate for about $15 less than my corporate contract rate at SNA or SAN ...

glbetrotter

Driving South on Sundays, traffic has been somewhat unpredictable lately. Mornings are fine, late morning/around noon may get a little congested around San Clemente, but you should be fine most of the day, no really high traffic.

Driving North, Friday late afternoon/evenings have been pretty brutal. I would probably try to leave not later than 3 pm.

Neither day is a horrible drive, but if you need to be somewhere at a certain time, I would budget extra 15-20 minutes, just in case of any surprises ...

WillTravel4Food

Leaving Oceanside at 10AM Friday morning will be no problem heading to either airport. You will have plenty of time to explore the coast heading north if going to SNA. Capistrano and Dana Point are exceptional.

pdog02

Where is the timeshare? If its closer to SAN , take the Coaster to Oceanside

slidergirl

Usually I try to avoid driving with rush hour traffic 7-10am and 3-7pm. There is that large population of folks living in South Orange County that will be commuting during those times. If you do fly in/out of SNA, there are plenty of decent hotels right by the airport for you to choose from.

itsaboutthejourney

Agree with the advice here, just making sure that in this situation OP does NOT consider LAX or LGB as then they are ripe for serious traffic issues & time on the road. SNA is a fine airport, easy in/out and lately some good fares.

mkt80

There is another reason to avoid SAN that nobody has mentioned: the security lines can be very horrible. The least amount of time I have spent on the security line is 45min. In fact, there has never been a time where the security agents didn't call my flight and let me pass to the front of the line (along with another 50 people). Although you might not miss your flight, it's not only tiring it's also extremely stressful.

So IMO that alone is a good enough reason to not use SAN - or at least depart from it. Also the price difference obviously

WendyJD

The timeshare is right in Oceanside, it is Wyndham Oceanside Pier Resort. My only concern on taking the Coaster, I did consider it, was then we have no car to travel and get groceries and go out to eat go sight seeing etc.