grteyes2

OP didn't state if taking a Dom or Int'l flight or what carrier. That said, you'd generally need to be at terminal no later than 3PM. I'd suggest leaving Irvine no later than 1PM. Would explore SNA option and if anyway feasible, I'd go that route as far less stress

hindukid

Flying southwest to Chicago. I am more than comfortable arriving airport 60 minutes before flight.

Flight from LAX is 100 minutes shorter but will I lose all that in the drive up there.

Mostly I am just wondering how long the drive is. Google says its about 45 miles. Will this take 45-60 minutes or could it be more like 2 hours plus.

edscholl

yep. 3pm on a monday "shouldn't" have traffic that's too bad, but hey, it's socal. ;D

DJ_Iceman

Like, edscholl said, this isn't really rush hour. Plus, driving north on the 405 from Irvine to LAX even at rush hour is mainly against the flow. An hour should be plenty to allow for the drive, as long as you aren't one of those types who likes to pad your times to account for unexpected delays.

Barcky

Check local freeway traffic map on the internet (http://www.latimes.com/news/traffic/) before you leave and consider whether the 405 / 605 / 105 route to LAX looks better.

napilimom

I wouldn't even consider going later than 2:30. There are too many variables, and just getting from Irvine to Huntington Beach can take 20 minutes. Traffic starts backing up very early in that area.

I second the SNA option, because why sweat it?

SoCal

You have some decent suggestions on how close you can cut things, but we don't know if there are reasons you would want to.

Yes, you could probably make your flight arriving at your terminal 1 hour before your flight, but why risk it, especially with the vagueries of L.A. traffic? You can run into unexpected delays at any hour. Plus, as you are driving you need to add the time either to return your rental car or find a parking lot for your own car. You do not state if there is a time before which you cannot leave (e.g., a meeting). Why not leave at 1 or 1:30, or even earlier, and have a relaxing lunch at LAX (e.g., at the Encounter restaurant in the middle of the airport)?

hindukid

Going to Irvine with my wife to visit her sister. trying to get as much time possible to hang out with the family on the day we return. The last flight (which arrives before midnight)out of SNA is at 2:05pm arriving at 930pm. The late flight LAX is nonstop at 510pm arriving 1100pm. Takes 100 minutes less and leaves 3 hours later. The LAX flight is also cheaper by $30 per person.

If we fly from LAX, we may get a ride, have a rental car, take public transportation, or use supershuttle. If we fly from SNA then we will just get dropped off.

So I am wondering if I should just accept the fact that 2:05 pm is the latest flight and I have to deal with a connection. Or I am wondering if I can make the LAX flight work which would hopefully give us significantly more time with the family.

azepine00

Public transport - there is no such thing..
Supershutlle - that will add an hour
Get a ride - i guess if someone owes you a big favor you can force them to come back from LAX around 5 pm

Rental car is the only option but you'll need to check on price

I would personally fly out of SNA in your situation but if you decide to go to LAX leave around 2-2:30 depending on where in Irvine you start from. Traffic starts turning unpleasant after 3 between 55 and 22 but the rest is usually OK. I had a pleasure of doing this commute routinely in the past and on the scale of LA traffic it is not too bad.

hindukid

The sister in Irvine is the one making us all fly across the country because she doesn't want to fly with kids and leave dogs at home. So as far as I'm concerned she kind of owes us a big favor.

The third sister lives in SFO. If she decides to drive then it would be pretty easy to get a ride with them. Though I would guess that they will fly.

I am thinking that I am probably going to just book both flights home. If I decide we need a rental car then probably will fly into and out of LAX. If not then will probably fly into and out of SNA.

hindukid

It seems theoretically possible to take the Orange county train to Norwalk, then transfer by bus to the green line, then green line to LAX. I'm not sure how long all this would take though.

Side question: Why didn't they extend the green line all the way to the orange county line. It looks like they are two miles apart and it would have seemed logical.

bzcat

http://www.lawa.org/welcome_LAX.aspx?id=292

Public transportation to LAX from Irvine is pretty straight forward. Get your sister in law to dropped you off at Irvine Metrolink Station and take the FlyAway Bus. It's a bit pricey but it runs like clockwork using the carpool lane on I-405.

The other thing I noticed is the OP is traveling with his wife... that means you can use the carpool lane if you have a rental car.

Supershuttle is not reliable and not recommended if time is valuable.

I would definitely leave by 3pm no matter what method of transportation you use. I-405 north bound shouldn't be very congested from Irvine but there is currently construction at the 405/605 junction and traffic backs up for about 5 minutes when there is otherwise no congestion. You will encounter heavy traffic from about Artesia Blvd (route 91) to I-105 by 4pm as you make your way closer to LAX. The early shift workers at the aerospace companies in South Bay area leave their office around 3:30pm and they generally head north towards West LA or San Fernando Valley.

Edit: I just noticed FlyAway has cut back the Irvine bus frequency significantly... oh wells...

bzcat

You can take the Green line but don't rely on OCTA or Metrolink to get your there. Ask your sister in law to drive you to Norwalk Station.

Green line ends in the middle of nowhere because it was paid for with funds from the I-105 construction so we only had enough money to build it where the freeway ends. It doesn't connect to Norwalk Metrolink station either...

crabbing

not true.

best option: flyaway bus. they recommend being on the bus two hours before departure.
2d option: metrolink to norwalk, then take the shuttle to the green line to aviation, and then take the shuttle to the airport. they don't call it the "green line to nowhere" for nothing.

azepine00

While theoretically the second option is possible (heck i can even put together a route to get me from thousand oaks to LAX by public transport), you can not seriously suggest smth of that nature to OP or any visitor to LA.

Flyaway bus actually may be an option if schedule works however it probably does not fall into public transport category (at least not any more than hotel shuttles or supershuttle etc). For two or more people rental car is gonna be competitive pricewise and offer far more flexibility though.