Choosing an airport
 

My daughter and I are going to visit my mom and dad in Sept. They live in the San Gabriel Valley. Their airport of choice to pickup and dropoff is BUR and they do not like LAX at all. I always fly QX and right now there are some good prices to LGB. Last time I flew LGB was over 20 years ago and I remember it as a sleepy little airport with easy parking and access. Is it still the same? Also I may be doing Saturday flights so traffic may be less of an issue but are traffic considerations generally about the same. They live between the 10 and 210. Also, I saw LGB has valet. My dad has some walking issues is the valet worthwhile or is parking fairly close.

Any thoughts anyone has would be great. Except I really don't want to do ONT. With my luck we'd end up stuck on the 10 for hours, even with the lure of The Yard House it is not my first choice.

Hello Yukira,

I also live in the San Gabriel Valley. ONT is a great airport, but eastbound on the 10 on a weekend and weekday evening can be horrendous. Otherwise I prefer it to BUR because it's newer and there's always plenty of parking close to the terminal.

I haven't flown into LGB in a long time, but it's a nice little airport. However, I don't particularly like driving the 710 to get there. There's lots of truck traffic due to the ports and they were doing some major construction work that required detours. Don't know if that has been completed yet.

As my handle suggests, I love LAX. I know it can be quite overwhelming to people with so many airlines and traffic, but fares are generally cheaper and it's so much faster to get there if you use the 110 to 105 carpool lanes.

I can suggest two options out of LAX. One is the Flyaway Bus to Union Station. It's $7 and very convenient. From Union Station, walk to the other end of the station and take the Metro Gold Line for $1.25. The Gold Line takes you into the Pasadena area. I usually take it to the end of the line where there is a parking structure that is free.

The other option I have used is to have people meet me at the Proud Bird Restaurant at 111th and Aviation just outside of LAX. You can take the Lot B long term parking shuttle bus. The restaurant is next door. They have great food, parking is free and it's easy to get to.

You didn't mention how old your daughter is, so I don't know if you're going to have your hands full, in which the above options may be a little too much to handle.

Thanks for your input. My daughter is only 4 so your suggestions for LAX may be a bit overwhelming for me. Usually when we do LAX my brother is able to come get us and drop us at his house in Gardena and my mom and dad meet us there, but since they stopped doing the nonstop from EUG to LA on QX we haven't had much incentive to do LAX. The other thing I like about BUR is the super short security lines and I have found BUR TSA to be fairly friendly and really helpful with my daughter was just an infant.

I am going to check ONT again but may end up paying the extra for Burbank because I like the 11 am departure time better. Thanks again. Can't wait to get back home. Just sorry I will be there too early for the fall meet at Santa Anita.

You don't enjoy the ambiance of a 79 year old main terrminal building? ;)

In the end, it's what your parents will be comfortable with. Familiarity with a place always brings the anxiety level down. Maybe they'll be OK with driving to LGB. For me, however, after commuting to the port area for 3 years, I was so glad my drive no longer involved being surrounded by large container trucks. When I have extra time, I now usually take a slight detour and use the 605 instead of the 710 to get to Long Beach.

Santa Anita is a magical place. Racing at the Pomona Fairgrounds in September doesn't quite compare. But the fair is always fun.

You shouldn't have much port traffic on the 710 on a Saturday. However, to avoid the 710, you can always take the 605 to LGB. Just come down and exit at Spring and go west for a couple of miles.

In/Out access to LGB is even easier than BUR. There's also a cell phone waiting lot across Lakewood Bl.