Which airline is best for Orange County (SNA)/NY?
 

Sorry if this post is overly vague, or in the wrong forum. I really appreciate this website and have been reading it a lot. Thank you in advance for any help.

I am asking for help in picking an airline loyalty program to focus on. I currently have not committed to any airline. However, I will be soon traveling often between Orange County/NY-Metro and now I think it makes sense to start traveling smarter.

Basically I am a current NY'er. I am moving to Newport Beach area. I will be flying I imagine 10-15x a year between Orange County airport and East Coast. I imagine 60% of East Coast flights will be into LGA/JFK, 20% into Newark (EWR), and 20% into Washington DC (DCA). It could be less than 10 flights, or as many as 24 flights.. I'm not sure yet as this whole routine will be new (I figure 10-15x is realistic/conservative target). I will also take probably an additional 3-4 domestic flights a year (e.g. Miami, Vegas etc.) and at least 1 international flight a year. I will be living in California I imagine for at least the next two years, and could be there 3-5 pretty easily.

In terms of Orange County, I cannot find an accurate source of which the largest carriers are. Meaning, the airport website does not provide a traffic breakdown by carrier, so I am not sure which the "big carriers" are there. I think, but am not sure, that the 2 big ones are Continental and AA.

I am currently AAGold, largely a result of AA granting me bonus miles on a flight they screwed me up on. This may be expiring March 2010 if I read this forum correctly. On AA I have 50K or so lifetime miles? I have no other elite status on any other airline (I think I have 45K or so lifetime miles on Continental).

I spend $50-75K annually on an AMEX membership rewards card using a Gold Card, but do not have any specific affinity linked card. I currently have 50K or so Rewards Points which I can convert into miles (although if I read the forum correctly, these points cannot be used for access to mileage programs).

I am more interested in seat upgrades vs. using miles for free tickets. Although of course being able to use miles is important to me as well. Also, I try to only take non-stop flights (unless there is a critical trip I must make and non-stop fares are just too prohibitive).

FWIW, I do appreciate the carrier. E.G., if all things were equal and I had to choose between AA/Continental vs. a US Airways.. I would go with the AA/Continental.

Thanks again in advance for any help/advice.

SNA might not give you great options. The only trans-con non-stop is into EWR on Continental. And depending where you are going in NYC, that might not be very convenient. If you're willing to make a stop, you could go to JFK via DFW/IAH/ATL/MSP/ORD/DTW depending on airline preference.

Obviously LAX has lots of non-stop options, but Newport->LAX can be a pretty crappy drive.

Also check out Long Beach (LGB) - JetBlue has a non-stop into JFK from there. Obviously they're not a legacy carrier so miles are a completely different beast, but the option is there.

Wow I goofed. I had checked AA site for SNA->NYC and failed to realize all the flights that showed up were connections. I thought I had a lot more options than I really do. The one time I flew out there it was Continental via the Newark option, and it was represented to me that Newark made sense because I had to go to NJ afterwards. I assumed that meant I had more options than I apparently do...

SNA has severe noise restrictions and this limits the destinations that SNA serves. The positive is that the airport does not have the long lines of LAX and parking is a lot easier. If given a choice, I would always take a connection out of SNA than having to drive and go through the hassles of LAX.

I also read on this website two other posts/themes:

1) Getting Transcon upgrades generally or into EWR is tougher than other routes

2) and that SNA "seems to be its own little bubble where many F seats are purchased outright and the rest goto mile upgrade - seems no one gets upped." This was from a Continental forum.

So not only is there very limited Transcon service out of SNA, but what little exists (e.g., Continental) is very tough to get upgraded on. And my Gold on AA will just disappear..

Sounds like I am flying coach for a while...?

I spoke to a travel agent in Orange County area. Below is what I learned about SNA airport. I think I will need to focus on two carriers.. and I think that will be Continental (for non-stop into EWR) and probably AA (for connections, and since I am already Gold). Although now I think about it.. UAL and Continental are in same loyalty program right.. so perhaps I should do UAL instead of AA..

EWR
- Continental is only non-stop
- Usually 2-3 flights a day (an AM and PM/Redeye flight)
- No afternoon/late afternoon flights

LaGuardia
- No-non stops from West Coast (regional airport)
- Plenty of connections into it

JFK
- Non-stop from LAX (1 hr drive from Orange County)
- Non-stop from Longbeach via JetBlue (?30 min drive?)

DCA
- No nonstops

I asked agent which route was most popular. Said there was no most popular/rational decision. A lot of folks go for the EWR non-stop if they can, while others prefer connections or even the LAX route.

So my conclusion is that I will ultimately need to use multiple carriers. So figure go with Continental for non-stops into EWR and another carrier for connecting flights that Continental doesn't offer. And maybe this will evolve where I consider using JetBlue or Southwest for other flights.

??? :confused:

How do the noise restrictions affect the destinations that can be served from SNA?

I have done the LGB-JFK route on JetBlue and personally that would be my preference in your shoes.

No nonstops to DCA from SNA but Alaska operates one flight per day in each direction between DCA and LAX. Currently the schedule is:

AS 6: dep. LAX 1:08pm, arr. DCA 8:59pm
AS 5: dep. DCA 9:15am, arr. LAX 12:07pm

If you think you'll need two airlines, then your point about using UA and CO is a good one. Pick one of the two airlines and collect your miles for flights on both into one program. That should give you lots of choices for flights to NY and DC.

You mentioned an international flight - if that is to Asia, UA certainly has the most options of the carriers you've mentioned.

Here's a good choice.
 

ShanShan,

I would suggest NWA/DL. I live in Minneapolis and use them almost exclusively. You could EASILY qualify in segments each year with about 7 connecting transcon roundtrip flights (30 segments, 4/RT). Also, MSP and DTW are excellent connecting airports on NWA/DL. Rarely are flights delayed through those airports due to local issues, it is almost always something on the far end. The amount of lounges and the quality of the restaurants is high and connections are generally easy to make.

The flights are generally on A319/A320/757's and the gates for those planes are in one concorse at MSP and DTW. Upgrades should be relatively easy to get as well on those segments.

Other than that, Continental is generally pretty good, but avoid EWR at all costs as it is the 7th circle of delay hell.

Tough to beat UA PS from LAX
 

I live near SNA and try to avoid LAX whenever possible. That being said, with Valet parking lots, premium check in and premium security lines, it is often worth it to aviod a connection through ORD, DFW, etc., which have the potential for delays or missed connections.

UA's PS service LAX to JFK is the best flying experience I've had in a long time. No standard coach, just ecomony +, business and 1st. UA should match your AA status as well, with some flight mileage criteria to keep status.
If this is an option to NY for you, it would be worth the drive to LAX for me.

It's also because sna has a cap which is around 11 to 12 million passengers a year which limits flights

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Wow, the thread title seems very misleading! This thread seems to be about OC, CA, not about Orange County, NY (SWF).

Op, am I confused? If so, educate me; if not, please edit the thread title.

not as convient is LAX-IAD UA which is *A as is CO