enviroian

and 70-90' lower than the Bay Bridge depending on east or west travel.

LaserSailor

Not as bad as living in the OC.....5 years in purgatory in the 80s....and that was in Laguna Beach! I left Tustin time......

Cargojon

Ive got the same fear. I can do most bridges, but the big ones are trouble. Chesapeake Bay bridge, for example. There is a bridge on I95 in Philly that I haven't taken in probably 5 years because thrre is a smaller bridge alternative. Its worse in bad weather.

enviroian

Same here. Is that the bridge that crosses the Delaware into Jersey?

Glad to see I'm not alone

Cardboard55

I work in technology, so I have to go to the Bay Area quite a bit. And I am in total agreement with this. I avoid SFO at all costs, despite it being quite a nice airport to spend time in. Unless I have absolutely no other options, I fly to SJC or OAK, even if it means not flying my preferred carrier. I hate WN (and I still end up flying them enough to have a well-formed opinion about it), but I would still rather fly them into SJC than suffer through what I've had happen at SFO repeatedly before I learned my lesson.

As for LAX, I honestly try to avoid that as much as I can also. I'm a little further away than Irvine, but not a lot. And I really need to allow at least 2 if not 3 hours to get there on time in case of an accident or other traffic situation. I once allowed 2 hours for the drive, which would have gotten me to the airport nearly 2 hours before my flight, and I still almost missed the flight. That was an exceptional situation, but the problem is you can't predict that kind of thing, so if you absolutely have to make a specific flight, you have to build in a huge amount of buffer. Then there's coming home at midnight after a long day of travel and the 405 is closed for construction (every night for years on end, it seems). And the whole airport is just a zoo. I do use it when I have to, but it's second only to SFO on my "avoid as much as possible" list.

Despite what others said, I love living in OC. And SNA is a nice airport (I love how fast I can breeze through security). But there are some compromises when it comes to travel.

sinoflyer

Don't like WN? Don't want to deal with all the negatives about SFO? Don't like LAX, either? I'm surprised that no one has brought up a viable compromise of sorts, B6 at LGB. In a pinch, that's my go-to alternative for LAS and SFO/OAK.

For those who've suffered through a drive on the 405 between SNA and LAX, LGB literally cuts the travel time in half. And now that the terminal renovation is complete, it is a very relaxed and business traveler-friendly airport.

Eastbay1K

LGB is a lovely airport. The issues for business travel to/from the Bay Area are (1) frequencies, and (2) alternatives with IRROPS. That said, the B6 LGB idea is immeasurably better than SFO connections or driving to LAX.

enviroian

Agreed. I just checked it out and it appears there are 3 daily flights to OAK. I'm amazed at the $147/round trip price. Other than assigned seating is there any reason I would take them over WN? I'm trying not to be snarky, just honest.

Cargojon

Maryland to Eastern Shore of Maryland.

http://www.marylandroads.com/Index.aspx?PageId=271



Also hate most of the bridges that cross the Hudson.

haddon90

that's the delaware memorial bridge

bhrubin

We live in Orange County and we fly UA most of the time--though as Lifetime Golds, we choose whatever carrier offers the best routing/schedule. Don't forget about LAX; even though we always prefer to fly out of SNA, too, sometimes we can find a better or nonstop routing from LAX that makes the annoying drive up the 405 well worth it for us. (You'll do most of your international travel out of LAX or by flying SNA-SFO to connect to onward UA international flights from SFO, I'd guess, much as we usually do.)

For West Coast travel, however, we also fly Southwest and Alaska from SNA when the trip is shorter and we don't care as much about upgrades as nonstop routing. Vegas is a no-brainer on Southwest!

Don't forget about Long Beach (LBC) airport and JetBlue! I believe JetBlue offers LBC-SMF service nonstop. LBC is just a 30 min drive without traffic, and almost always half the time/distance of LAX.

SNA is a MAJOR improvement over ORD, so either way you'll be happier (not to mention the weather!). PreCheck is swift, security moves efficiently, and getting in/out a breeze.

Eastbay1K

LBC is HAMBURG LUEBECK-BLANKENSEE AIRPORT

bhrubin

Sorry, used our local abbreviation--you're right, of course, it is LGB.

enviroian

Well I booked my first trip out of SNA.

On WN.

Frequency is very nice and non stop is also nice. I'm just upset I'll lose (I assume) my TSA Pre I enjoy flying United.

Thanks to everyone with their helpful information. My trip is sna-oak on 10/8.

PV_Premier

WN has SNA-SMF and B6 has LGB-SMF, both with good frequencies.