Commute Time: San Diego to LAX (Los Angeles, Long Beach: rental car, rental, transfer)

[naijababe623]

hello,

this friday, i have to catch a 10 pm flight out of LAX, but i'm going to be in san diego at a conference until five that afternoon. i'm not from california, so i'm considering either renting a car or taking public transportation but i'm very concerned about traffic. can anyone tell me the best way to get from san diego to LAX and specifically how long it would take.

thanks.

[BRinSM]

you're going to need to drive, the train won't give you enough time to get to the airport. however, a rental car is going to be very expensive since you'll be dropping it off at different location than the one you picked it up from.

if you can sneak out early and take the train, you'll go to the santa fe depot in downtown san diego, which is only a mile or so from the convention center. Catch the first train you can to LA Union Station. Once you get into LA, you'll need to find the FlyAway bus pickup area. These busses leave every 30 minutes and go directly to LAX and stop at every terminal. The train ride is roughly $30 and I think its $4 or $5 for the bus.

THe only other option I can think for you is Greyhound, but I don't know anything about that service. Check around on the internet to see which will be your best option.

[missionhome]

You can drive, but it could take over 3 hours with the heavy traffic on a Friday night in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. You will most likely hit really slow traffic at places like the 5/805 interchange, the 405/5 interchange, the 405/55 interchange, the 405 up to LAX after Long Beach, etc... A normal drive without traffic is around 2 hours.

In addition to the train, a very very expensive option would be flying from San Diego to LAX on the United Express shuttle flight leaving at 6PM and arriving at 7PM. If you are flying a Star Alliance airline, United, or a UA partner you could perhaps work this into your flight as a connection and it might be a little less expensive.

For the train, you would need to sneak out to get on the 4PM train.

[JTGJR]

I had the same thought as missionhome, but the airfare is about $265 one way. I don't suppose there's any way you can change your departure from LAX to SAN? You might also check on a Shuttle service. A quick search listed "Coast Shuttle" as an outfit that services from San Diego to LAX. I'm not certain that there's a rental drop charge from SAN to LAX, as BRinSM mentioned, but the price of a shuttle is probably worth avoiding the rental car hassle altogether.

[hsw]

Fairly reliable drive...

Have done it many times in past when having mtgs in SD and needing to fly back to NYC (always prefer flts out of LAX, not SD or OC's Podunk airports, as bigger birds and more alternatives if flt has mechanical issues)...

Relatively flowing against traffic flow at that time....use 73 Toll Rd through OC....and 405N (by time one reaches Northern OC and LongBch) will be fairly benign...

[straight outta camden]

I second the advice to take the 73 toll road. Traffic through Irvine can be horrendous. 3 hours should be enough but of course you never know.

[greggd]

I agree with the above two posts, the 73 toll road.

I always take that route even if the 5 is clear.

Leave a little early to make sure your on time to LAX

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by naijababe623

hello,

this friday, i have to catch a 10 pm flight out of LAX, but i'm going to be in san diego at a conference until five that afternoon. i'm not from california, so i'm considering either renting a car or taking public transportation but i'm very concerned about traffic. can anyone tell me the best way to get from san diego to LAX and specifically how long it would take.

thanks.

LAX is served from Union Station in downtown L.A. by the Flyaway airport bus. To my understanding, the bus is free if you're transferring from the train. So, the thing to do is check Amtrak's Sufrliner schedule leaving San Diego, arriving L.A. Union, Amtrak. Flyaway info is here: LAWA - FlyAway.

[naijababe623]

thanks everyone for all the suggestions. i was planning to take the train, but a lady in the conference who happened to live in LA offered to give me a ride to the airport. we were in traffice for about 2.5 hours, but it turned out well and i was able to make my flight.