LA area eHellions? LAX driving advice

[GratefulMaria]

DH and I are visiting DS2 in the LA area this weekend and are flying back home out of LAX early in the week.  Do we need to worry about traffic to reach the airport at 6:00 AM on a weekday?  We're coming from about fifty miles east.

Thanks for any info!

[wheeitsme]

Short answer? Yes.

[wheeitsme]

Sorry 

Now for a longer answer.

6am on a Sunday might not be so bad.  6am on a weekday?  From anywhere it's bad, but from the East?  Are you going to come from Corona?  There's a reason it's been called the Corona crawl.

[artk2002]

Wheeitsme has it right. If you're coming from the Inland Empire it's going to be bad. If you're leaving at 6, then you'll be hitting the bulk of LA traffic between 6:30 and 7:30 which is when it starts to get bad.

Are you planning on taking the 10, the 60, the 90, or the 105 west? That's more for my curiosity -- any one of those is going to have issues at that time. The 60/10 route(s) will take you through the 10/405 junction which is very sticky right now due to construction on the 405. Taking the 90 puts you on the 405 North which is always miserable.

What time is your flight? Does it have to be LAX? Have you looked into flights into Long Beach or Orange County? One of those might be better for traffic.

[GratefulMaria]

Sorry 

Now for a longer answer.

6am on a Sunday might not be so bad.  6am on a weekday?  From anywhere it's bad, but from the East?  Are you going to come from Corona?  There's a reason it's been called the Corona crawl.

No problem, I just read my OP and was touched by my own naivete.   

So we probably ought to leave around 3 AM to get there for 6 AM, seems like.  Our flight is at 8 AM.  We're coming from well north of Corona, Ontario-ish.  It looks as though we're doing 10 to 605 to 105.

I'll look into Long Beach or Orange County.  Ontario is a lot closer to our destination, but I'm phobic about take-offs and landings and LAX provided direct flights; my opinion of the greater evil may come to evolve. 

Thanks!

[Sheila Take a Bow]

Are you coming from Claremont, by chance?  (The "50 miles east" line is a standard description the Claremont Colleges use for their location, that's what made me suspect that.)

If so, you'll likely take the 10 to the 605 to the 105.  Each of those transitions will be backed up, even at that hour.

Have you looked into Ontario Airport?  If you don't want to change your flight, you might be able to return your rental car there and grab a shuttle from Ontario to LAX.  (It's been a while since I've flown out of Ontario, but back in the day SuperShuttle definitely went from Ontario to LAX.)  You'll still have to deal with traffic, but at least you won't be the one driving.  Also, if you let them know when you want to be at LAX, they'll have a pretty good idea about when you should be leaving Ontario.

[wheeitsme]

Sorry 

Now for a longer answer.

6am on a Sunday might not be so bad.  6am on a weekday?  From anywhere it's bad, but from the East?  Are you going to come from Corona?  There's a reason it's been called the Corona crawl.

No problem, I just read my OP and was touched by my own naivete.   

So we probably ought to leave around 3 AM to get there for 6 AM, seems like.  Our flight is at 8 AM.  We're coming from well north of Corona, Ontario-ish.  It looks as though we're doing 10 to 605 to 105.

I'll look into Long Beach or Orange County.  Ontario is a lot closer to our destination, but I'm phobic about take-offs and landings and LAX provided direct flights; my opinion of the greater evil may come to evolve. 

Thanks!

If you have problems with take offs, you might want to reconsider leaving from John Wayne (SNA) in Orange County.  Due to noise restrictions, flights at SNA take off pretty steeply and then head out over the water.  Just some info for you.

[Sheila Take a Bow]

I had been thinking you were leaving at 6, but to arrive at 6 is a slightly different story.

You don't need to leave at 3.  The roads are pretty empty at that hour, and you'll end up spending a long, long time at LAX.

I would be comfortable leaving at 4:00 or 4:15, and I tend to be insane about getting to the airport on time.  I'd probably edge closer to 4:00 just so I could make sure to have enough time to drop off the rental car and get in their shuttle to the airport.

Good luck!

[artk2002]

Arriving at LAX around 6 is certainly a different beast. I would say 4:00 or even 4:30 for a departure time, since you have some slack built into your arrival time already. Security lines aren't too bad at 6. Do allow 15-20 minutes to drop the rental car and take the shuttle to your terminal.

My somewhat facetious advice is to bring a book and some Xanax. The book is for when all the stars align and you get to the airport at 5:30 and the Xanax is for when nothing lines up right! With LA traffic, it really is possible to have a 1 hour difference in driving time over a 50 mile route. *sigh*

[Lynnv]

Arriving at LAX around 6 is certainly a different beast. I would say 4:00 or even 4:30 for a departure time, since you have some slack built into your arrival time already. Security lines aren't too bad at 6. Do allow 15-20 minutes to drop the rental car and take the shuttle to your terminal.

My somewhat facetious advice is to bring a book and some Xanax. The book is for when all the stars align and you get to the airport at 5:30 and the Xanax is for when nothing lines up right! With LA traffic, it really is possible to have a 1 hour difference in driving time over a 50 mile route. *sigh*

I agree!

I flew out of LAX every week for nearly 5 months, and I agree with this.  The early flights where I had to hit the airport by 6AM or earlier usually didn't have too much in the way of traffic problems no matter where I was.  My afternoon flights were often bad traffic-wise and I would allow about twice as long as you think it would take.  You can also ask at your hotel (assuming you are staying at one) and they can often give you an idea of how long the trip to LAX is likely to take at any given time of day.  But allow a lot of extra time because the traffic gets really bad when it does get  bad.

[DavidH]

I find that if I need to get to LAX before 6:30AM I can usually count on fairly light traffic, even better if I'm getting there by 6:00 AM.  If I had to get there at 7, I'd leave about 5 minutes later than if I had to get there by 6:30 since traffic would be that much worse. 

For a 50 mile drive, I'd leave about 3.5 hours before my flight time to allow just over an hour of driving, 15 min to return the car, and 30 min for delays.  Even then, I'd have 1 hour 45 min at the airport for security and all that.  If the flight was international, I'd add another 45 min to an hour.

[Amara]

Frankly, I'd drive to a hotel next to the airport the night before and stay there after turning your car in. You'll be much more relaxed because even if you allow extra time it may not be enough if something happens that morning.