judychrismac

I was wondering how much time I should allow to get from La Quinta to San Diego airport. What is the traffic like around 9am near the airport? Flight leaves at 11:15am
I read that it should take less that 3 hours, but I want to make sure I wont be stuck in traffic.

Thanks,
Judy

tchoiniere

Driving into the city at that time is very busy. What day of the week?

sf7307

It will take less than 3 hours (or maybe about 3 hours all the way from La Quinta) if there's no traffic. If there's traffic (which there always is) all bets are off. Assuming you have to be at the airport (having dropped off a rental car?) by 10, I would leave La Quinta by 6:00.

judychrismac

We are departing on a Tuesday. Is the traffic bad like LA - Palm Springs? I never want to to that drive again!!

sf7307

Judy, I am so sorry, I thought you were headed to LAX, not San Diego airport! I'll have to let others chime in about the drive to San Diego, as I haven't done that particular route. Again, my apologies!

sheri_lp

It's about 3 hours from Palm Desert/Palm Springs to San Diego. I agree that a 6am departure time would give you enough time except I'd be worried about hitting rush-hour in every town.

Is it possible to spend the last night in San Diego? Alot less stress and easier exit for you.

Barbara

I'll second the idea of spending the night in San Diego. In the morning, the rush hour traffic from Temecula to downtown San Diego is very heavy and you would be right in the middle of it. From Escondido to south of Miramar and sometimes all the way to the airport you are likely to encounter stop-and-go traffic. You can take the new car pool lanes, but they're busy in the morning too! If you happen on a rainy morning, all bets are off.

Cali

I also would recommend that you spend the night before in San Diego. We had friends do this same trip and they hit a ton of traffic on the 15 and just barely made their plane. They said they would never do it again.

dwooddon

I also suggest the night in San Diego. If there is a really serious accident, especially in the mountains between Riverside and San Diego Counties, the entire freeway can be closed for anything from a few minutes to several hours. Even without that, on a workday morning in that direction, traffic will be very heavy and will often be stop-and-go.

sf7307

Sounds like the trip from La Quinta to SAN is at least as bad as the trip from La Quinta to LAX!

dwooddon

Actually, the trip down to SAN is not as dependably bad as to LAX but on any given day, it has the potential to be. The OP might be able to make the flight by leaving at 6:00 AM but there's a signifcant risk they might not.