We will be driving from Agoura Hills to LAX on a Monday morning in late Sept. I am wondering how much time we need for the drive, dropping off the rental car, and security for a Southwest flight to Oakland. I am going to choose either the 11am or noon flight. Mapquest says 40 min. for the drive. I was thinking I should leave the hotel 3 hr. before flight time, but someone told me that much time wasn't necessary. If you have advice, I'd appreciate it.
40 min. from Agoura Hills to LAX? Maybe at 2 in the morning.
I'd work backwards. Check-in, allow 90 min. (shorter if you want to be in the SWA boarding group that sits in middle seats in the back.) Car return and shuttle to airport (all are off-site), say 30 min. That comes to 2h 0m, so if you use the "3 hour" rule that gives you an hour to get to the rental return from Agoura Hills.
Put another way, that means leaving Agoura at 8 AM or 9 AM depending on which flight. Leaving at 8 will mean you'd get to the 101/405 junction at around 8:30, at which time the odds are excellent you'd be in the mother of all traffic jams on a Monday. The San Diego Fwy from the Valley to LAX is still (I believe) one of the most congested highways in the world, up there with the M25 ring road around London, so if it were me I'd hit the road at 8 for the noon flight, and consider myself lucky if I had an hour to kill at LAX.
I'd work backwards. Check-in, allow 90 min. (shorter if you want to be in the SWA boarding group that sits in middle seats in the back.) Car return and shuttle to airport (all are off-site), say 30 min. That comes to 2h 0m, so if you use the "3 hour" rule that gives you an hour to get to the rental return from Agoura Hills.
Put another way, that means leaving Agoura at 8 AM or 9 AM depending on which flight. Leaving at 8 will mean you'd get to the 101/405 junction at around 8:30, at which time the odds are excellent you'd be in the mother of all traffic jams on a Monday. The San Diego Fwy from the Valley to LAX is still (I believe) one of the most congested highways in the world, up there with the M25 ring road around London, so if it were me I'd hit the road at 8 for the noon flight, and consider myself lucky if I had an hour to kill at LAX.
Given that you would be leaving between 8 or 9 am (rush hour) and the vagaries of security lines (sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes 45) I wouldn't risk less than 3 hours.
You will have to negotiate both the 101 and the 405 at peak traffic times to head from Agoura to LAX on a weekday morning. I'd allow at least an hour and a half for the drive. I'd also choose the noon flight over the 11 am flight, as traffic may have lessened a bit by late morning. I don't know how much time you should allow for security at LAX; Southwest should be able to help you with that. Be sure to check in for your flight online 24 hours beforehand.
On a weekday, definitely choose the noon flight.
I'd leave Agoura at 9:30, hope to get to the airport at 10:30, allow 15 minutes to return the car and get to Terminal 1, and that gives you 75 minutes for check-in.
More traffic if you leave at 9am, so probably not much difference than leaving at 9:30am.
8:45am probably if you like to play it safe, but it'll be slow going!
If you happen to be from the east coast, you might spend your entire vacation waking up at 5am like my wife does......in that case head down towards the airport around 6:30am and have a fine breakfast at Dinah's on Sepulveda Blvd. Then you could take the 11am flight.
I'd leave Agoura at 9:30, hope to get to the airport at 10:30, allow 15 minutes to return the car and get to Terminal 1, and that gives you 75 minutes for check-in.
More traffic if you leave at 9am, so probably not much difference than leaving at 9:30am.
8:45am probably if you like to play it safe, but it'll be slow going!
If you happen to be from the east coast, you might spend your entire vacation waking up at 5am like my wife does......in that case head down towards the airport around 6:30am and have a fine breakfast at Dinah's on Sepulveda Blvd. Then you could take the 11am flight.
A few years ago we were in LA and on our return to the airport ran into a "parking lot" on the freeway for 45 minutes. We were certainly glad we had left early, so we still had plenty of time to check in our rental car and go through security. I also wouldn't risk less than 3 hrs before your flight time. You just never know what the traffic is going to be like.
Agree on the time on the freeway. Too bad you couldn't get a SW flight from Burbank...is it too late to switch? Or is the rental car not available for drop-off at Burbank? It would save you a lot of time.
i am taking an international flight in september and have heard horrid things about 2 hour queues at security - has anyone encountered this? We already have to arrive 2 hrs before our flight for check in for a 15 hour flight, so don't really want to add on another 2 hours sitting at the airport 'just in case'?
" . . . . allow 15 minutes to return the car and get to Terminal 1"
Don't know but I've seldom done it that fast. All the rental agencies are off airport and it up to the shuttle bus how long you have to wait.
Ya know - if it was me - I'd priceline a hotel at LAX for Sunday night. You don't really get much benefit from staying over in Agora Hills since you'd have to leave early in the AM. Monday morning traffic is a total crap shoot.
Don't know but I've seldom done it that fast. All the rental agencies are off airport and it up to the shuttle bus how long you have to wait.
Ya know - if it was me - I'd priceline a hotel at LAX for Sunday night. You don't really get much benefit from staying over in Agora Hills since you'd have to leave early in the AM. Monday morning traffic is a total crap shoot.
Ya know - if it was me - I'd priceline a hotel at LAX for Sunday night. You don't really get much benefit from staying over in Agora Hills since you'd have to leave early in the AM. Monday morning traffic is a total crap shoot.
...And it might save a day's rental on the car, more or less neutralizing the hotel bill.
...And it might save a day's rental on the car, more or less neutralizing the hotel bill.
Be warned that to complicate your driving there is construction on the 405 Freeway between West Los Angeles and the airport. No way is it going to be 40 minutes. Google maps has "up to 1 hour and 40 minutes in traffic". Add another 20 minutes for the construction delays...two hours. Then add another 30 minutes for the car return. To get to the gate another 30 minutes minimum. Bottom line...at least 3 1/2 hours.
Get a hotel room in El Segundo!
Get a hotel room in El Segundo!
For the question about the international departure from LAX, I am cutting and pasting from a previous thread my latest experience there, 3 weeks ago:
"Whatever they do, they must leave plenty of time- 3-4 hours- to get back to LAX and check into their flight - especially in the Int'l terminal. I dropped my daughter off there at 10 pm last night, and the traffic was horrible (25 minutes just from the freeway exit to the terminal). Once inside, there is construction and the ridiculous TSA procedures to deal with. You queue up to check into your airline, then after check-in you must take your checked luggage to the TSA line with all of the other passengers of all of the other international airlines. Ridiculous and chaotic, especially after one of the x-ray machines broke down. Also, the passengers on these flights always seem to have several huge boxes and gigantic suitcases. After unloading your checked luggage, you then must queue up to go thru security to get to the gates. I've never seen anything as abysmal at any other airport. It just keeps getting worse. Okay, end of rant."
I would give yourself 3 hours.
for krisz, I agree with staying at LAX the night before. In addition to all the traffic, Terminal 1 is probably the busiest domestic terminal at LAX. Every time I drive in there, I see very long lines on the sidewalk outside the terminal.
"Whatever they do, they must leave plenty of time- 3-4 hours- to get back to LAX and check into their flight - especially in the Int'l terminal. I dropped my daughter off there at 10 pm last night, and the traffic was horrible (25 minutes just from the freeway exit to the terminal). Once inside, there is construction and the ridiculous TSA procedures to deal with. You queue up to check into your airline, then after check-in you must take your checked luggage to the TSA line with all of the other passengers of all of the other international airlines. Ridiculous and chaotic, especially after one of the x-ray machines broke down. Also, the passengers on these flights always seem to have several huge boxes and gigantic suitcases. After unloading your checked luggage, you then must queue up to go thru security to get to the gates. I've never seen anything as abysmal at any other airport. It just keeps getting worse. Okay, end of rant."
I would give yourself 3 hours.
for krisz, I agree with staying at LAX the night before. In addition to all the traffic, Terminal 1 is probably the busiest domestic terminal at LAX. Every time I drive in there, I see very long lines on the sidewalk outside the terminal.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. We
can't spend Sunday night near the airport since the reason for this trip is a Sunday evening wedding in Malibu. Although the address of the hotel is Agoura Hills, I am told it is quite near the wedding site. The wedding instructions say to take Highway 1 from the airport.
Will the traffic be as bad going that way?
Thanks for your responses.
can't spend Sunday night near the airport since the reason for this trip is a Sunday evening wedding in Malibu. Although the address of the hotel is Agoura Hills, I am told it is quite near the wedding site. The wedding instructions say to take Highway 1 from the airport.
Will the traffic be as bad going that way?
Thanks for your responses.
OK - say you stay at the wedding until 10:30 or 11:00 or midnight - - - - it would be a HECK of a lot easier to drive to LAX at that time of night than during the Monday morning commute.
Unless you plan on drinking a lot, or don't have a "dry" designated driver, I'd still stay near the airport that night.
Unless you plan on drinking a lot, or don't have a "dry" designated driver, I'd still stay near the airport that night.
IIRC, the coastal route would involve taking PCH to the Santa Monica Freeway to the 405 or Sepulveda...again, a hottible commute. The route from Malibu to Agoura Hills is not long in miles, but involves travel over twisty, slow mountain roads. And in traveling from Malibu to Agoura, you are heading AWAY from LAX.
Why do you have to spend the night in Agoura? After the Malibu wedding, you can easily head down PCH to the airport and spend the night nearby.
Why do you have to spend the night in Agoura? After the Malibu wedding, you can easily head down PCH to the airport and spend the night nearby.
