We are planning to fly into LA or Burbank on a Friday night in early August to head up to Santa Barbara. We will probably just priceline a hotel along the way so as not to pay for a pricey hotel is SB when we won't arrive until 8 or 9. So, are we better to:

Fly into LA or Burbank? seems to me we would miss some traffic flying into Burbank

Is traffic going to be lighter on Friday night or on Saturday morning? We could just stay in Burbank or drive out to get to around Thousand Oaks or somewhere in that area.

I know the area but don't know the traffic patterns for "summer get out of town" travel so advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Traffic will probably be lighter on a Saturday morning.

If it were me I would fly into LAX and spend the night in Santa Monica and then drive up Highway 1 to the 101.

You can bite the bullet and cruise to SB and stay one night at the Hampton Inn in Goleta..new and nice.
You can catch the sunset as your driving the coast.
Where are you staying in SB?

Thanks to both,sounds like we are on the right track. We are probably staying at the Fess Parker and using Hilton Points.

The Burbank airport is almost always preferable to LAX unless your destination is in the vicinity of LAX or to the south or east of it. I live in Thousand Oaks (which you mentioned) and from the Burbank airport I just get on I-5 to the 118 and go through Simi Valley to Thousand Oaks. If you choose LAX, on a friday night your heavy traffic will be on the 405 north from the airport, over Sepulveda pass till you reach the 101 in the San Fernando Valley. Then it will gradually lighten and from Woodland Hills on it should be smooth going.

There is no point staying in Thousand Oaks overnight unless you just want to take a break and have a nice dinner and take a one hour drive to Santa Barbara in the morning. In addition to the chains we have some very good restaurants There will only be light traffic on Saturday morning and there are many points where there are sweeping ocean views.

Fly into Santa Barbara?