JackOneill

Tell me if this is not a good idea: My wife and I will be travelling the California coast and we'll spending our last night in Santa Barbara before flying home. We have a 12:40 PM flight out of LAX on Saturday May 24. Also, we'll have a rental car we'll need to return.
Question is: Is this do-able or am I going to be driving like a maniac to make it?
Thanks.

walkabout

It's definitley doable and shouldn't be too big a hassle if you leave your hotel early enough.

Santa Barbara is approximately 100 miles north of LAX, so you should allow 1'45" - 2 hours to get there. Let's assume you want to be at the airport at least two hours prior to departure, and allow yourself at least another half hour to turn in your rental car. Using these estimates, you would need to leave Santa Barbara by 8:30 a.m. at the latest. I suggest you leave by 7:30 a.m. though,to allow for contingencies.

Blondie

You won't have a problem - you just need to leave early... like walkabout wrote.

You won't want to skimp on time at LAX either, there has been a lot of secuirty there lately (checking all vehicles) and sometimes there is a backup.

If you leave by 8:00 you should be in good shape.

JackOneill

Thanks, Blondie and walkabout.
I normally don't get paranoid about these things but the last trip I made to California I actually missed the plane. By about two hours. I seriously misclaculated the time I'd need to get from Bodega Bay to the airport in San Francisco. And back then, re-booking a flight was a heck of a lot easier.
Thanks.

Elainee

We also stayed in SB and were driven to LAX to make a flight. It's far, seems further when you know you need to make a plane, so leave early. Do leave by 8:00.