Airport Information

1. Orange County Airport/John Wayne Airport - SNA(airport code)

• Closest to the wedding and reception
• Higher airfares due to being a smaller airport
• Extremely convenient to get in and out of
• Lots of hotels right near the airport

2. Long Beach Airport - LGB(airport code)

• Jet Blue flies into this airport
• Very small airport
• Convenient to get in and out of
• About 25 minutes from Orange County

3. Los Angeles Airport - LAX(airport code)

• Most flight times available
• Most likely cheapest airfares
• About an hour from Orange County
• Can have lots of traffic to and from airport during rush hour

4. Burbank Airport - BUR(airport code)

• Southwest Airlines flies in there
• Smaller airport
• Not as many flight times available
• About an hour from Orange County

Key Information about flying to California

• Flying on a Tues, Wednesday or Saturday are cheapest days to fly
• LAX has the most flight times and most likely cheapest airfares
• American Airlines does not advertise on sites like Expedia anymore. Have to go directly to www.aa.com
• Southwest Airlines can have really good “wanna get away” specials.  Have to book early to get them.  They do not advertise on any other site but their own. www.southwestairlines.com
• Jet Blue out of O’hare and into Long Beach can run some pretty good rates. www.jetblue.com No flight times to choose from.  Just one flight out and back each day
• Priceline is a good source for cheaper fares if you are flexible with your flight times.  You can name your own price and basically bid to see if they will accept the price you bid.  You will not see airline or flight times till you book.  They use all the major airlines so not no names you’ve never heard of.  www.priceline.com
• All airlines except Jet Blue and Southwest will charge $25 per bag that you check
• You can only take two carry-on bags on plane.  They’re pretty strict with that.  Some “carry-on” suitcases they consider too large and make you check anyway.
• O’hare will have cheapest fares out of Chicago unless you’re flying Southwest then you’ll want to fly out of Midway
• You will not pay for parking at Bloomington or Peoria airport.  May have higher air fares but by the time you pay for parking in Chicago, it can even out and is more convenient.
• Air Tran out of Bloomington does fly directly into LAX.  Sometimes they can have affordable fairs.  Just have to watch for their specials.
• Allegiant Air out of Peoria flies into Phoenix and Las Vegas for very cheap depending on the day.  Sometimes getting a rental and driving over can make sense as well.  Phoenix is a six hour drive, Las Vegas is four.
• I talked to Southwest Airlines today 1/31/2011.  They will be posting their airfares for September on February 8th.  Definitely check out their website when they do.  They usually have very reasonable fairs if you catch them soon enough.  Like $144 each way.