<p>If you’re willing to make the drive, jetBlue has a nonstop from Long Beach, but it’s also rather on the expensive side.</p>
<p>Flying out of Santa Ana saves you $130 (1 stop), and flying out of Burbank saves you $100. Again, it might be worth trying.</p>
<p>I fly into MRY only because it JFK-SFO-MRY costs less than JFK-SFO. I get the miles for flying to MRY, and they’re practically paying me to fly it.</p>
<p>07Dad thanks for that link. The connection times in DFW are about 2 hours which is good.
When we visit her we fly Delta through SLC to Fort Lauderdale which is the shortest time since we can fly SLC direct from Santa barbara. But the connection time is only 45 minutes and at Thanksgiving I won’t risk it. Plus if you miss the flight to Santa Barbara you are stuck till the next morning since it is only two flights a day. Plus she doesn’t like stress and would rather have longer connection time and not have to feel rushed.</p>
<p>to drive to Long Beach or Orange County would not be worth saving 100 dollars. The travel time to John Wayne is over 2 1/2 hours with no traffic. Long Beach 2 hours though I know both are easy in and out airports.
If you have ever driven from the LA area to Santa Barbara you know there is one highway and that highway is only 2 lanes at parts. Sundays going south are always backed up and Thanksgving would be a nightmare plus I would then have to turn around and drive back home. And at gas prices it would eat up any savings.</p>
<p>As one uses O’Hare on occasions, avoid it especially on Friday afternoons or when there is weather.</p>
<p>mom60–</p>
<p>I know that there are lots of parents on CC who live in and around Dallas who might offer to be a local contact if your daughter got stranded in Dallas and wanted/needed some assistance. I’d offer, but we are driving Tuesday a.m. to outside San Antonio to be with family and won’t be back until late Sunday.</p>
<p>Today-
The American flights have gone way up. Now US Air is coming in the cheapest and even though I hate them I might use them.
New airport connections
Charlotte or Houston or strangely Wash DC (not sure what airport)
On a return the sunday after thanksgiving would you risk a 40 minute connection in Charlotte. The sunday flight would be with United.</p>
<p>Mom60:</p>
<p>As another Central CA small airport fan (MRY) I can appreciate the desire to stay with your local airport - so much easier to deal with security etc. </p>
<p>Assuming SBA, I would go via American to DFW. Changing planes in LA and Dallas is pretty easy and should be able to be done without leaving security.</p>
<p>Given the holiday, I would allow for sloppy connections at both airports (e.g. close to two hours) and would avoid the last flights of the day if at all possible. </p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>Mom60:</p>
<p>There is a reason US Air is called US Worst in our family - we avoid them like the plague. Way too many problems - and an unwillingness to help when problems occur. As someone who fly a lot (usually twice a month at least), I like to think I take these things in stride - but US Worst raises my blood pressure like no other airline.</p>
<p>I like Charlotte. It’s a smaller airport and easy to get around. There shouldn’t be weather issues. </p>
<p>I’ve also flown out of BWI and think its another easy airport to get around.</p>
<p>Personally, I try to avoid O’Hare, Dallas and Houston. I usually fly out of LAX or Long Beach. I really love Long Beach.</p>
<p>Mom60:</p>
<p>I have a close friend who tried to balance cost and probable lack of problems on getting their student home for a short Thanksgiving visit last year. To save a few bucks they went with more hassle risk. Their daughter missed nearly a day of the break coming out and was barely able to get back on Sunday when there was another, but different, problem with the flight.</p>
<p>How much is the stress on you and your student worth?</p>
<p>BTW–their daughter has declined to visit them this Thanksgiving because she said it wasn’t worth the hassle.</p>
<p>Oldest came home for Thanksgiving first and second year - cross country flight. Declined last year and won’t be coming this year as the hassle and stress just wasn’t worth it (though first year he desperately wanted and pretty much needed to come home). He managed to find a ride to his aunt’s house a couple hundred miles away. She spoiled him nicely so he’s going back there this year.</p>
<p>I’ll second Charlotte as an easy to manage airport. Same for DCA in WA DC. </p>
<p>mom60, I feel your pain as I do the same thing with my kiddos, prowling for the best all around arrangements. Eldest is very adept at handling most of his own these days - and his location seems to give him decent options. Middle child is a different story as the college is a bit more isolated and on campus responsibilities allow little flexibility.</p>
<p>What about a shuttle bus ot LAX, we are two hours from a major airport and the airport shuttle takes 2.5 hours, we always take the shuttle; it is just not worth half a day round trip for the driver to the airport. If you can put her on a shuttle to LAX, you can then use SWA for the flights.</p>
<p>We have a tiny airport nearby, but it is almost never worth using unless there is a huge special- $60 RT on the shuttle works not only for my college kids, but for the adults too. The only people who get family pick up at the city airport are grandparents!</p>
<p>I love Atlanta! I spend about a million hours a year flying to and from my school in the Atlanta airport. They have the Atlanta Bread Company, aka the best sandwiches ever. I’ve never had a delay there, although when I flew home for Thanksgiving, I went through Philly. The Atlanta airport and I get along very well.</p>
<p>I am going to keep searching and hoping the fares drop a bit. She is coming for a week. For the long weekend it is not worth it. She is no longer in school and is working so has asked for that week off.
Somemom there is a shuttle to LAX but it is expensive and often we find the fares from the local airport the same price or sometimes lower. Last year I flew to New York out of SB and paid less then the two people I was meeting and one of them flew Jet Blue out of Oakland.
I love that I can see the plane fly above my yard, get in the car and drive to the airport and pick up my family member as they walk out of the gate to the curb. Total round trip 30 minutes max.</p>
<p>Chicago weather: Might be a problem at Christmas, I wouldn’t worry about it for Thanksgiving. Might rain.</p>
<p>If the time off is flexible at all, she could travel on Thanksgiving and fly back mid-week the next week for a lot less money and hassle. I have flown on Thanksgiving and there are a lot less flights but it was (1) cheap and (2) uncrowded both at the point of landing and in the terminal.</p>
<p>I used to hate connecting anywhere but Denver as a connection point isn’t that bad. DIA is pretty big-ish, isn’t too badly crowded (at the United concourse anyway) and has pretty good eateries. As far as airport food goes anyway.</p>
<p>07Dad- that was our original plan. But she works Mon-Frid and gets more time off if she takes advantage of the weekends on both ends. Plus she has not had Thanksgiving with the grandparents in 4 yrs.
I am finding this a nightmare. I can’t believe how often the connection time is under 45 minutes. On several of the flights through Chicago I see short connections and I can’t believe the airline sells tickets with such a short connection. I have done it many times in Salt Lake but that is a small airport.</p>
<p>I relented on the idea of flying to LA.checked Southwest and they are no longer flying Palm Beach to LAX as of Nov 1. Out of Ft Lauderdale the flights are no cheaper then I am finding on the other airlines to Santa barbara.</p>
<p>Futurenyustudent- I would not mind finding her a connection through Denver on United but it isn’t coming up. She went to school in Colorado so she knows the United concourse at Denver really well. Plus you can fly Denver direct to Sbarbara.</p>
<p>Try United.com…? Or staralliance.com. Sometimes things might pop up there.</p>