Newbie Flying to San Diego, Need Help

[ctreelmom]

We just learned that we will need to fly from CT (well, probably one of the NYC airports) to San Diego and back sometime between June 28 and July 3. The competition my daughter is dancing in will be held at the Mariott Hotel and Marina. I'm not sure yet if we will stay there, but probably. Our family has only been on one plane trip together, so I'm not sure how best to go about securing airfare. I looked at jetBlue a couple of weeks ago and already the prices have gone up. Trouble is, I don't know yet what day she's dancing and I don't think we can stay for the whole event. Someone suggested we fly into an airport other than San Diego, rent a car and drive as that might be cheaper. She couldn't remember which one. Can anybody make alternative airport suggestions I could look at? Also, are certain days of the week cheaper than others? Would it be worth it to stay an extra night or two to travel on more favorable days? Any and all tips would be appreciated!

 

[yan19454]

I flew to LAX and drive there. A lot of air line fly to LAX

 

[ctreelmom]

How far is that? Some of the flights I pulled up on Expedia show a flight from NY-LAX then LAX to San Diego.

 

[Luanne]

LAX to San Diego is NOT a drive I'd want to make unless I had to. It will take you at least two hours, possibly more.

Other airports that would be closer (but possibly not cheaper) are Long Beach (for Jet Blue), Orange County and Ontario.

 

[Fisch]

Fly to San Diego. The Marriot is only a few miles away from Lindberg Field. You can take a taxi or bus to the hotel and save on a car rental.
Flying to the LA area, usually only saves about $50.00 per ticket. Than you get to sit on the 405 and traffic.
Basically weigh the amount of money you save on your airfare, vs how much your energy is worth driving down to SD.

For the record, we fly out of LAX most of the time, we can get a non stop there, that we can't get from SD. Changing planes sucks with a toddler

Al

 

[Bill4728]

Fly to San Diego. The Marriot is only a few miles away from Lindberg Field. You can take a taxi or bus to the hotel and save on a car rental.
Flying to the LA area, usually only saves about $50.00 per ticket. Than you get to sit on the 405 and traffic.
Basically weigh the amount of money you save on your airfare, vs how much your energy is worth driving down to SD.

Great advice!

Only fly to LAX, if you can't fly direct to San Diego but can fly to LAX direct.

 

[camachinist]

OP...Check F9 and HP (Frontier and America West)...

I'm seeing a F9 A fare (LGA-SAN) for 198.00+ r/t for your dates but haven't seen availabilty. Their web site is booking into W at 324.00 all-in. I saw WN at 137+ one-way as a comparison.

If you can pin down precise dates, or are flexible, let me know.

Pat

 

[ctreelmom]

OP...Check F9 and HP (Frontier and America West)...

I'm seeing a F9 A fare (LGA-SAN) for 198.00+ r/t for your dates but haven't seen availabilty. Their web site is booking into W at 324.00 all-in. I saw WN at 137+ one-way as a comparison.

If you can pin down precise dates, or are flexible, let me know.

Pat

Thanks Pat, but in layman's terms, please? I don't know what all your abbreviations mean. When I said newbie, I meant NEW-BIE!

 

[camachinist]

Thanks Pat, but in layman's terms, please? I don't know what all your abbreviations mean. When I said newbie, I meant NEW-BIE!

A fare and W fare = booking classes of ticket
r/t = round trip
WN = Southwest Airlines
198+ = 198.00 plus taxes and fees
one-way = one way ticket
all-in = includes taxes and fees
haven't seen availabilty = airline lists fare but seats aren't yet available or are currently sold out. That's why I need dates.

Hope that helps!

Pat

 

[ctreelmom]

Thanks, it sure does. We need dates too! I know the dates of the whole event, but the organizers (and I use that term loosely) haven't released the schedule so I don't know what day my dd will compete. I know reservations for the host hotel open February 10, so I would think they'd release the schedule by then, but you never know. We haven't decided yet if we will go for the whole event or go the day before she dances and leave the day after. I'm starting to wonder if what I might save by buying plane tickets now would offset the extra cost of staying in the hotel for the whole event.

Now, the other piece of this is: Is there an RCI-affiliated TS near the Marriott Hotel that I might be able to trade into or get a bonus vacation/last call for? Or, is this area super high demand? Can you tell I've never been to San Diego? I was in San Franciso once years ago, but that was a business trip (ahhh, the days of an expense account) so I didn't need to worry much about cost.

 

[Bill4728]

There are TS in the greater San Diego area but only one in SanDiego "the Gas Lamp Plaza" The other ts are about 30 -45 minutes out of town.

 

[Luanne]

There are TS in the greater San Diego area but only one in SanDiego "the GasLamp" The other ts are about 30 -45 minutes out of town.

There are other timeshares in San Diego and the San Diego area:

Coronado Beach Club (Coronado)
Casa de la Playa (La Jolla)
Capri by the Sea (San Diego)
See the Sea in San Diego

However, I would think any of these would be hard to get.