SoCal Guys - Long Beach travel logistics

[gprsh924]

Need some assistance from the brain trust.

My 5 year-old daughter is high allergic to peanuts and other legumes. Next month, we are starting a Tolerance Induction Program to lessen the severity of her allergies. She may not ever be able to regularly consume all of the foods, but the goal is she won't need to carry an EpiPen everywhere and have to read every food label/instruct every server for the rest of her life.

The only downside to the program is it takes place in Long Beach. I'm just outside Chicago. So for the next 2 -3 years we will be making 6 or so trips annually out west for her appointments.

The office is in Long Beach. On a map, LAX and John Wayne are about the same distance from the office. But give me the real world travel -how long will it take me? And how much worse is traffic going from LAX to Long Beach vs. John Wayne to Long Beach.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Try Jet Blue to Long Beach airport.

[craigster59]

I think the difference in price of flying into JWA vs LAX will make LAX be a no brainer. The travel time seems to be the same

[Scott Douglas]

I think travel times will really depend on time of day.
I live in north Orange County and commuted to LAX when working. Granted it's been almost 10 years now since I did that, but, I don't think traffic has gotten any better.
Right now, the 405 FWY is being widened from county line south to almost JWA. Traffic during commute times is not good. For what it's worth, going north from LB to LAX is not bad, except in the mornings during commute times. The road north is now pretty nice, ie smooth. The road south is not as good but I've been on worse.
If it were me, I'd rather go north from LB than south, just to avoid the construction, which is behind schedule and might be finished about the time you finish treatments for your daughter IF we're lucky.

[daepp]

Long Beach is basically just another part of metropolitan LA, and together with the port makes Long Beach difficult to get to - esp from JWA. Jet Blue to Long Beach will def be your best bet.

[Jims5543]

There are no local options?

I moved to Florida in the 80's I discovered, the hard way, I was allergic to fire ants, which are prolific here.

My first encounter was benign.

My second was annoying...

My third encounter was when I was with a friend who was a paramedic. I started to show signs of paraphyletic shock. My friend recognized it, loaded me in his car and raced me to a walk in clinic.

They wanted me to fill out paperwork, he took charge and said I had 10 minutes before I was in cardiac arrest.

The stupid receptionist argued with him for 2 minutes, then the door to the exam rooms swung open in the middle of the argument, a nurse ran into the room, scanned us all, recognized me as the distressed, rushed me to an exam room pulled my pants down, GIGGITY, and pumped an adrenalin and Benadryl shot into me.

10 minutes later I was better...

I then went to a local allergist they tested me then worked out a plan to get allergy shots over the next year. I am now immune, to an extent, to fire ants.

About 2 years ago I got into a situation where I fell in a mud hole, I was stuck and the mud hole was infested with fire ants, I sustained about 70-100 bites, that afternoon and evening I felt like I had a bad hangover, without the fun...

BUT, I did not die, so there is that.


gprsh924 - I cannot believe there is not a program locally you can take advantage of. 40 years ago there were doctors locally in a Florida pudunk town to deal with my issues. Most al close by cities should be able to handle this.

[look 171]

About the ame in terms of travel time but I really think if you know the back streets, its a bit faster from LAX. For me, its LAX but traffic can be a bear within the airport. Traffic in smaller airports are always better.

Where will you be staying is a better question. Not much to do around LAX at night, much better around John Wayne.

[edgemar]

I commuted from west la done to OC daily. You want to be going south in the morning and north in the evening.

[John Rogers]

Have you talked with the place where the treatment is to take place? Since they have lots of folks coming from out of CA they should be able to help you with some advice?
John

[speeder]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

Try Jet Blue to Long Beach airport.

Originally Posted by daepp

Long Beach is basically just another part of metropolitan LA, and together with the port makes Long Beach difficult to get to - esp from JWA. Jet Blue to Long Beach will def be your best bet.

I just heard randomly from someone today that Jet Blue no longer flies into or out of Long Beach.

[gprsh924]

Thanks for all of the feedback so far. I plan to speak to the clinic as well, but I thought you all were the best starting point. It sounds like LAX should be fine, but I still need to research flight options. I have status on American, so that will be the preference.

Jet Blue no longer flies into Long Beach (they don't go past the middle of the country anymore).

Jim - my wife has done most of the research on this program, but from what I can tell, this one doctor in Long Beach is at the absolute forefront. There are options in Chicago, but with lower success rates and lower bar for what is considered "success".

I now need to think about where we will be staying. Most of the trips are just for a short 2-3hr appointment, so I'm hoping 1-2 nights max and we are back. After the initial kick-off appointment, the 2nd trip is 3-5 days of appointments, so we may want nicer accommodations on that trip. The office is near Long Beach Airprot, so downtown LB is very close. It looks like there are Marriott properties right there.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by gprsh924

Thanks for all of the feedback so far. I plan to speak to the clinic as well, but I thought you all were the best starting point. It sounds like LAX should be fine, but I still need to research flight options. I have status on American, so that will be the preference.

Jet Blue no longer flies into Long Beach (they don't go past the middle of the country anymore).

Jim - my wife has done most of the research on this program, but from what I can tell, this one doctor in Long Beach is at the absolute forefront. There are options in Chicago, but with lower success rates and lower bar for what is considered "success".

I now need to think about where we will be staying. Most of the trips are just for a short 2-3hr appointment, so I'm hoping 1-2 nights max and we are back. After the initial kick-off appointment, the 2nd trip is 3-5 days of appointments, so we may want nicer accommodations on that trip. The office is near Long Beach Airprot, so downtown LB is very close. It looks like there are Marriott properties right there.

Not to tell you what to do or anything, and not a ton of advice since I'm in Florida.... But I did go to LA multiple times per year for quite a few years to visit grandparents. Visits would be 12 to 48 hours long...

Anyway, there is a TON of interesting stuff to do in the area - I would recommend trying to plan on going out a day early and use that day to hit some of the cool stuff, like the Tar Pits/natural history museum, the various art museums, the aquarium, etc.

[OldSpool87]

Traffic from LAX can be a bear. I would try for LB airport. I see you’re in Hinsdale. I grew up there on Seventh Street right off Garfield Ave. Go Devils!

[G50]

From Long Beach, the traffic to me from LAX will pretty much always be worse than SNA. But it’s not a long distance so anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes worse generally.

That’s freeway off-ramp to freeway off-ramp. Once you get off the freeway, LAX is not very predictable, esp. now with construction going on. You can get very backed up getting to the terminal. It can take longer to get the mile or 2 from the freeway exit to your terminal than it takes to get 20 miles from Long Beach.

The freeway from LB to LAX can also get crowded, particularly once you get around the 110 and near LAX.

The check in and security lines are shorter and quicker at SNA. The airport terminal itself is much smaller so you’re always close to where you need to be. Parking is much easier.

But LAX not horrible, you just need to give yourself enough time and cushion for contingencies.

SNA on the other hand is predictable. From the freeway off-ramp, you’ll always drive right up. 5-8 minutes.

LAX generally has more flight availability and costs less. However, AA flies direct to Chicago from SNA and often is close in price to LAX. My son spent some time between OC and Chicago the past few years, and he almost always went SNA.

All things being equal (equal cost and nonstop flight), you’d always go out of SNA rather than LAX from LB. So, like said above, you should check the prices and see if the convenience of SNA is worth the extra cost to you.

Good luck with your daughter, I hope it turns out well.

[ckelly78z]

If going with Jet Blue for your carrier, check out the TRUBLUE club...automatic upgrades, and other perks. Have you considered the doubling increase in rates (due to fuel prices) with certainly more to come.

[Cooper911SC]

Much good advice here already.

Long Beach Airport for sure if you can get a flight there. Otherwise SNA would be my second choice.

Another data point, I live in Tustin about 12-15 minutes North of SNA. (Via 55fwy)

My wife commutes to CSULB for work a couple days a week. From on ramp to CSULB takes her 35 minutes at peak morning commute time. She uses 55 fwy N to 22 fwy W. Takes 7th street into campus.

The 405 is technically more direct…but depending on timing 55 fwy N to 22 fwy W can sometimes be faster.

As others have said…time of travel can make a bit of difference. (Plus construction)

Another bonus is if you happen to/have to travel at peak commute times the carpool lane can be a life saver. Wife commuted with our son and saved 20 minutes daily on the way home.

Long Beach aquarium could be another fun place to visit.

For LB P Car fun stop into Willhoit Auto Restoration.
John is a great guy! Get your 356 fill.

Plenty to do and see in the area to kill time.

Please PM if I can help directly. We have 4.5 and 9yo boys. Space to hang out outdoors if you’d need to burn a few hours before a flight out of SNA.

Best to you/your Daughter.

[look 171]

If you ask me, it really doesn't matter which airport you fly in and out of. Its the hotel that makes the difference. Don't even think about public transportation. You WILL need a car so pick up and drop off at the airport would be best. Its an hour (maybe more depending on the time of day) from both airport to Long Beach no matter how you look at it unless you travel after 9pm. Find a nice place to stay for the couple days you are here and enjoy. I know it is hectic but the beach cities are very nice, but can get a bit crowded depending on the time of day or week. A nice meal by the ocean is very nice during spring time. We drive out there often just to hang out for dinner with my family. Long beach's Golden Shore is a nice place to have a meal, take a slow walk and burn a couple hours and enjoy the sunset. LIke Copper said, the "Fish tank " is a nice place to visit with kids even for adults. I suggest you stay out and away from downtown Long beach or the northern part of long beach but down the road, Belmont shore is a great place to people watch, have a meal, but gets crowded during the weekends. I know this isn't a vacation, but after the doc's visit, you will have down time and need to entertain your kid. I wish you the best of luck. There's a lot to do here.

[gprsh924]

Thanks for all the input guys.

Our kickoff appointment is in the books. We landed at LAX at 4pm on Sunday, picked up our rental car at Enterprise and were checked into the Courtyard Marriott Downtown LB at 5pm. Had dinner at Padre, then went to bed.

The appointment was 8am-1030am yesterday (10 mins from hotel), then grabbed out stuff from hotel and drove up to Manhattan Beach. Lunch at Rock'N Fish, explored MB for a couple of hours, left MB at 220pm and by 3pm I was sitting at the Admirals Club in terminal 4. 515pm takeoff, in bed before 1145pm in Chicago.

I thought there was traffic in LA? Logistics couldn't have been easier this time. Our next trip is in August, and we will likely be there 5-7 nights. Potentially staying with family friends in Redondo Beach next time.

For the day trips, the flight times in/out of LAX are more convenient for us than Orange County. Southwest does have 1 direct flight per day into Long Beach, so that might be a possibility as well depending on appt. times.

Very pleased so far with the doctor, hopefully we are on the path to Food Freedom in the next 2-3 years. Tons to see and do in SoCal, so looking forward to that as well.

[GH85Carrera]

The last time I flew on Southwest they made an announcement during the safety briefing and said due to a passenger's peanut allergy, no peanuts would be handed out. And then they said if you have any snacks with you that contain peanuts do not eat them as the patient will have a reaction. So I did not eat the granola bar I had brought with me. Fortunately for the kid, that was back in the days when airline passengers were not crazy like today.

Good luck with her treatments. As a kid I always hated pecans. As a teenager I was tested for my many allergies. A picture of my back is in a textbook as a classic sign of the severe reaction to pecan tree pollen. The partner to my allergy doctor was writing a textbook about allergies. When they poked me with pecan pollen my skin had a massive reaction. They were all standing around looking at my back and taking pictures with a ruler next to the injection spot and commenting on it. After 20 years of twice a week shots my allergies are 1% of what they used to be.

[Seahawk]

Thank you for the update...always enjoyable to get the follow-up. BTW, great to hear things are going well with the Doctor!

Originally Posted by gprsh924

Thanks for all the input guys.

Our kickoff appointment is in the books. We landed at LAX at 4pm on Sunday, picked up our rental car at Enterprise and were checked into the Courtyard Marriott Downtown LB at 5pm. Had dinner at Padre, then went to bed.

The appointment was 8am-1030am yesterday (10 mins from hotel), then grabbed out stuff from hotel and drove up to Manhattan Beach. Lunch at Rock'N Fish, explored MB for a couple of hours, left MB at 220pm and by 3pm I was sitting at the Admirals Club in terminal 4. 515pm takeoff, in bed before 1145pm in Chicago.

I thought there was traffic in LA? Logistics couldn't have been easier this time. Our next trip is in August, and we will likely be there 5-7 nights. Potentially staying with family friends in Redondo Beach next time.

For the day trips, the flight times in/out of LAX are more convenient for us than Orange County. Southwest does have 1 direct flight per day into Long Beach, so that might be a possibility as well depending on appt. times.

Very pleased so far with the doctor, hopefully we are on the path to Food Freedom in the next 2-3 years. Tons to see and do in SoCal, so looking forward to that as well.