Avoid LAX but sacrificing V Australia

[mittyjames]

Hi Everyone,

Wondering if anyone has any advice or just humble opinions on the following.

I'm off to NYC in June, and wanted to fly VA and connect with VX (virgin america). Although recently i've been thinking and doing some reading on here and agree that SFO is just a much nicer airport to do your business in than LAX. So i was considering QF SYD-SFO and then connecting with VX to JFK.

I have flown the Qantas service to both LAX and SFO and didnt have a problem with it, but I am excited to try the VA service. Im one of those shallow people who get seduced by moodlighting

So advice/opinions on:

How often does QF73 or QF74 get cancelled or go via LAX anyway?
Even though im a virgin brand cough - is the service that different?
Is either place better to have an overnight stopover - and if you choose one, which hotel

Thanks everyone!

 

[harvyk]

How often does QF73 or QF74 get cancelled or go via LAX anyway?

Not that I've heard. It may happen if there was an operational reason for them to do so, but it's not something I would be concerned with.

IMHO SFO is a nicer airport. That said your standing in line for at most an hour or two, your sitting on the plane for 13 to 14 hours. Which is more important to you? The carrier which you want, or avoid LAX?

All that said, I've flown QF73 \ QF74 a couple of times in Y+ \ J and it seemed pretty good each time. (Can't comment on Y).

Just out of interest, which class are you looking at?

 

[mittyjames]

thanks for your thoughts!

Most likely i'll just be in Y. I did Y+ on one flight SFO-SYD and liked the extra room because i'm tall but can't really justify the cost difference, would rather spend the difference on an amazing winter coat in NYC

And standing in line for two hours...does it depend when the plane arrives? When i went through immigration at LAX i honestly didnt wait longer than 15 minutes....

I just found SFO simpler to get around and nicer to be inside of.

 

[drewbles]

thanks for your thoughts!

Most likely i'll just be in Y. I did Y+ on one flight SFO-SYD and liked the extra room because i'm tall but can't really justify the cost difference, would rather spend the difference on an amazing winter coat in NYC

And standing in line for two hours...does it depend when the plane arrives? When i went through immigration at LAX i honestly didnt wait longer than 15 minutes....

I just found SFO simpler to get around and nicer to be inside of.

I'd go with SFO any day over LAX. Also don't forget that flying with VA you're going to have to buy any more than one alcoholic beverage. I don't think mood lighting would make up for that personally

That said, VA have had some very good prices (around $2100AUD) for premium economy return. Perhaps that's something worth looking at?

 

[dajop]

I'd go with SFO any day over LAX.

SFO itself is a nicer airport, I think I've lucked out when I've been there though. So it's not always smooth sailing.

First time it was about 40 mins to get through immigration off a CX flight (we just landed behind 2 other widebodies - 777 & 747 - so stuck behind all their pax). Outbound domestic was OK. Second time inbound was domestic so that was fine, with the outbound international, queued for about 20-30mins for security, but they wouldn't let me through as I only had AA stock BP, and I was required to have BP on QF stock (OK, how was I supposed to know that - I do now though), but luckily the security guy told me to come straight back to him to let me through. Third time lucky though, again domestic inbound dom and outbound intl all smooth sailing.

FWIW, it's better than LAX too if a long connection - with luggage storage in intl terminal and a train to the airport, if you have 5-6 hrs or more a trip downtown is entirely doable.

Having said that I wouldn't pay much of a premium to fly via SFO, if the pricing on the via LAX flights is where you want it to be.

 

[JohnK]

I haven't been via SFO but have never an issue transiting LAX. In fact I really have not had any major issue transiting any airport including LHR, HKG, SIN, BKK, TPE, MNL, ORD, IAD, MEL, PER, BNE etc. Am I that lucky or are some people very picky?

Would anyone pay a premium on an airfare to transit a specific airport over another?

 

[dajop]

In fact I really have not had any major issue transiting any airport including LHR, HKG, SIN, BKK, TPE, MNL, ORD, IAD, MEL, PER, BNE etc. Am I that lucky or are some people very picky?

A little lucky, and maybe more to do with the fact where your home is, and timing of your LAX visits. The last (and really the only) time I had a real issue transitting LAX was in 2002, six months after 9-11. As for hassles at other airports ... only one other really to comes to mind, particularly for international to domestic connections, on flights arriving between 7 and 9am.

Would anyone pay a premium on an airfare to transit a specific airport over another?

If the SIN-MEL flight was either sold out or considerably more expensive, I would pay (a small) premium -perhaps $40 or so - to fly SIN-ADL-MEL over SIN-SYD-MEL.

 

[clifford]

SFO itself is a nicer airport, I think I've lucked out when I've been there though. So it's not always smooth sailing.

FWIW, it's better than LAX too if a long connection - with luggage storage in intl terminal and a train to the airport, if you have 5-6 hrs or more a trip downtown is entirely doable.

Well, as for SFO being a "nicer" airport, that's a matter of opinion. It's certainly more spread out, with the new Intl terminal. And perhaps one of the reasons people say they don't like LAX is the TBIT. If I had to fly through that on a regular basis I wouldn't like LAX either (and I fly through LAX/SFO at least a dozen times a year).

As for the downtown SFO trip being doable, have you considered spending some time in Santa Monica (at the pier perhaps?) and then returning to LAX via downtown LA? It's quite doable if you have 4-5 hours to spare, by public bus ex LAX, at a cost of less than USD 10.

But I'm sure that the rusted-on SFO diehards won't give a hoot about any of that.

And one last little thing, where is there a decent beach within easy public transport distance from SFO?

 

[dajop]

As for the downtown SFO trip being doable, have you considered spending some time in Santa Monica (at the pier perhaps?) and then returning to LAX via downtown LA? It's quite doable if you have 4-5 hours to spare, by public bus ex LAX, at a cost of less than USD 10.

I sense a MEL vs SYD style argument happening here (BCN vs MAD, PEK vs SHA, HKG vs SIN etc etc).

When I looekd into a long LAX layover (several years ago) (I don't care where I am, 4-5 hrs or longer at an airport is a waste of time - always happy to explore areas outside the airport whenever I can), the only problem with the LAX layover was finding somewhere to store luggage. I couldn't find a lot of info on it, and IIRC it was offsite and a bit of a hassle (although as I said that was several years ago), SFO was very easy in that regard took a few minutes and that was all. Mind you our "layover' in LAX was about 12 hrs, so the luggage storage ended up being the boot of a rental vehicle... we had a nice day taking in Hollywood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice Beach...

 

[mittyjames]

I haven't been via SFO but have never an issue transiting LAX. In fact I really have not had any major issue transiting any airport including LHR, HKG, SIN, BKK, TPE, MNL, ORD, IAD, MEL, PER, BNE etc. Am I that lucky or are some people very picky?

Would anyone pay a premium on an airfare to transit a specific airport over another?

I wouldnt say i'm super picky. but maybe shallow in that i am comforted by my surroundings. I just find myself a little confused and overwhelmed sometimes with american airports, and there isnt really a cost difference for me to either SFO or LAX.

I'm not sure if the comment in another post about no beaches near SFO was for me, and I appreciate that, but I live in Sydney in the eastern suburbs so I wont be dying for a beach 14 hours after I just left one.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts so far!

So we've talked about the SFO or LAX thing, anyone have comments on whether V Australia is worth not going to your preferred airport for?

Mitch

 

[odysseus]

I wasn't so excited by the V service, though thought the equipment was pretty good; good entertainment system, seating and a new craft. If everything else was equal, I'd likely go with V, but if you find advantages the other way (e.g. ticket cost, connection time), then I'd probably choose QF.

 

[wywk]

I've heard mixed reviews about the V america, but can't tell you personally. I usually travel on Qantas.

You can also get a flight to NYC via Chicago on United or via Atlanta on Delta...and it's pretty cheap too, under $1300 economy return. Going to NYC through SFO seems like the expensive way.

I would avoid LAX too if possible, I went through LAX in January on my way to MIA and it was really horrible, it was absolute chaos,...so busy that I almost missed my connecting flight and I had a 2hr transit time between the flights. I spent a good hr queueing up for immigration, I think there were like 2 other flights which landed around the same time. I had to let them know I had a connecting flight to catch for them to allow me to get through faster.