Southwest USA & The West Coast (California, Arizona etc) - General Thread

Seldom_Seen_Kid

Apologies for not thanking people for their replies to my question, but life has been very busy.

I have just had a look around and baggage does seem to make a huge difference to the total cost.

At this moment it looks like Southwest have times that suits us, and at a very good rate (especially with free baggage - we would just have 1 small carry on bag and 1 suitcase to put in the hold each).

I hope you do not mind me asking ...

1) Southwest - Anything I need to be aware of before making my booking?
2) Not had a look yet, but any link to a website that would have a discount code for such a flight would be appreciated.
3) Would I be correct in assuming that the recommended time of arrival before a internal flight of 90 minutes would be more than enough?

northwest1965

Seldom_Seen_Kid wrote: »

I hope you do not mind me asking ...

1) Southwest - Anything I need to be aware of before making my booking?
2) Not had a look yet, but any link to a website that would have a discount code for such a flight would be appreciated.
3) Would I be correct in assuming that the recommended time of arrival before a internal flight of 90 minutes would be more than enough?

https://www.southwest.com/html/air/airport-information.html?int=GFOOTER-AIRPORT-INFO

codo

Hi, we are planning a holiday to San Diego (2 adults, 2 teenagers). Has anyone stayed in Oceanside (north of San Diego). I have seen a couple of nice rental properties in the North Coast Village but am not sure if it is too far from the main areas of San Diego.
Thanks.

Vikki_74

Personally I would say it's too far out - Google reckons a 40 minute drive from San Diego to Oceanside (obviously that's not using exact locations) in light traffic and I've been stuck in a lot more than "light" traffic driving up the I-5 nowhere near rush hour. It may depend on how long you're staying but if you have just a few days in San Diego you'll spend a lot of your holiday commuting back and forth.

The second time we visited we stayed in a rental property up in La Mesa, about 15-20 mins drive inland from San Diego. That worked out fine for us as we'd already done a lot of the main touristy bits and spent a lot of time just relaxing by the pool, but I think even that would've been too far out if we were having to drive into the city every day.

John259

codo wrote: »

Hi, we are planning a holiday to San Diego (2 adults, 2 teenagers). Has anyone stayed in Oceanside (north of San Diego). I have seen a couple of nice rental properties in the North Coast Village but am not sure if it is too far from the main areas of San Diego.
Thanks.

If your main focus is to visit San Diego then yes as the previous poster suggested it is quite a long way away. On the other hand if your main focus is to either stay at your accommodation, or to take some trips out (perhaps places such as Huntington Beach, Disneyland / Disney California Adventure, Big Bear Lake, Anza-Borrega Desert State Park and Joshua Tree National Park), then it would be quite a good option.

joaniemerc

jackieblack wrote: »

.we spent longer in Monterey as we wanted to visit the Aquarium and go whale watching.
..

We are going to California in September - flying in and out of LA. Our plan is:

Santa Barbara - 2 nights
Monterey - 5 nights
Yosemite - 2 nights.

Jackie - would you recommend Monterey for whale watching pls?

Also, is there public transport from Monterey area to San Francisco pls? We will have a car but looking at the map SF doesn't look too far away for a day trip. But, saying that, I would like to drive over the Golden Gate bridge.

TIA

John259

One possibility is the CalTrain service between Gilroy and San Francisco. Monterey to Gilroy is about 40 miles. http://www.caltrain.com

jackieblack

joaniemerc wrote: »

Jackie - would you recommend Monterey for whale watching pls?

Absolutely!
This is meant to be one of the best places to whale watch as whales come to feed in the submarine canyon in Monterey Bay.
Mid-April through mid-December you might see humpback whales, blue whales, dolphins and/or orca (killer whales).

Loads of companies running trips from Fisherman's Wharf.

joaniemerc

Thanks, John - that's perfect!

$26 return Gilroy - San Fran. Bargain!

joaniemerc

jackieblack wrote: »

Absolutely!
This is meant to be one of the best places to whale watch as whales come to feed in the submarine canyon in Monterey Bay.
Mid-April through mid-December you might see humpback whales, blue whales, dolphins and/or orca (killer whales).

Loads of companies running trips from Fisherman's Wharf.

Great, thanks - just what I wanted to hear!

We got the idea of California from Nigel Marvin's series about following the whales from Baja to Alaska http://www.channel5.com/shows/whale-adventure-with-nigel-marven

So excited about going:j