What’s cheaper? SoCal Travel Deal Quiz for July 30, 2008

Here’s a fun little quiz to test your travel deal knowledge. Answers appear after the jump.

1. Is it cheaper to fly from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK) on JetBlue, Southwest or Virgin America?

2. What costs more, valet parking at Century City or taking the Metro from Union Station to Century City?

3. Is it cheaper for a family of three (two adults and one child) to go to the San Diego Zoo or SeaWorld?

4. Which has higher gas prices, Santa Monica or Glendale?

5. What costs more, a five-star hotel in Las Vegas or in Santa Barbara?

1A. The trick is that, of those three airlines, Virgin America is the only airline that will take you directly from LAX to JFK. For JetBlue you would need to fly out of Long Beach (LGB) and Southwest just flies into Long Island (ISP). I tested fares on all three airlines for the weekend of Aug. 22–Aug. 25, 2008, and here were the cheapest results:

JetBlue — $419 round trip, including taxes
Virgin America — $439 round trip, including taxes
Southwest — $491 round trip, including taxes

2A. Parking at Century City is free for the first three hours. You can get an additional two hours for $3 with an AMC theater validation. Otherwise, the cost is $7 for three hours and 30 minutes with $2 for each additional 15 minutes.

Metro: The Metro Rapid 728 and 704 are only $1.25 each way. The Commuter Express 534 costs 90 cents each way.

3A. San Diego Zoo: Adult admission (age 12 and older) is $34 per day. Children ages 3-11 are $24. Total price for a family of three is $92. Note: There is a summer deal for a family four-pack priced at $88.

SeaWorld San Diego: Tickets for adults (age 10 and older) are $61 each, or $51 if you purchase online. Children ages 3-9 are $51 each. Total price for a family of three is $153.

4A. According to Gas Buddy’s USA National Gas Temperature Map, I found regular unleaded for $4.19 per gallon in Santa Monica, but the lowest I saw in Glendale was $4.25.

5A. I checked Hotels.com and found that rooms at the Bellagio had an average nightly rate of $319 per night for the weekend of Aug. 22-24, 2008. The Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara started at $925 per night for the same dates. The Four Seasons in Las Vegas has rooms starting at $325 per night on those same dates.

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Photo: SeaWorld; Richard Hartog, Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 11:18 am by Jen Leo and is filed under California, Deals, Family & Kids, Los Angeles, News, Tips & Advice, San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San DIego. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.