Reaching John Wayne Airport from Los Angeles via public transport?
My friend, a budget-conscious frequent traveler residing in New York, had one heck of a time finding a reasonably priced way to get to John Wayne Airport (SNA), in Santa Ana, California, from the Westside of Los Angeles this week. Despite having no intention to visit Orange County, he flew into John Wayne because, as an arrival destination, it proved far cheaper than LAX or other Los Angeles-area airports when he booked.
He ended up settling on a shuttle service for $75 one way (including tax). It was a shared shuttle that picked him up in Venice, California, at 7:45 a.m. for a noon flight. Hardly the ideal scenario, but did he have a choice?
I didn’t find any reasonable options from the Westside, but did find something that might be of interest to you Angelenos near Union Station or with access to it: You can reach SNA via a shuttle that connects it to the Tustin Metrolink Station, and the one-way fare for the nearly one-hour Metrolink journey from Union Station to Tustin Station is $8.75/$6.50 weekday/weekend.
Then, from the Metrolink station, hop aboard the free i Shuttle (run by the city of Irvine) — which departs roughly every 20 or 30 minutes, depending on the time of day, between 5:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays, 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekends — that will get you to the airport in 20 minutes.
I looked up buses too, but the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) runs just two buses to the airport: Route 76, which originates in Huntington Beach, and Route 212, which starts in San Juan Capistrano but runs very infrequently. Neither of these routes are of much help to Los Angeles residents, unless you want to challenge yourself with a time-consuming journey filled with transfers.
Do you have any other suggestions for reaching John Wayne Airport via public or private transportation? Please share your tips in the Comments section.
- Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times
[Photo: IrvineShuttle.net]
4 Comments on “Reaching John Wayne Airport from Los Angeles via public transport?”
Leave a Comment
If you are under 13 years of age you may read this blog, but you may not participate. Here's the full legal spiel.
Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this blog until the author has approved them.
All fields are required
Advertisement
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG
Click the logo below to subscribe to news from this blog:
Or add this feed to your favorite RSS reader:
more
Or add this feed to your favorite RSS reader:
more
Advertisement
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I recently flew out of John Wayne to Indianapolis on U.S. Airways for the great fare of $130 including tax. As I live here in Vista, CA, I took the Metrolink out of Oceanside and thought there was a good bus connection at Santa Ana to the Airport but was mistaken. Either I misread the info or mta.net misled me. I settled for an unplanned $25 cab ride and made my flight. On the return flight, also at $130, I asked the information desk at John Wayne which Metrolink station was closer, Santa Ana or Irvine. Being told Irvine was closer, I paid $30 for the cab ride to Irvine. Had I know about Tustin, I could have saved $55 but really cannot complain since the trip was such a bargain to begin with. Next time though I will go thru Tustin which obviously is “THE” Metrolink Portal to SNA. Thanks for your helpful and timely advise.
John Will, Vista, CA
September 4th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Hi John - Thanks for the comment. I’m glad you’ll be able to use the tip!
Susan Derby
November 22nd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Sadly no more weekend shuttle service between Tustin and John Wayne (shuttle Route A). Still viable on weekdays tho..
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Unfortunately, looks like you can only take a metrolink from union station to tustin station at very infrequent times: http://www.metrolinktrains.com/schedules/html.php?id=241