Flying into a new city can be pretty intimidating. Where is baggage claim? How do you find your Uber? Were is the rental car desks? And then once you finally get out of the airport, you actually have to drive where you’re going. People unfamiliar with a city, especially a city like Los Angles would just assume to fly in and out of LAX but if you are going to Orange County, Ventura County, the Valley or North OC you may save yourself a big headache and a lot of time flying in and out of another airport.

During my seven years that I lived in Southern California I used all of the local airports to fly in and out of, depending on where I was going and where I was living at the time. Today I’m going to help you figure out which airport will work best for you.

BUR – Hollywood Burbank Airport (Formally Bob Hope Airport)
Serves: With easy access to the 5 Freeway, the 170, 134, and 101, Burbank airport is easy shot to Glendale, Pasadena, Ventura County, Santa Clarita and the Valley. Honestly Burbank is even pretty easy for to get to the other side of the hill into Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Basically if you can fly into Burbank, do it.

Airlines: Mostly Southwest and my favorite is the one flight a day on Jet Blue roundtrip to JFK.

Where they fly: Pretty much most of the West Coast, Las Vegas, and once a day to New York City.

Transportation to and from the airport: Just outside of the airport is a train station where you can catch both an Amtrak or a Metrolink train. There are simple car rental options right at the airport and it is super simple for anyone, especially from the Valley or Burbank to pick you up. And of coarse Uber is really easy to get.

LGB – Long Beach Airport
Serves: Los Angeles and North Orange County. Once I moved to Anaheim I switched my favorite airport from Burbank or Long Beach. So simple!

Airlines: Jet Blue and Southwest are the two airlines that mainly fly in and out of LGB.

Where they fly: West coast flights, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and a few flights between Boston, JFK, and Fort Lauderdale.

Transportation to and from the airport: While there isn’t any public transportation too close to Long Beach Airport, there are car rental options around the airport. It is also a super simple airport to pick up or drop someone off at. Just don’t need to travel around rush hour. This airport is right off of the 405 so if you don’t have an easy route to the airport on surface streets your going to have to add an extra hour to your drive.

SNA – John Wayne Airport
Serves: Orange County

Airlines: Southwest, American and United are the airlines that have the most traffic in and out of SNA.

Where they fly: West coast flights are the most popular out of Orange County. They even fly into Santa Rosa for those Southern Californians flying up to wine country. But they also fly to Dallas, Las Vegas, Salt Lake, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Vancouver.

Transportation to and from the airport: Car rentals and ride shares are all super easy from this airport, just off of the 5 freeway. It’s location also makes it so easy for pick up and drop off but not around rush hour… per the usual. And if you’re heading to the OC for a Disneyland vacation, check into the Disneyland Resort Express.

LAX – Los Angeles International Airport
Serves: All of LA, Ventura County and Orange County

Airlines: Everyone and anyone. If you’re flying from somewhere I haven’t mentioned above, check here. You can pretty much go anywhere nonstop from LAX. (Pretty much.)

Where they fly: Again, anywhere and everywhere. Domestic and international.

Transportation to and from the airport: Any and all car rental companies have a location at or around LAX. There are plenty of Uber and Lyft options to pick you up at LAX, but good luck asking a friend. I’ve picked people up at LAX at 11:45 at night and there was still traffic getting into the airport. Don’t be fooled if your Google Maps app says there’s no traffic. The 405 may be clear but there’s only one way in and one way out so that is where you get backed up. But the Flyaway is always another option. Living in the Valley, many friends used the Flyaway to the Van Nuys parking lot but there are a few other drop off points around the county, including one at Union Station.