SoCal Los Angeles Area

Daniel L

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Daniel
Hey folks,

My spouse and I were discussing a trip to Los Angeles in June and it prompted me to look into a cheap method.

Method 1: Southwest airlines booked 6 weeks early, airbnb
Method 2: Fly Ms. Thang and find an airfield that has crew quarters and low ramp fees.

We are likely going for method 1. But for kicks, I'd like to consider method 2 for a future trip. There are fields in northern California (where i live) that have crew cars and crash pads on prem. First come, first serve of course. Can someone point to a good field near Los Angeles with similar?

I'm not talking about a pilot's lounge. But, rather beds, kitchenettes, bathroom/shower, laundry facilities...

The intent is to plan the trip where I get a full day to check out the sites in that specific region without the need to drive somewhere far. The area is rich with things to do.
 
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What's wrong with flying the Vike, renting a car and staying at an Airbnb? Or maybe find a hotel within walking distance of the airport if you don't need a car (in LA... Chortle).
 
Wait...didn't you just by a plane? Why wouldn't that be Method 1,2 and 3? LOL.

As far as a crash pad like you describe, I'm not aware of something like that (other than a pilot lounge). Where can you find these up in Norcal? Depending on what part of LA you wanna visit will help decide what airport is best to fly into. I'm based at WHP, which is easy in/out and pretty convenient to Hollywood/downtown/Universal. Not sure what transient parking costs, but iI'd be surprised if it's more than $10/nt.
 
SoCal is a very large area. It can be defined as Santa Barbara to Palm Springs to San Ysidro. Any finer point on this?

Is Ms. Thang the name of your plane? Confused.

I'm not aware of crew apartments anywhere unless there's something secret at LAX.
 
I'm not aware of crew apartments anywhere unless there's something secret at LAX.
The secret is the clapped out RVs in the Proud Bird parking lot.

Nauga,
and his ramen budget
 
Where are you planning to do/see Southern CA

KOXR is a cheap Urber ride away from Oxnard and Ventura harbors gatway to the Channle Isalnds... but this time of year means May Grey and June Gloom so and IFR ticket is a must.. KCMA a little further, but Enterprise will pick you up there.. KSZP... I don't know of any Air BNB thingies in the area...

KVNY there is an Airtel at the Van Nuys airport... from what I uderstand the NetJet crews stay there

KFUL.. Knotts Berry Farm is around the corner so there a few Hotels close to the airport..

KCRQ there is a Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites right across the street. I stay there all the time when I go there on business..

But, I hate to say and this is the advice I give to many the wish to travel to Southern CA.. you're going to need a car, and you're gong to spend some time behind the wheel...
 
But, I hate to say and this is the advice I give to many the wish to travel to Southern CA.. you're going to need a car


Not any more...Uber. I hardly rent cars any more...especially when traveling to SoCal. Land at the closest field then just Uber around as needed.

Not an either/or method in my mind. Most of the GA airports are pretty cheap to park then just Uber to an AirBNB and your destinations of choice.

I have also airport hopped between SoCal airports. Nothing beats LA traffic like looking down on all the four wheelers gridlocked below!
 
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What's wrong with flying the Vike, renting a car and staying at an Airbnb? Or maybe find a hotel within walking distance of the airport if you don't need a car (in LA... Chortle).

For this upcoming trip, it'll be two nights. Two days of ramp fees alone exceed the price of a ticket on southwest.

Wait...didn't you just by a plane? Why wouldn't that be Method 1,2 and 3? LOL.

As far as a crash pad like you describe, I'm not aware of something like that (other than a pilot lounge). Where can you find these up in Norcal? Depending on what part of LA you wanna visit will help decide what airport is best to fly into. I'm based at WHP, which is easy in/out and pretty convenient to Hollywood/downtown/Universal. Not sure what transient parking costs, but iI'd be surprised if it's more than $10/nt.

Check yolo county airport, that's a good example off the top of my head. The fbo there even has a pool table. It's rad. For our trip in June, we're going to be in Hollywood.

SoCal is a very large area. It can be defined as Santa Barbara to Palm Springs to San Ysidro. Any finer point on this?

Is Ms. Thang the name of your plane? Confused.

I'm not aware of crew apartments anywhere unless there's something secret at LAX.

Yes that's my plane's name. It's sort of a long story but that's her name. If you're interested, which i doubt, I'll tell the story but it's boring as hell and really only funny to us.

Like....laundry. ;)

Exactly.
 
For this upcoming trip, it'll be two nights. Two days of ramp fees alone exceed the price of a ticket on southwest.

Overnight parking at WHP (my airport) for two nights shouldn't run you more than $20. Hollywood (where I live) is 20 minutes from WHP. If you fly into LAX, you're gonna spend at least $60 on uber (if you go that route) each way plus a all the time and hassle just to get to Hollywood plus LAX sucks. BUR would obviously be better but it's usually more expensive to fly into BUR. All that said, it's almost always gonna be more expensive to fly yourself...but we didn't buy airplanes to save money, did we?
 
Overnight parking at WHP (my airport) for two nights shouldn't run you more than $20. Hollywood (where I live) is 20 minutes from WHP. If you fly into LAX, you're gonna spend at least $60 on uber (if you go that route) each way plus a all the time and hassle just to get to Hollywood plus LAX sucks. BUR would obviously be better but it's usually more expensive to fly into BUR. All that said, it's almost always gonna be more expensive to fly yourself...but we didn't buy airplanes to save money, did we?
We are flying into burbank. Our goal is to avoid lax on any trip if we can help it. Whp huh? Ill look into it.

Im totally with you on the budget thing and expense of flying. In this case, we are going on a pretty tight budget so taking ms thang down is out of the question. My original post was geared for future trips. It will be dirt cheap to fly down next month.

If i can identify airfields in the region with good amenities then it would entail a trip around it if possible.

There are plenty of things i intend to do that wont require an overnight stay in socal but thats a topic for a different thread.

Thanks for the response.

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Plenty of GA fields with cheap fees. KFUL is $10/night with first night waived with fuel @ General Aviation. WHP, EMT...all cheap transient parking.
 
Plenty of GA fields with cheap fees. KFUL is $10/night with first night waived with fuel @ General Aviation. WHP, EMT...all cheap transient parking.
Are you aware of any with crew quarters for overnight stays?

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Lots of airports/FBOs in the region that won't ding you with ramp fees if you are nice to them and buy gas. Especially if it is just 2 nights.

Also, if you want cheaper gas, do your research on where to go. Airports just a few miles apart can have vastly different pricing. There are hotels/motels near basically every airport.

Are you aware of any with crew quarters for overnight stays?

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I didn't even know "crew quarters" existed. I certainly don't know of any airports in Southern California that have something like that. The best you're getting is a recliner and a nice shower room.
 
Lots of airports/FBOs in the region that won't ding you with ramp fees if you are nice to them and buy gas. Especially if it is just 2 nights.
Also, if you want cheaper gas, do your research on where to go. Airports just a few miles apart can have vastly different pricing. There are hotels/motels near basically every airport.

I'm always planning landing locations with fuel prices in mind. I don't mind ramp fees if they're fair. I also don't mind getting 10-15 gallons of 100ll for a waived day fee.

I didn't even know "crew quarters" existed. I certainly don't know of any airports in Southern California that have something like that. The best you're getting is a recliner and a nice shower room.

Look here as an example http://davisflightsupport.com/ab_mancave.html

For crew cars, navigate to Transportation.
 

That’s a snooze room man, designed for overworked pilots or those having their travel plans blown up by weather. You don’t intentionally overnight there - especially with your wife!

I’m unaware of these ‘crash pads’ you’re talking about in Norcal. Do you have an example of one? Not sure you’ll find what you’re looking for in Socal.
 
Are you aware of any with crew quarters for overnight stays?

Not sure that is even a thing outside of the random couch if you are stranded. I have seem some pilots camp out on floors of FBOs at sleepy GA strips in the middle of nowhere, but none with any formal "accommodations" in SoCal
 
Basically every FBO has a snooze room and many have some sort of shower - some of them are quite nice. That's a lot different than the semi-motel you're describing, though it doesn't look like that Davis FBO has something like that either.
 
Basically every FBO has a snooze room and many have some sort of shower - some of them are quite nice. That's a lot different than the semi-motel you're describing, though it doesn't look like that Davis FBO has something like that either.
its actually yolo airport next to davis airport.

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