Hello everyone. I am planning to make the trip to Botcon in Pasadena next year. I'm in the process of planning my trip and am not familiar with the area. Could anyone who lives there or went in '09 help me with a couple of things? Should I fly in to LAX or the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank? BHA is closer to Pasadena, but Priceline doesn't really offer any rental car packages. Do they not have any rental places in that airport? I'm gonna be spending the first half of the week at Big Bear lake, so I need a rental car in order to make the trip. Does Botcon offer shuttle service from either airport to the hotel? I could drop the car off early if they do and save some cash since I'm sharing a room with some people there.
I don't know a great deal about car rental companies, since I don't drive, but if there's any way you can do it (or at least the Botcon leg) without a hire car, there's usually a very good shuttle good service from LAX; Super Shuttle usually put on a deal in conjunction with Botcon to save people money. IIRC a voucher or code is usually made available for Botcon goers a while before the convention. Failing that, I'd check out the websites for rental companies in the area - sometimes you can pick up better deals by going directly to the companies themselves. Maybe you can get a deal that would only involve you getting a taxi to them to pick up the car?
i heard berbank was better but dont know for sure this will be my first time out there but back to back cons
When we went in '09, we arrived at LAX and took the Prime Time Shuttle (offered by FP). I can't remember what the exact price was, but I know there was a Botcon discount. It wasn't bad and we got to the hotel and back to the airport on schedule.
The problem is that I have to work the Monday after the con, so I have to leave out on Sunday. So far, it looks like there aren't any afternoon flights our of LAX on the low end of the price spectrum. I can't wait til Sunday night because I won't get home until after the time I'm supposed to be at work. Morning flights mean I miss all the Sunday stuff. At least out of Burbank, I can catch a 1:30 flight. Given it's proximity to the con, I can stay til at least 11:00 am. The reason I need a rental car is that I have a free cabin on the lake up at Big Bear I can use, which is like 90 miles east of Pasadena. I need a rental car to get there. I'm gonna fly in on the Saturday before the con and stay at the lake until Thursday. I found out their are rental car places at Burbank. I'm not sure why Priceline doesn't let me bundle it in a package with the airfare. I wish they would because I get the later departure flight and a lower price on airfare. But without the rental package, full price on the car ( even if only til Thursday ) puts it higher than the package at LAX. But with LAX, I have to leave at like 4 in the morning on Sunday. *sigh* Guess I'll have to wait til I file my tax return and hope it's enough to cover it all. I may do the offer thing on priceline and offer a bit lower than the airfare it gives me. That may help offset the cost of the rental car.
Stop using Priceline, they're never really any cheaper, and if you have an issue, it is another obstacle to getting it fixed in a timely manner. Just check out Southwest flights to Bob Hope. Worked out great for our whole group last year both for time options and for price, bud.
Orson, I just tried and it's not cheaper. I can get a cheaper flight out of Lexington to Burbank through Priceline than I can from Southwest out of Louisville. Only difference is they actually have a 4:30 departure flight which means I can stay later on Sunday.
Dunno man. Remember, if you're flying United, Delta, etc. you will also be paying fees that Priceline is not listing. This includes between $25 and $50 in checked bag fees just to bring a single suitcase. Double that if you bring two. So you have to watch that as part of the deal too. By comparison, when Southwest says $273.42 or whatever (random number for example...my flight in 09 was about $350 total out and back) for each part of the flight, that includes all the taxes and fees right there (they show it broken out a couple steps later), and you get two checked bags free.
Yeah, you're right. I didn't count the baggage fees. Even though I wanted to go out on Saturday, the website had to upgrade my seat for some reason and the price went up. I can fly out on Sunday for $438 round trip. I need to wait til I get my tax refund before I can book it. Hopefully it won't take long to get it since I e-file after I get my last paycheck before the first of the year and do direct deposit. Last year, I had the money before the first of February. Hopefully I'll still be able to get that same price by then.
