Would you come to the desert?
Four days in the Coachella Valley. Watching the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, a private chef, pickleball, a pool, and Joshua Tree for anyone who wants it.
Nothing is booked yet. I'm trying to work out whether this is real — so if you'd come, say so, and I'll start making it happen.
Say you're interestedTakes ten seconds. Not a commitment.
The plan
Loosely held, and this is roughly the shape of it. The only thing I'd really want everyone at is the Saturday dinner.
Arrive whenever your flight gets in — the day is deliberately shapeless. Pickleball in the late afternoon once the heat drops off, then the pool, then something easy for dinner. No reservations, nothing to be late for.
The BNP Paribas Open is on, fifteen minutes away. Grounds passes get you all-day run of the outer courts and the practice courts — this is the opening stretch of the main draw, so the full field is still in and there's world-class tennis on eight courts at once. Day drinks, shade, and no obligation to watch anything in particular.
Anyone who wants Joshua Tree leaves around 7:30am and is back mid-afternoon — about fifty minutes each way, and worth it. Everyone else gets a completely undisturbed pool day. In the evening a private chef takes over the kitchen and we all sit down together. This is the one.
The main event Joshua Tree optionalLong breakfast, last swim, drive to the airport around midday. Nothing scheduled on purpose, so nobody spends the morning watching the clock.
Getting there
The short version: fly JFK. It has the cheapest fares and the most nonstops, including a seasonal nonstop straight into Palm Springs. Newark works too. LaGuardia doesn't really work at all — see the note under the table.
Swipe the table sideways →
| From | PSPPalm Springs · 20 min away | SNAJohn Wayne · 1 hr 45 | LAXLos Angeles · 2 hr 30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| JFKQueens |
$400–580
Nonstop · Alaska & Delta Seasonal, ~6x weekly |
$330–460
Nonstop · American & Delta ~11x weekly |
$280–400
Nonstop · everyone Cheapest fares in the grid |
| EWRNewark |
$420–600
Nonstop · United Seasonal, once daily |
$350–480 Nonstop · United |
$300–430
Nonstop · United, JetBlue, Alaska ~13 a day |
| LGALaGuardia | $430–620 No nonstop — connection only | $340–470 No nonstop — connection only | $300–420 No nonstop — connection only |
| Drive to the house | 20 minutes | 1 hr 45 | 2 hr 30 |
Fares are typical ranges for this season and route, not live quotes — nobody can quote March 2027 yet. Use them to compare airports, then price your own dates. Highlighted cells are the two best-value options depending on whether you'd rather save money or save time.
Why LaGuardia is out: LGA bans nonstop flights beyond 1,500 miles, with an exception only for Saturdays and for Denver. Southern California is well outside that, and the Saturday cross-country flights that used to exist have since been cut. Anything from LGA means changing planes.
Getting home
Going west to east you lose three hours, and there is no way around it. Palm Springs to New York is roughly five hours in the air plus the time change — an eight-hour clock day whatever you book. Nothing leaves Palm Springs for New York in the morning, so the nonstops all land around 10pm.
Yes, there is a red-eye — but not from Palm Springs. PSP is small and has no overnight departures at all. The red-eye is JetBlue out of Ontario, an hour and fifteen from the house: 11:59pm, into JFK at 8:24am. You can take it Saturday night and be home Sunday morning with the whole day still ahead of you, or Sunday night if you'd rather squeeze out one more day. Here's how it all compares.
Swipe the table sideways →
| Option | Leaves | Lands | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSP nonstopThe default | Sun 2:00pm | Sun 10:01pm | Simplest by far, and you keep the whole Sunday morning here. You're just walking in the door near midnight. |
| Ontario red-eyeSaturday night | Sat 11:59pm | Sun 8:24am | Home Sunday morning with the entire day to recover. You'd duck out of the Saturday dinner around 9:45pm and skip Sunday here — but Ontario is only 1hr 15 away. |
| Connect via DallasAmerican | Sun 6:00am | Sun ~5:30pm | Home for dinner with a normal night's sleep before Monday. Costs a 3:45am wake-up and the last morning by the pool. |
| Ontario red-eyeSunday night | Sun 11:59pm | Mon 8:24am | Buys you a whole extra day in the desert. But you land Monday morning having not really slept, and go straight into the week. |
The 2pm nonstop on Sunday is the plan, and what most people will do. But if getting back to your family early on Sunday matters more than a last morning by the pool, the Saturday red-eye out of Ontario is the best version of that — you keep all three full days here and you're home before nine on Sunday. The Dallas connection does something similar without the overnight, at the price of a very early alarm. Tell me which one you're on and I'll group the airport runs.
Worth checking yourself: that the 11:59pm Ontario departure actually flies on the Saturday (JetBlue runs this route a few times a week, not daily) and that it's filed for March 2027. LAX has Saturday red-eyes too, but the two-and-a-half-hour drive means leaving here by about 7pm — Ontario is the better call.
One example of the default option, so you can picture the days at either end. Times are United's current published winter schedule, not a live quote — the seasonal Palm Springs nonstops re-file every year and don't fly every day of the week, so check Thursday and Sunday before you book anything.
Before you ask
No. Right now I just need to know whether enough people would come to make this worth booking. Say yes now, decide for real later.
No — adults only. Four days, three nights, and you're back Sunday night.
JFK to Palm Springs if you want the easiest trip. JFK to LAX if you want the cheapest and don't mind the drive. Skip LaGuardia.
A house, somewhere in the Palm Springs / Palm Desert area, with a pool. I'll sort it once I know roughly how many of us there are.
Yes. If you're only doing one night, make it Saturday.
Early March in the desert is about as good as it gets — 80°F days, 50°F nights. Bring a swimsuit and an actual jacket for the evenings.
One thing to do
That's genuinely all I need right now. I'm not asking you to book anything or send me money — I'm trying to find out whether there are enough people for this to happen, and a rough yes from you is worth more than a polite maybe.
Say you're interestedTennis tickets go on sale in September, and desert houses for tournament week go early — so I'd like a rough headcount by the end of September to know whether to book. If you're a no, that's completely fine, and saying so actually helps.