Is LAX really THAT bad?

[simongr]

I agree that LAX is not as bad as people make out - but an hour from landing to lounge seems extraordinary. At NRT yesterday morning I was outside the lounge within 15 mins of landing. Even at LHR I have been 20 mins from landing to lounge - including a terminal change.

 

[JohnK]

I didn't find it unreasonable but I wasn't rushing either. I took my time as I had 11 hours to kill. Before going upstairs I made a phone call back home and also went outside for 10 minutes just having a look around.

 

[serfty]

Matches my experience when arriving ~2:30pm on a much delayed QF25 last year.

FWIW, I think landing at TBIT is more the issue with LAX. We disembarked at a remote bus gate and I was much relieved when it turned into T4 rather than TBIT.

I did have checked luggage (one rollaboard) and this was transferred on to Dallas as described. I had a three hour transit and it took around 40 minutes to get to the F/L. (Elite security check helped).

 

[Shano]

My last two int'l (QF) - domestic (AA) T4 transfers have taken well over an hour. If the T4 screening queue didn't extend all the way along the upper concourse to the escalators then it may not have been so bad.

 

[serfty]

Did you use the Elite Line? As a WP you should have access.

It's accessed from an escalator heading up from the elite check-in area.

more here on the FT AA Wiki: Elite Security Lines (AA) - FlyerGuide Wiki

 

[Shano]

Aaarrrrggghhhh!!!! Wish I had known about that before.

Will definitely look for that on Wednesday.

Thanks Serfty.

 

[HardieBoys]

Last trip to LAX was from HK on Cathay. The flight landed 1 hour early, on a Friday night. The queues were horrendous, despite racing out the plane. Even the US citizens faced huge queues (and were complaining like mad). It took over an hour of queuing to clear immigrations.

Previous trips from Sydney to LAX have not been problematic at all. I'm thinking of entering the US via SFO next time. Has anyone had lengthy inbound delays at SFO?

(Best ever was a trip from LHR to JFK, arriving around 8 pm on a Saturday night: took a little over an hour between plane landing and arriving at my accommodation on the Upper West Side.)

 

[Maca44]

I'm thinking of entering the US via SFO next time. Has anyone had lengthy inbound delays at SFO?

I have flown QF73 into SFO regularly over the past few years, and the longest it has taken me to get through Customs & Immigration was about 45 mins, and that was because they had a problem getting the luggage to the carousel. Also, SFO is not as crowded as LAX, a lot nicer airport, nicer officers as apposed to those at LAX and the transport system (BART) works well.

 

[HardieBoys]

The thing that gets me about US Customs/Immigrations at LAX is the combination of officiousness and inefficiency. I'll be interested to see if it's quicker to get through Beijing procedures this weekend.

 

[simongr]

My experience of PEK (once) and PVG (twice) has been that the actual immigration process is slow - lots of checking and reading and typing - but the queues were less and they actually had enough staff.

They also had very clearly marked APEC lanes at PVG (don't recall PEK as it was 2am).

 

[dot]

They also had very clearly marked APEC lanes at PVG (don't recall PEK as it was 2am).

I havent flown into PEK since getting my APEC BT Card, but there is defiately a APEC/Dipliomats line outbound at PEK, so I would expect there to also be one for inbound