Originally Posted by
Steph58
Interested to see this question, as I have a similar quandry this morning. I am flying to New Zealand from LAX. But will be flying on WN OAK-LAX first/after. For my return I chose a WN flight 3 hours after the scheduled arrival of NZ. Maybe that's too much time? Would 2 hours be enough--I don't know. This will be an early Sunday afternoon. So I was thinking of also booking the 2-hour-later flight--if I make it fine, if I don't I'll have my 3-hour leadtime flight. These are both Wanna Get Away fares, the others cost a whole lot more.
I've actually done that same trip before - OAK-LAX-AUK. I think your strategy is fine, as long as you are able to use the funds from the extra flight later.
Clearing international at LAX is completely random. I've been through in less than 45 minutes, and I've had 4-hour adventures (with nothing remarkable happening). Two hours from landing to next flight is probably the most likely scenario, but you never really know. The main factor is how many other flights are coming in at the same time, and where they are coming in from. New Zealand doesn't interest the customs folks as much as some other, more interesting (to them) countries.
If you decide to stay with just one flight, I would say there is a decent chance that WN would let you go standby without extra $ if you arrived late for your scheduled flight (this might happen anyway, even with the 3-hour flight). Show them your flight documentation, and see what happens. It won't work in reverse - they won't let you board the 2-hour flight if you book the 3-hour flight.