Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Clearing customs at Lax

Hello Everyone

I am arriving at LAX on V Australia at 5.45pm. Then United to Las Vegas leaving at 8.40pm. Do I have enough time to clear customs and make my check in? There will be a few of us and we are taking our golf clubs as well.
Many Thanks

Should be plenty of time. You'll arrive at Tom Bradley international terminal (equivalent to terminal 3 and a half) - after customs just drop off your luggage at the transfer desk, head outside and catch either the A, B, or C buses under the blue sign (A = airport loop, B & C different long term parking shuttles). All three will stop at United terminal 7. Just to double check, there are a lot of LAX "ambassadors" when you exit the transfer desk wearing blue coats & carrying clipboards who'll point you the right way.

That is certainly the procedure when flying QF/UA/DL/NZ, however V.Australia did not interline originally, and in June they had a press release that they now interline with Virgin America ... so I wouldn't presume that the bags can be checked through on the UA flight. Best to confirm with V.Australia whether they interline bags with UA. See http://www.vaustralia.com.au/about-us/media-releases/view-media-releases/P_008865.html

If they do not interline, then the bags will need to be carried from TBIT to the UA check-in area (other end of airport, about 10 min walk or bus ride, sadly about the longest walk there is at LAX -- all the other airlines serving LAS would have been more convenient). Also LAX has an unusually early check-in cutoff for bags (think UA is 1 hour before flight time), so there won't be much slack in the schedule. Definitely OK if flight arrives on time, but need to hurry to make it.

Edit to add that interline partners are listed at http://www.vaustralia.com.au/about-us/our-partners/index.htm and do not include UA. DL, CO, AS are included (so there were interline choices for LAX-LAS flights!). Making the UA connection will be a big hassle with golf clubs as you won't be able to drop off the baggage at TBIT and will need to make the check-in deadline at UA terminal (probably T7). Booking on QF would have been a lot easier, also as you cannot interline you will have to pay the UA baggage fees (which will be a few hundred dollars for the size of your group, unless you have Star status). The return trip out of LAS will be even more fun :)

I believe there is even more bad news, because UA and V do not have an interline agreement, UA will not know if your V flight is late and may count you as a no-show and cancel your ticket if you are late.

This happened to a few friends of mine who had to buy a new ticket when they got to LAX because the V flight was late. Neither V or UA would help them out, both pointing fingers at the other.

Someone correct me if my terminology is not correct, but being on two tickets, with the second carrier "not knowing" about the first can be a problem. If there was an interline agreement, then upon checkin the two tickets would be linked for purposes of the connection and therefore you would have not only the convenience of thru bag check, but also protection in case of a missed connection.

Protection is an entitlement only when on a single ticket, when you purchase separate tickets (often much cheaper that way!) then some airlines will offer it as a courtesy. FF status etc. sometimes helps. Some airlines have a "flat tire" rule (if you are late and miss your flight due to delays getting to the airport); many no longer do these days. It is always a consideration when booking separate tickets. In general staying within an airline alliance helps quite a bit if problems happen. UA and AA at LAX seem to be pretty good about working with you to reroute (as is QF). The LCCs generally do less (as would be expected with the lower price). Sticking with an interline partner for V.Australia would seem to be highly advisable, particularly for the return leg.

I thank you for all the help
have re-booked a morning flight :cool: