Los Angeles - how early to arrive, LAX international

A question for someone who often flies international out of LAX.

I am on an EVA airlines flight leaving 10:45pm on Thursday (economy class). Planning to check one one piece of luggage, but if doing this will require a lot of time and delay me, could always take it on board. Although I am aware the standard advice of the airlines is 3 hours, my situation is such that I will have to arrive either 2 hours or 5 hours early, because I will be taking a bus to LAX from another city, with two possible arrival times: 5:45pm and 8:45pm.

Would two hours be sufficient in LAX in any but the most extraordinary circumstances or is it always advisable to allow at least three hours?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Moving this thread to the Los Angeles forum. Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
TravelBuzz co-moderator

I would be much more worried about traffic getting to LAX than anything else, particularly in the middle of the week. Two hours might suffice if everything runs smoothly, but you can't count on that. Where are you boarding the bus? If you're not coming from far away, you might be able to expect the 8:45pm arrival time to be accurate and predictable. But if you're coming from far away and run the risk of being exposed to rush hour traffic, I wouldn't be comfortable relying on the bus to deliver me to LAX when they claim they will.

I'm coming from Goleta, which is in good conditions usually about a 90 minute drive. The bus scheduled to arrive at 8:45 leaves at 6:00 pm, so it seems they are making some allowance for traffic. (Also read that the bus takes an alternate route like the PCH if the freeway is jammed).

Normally the 2 hours would be fine - my folks take the evening EVA departure frequently. However, there's 100 miles of potential problems between Goleta and LAX. That makes me personally uncomfortable. If I could do it without much problem, I would personally take the earlier bus and not be stressed. Of course, I stress easily about these things.

I'd probably feel OK with the 2 hours but it is a little iffy with the bus and all. Keep in mind BR closes check-in one hour before departure so making the flight is a non issue. It's making check-in that is the real concern.

Mabuk,

What does BR stand for? This will be my first time flying EVA, but shouldn't I be able to check in on-line 24 hours before and print out an electronic ticket?

Mabuk,

What does BR stand for? This will be my first time flying EVA, but shouldn't I be able to check in on-line 24 hours before and print out an electronic ticket?
BR is the IATA code for EVA Air (e.g., flight BR16 is EVA flight 16)... you can look up the codes here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_codes)

You definitely need to arrive more than two hours before your flight, ESPECIALLY with such a long commute, and ESPECIALLY on a bus. You'll never regret getting there early, but you'll be really unhappy if you arrive too late.

We regularly fly EVA out of LAX. Even though we fly business class AND we're Evergreen Gold, we always arrive at least two hours before the flight as EVA's counters are crazy busy at that time of night. Even with the very short priority elite lines, and being on midnight flights (less crazy) it usually takes a while to get our bags checked and get our boarding and lounge passes.

The economy class check in counters are ALWAYS overflowing, chotic and move very slowly. The airport in general is usually more chaotic around 10pm than later, too. You do not want to risk getting stuck in a 45 minute check-in line.

I'm not an expert, but I think OLCI will make no difference in this instance as you'll still need to go to the counter to check your bag, and that means waiting in a long line.

Thanks. You convinced me to book the earlier bus. It's definitely going to be a long trip!

I was going to suggest taking the earlier bus. I'm glad to see the post right above mine. :)