Waterwater

Hi

I am traveling with my husband and two kids (4 and 8). Our flight leaves LAX this Friday at 5:55 pm, arriving on Saturday morning at Pearson Int. @ 1:43 am CA time. Our next flight departs (7 hours later), Saturday at 8:40 am for St. Lucia.

I think I've determined it's not worth the hassle of getting a room at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel connected to the airport. I would love nothing more than to sleep in a hotel bed, but after clearing customs and transit to the hotel, I figure at best we get 2 hours of sleep. We arrive at Terminal 1 and would need to also take the monorail to the hotel. Then come back and queue all over again.

Does it make more sense to clear CA immigration, then head back through TSA/security and sleep in the International terminal 1 by our next gate?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I want the simplest transition netting the most sleep & least amount of carrying out 2 kids in our arms.

Thank you!

tentseller

Only issue is whether you can get to intl departure/security at that time.

Having traveled with kids I would just take the short ride over to Sheraton.

Many of my younger friends and relatives sleepover at Sheraton to make a morning departure smoother

Doc Savage

Get a couple of cheap pool floats to take along. Usually just a few bucks each at Walmart, etc.

mapleg

You will not be able to head over there till maybe 4:15 to 4:30am. Security does not show up until then.

Assuming this is on Air Canada, you may wish to have your query moved to the AC Aeroplan forum (or ask there)

Waterwater

Thanks-I had read that about security but it was an older thread. Wasn't sure how accurate that was. We phoned the airport and they said it was open 24 hours but perhaps we got bad info. And yes, our flight is with Air Canada.

Waterwater

I thought staying at the Sheraton was a given but once we started looking at our landing time (basically 2 am), then factor in time to deplane (15 mins?), then go through immigration (up to 1 hour?) = roughly 3:15 am. Add in 10 mins on the Monorail and another 10 mins to check in...

The airport recommended arriving 2-3 hours before our next flight to get through security which seems excessive but I get some times the waits could be this long. Which means getting there around 5:40

2 - 2 1/2 hours at best in the hotel...which is why I thought we might just rough it and show the kids what backpacking is like 😂

Are my estimates over the top? Or will we breeze through immigration at that time of night?

Thanks!

Often1

You might consider calling the property directly during regular business hours and find out what they might do for you by way of a rate if you only need the room for 3 hours. A lot of airport properties are quite happy to quote unpublished rates because they can turn the room over quickly.

Even if all you get to do is change, relax and shower, it's going to be a nice break.

Waterwater

Funny you should suggest this- I had thought of buying the Lamzac Hangout but your idea is a lot cheaper. For the kids, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

Doc Savage

It's made for an at least reasonably comfortable nap for me a number of times in airports.

And the kids can use them in St. Lucia. Leave them there when you head home. (The floats, not the kids.)

You might also buy a cheap foot pump unless you have mighty lung capacity.

emma69

I have never landed at that time in the morning, but in my past few trips the longest immigration has taken me has been around 10 mins. I have not been through immigration to find my bags waiting for me - that has always been where I have ended up waiting. But as a single data point, last week, wheels down to in the taxi was ~35 mins.

On the other end, going through security, if you are not pre-clearing for the US, doesn't seem to take very long at all, at 6:30 am a few weeks ago we walked straight through, no line. If you are staying right at the airport (meaning you don't need to allow for a flat tire) and are already checked in, I would say 2 hours is plenty - I normally allow 2.5 hours planned, because we drive to the airport - I haven't been at the airport 3 hours before in a long long time!

YZF_Elite

You can probably safely sleep 2:45-6:30, maybe even 7 if you're efficient at getting up and going. While it seems like a short night, in my experience, 4 hours sleep is so much better than none. When we've done this, one parent gets off the plane and goes straight to the hotel with the kids to check in, leaving the other to get the bags and follow behind. You'll be surprised how quickly you can get from the runway to bed.

As was said up-thread, getting to the security line-up for your flight by an hour before is plenty. With bags, probably check in 75-80 mins ahead and you'll have lots of time. Your flight isn't a widebody and won't board until 25-30 mins before departure.

mapleg

Well, maybe things have changed lately, but I doubt it.

We were scheduled to take a a similar flight leaving at 615 am. I thought it was a very smart idea to get to the airport 3 hours early, only to stand in a hallway with about 100 similarly minded passengers. Security was not open and we had the pleasure of watching the early security shift come to work with their lunchpails and coats. Waste of an hour's time.