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2013 Consolidated LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread

Old Apr 13, 2013, 9:38 am
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Last edit by: TWA884
2013 Consolidated LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread

NOTES:

"Published" Minimum Connect Time (MCT) international to domestic at LAX is 2 hours. Numerous LAX regulars advise that 3 hours is much safer. Wait times for incoming immigration and customs services are very inconsistent. While the vast majority of international flights arrive at the newly remodeled Tom Bradley Terminal, some airlines use older customs facilities in Terminal 2 or 6. View recent postings in this thread for more information.

T4 to T5 tunnel is now open. It is possible now to connect from T4 to T5, T6, T7 and T8 without exiting security.
In T-4, the access to the tunnel is from Gate 44 (the bus transfer gate). Take the escalator down to Gate 44, then turn left and take the escalator down towards baggage claim. At the bottom of the escalator make a U turn to the right and enter through the double doors. Please consult the terminals maps for the location of the tunnel in terminals 5 and 6.

An elevated airside connecter walkway between T4 and TBIT is under construction. This is expected to be completed in 2016. More here: TERMINAL 4 CONNECTOR - LAWA PDF

The prior thread on this topic, 2012 - "Consolidated Questions About Connecting at LAX" thread, contains relevant information, however, to keep it from getting too long, 2014 and 2015 updates are below.

________________________________________

2015 INFO

Los Angeles International Airport website

PDF Map of LAX airport and vicinity parking and cell phone lot


Airline Location Map

Links to individual terminals maps

Only terminals 4 through 8 are connected airside (through tunnels between terminals 4, 5 and 6, and above ground hallways between terminals 6, 7 and 8). There are occasional airside shuttles elsewhere, but are subject to change (e.g. AA to American eagle, afternoon AA to TBIT Qantas). Airport policy allows you to gain admission airside to a terminal you are not departing from with an ID and a same day boarding pass, but anecdotal reports indicate that sometimes this is not honored by security personnel.

Tom Bradley International Terminal serves most, but not all, foreign airlines.

In most instances, international arrivals require processing USDHS-CBP (immigration, recovering baggage and processing customs); if you are going on in your travels, there is a baggage recheck counter as you exit customs. This can be fairly rapid if you have Global Entry or are arriving at a slack period, but it can take 60-90 minutes if you are arriving during a busy arrivals period.

After clearing customs and immigration, you must exit to landside and proceed to your next terminal. You may take the free shuttle busses, which only proceed anti / counter clockwise direction (In Order: 1-2-3-TBIT-4-5-6-7-8), or you can walk. At ground level you will be sheltered by the overhead departures-serving roadway, but be exposed to vehicle fumes and cigarette smoke; on the departures level, you will be exposed to the weather. It should take no more than 5 minutes to walk from one adjacent terminal to another, but it can take significantly longer to walk from distant terminals - as long as 15 - 20 minutes.

Last updated 29 Aug 2015 by TWA884
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2013 Consolidated LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread

Old Mar 23, 2013, 12:29 pm
  #46  
 
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Originally Posted by hydrogen
Posted in SFO forum and it seemed like LAX would be a better option due to potential fog at SFO. Routing through SFO would be a late morning/early afternoon option. LAX is a late evening option.
By the way, this would be at midnight. Are LAX security lines still that bad?
Of course, the other option is to route through JFK, not that location really makes much of a difference to me.
Ah, yes, the Bay area's summer morning fog is infamous, usually clear by noon - love taking friends up to Twin Peaks after late breakfast to see the city below the mist & watch it lift. Of course, you will be flying new 777's out of LAX vs. 744's prone to delays.

TWA884 has the answer for LAX midnight security so that's cool to know, we got a domestic DL with carryon only next month, late night there so let's see how it go for us.

Not sure if you've looked at JFK routing (your profile @YUL) as it will be all new 773's non-stops to PEK as of this April, adding a total of 4 midday departure weekly in addition to the daily 5PM departure after the turnaround landed. If you fly into JFK on an early AM flight, you will be on your way by 1PM and even if you missed that, the 2nd. flight at 5 PM is your backup - the catch is that despite interlining your bags all the way, you might have to re-clear TSA security and board with hand luggage out of T1, possibly involving a change of terminal via the free AirTrain depending on your inbound.

Just not sure if AC or its partner fly between your origination airport & JFK (going into LGA is not recommended)

Last edited by Letitride3c; Mar 23, 2013 at 12:35 pm
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 1:47 pm
  #47  
 
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2013 Consolidated Questions About "Connecting at LAX" connections thread

AC flies to JFK, but it requires a connection. Otherwise, direct to either EWR or LGA, but then the airport change game is required.
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 1:58 pm
  #48  
 
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Travelling from Australia to LAX then connecting to Portland

Hi need some help please. I am a first time traveler to LAX and i'm a little worried with my times.
I'm flying from Australia to LAX on QF93 (A380) arriving at 6.35am. My next flight which was booked separately is at 8.35am on Alaska Air to Portland.
Is this a busy time in the international section where i need to clear customs and do i have enough time to catch my next flight?
I have no idea at all about LAX etc.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 5:43 pm
  #49  
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On separate tickets QF have a policy of not interline to other non oneworld carriers.

However, AS is a partner airline for QF and they might check any luggage through.

Having posted that, the main difference ois that that if the luggage is checked through you have more time to catch your onward flight as you'd redeposit it before leaving TBIT, otherwise you need to lug it to T6 and recheck before AS luggage check-in closes (8:05am?).

This would be the process:
  • At MEL, check bags through to LAX (or PDX)
  • Fly to LAX
  • Disembark Aircraft
  • Walk through the dungeon like corridors to TBIT immigration
  • Queue up
  • Be processed by Immigration
  • Collect bags
  • Queue Up
  • Proceed to/through customs processing
  • Head up ramp
  • If bags are tagged to PDX look for signs for baggage "re-deposit" and re-deposit
  • Head outside and to the left a little for the "A" bus stop.
  • Wait for A bus then board
  • Exit bus at T6 and head up to departures
  • If bags only tagged to LAX, recheck luggage
  • Head through security back airside
  • AwaitRush to board ongoing flight ...
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 6:53 pm
  #50  
 
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Thank you for the info, it's a great help. Am i able to walk to the gate or am i better of catching the bus? Which would be quicker?

Thanks again
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 7:18 pm
  #51  
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It's a 650 metre walk. As for times it's a wash.

https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?m...05857,0.009162

With checked luggage to carry definitely take the bus, without maybe a walk will freshen you up.

See this map - the Blue circles are where the A bus will stop.

(To be honest, two hours is quite a tight connection - I try to avoid anything under three hours.)

http://www.lawa.org/uploadedimages/l...es/GT_mapF.gif

Although, jackal's advice about any/all buses below is useful.

Last edited by serfty; Mar 23, 2013 at 7:38 pm
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 7:18 pm
  #52  
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Originally Posted by mishf
Thank you for the info, it's a great help. Am i able to walk to the gate or am i better of catching the bus? Which would be quicker?

Thanks again
TBIT to T6 is about six of one, a half dozen of the other. It's not a tremendously far walk, but on the other hand, it's in the "correct" direction for taking the bus.

You can actually hop on any airport-operated bus (letters A through G) and ride it three stops (T4, T5, and then T6, where you'll get off), which is nice because you don't have to specifically wait for the inter-terminal bus (A) as any airport-operated bus will go past T6. (For that matter, any shuttle at all will go past T6, so if you have some moxie, you can hop on any bus, including a hotel shuttle, car rental shuttle, or one of the ubiquitous offsite parking lot shuttles, and get off at T6.)
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 7:27 pm
  #53  
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A bit off topic, but some of us with options from SFO or LAX choose LAX - SFO has nonstandard runway separation, meaning fog or any weather anomaly shuts down one runway from each pair, and causes slowdowns, diversions, etc. LAX is a better option much of the time because of weather - few believe how foggy it can get from late afternoon to sometime-in-the-morning during San Francisco summers, affecting even SFO on occasion,

Originally Posted by hydrogen
Posted in SFO forum and it seemed like LAX would be a better option due to potential fog at SFO. Routing through SFO would be a late morning/early afternoon option. LAX is a late evening option.

By the way, this would be at midnight. Are LAX security lines still that bad?

Of course, the other option is to route through JFK, not that location really makes much of a difference to me.
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 7:39 pm
  #54  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
SFO has nonstandard runway separation, meaning fog or any weather anomaly shuts down one runway from each pair
Thanks! But since LAX consists of 4 parallel runways, wouldn't such a situation at LAX shut them all down?
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 8:21 pm
  #55  
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Originally Posted by hydrogen
Thanks! But since LAX consists of 4 parallel runways, wouldn't such a situation at LAX shut them all down?
One, weather is virtually never an issue at LAX. The separation requirements only apply during ILS landings. Visual approaches (used almost 100% of the time when weather conditions allow, which is virtually 100% of the time at LAX) have no such restrictions.

Two, the immediately-adjacent runways at LAX are never used simultaneously for approaches, either in good or bad weather. For each of the two pairs of runways (24L/R and 25L/R), one is used for take-offs and one is used for landings. Thus, the factor that they are only ~700 feet apart is immaterial, since the fact that all four can't be used for simultaneous landings means nothing as all four never are used for simultaneous landings, and since the two runways most typically used for landings (24R and 25L) meet the standard separation requirements, and in the [extremely rare] event that weather is an issue at LAX, LAX can continue to accept inbound aircraft at a normal rate.

SFO relies on its two parallel runways (which are far less than the required 4,300 feet apart) to accept all inbound aircraft, in both good and bad weather. These runways are too close to conduct parallel ILS approaches, and so when the ceilings are low enough to prevent visual approaches, the arrival rate at SFO is cut virtually in half. That's what causes the delays SFO is infamous for.

The SFO airport has actually crafted a pretty good overview of the issue (meant mostly for clueless media types to be able to try to accurately report on it, but it's helpful for all interested folks).

Last edited by jackal; Mar 23, 2013 at 8:26 pm
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Old Mar 23, 2013, 10:19 pm
  #56  
 
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Originally Posted by jackal
SFO relies on its two parallel runways (which are far less than the required 4,300 feet apart) to accept all inbound aircraft, in both good and bad weather. These runways are too close to conduct parallel ILS approaches, and so when the ceilings are low enough to prevent visual approaches, the arrival rate at SFO is cut virtually in half. That's what causes the delays SFO is infamous for.

The SFO airport has actually crafted a pretty good overview of the issue (meant mostly for clueless media types to be able to try to accurately report on it, but it's helpful for all interested folks).
I know we're starting to drift astray on the topic, but having read the SFO PDF, it seems to imply that any inbound aircraft in the air prior to 9am SFO time should generally not be delayed (or subject to minor delays). Is that correct?
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Old Mar 24, 2013, 12:21 am
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Originally Posted by hydrogen
I know we're starting to drift astray on the topic, but having read the SFO PDF, it seems to imply that any inbound aircraft in the air prior to 9am SFO time should generally not be delayed (or subject to minor delays). Is that correct?
SFO can take 60 arrivals an hour in good weather. If there are clouds in the last ~10 miles (about 3,500 ft), it drops to 30. (In rain and wind, the capacity goes further down to 24.) Before 9 am, there aren't 30 flights to begin with, so as long as an instrument landing can be performed, there won't be any delays.

Back to LAX, the reason weather delays are rare is because LAX still hasn't recovered from the pre-2001 traffic level in terms of number of flights. We're talking about a capacity of 84-92 per hour in good weather and 64-72 in low clouds. There are barely one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening where flights may exceed the cloudy capacity, and this excess can easily be dealt with without causing major effects.

Answers to other subjects:

1. AC only flies from big cities into LAX, so all flights are precleared. AC-CA would be a very easy connection in the same terminal.

2. Morning arrivals from Australia need not worry. There's a whole day and more flights later in the day. Unless it is December 24, Thanksgiving Wednesday/Sunday, or if you have a million-dollar deal in PDX/SEA at noon.

3. Late evening TSA is better than the morning because people arrive early (especially the CA flight at 0140, there are plenty that will be there during the 9 pm hour).

4. JFK terminal changes and SFO 4-hour weather padding (Canada-Asia) are much worse than walking with your carry-on at LAX.

5. LAX is known for delays in domestic baggage deliveries. It's not unusual for no bags to come out as of wheelstop +30 min and not all bags have finished at WS+60. Whether this happens at T2 AC I don't know. Last time I came back from YVR on an E190, it was pretty quick.
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Old Mar 24, 2013, 10:27 pm
  #58  
 
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Thanks for everyone's help. I finally decided to change my flight to 11.40am instead of the 8.35am one so now i will have plenty of time to make my way through from customs. I was a little too panicked about it but now no need to. Thanks again
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Old Mar 25, 2013, 1:57 pm
  #59  
 
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Originally Posted by TWA884
Why wouldn't you check your bags all the way through to your final destination? Air Canada has an interline agreement with China Airlines.



The security lines at LAX are no worse than at any other major airline and virtually non-existent near midnight. I can't recall the last time that I waited more than 15 minutes in line to clear security.
He is flying CA not CI... but either way AC should be able to tag the bag to final destination if you can show proof of onward travel from LAX. CA-AC are also Star Alliance partners so thru-checking of bags should be no problem.

T2 security is fairly light near midnight with only a few departures. TBIT is very busy at that hour... up to 18 widebody departures to Asia and Australia within 2 hour period.
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Old Mar 25, 2013, 2:26 pm
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As I mentioned above, the midday CA PEK flight may have long check-in lines, but the midnight flight mostly likely won't due to passengers coming to the airport over several hours after dinner.
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