Originally Posted by
gspurr
Thanks. Good to know. I also assume that NZ is like everyone else in that United won't let you into the Polaris lounge if arriving from an overseas flight on NZ and then connecting onwards?
No.
Originally Posted by
a330300
There's a post-security shuttle bus from T3 over to T5. You can walk over from T1 over to T3 and catch the bus from there, since you'd have your NZ boarding pass.
Correct. However, this is not a reliable service, IME. I can get from T1 (UA) to T5 faster from landside than walking from T1 to T3 and then wait for the bus. The wildcard is the security wait times at T5, as there is no TSA Pre. However, there is a separate line for premium passengers.
At any rate, at both ORD and LAX, NZ operates out of a different terminal than US legacy carriers, budget accordingly the time to departure gate on the TPAC segment.