Agreed re both Venice Beach and Abbot Kinney.

Is the MCT for International - Domestic still 2 hours?

If it's AA-AA, then it is only 90 minutes.

Thank you!

Former UA frequent flier out of LAX switching to AA. I've never flown out of T4-T5 before, but have around 100 departures under my belt at LAX in general (mostly T7-T8, a few on DL at T2). Driving in, I was blessed to have the shortcut into T7 for a few years but unfortunately those times are coming to an end. Now I find myself without any sense of how long it will take to get from the LAX entrance to T4 in moderate-to-bad traffic.

I'm trying to get a sense of how much time it takes to get around the loop to T4 under the following scenarios:

- Moderate traffic
- Heavy traffic
- Nightmare traffic (holidays, lane closures, etc.)

If traffic is really bad, do you just ride it out in the cab? Do you take the shortcut to T7 and walk from there? Shortcut to T5? Looking for some veteran wisdom.

i always enter airside at T6 when flying UA, AS, HA, AA, B6 due to the T7 cutover and non-existent line at T6 PRE. i enjoy stretching my legs before a flight with the underground walk.

on the return to LAX, i also summon the Uber to the T7 pickup point, as it's far more predictable than a pickup point deeper in the bowels of the LAX U. for the north terminals, I just walk to the Hyatt.

It is not so much the traffic on the loop itself but the traffic on either Sepulveda (south or north) or Century and depends on where you are coming from.
Coming from the south driving north on Sepulveda, there are times I have been on the tunnel (underneath the runway) for up to 20 mins and then add the time to merge into the loop.
Coming from the north driving south, Sepulveda is not that bad but it can take a good 10 just to merge into the loop itself.
Century itself (the logical exit from the 405) can be standstill traffic for the 2 miles from 405 to the airport.

Going around the loop itself from T1 to T4 can take from 5 minutes to 20 minutes on a bad day.

As the airport is under construction now (people mover) dropping off people at TBIT is a NIGHTMARE now, worse than ever.

It is really hard to predict how it is going to be the day of departure. Unfortunately for LAX you have to give yourself PLENTY of time and not play cutting it close. You really can put yourself in the scenarios you have proposed (Moderate/Heavy/Nightmare) . Just give yourself plenty of time and use google maps and the "arrive by" option to plan what time you have to leave home.

Also, it can make a big difference if you go to the arrivals or departures road. Sometimes the arrivals loop is empty and the departures loop is a parking lot. Watch the signs as you approach the airport ("Use arrivals") as they are usually right.

Personally, I just choose to be dropped off at T4 (Either arrivals or departures). I never cut across to T7 and then walk to T4. It might save you 7 minutes max to do that. Not worth it, IMO.

Final advice, use google maps or waze to get to the airport. It can really make a difference which approach you use (Century/Sepulveda N/Sepulveda S)

Ubers typically will decline a request for a lower drop

Thanks. The purpose of this exercise is more for booking in advance, not day-of departure. For example, I know if I have a 6pm departure to add 30 more minutes of buffer into my schedule vs. a 2pm departure. Flying AA instead of UA, I now have the added variable of loop traffic on top of the normal Sepulveda/Century traffic. Just trying to get a sense of how much extra I should bake in if I'm flying on a peak time. It sounds like an additional 20 mins (maybe rounded up to 30) is reasonable?

Uber instructs drivers to pick up and drop off at departures (upper road), correct.
For some reason, Uber black or lux seem to always be more flexible about it though, not that it should be encouraged.

Seph87, yes, 30 minutes extra to what you normally estimate to get to T7 should be enough.
Lately, it is always peak time at LAX :(
Not much difference between a 2PM and a 6PM departure.

Uber Black drivers are required to have livery license so they can drop off at the lower level. They are basically the same as taking a black car to the airport. You can always ask the Uber Lux driver if they are licensed livery driver - I think most of them are but Uber doesn't require them to be one. If they say yes, you can also ask them to use the lower level. They are not breaking any rules using the lower level. UberX and Pool drivers are never licensed livery driver so they have to abide by the Uber agreement with LAWA to use upper level only. And my experience is that none of them will risk getting a ticket.

I'm a primary AA flier out of LAX so I know this dance very well. Generally speaking, regardless of my actual departure gate, I ask the Uber driver to drop me off at T5 so they will use the cut off loop. If traffic is flowing ok, I tell them to drop me off T4 once we enter the loop. I would say that 4 out of 5 times, getting dropped off at T5 and walking over to T4 precheck line is at least 10 minutes faster than sitting in heavy traffic by T3 and TBIT.

On a few occasion when I took public transit to LAX and the traffic is bad, I get off the bus at T2 and just walked across to T5. That can saved easily 20 minutes.

For pickup, the same logic applies. Never use the TBIT/T4 pickup point. Always walk to the T5 pickup point because the driver has the option to use the cutoff loop to get to you faster. Or if you feel like walking, use the T7 pickup point.

I had never thought of this. Great tip!!!

However, this just in:

LAX to End Curbside Service for Uber, Lyft and Taxis This Month
https://ktla.com/2019/10/03/lax-to-e...yft-and-taxis/

The new policy pertains to pickups, not drop-offs.

Yes, starting “around” Oct. 29, 2019, Uber/Lyft/Taxi will still be able to drop-off at the terminals, but when leaving LAX, we will have to catch a shuttle to a parking lot near Terminal 1 to get a Uber/Lyft/Taxi.

Not good.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...lyft?_amp=true

I feel like LAX could have done something like what SFO has done: have differing rates for curbside pick up vs pick up at a designated area (at SFO it’s in the parking lot). At SFO, it’s cheaper to get picked up in the parking lot. LAX could have added a $5-10 fee for curbside pick up. Maybe this new system will help drivers, though, who will spend less time in LAX traffic and therefore may be able to make more money.