bse118

It is a not a universal truth that the LAA aircraft are preferred. If I can get the right exit-row seats (which I rarely have any trouble doing), I prefer the LUS A321 coach seats - much more comfortable. IFE is irrelevant to me - I bring a book.

And as far as LAX service - from my home base in DEN, LAX is currently served primarily by LAA A319s, whereas PHX is served by a mix of 737 and A321. I'll take the PHX aircraft on upgrade odds alone.

dciolli

+1

Kevin AA

I've flown to LAX lots of times but only connected twice, to go to a small airport that only has service from LAX, namely CLD and IPL.

GotCalcio4

The B gates at PHX were the first ones built/opened at the "new" T4 when it originally opened, hence its older appearance. Great to hear that they're finally updating them. Each concourse on the LUS (HP) side of T4 were built in succession, with the newest being the high A concourse.

Assuming that you can get where you're going (meaning you're not traveling TA or TPAC), and taking into account weather, terminal layout/design, the relative lack of congestion, gate co-location, no need to take to take people movers/airtrains, etc., PHX is probably one of the best airports in North America to connect in. Throw in the fact that there are ACs available on all but one of AA's concourses very close to the gates you'll be flying from (granted, they're way busier now versus the HP operation they were designed for) makes it even more advantageous.

Score8

I generally agree. I am BOS-based and the LAX flights are supposed to be 'premium' on those routes, but unless you require the AVOD, it may be better to take the PHX route. I've blown through a bunch of connections recently in LAX due to the construction.

boerne

I will do almost anything to avoid the bus ride in LAX.

george 3

Post merger, the addition of PHX as a connecting point from JFK was better for me than LAX even though I preferred the three class aircraft and LAX has/had more frequent departures than PHX. My connections were generally to LAS, SMF, RNO and FAT so it also allowed me to avoid DFW which has more frequent weather delays.

jmiyazawa

I'm a SAN-based flyer who connects through LAX only if it makes geographic sense (flying to HNL/OGG/LIH) and only if I have at least an hour to get from the Eagle's Nest to T4. If headed east, I'll always pick PHX or DFW. LAX has become too unreliable over the past year or so.

jamesinclair

My connections in Phoenix always tend to be 40 minutes with my flight arriving at the very last gate on one end and my connection departing at the very last gate at the other end. I've yet to "enjoy" the airport because I am always running over about 20 moving walkways

glock34

For me, PHX every time. That's because I want to reliably get where I'm going faster. LAX is slow and a mess.

-PHX weather and operations are much better. I've never had a weather related issue at PHX.
-the flight banking at PHX is creating tight connections you can actually make, shortening overall trip time.
-LAX has huge operational problems, ATC delays, and gate holds for close connections. Gate holds on short connections TO LAX are an underrated problem. Your SJC->LAX leg will get held at the gate for 20 minutes for LAX congestion. Then your LAX->MCO leg is delayed too.
-LAX Eagle's Nest terminals completely suck, and you will often end up over there on connections to cities you could have made from PHX.
-LAX's only real advantage is that it has nicer lounges and, sometimes, nicer planes. I rate these very lowly because I bring my own entertainment and I desire to not hang out in the airport.

TL;DR: PHX is faster and LAX is slower. But it barely matters except when operations go to crap, which happens way more often at LAX. When that happens, you're going to need those better LAX lounges.

carlosdca

When flying to Europe and as EXP, I loved to connect through LAX due to:
-First lounge
-SWU upgrade on LAX-LHR (which cleared for me 100% of the time).
The bus ride did not bother me at all. It is such an insignificant amount of time compared to the 10hrs+ of flight time and 1hr+ at the lounge.

If I was just doing connections to domestic destinations (other than JFK) all things being equal (price, convenience of itinerary) I would choose PHX. Nothing to hate or love about PHX, it is just practical and efficient, IMO.

flyerCO

LAX runway construction i believe (though not for sure) is supposed to finish in June I thought.

I'd stay away during mid-may when the terminal realignment happens.

CFM3RD

I'm still on the early side of the learning curve. I'm Flying DFW-LIH this November. In another thread I was told to avoid PHX because F is not nearly as good as the inventory flying out of LAX to LIH.

Thoughts?

thunderlounge

Take that advice.

Gig103

I would agree with that advice. PHX is the easier airport to transit (nice food options, all one terminal behind security, no "eagles nest" bus gates). However, the legacy USAir 757s to Hawaii are subpar, even in the F cabin. At least the one I was on had seat power, but that apparently isn't a guarantee on an LUS plane in F... And no individual IFE, just the movie playing on the screens. And they play them even on the redeye and I was in the bulkhead; wish i had brought an eye mask. Still better than the economy cabin, but nothing to write home about.