Is LAX becoming a black hole?
Aug 11, 2011, 11:23 pm
#31
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I don't know about LAX, but I'll find out in a few weeks. I'll be flying international and coming in to LAX.
GE is open to Canadians, and on the website, it says to Nexus members. I don't know if that means you need to apply for Nexus first.
I feel bad about LAX and its dilapidated state, but I also understand that it is one of the world's major airports, and it's not that easy to just shut it down for remodeling.
GE is open to Canadians, and on the website, it says to Nexus members. I don't know if that means you need to apply for Nexus first.
I feel bad about LAX and its dilapidated state, but I also understand that it is one of the world's major airports, and it's not that easy to just shut it down for remodeling.
Hanging out in the corridors is akin to hanging out on a park bench not knowing the time..
I think the next time we travel we'll get the Nexus and GE pass.. just to see what all the fuss is about..
Maybe we'll extend our passports too.. Got good use out of 7 trips since the last renewal..
Aug 12, 2011, 10:56 pm
#32
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LAX's main issue is that it was primarily designed to be an O&D airport and, as such, functions well. So, maybe it's not pretty but I can roll up to the curb, check-in and be on the plane in a very short period of time - all with my own two feet. No waiting for shuttles/trains to take me to faraway terminals. Can DEN handle a metro area of 18M+ people at its curbs with the level of traffic that LAX does?
I do agree that the incessant shuttle buses for rentals, parking and hotels is an annoying contributor to street traffic.
I guess because I live here I don't have to transit at LAX so I can't speak to that experience although I can imagine it's not great.
On the other hand, I transit frequently in ORD and IAD. International to domestic at ORD drives me nuts with the separate terminal, the 3 mile walk from the plane to customs and then the whole process of the train and security all over.
Regardless of what people say about IAD, the mid-field customs and escalator upstairs to the departing gate is fantastic, even if you have to clear security again.
I do agree that the incessant shuttle buses for rentals, parking and hotels is an annoying contributor to street traffic.
I guess because I live here I don't have to transit at LAX so I can't speak to that experience although I can imagine it's not great.
On the other hand, I transit frequently in ORD and IAD. International to domestic at ORD drives me nuts with the separate terminal, the 3 mile walk from the plane to customs and then the whole process of the train and security all over.
Regardless of what people say about IAD, the mid-field customs and escalator upstairs to the departing gate is fantastic, even if you have to clear security again.
Aug 12, 2011, 11:02 pm
#33
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LAX's main issue is that it was primarily designed to be an O&D airport and, as such, functions well. So, maybe it's not pretty but I can roll up to the curb, check-in and be on the plane in a very short period of time - all with my own two feet. No waiting for shuttles/trains to take me to faraway terminals. Can DEN handle a metro area of 18M+ people at its curbs with the level of traffic that LAX does?
I do agree that the incessant shuttle buses for rentals, parking and hotels is an annoying contributor to street traffic.
.
I do agree that the incessant shuttle buses for rentals, parking and hotels is an annoying contributor to street traffic.
.
So basically LAX functions well.. even though the appearance of the airport is quite dated..
I thought I was in Twilight Zone when we got off the plane, and had to step outside and ride 15 minutes to Customs.. only to wait 3 hours to pass through.
Aug 13, 2011, 2:17 am
#34
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 6,769
Hmmm.. interesting observation..
So basically LAX functions well.. even though the appearance of the airport is quite dated..
I thought I was in Twilight Zone when we got off the plane, and had to step outside and ride 15 minutes to Customs.. only to wait 3 hours to pass through.
So basically LAX functions well.. even though the appearance of the airport is quite dated..
I thought I was in Twilight Zone when we got off the plane, and had to step outside and ride 15 minutes to Customs.. only to wait 3 hours to pass through.
Aug 14, 2011, 1:15 am
#35
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It was like I said.. living in the Twilight Zone..
Aug 15, 2011, 7:53 am
#36
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I dunno.. It was flight CUN-LAX on July 27th.. and as soon as we exited at 9:30 pm out the gate, we walked down the stairs onto the pavement.. boarded a two buses.. packed like sardines.. and whisked away for 15 minutes to Customs..
It was like I said.. living in the Twilight Zone..
It was like I said.. living in the Twilight Zone..
On occasion, inbound international flights must land at the West remote gates. This is due to too many internationals all landing at the same time.
Normally, you would land at one of the terminals ( depending on your airline), and not de-plane onto a bus, but directly to Immigrations and Customs.
I would not say this is a "common" occurrence at LAX. But it does happen.
HP
Aug 16, 2011, 12:48 am
#37
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On occasion, inbound international flights must land at the West remote gates. This is due to too many internationals all landing at the same time.
Normally, you would land at one of the terminals ( depending on your airline), and not de-plane onto a bus, but directly to Immigrations and Customs.
I would not say this is a "common" occurrence at LAX. But it does happen.
HP
Normally, you would land at one of the terminals ( depending on your airline), and not de-plane onto a bus, but directly to Immigrations and Customs.
I would not say this is a "common" occurrence at LAX. But it does happen.
HP
When we entered into Customs.. seems like alot of intertnational flights landed at the same time..
Some of the Customs officials said that it was normal.. ended up being 3 hours..
and one official just before we left.. said it was a zoo tonite..
I'm not sure if the 3 hour wait was standard..
Aug 22, 2011, 12:58 pm
#38
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I arrived at TBIT yesterday (Sunday Aug 21) from CDG at 2:20 PM just as several other flights arrived (CX, CI, PR, KE etc). The immigration lines quickly filled up (looks like there were about 2,000 people). I was able to clear immigration and customs in 1 hour 20 minutes. Of course I'm US citizen returning home with minimal baggage so there are no questions, no finger prints, and no extra custom screening. I can see the "Visitor" line moving quite a bit slower and it reminded me of this thread... 
I cleared immigration in about 50 minutes and my bags were already waiting for me at luggage claim. There was another line to clear customs and I saw lots of upset Filipinos at custom area because they clearly have missed their connecting flights to the Midwest or East Coast; and the custom officers were directing all of them to secondary screening and opening all their cardboard boxes for extra hand inspection. I saw all kinds of contraband just sitting on the table: meats, fruits, wood products, plants (yes, live ones in potted soil), and lots of big knives
On a whole though, my experience at TBIT this time wasn't that bad. There was no visible sign of construction (even though you can see plenty while taxiing to the gate), and the terminal was well lit and smelled pretty fresh. It even has new signs pointing towards exits in multiple languages! It's a lot better than I remembered. The last time I came through TBIT was about 2 years ago and it was dingy and smelled like vomit.
I cleared immigration in about 50 minutes and my bags were already waiting for me at luggage claim. There was another line to clear customs and I saw lots of upset Filipinos at custom area because they clearly have missed their connecting flights to the Midwest or East Coast; and the custom officers were directing all of them to secondary screening and opening all their cardboard boxes for extra hand inspection. I saw all kinds of contraband just sitting on the table: meats, fruits, wood products, plants (yes, live ones in potted soil), and lots of big knives
On a whole though, my experience at TBIT this time wasn't that bad. There was no visible sign of construction (even though you can see plenty while taxiing to the gate), and the terminal was well lit and smelled pretty fresh. It even has new signs pointing towards exits in multiple languages! It's a lot better than I remembered. The last time I came through TBIT was about 2 years ago and it was dingy and smelled like vomit.
Aug 23, 2011, 12:53 am
#39
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I arrived at TBIT yesterday (Sunday Aug 21) from CDG at 2:20 PM just as several other flights arrived (CX, CI, PR, KE etc). The immigration lines quickly filled up (looks like there were about 2,000 people). I was able to clear immigration and customs in 1 hour 20 minutes. Of course I'm US citizen returning home with minimal baggage so there are no questions, no finger prints, and no extra custom screening. I can see the "Visitor" line moving quite a bit slower and it reminded me of this thread...
I cleared immigration in about 50 minutes and my bags were already waiting for me at luggage claim. There was another line to clear customs and I saw lots of upset Filipinos at custom area because they clearly have missed their connecting flights to the Midwest or East Coast; and the custom officers were directing all of them to secondary screening and opening all their cardboard boxes for extra hand inspection. I saw all kinds of contraband just sitting on the table: meats, fruits, wood products, plants (yes, live ones in potted soil), and lots of big knives
On a whole though, my experience at TBIT this time wasn't that bad. There was no visible sign of construction (even though you can see plenty while taxiing to the gate), and the terminal was well lit and smelled pretty fresh. It even has new signs pointing towards exits in multiple languages! It's a lot better than I remembered. The last time I came through TBIT was about 2 years ago and it was dingy and smelled like vomit.
I cleared immigration in about 50 minutes and my bags were already waiting for me at luggage claim. There was another line to clear customs and I saw lots of upset Filipinos at custom area because they clearly have missed their connecting flights to the Midwest or East Coast; and the custom officers were directing all of them to secondary screening and opening all their cardboard boxes for extra hand inspection. I saw all kinds of contraband just sitting on the table: meats, fruits, wood products, plants (yes, live ones in potted soil), and lots of big knives
On a whole though, my experience at TBIT this time wasn't that bad. There was no visible sign of construction (even though you can see plenty while taxiing to the gate), and the terminal was well lit and smelled pretty fresh. It even has new signs pointing towards exits in multiple languages! It's a lot better than I remembered. The last time I came through TBIT was about 2 years ago and it was dingy and smelled like vomit.
Me.. I'm not going through International customs again (well never say never).. 3 hours.. and not a minute shorter.. We arrived at a decent hour.. and got out around near midnite..
Aug 23, 2011, 5:28 am
#40
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We were there in 2000, 2008 and 2011.
Nov 2000: we flew with AF, so ended up in TBIT, waited 3 hrs to clear immigration (back then I think it's normal for intl pax), everything was fine and great because none of the 911 measures were there at that time.
Feb 2008: arrived at T5 with DL (got re-routed from AF to DL), it was 9pm and T5 was haunted, and no luggage cart unless you are willing to pay $3.
At dept, it was with AF at T2, a huge mess. We had to check-in then got the luggage tags on our bags and then we had to move it to TSA screening. I thought it was only in Orlando but at LAX too? The worst is that there were no space and there were people everywhere. TSA officers were the worst I have encountered.
Feb 2011, flew in with Swiss (I made sure it's not T5 or T2 unless I know that I don't have to move bags again). Arriving in TBIT, waited 30 mins for a walkway. 20 minutes and we were through immigration (thanks god that we have kids! with small kids we got priority at ATL too). Then because we brought our own pizza for the kids we had to queue at quarantine, and they had to throw the meat sauce pizza away -fair enough.
Check in for dept was nice, but the worst is after security. There are no shops, lounge close to the LX gate, so we were stuck and had nowhere to go. The worst is that you don't know how long it takes to go through security and after that you are led directly to the area close to the dept gate.
The best airport in the US I have been to is DFW, a very nice airport (can compare to European ones).
IAD was bad, we were driven by a bus to immigration and it took us 3 hrs to go through, thus we missed our connecting flight at 3pm or so. There was a tornado on our onward plane and we had to deplane and then after queuing, asking, begging the GA to put us on the next flight etc. we were eventually at Orlando at 1am. It was before kids time - I can't imagine when this happens now.
So we learned our lesson and flying directly into our destination rather than using the 'nice' first port of entry.
Nov 2000: we flew with AF, so ended up in TBIT, waited 3 hrs to clear immigration (back then I think it's normal for intl pax), everything was fine and great because none of the 911 measures were there at that time.
Feb 2008: arrived at T5 with DL (got re-routed from AF to DL), it was 9pm and T5 was haunted, and no luggage cart unless you are willing to pay $3.
At dept, it was with AF at T2, a huge mess. We had to check-in then got the luggage tags on our bags and then we had to move it to TSA screening. I thought it was only in Orlando but at LAX too? The worst is that there were no space and there were people everywhere. TSA officers were the worst I have encountered.
Feb 2011, flew in with Swiss (I made sure it's not T5 or T2 unless I know that I don't have to move bags again). Arriving in TBIT, waited 30 mins for a walkway. 20 minutes and we were through immigration (thanks god that we have kids! with small kids we got priority at ATL too). Then because we brought our own pizza for the kids we had to queue at quarantine, and they had to throw the meat sauce pizza away -fair enough.
Check in for dept was nice, but the worst is after security. There are no shops, lounge close to the LX gate, so we were stuck and had nowhere to go. The worst is that you don't know how long it takes to go through security and after that you are led directly to the area close to the dept gate.
The best airport in the US I have been to is DFW, a very nice airport (can compare to European ones).
IAD was bad, we were driven by a bus to immigration and it took us 3 hrs to go through, thus we missed our connecting flight at 3pm or so. There was a tornado on our onward plane and we had to deplane and then after queuing, asking, begging the GA to put us on the next flight etc. we were eventually at Orlando at 1am. It was before kids time - I can't imagine when this happens now.
So we learned our lesson and flying directly into our destination rather than using the 'nice' first port of entry.
Aug 26, 2011, 11:19 am
#41
Join Date: Mar 2005
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LAX is close to downtown and Beverly Hills, Century City, Santa Monica and the main business centers in LA. It takes 12 minutes to get to my home in Brentwood and about 20 minutes to get to my office in Beverly Hills. Good luck with that at O'Hare and don't even think about what the affluent New Yorker's in Westchester deal with coming out of LGA.
Aug 26, 2011, 1:10 pm
#42
Join Date: Jun 2011
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I arrived at TBIT yesterday (Sunday Aug 21) from CDG at 2:20 PM just as several other flights arrived (CX, CI, PR, KE etc). The immigration lines quickly filled up (looks like there were about 2,000 people). I was able to clear immigration and customs in 1 hour 20 minutes. Of course I'm US citizen returning home with minimal baggage so there are no questions, no finger prints, and no extra custom screening. I can see the "Visitor" line moving quite a bit slower and it reminded me of this thread...
I cleared immigration in about 50 minutes and my bags were already waiting for me at luggage claim. There was another line to clear customs and I saw lots of upset Filipinos at custom area because they clearly have missed their connecting flights to the Midwest or East Coast; and the custom officers were directing all of them to secondary screening and opening all their cardboard boxes for extra hand inspection. I saw all kinds of contraband just sitting on the table: meats, fruits, wood products, plants (yes, live ones in potted soil), and lots of big knives
On a whole though, my experience at TBIT this time wasn't that bad. There was no visible sign of construction (even though you can see plenty while taxiing to the gate), and the terminal was well lit and smelled pretty fresh. It even has new signs pointing towards exits in multiple languages! It's a lot better than I remembered. The last time I came through TBIT was about 2 years ago and it was dingy and smelled like vomit.
I cleared immigration in about 50 minutes and my bags were already waiting for me at luggage claim. There was another line to clear customs and I saw lots of upset Filipinos at custom area because they clearly have missed their connecting flights to the Midwest or East Coast; and the custom officers were directing all of them to secondary screening and opening all their cardboard boxes for extra hand inspection. I saw all kinds of contraband just sitting on the table: meats, fruits, wood products, plants (yes, live ones in potted soil), and lots of big knives
On a whole though, my experience at TBIT this time wasn't that bad. There was no visible sign of construction (even though you can see plenty while taxiing to the gate), and the terminal was well lit and smelled pretty fresh. It even has new signs pointing towards exits in multiple languages! It's a lot better than I remembered. The last time I came through TBIT was about 2 years ago and it was dingy and smelled like vomit.
Aug 26, 2011, 9:17 pm
#43
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Compared to the mayhem that is IAD, it's a dream.
Aug 26, 2011, 10:13 pm
#44
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uh, LAX is not close to downtown. BUR is closer. ORD is the same distance to downtown chicago. and LGA? easy trip to midtown. LAX is actually one of the least convenient airports in the US in terms of public transportation. same with DEN (but at least DEN is a way nicer airport)
It is a behemoth of an airport.. but seems to be an integral hub for many airlines because of its ability to handle capacity.. albeit not in a very classy manner..
Aug 26, 2011, 11:09 pm
#45
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LAX
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Probably inconvenient because when LAX was built, there was enough land to handle the air traffic as envisioned..
It is a behemoth of an airport.. but seems to be an integral hub for many airlines because of its ability to handle capacity.. albeit not in a very classy manner..
It is a behemoth of an airport.. but seems to be an integral hub for many airlines because of its ability to handle capacity.. albeit not in a very classy manner..
When I landed into LAX this Monday, we were getting in to 47A. As we neared the terminal, we turned left (landed on 24L) and started heading away from T4. I thought that we were going to go to the remote terminals, which would have been terrible! Fortunately, we were just moving around to make space for other planes leaving the alley. We turned around again and made it back to 47A. So LAX's ability to handle aircraft is probably true, but it's not in the most elegant way.