SWISSBOBBY

Quick question for those who know LAX well...

I will be traveling and arriving late on a Sunday later this year, at LAX T4 I will have a bike with me which will be in a bike case, and so outsized baggage, where in T4 does this get delivered? I can find no information as to where my bike will be delivered or a floor plan of the baggage area.

Thanks for you help

SB

TWA884

The oversized baggage belt is against the wall at the very east end of the baggage claim area.

TWA884

You should be OK even if you don't have Global Entry or are not a US citizen, however, you never know. That's a fairly busy arrival time from Europe at TBIT. I believe that you will actually be deplaning at T4 and bused over to the federal inspection facility TBIT, so you have to allow extra time for that.

AA has a 9:00 pm to SFO. In my opinion that is a safer choice since you will be identified as a connecting passenger and receive priority immigration and customs processing and protected by AA in case that your flight from London is late.

jackal

I've arrived on AA at T4 and have used a walkway from T4 to TBIT. It was a low-numbered gate, though, so perhaps international flights don't always arrive there and the higher-numbered ones don't have direct access to the walkway? Wouldn't surprise me.

dannylman

Thanks for the reply. I've only a UK passport, so no GE...looks like I'll check that later flight out...shame as £50 more expensive.

TWA884

Have you already purchased your LHR-LAX ticket? If not, check the price for LHR-SFO via LAX. There may not be much of a difference, if any.

If you do end up flying on two separately purchased tickets and continue from LAX to SFO on AA, make sure that the PNR of your second flight is noted in the PNR of the first flight so that you are tagged as a connecting passenger for priority processing if need be.

SWISSBOBBY

Many thanks for the reply

bnj999

We're headed to Colombia in December on 2 separate PNRs (one with AS and one with Aeromexico) with carry-ons only, and fly into LAX on a regular basis, but will need the Flyertalk experts to put my mind at peace about whether this will work.

Domestic-Intl
PDX-LAX arrival at 10:09PM on AS
LAX-MEX-BOG departure at 11:38pm on Aeromexico (T2?)
We'll be in row 6 or possible F if we get upgraded (MVP). We can run if necessary... This is also going to be Christmas eve evening. Will this work?

Intl-Domestic
MEX-LAX arrival at 5:52pm on Aeromexico
LAX-PDX departure at 8:20pm on AS (or is the 7:40pm possible?)
We have GE which should speed things up.

Thanks again for everyone's kind words of advice!

bzcat

Outbound is cutting it close. It usually take about 20 minutes to taxi/tow to the gate at LAX so you won't be able to deplane until around 10:30. Since you have only carry on, you can make it from T6 to T2 (walk straight across the horseshoe - it's the fastest way) in about 10 minutes. That will put you right around the cut-off time for international check in. Another 20 or so minutes for TSA check point at T2... you'll reach the gate just around final boarding call. Are you prepared to spend the night at LAX if something goes wrong? How much more $ for an earlier PDX-LAX flight?

Inbound with 2:30 to transfer is doable with GE and no checked luggage. You may even have enough time to take the slow land side shuttle from T2 to T6.

bnj999

Thanks bzcat! There's no difference right now between the outbound flights PDX-LAX at 7:50pm or 5:50pm, but it does make a difference for work, whether we would have to take extra time off to leave early or to leave at a regular time. You're right that it's probably cutting it too close, and would really ruin the beginning of the trip.

I've also read numerous horror stories online about how Aeromexico did not accommodate late passengers, and people having to scramble to buy new tickets on the spot!

terracotta

Hi,

Not being a seasoned traveller, I hadn't realised when I booked my flights that, a) LAX is apparently a nightmare to connect in, and b) that I would need to go through security and then recheck baggage etc at LAX rather than at my final destination. I'm now concerned that my turnaround time may be too tight.

Flying from LHR to LAX, arriving 5.15pm (AA135)
Flying from LAX to PHX, departing 7.40pm (AA5735) - apparently this is operated by Mesa Airlines as American Eagle.

I will be checking baggage.

From everything I've read, I should be flying both into and out of Terminal 4 - is that right?

Does this look doable? Thanks in advance.

TWA884

The design of the present terminal complex at LAX dates back to the fifties and sixties, when the airport was serving almost exclusively origin and destination traffic.

That is true for every airport in the United States; arriving international passengers must clear immigration and customs at the first port of entry.

You should be OK. I assume that you are flying on one ticket. However, you will be protected even if you are flying on separate tickets in case of irregular operations or delay.

serfty

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Since you are on AA to AA you will be protected in the event of a misconnect, even if on separate tickets.

Your luggage will be checked though to PHX (if on separate tickets show all at check-in), however you will need to collect it at LAX.

At LAX you will need to proceed though immigration, collect bags, proceed though customs, redeposit the bags and you will end up landside. This possibly could all occur at TBIT.

In any case, you will need to re-clear security at T4 and process to gate 44 where a bus will take you to the separate terminal for your AeAgle flight.

747FC

UA J (hopefully GF) flyer, arriving 2 PM from LHR.

Connecting flight to HNL now changed and departing only 2 hours after LAX arrival.

We have Global Entry.

Plenty of time in real world experience?

Many thanks for your insights!

debracey

Barely, it's a gamble, even with GE. Better not check any bags. I'd book something else.

For the record, sometimes the GE line in T6 (what UA typically uses) is *longer* than the regular US citizen line. This is particularly true at the beginning of the deplaning process. GE is popular amongst biz travelers, who typically book GF/BF or at least can get E+.