Jan 1, 2020, 6:10 pm
Last edit by: TWA884
2018 - 2022 LAX Connections and Transfers Thread
Connecting passengers who are arriving at LAX on international flights will also find useful information in the following thread:
FAQ:
Does LAX have Automated Passport Control available for tourist visa holders?
Yes.
Does the US have international transfer desks?
No.
How can I obtain a boarding pass at Tom Bradley International Terminal?
- The first way is the most obvious: check in online via your phone.
- The second way is to use the automated kiosk. There are several located airside throughout TBIT and in the T4 - TBIT connector.
- The third way is to show up at the gate or the check-in counters and get a paper boarding pass (this is not suggested for those with time constraints)
Do you have to go through security when going from one terminal to another?
Terminals 4 through 8 and Tom Bradley International Terminal are connected airside. There are Delta Air Lines shuttle buses connecting T2, T3 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal. To go to or from T1, you will need to exit and re-enter security. Please consult this link for more information.
How long will security take at Tom Bradley International Terminal?
Plan on at least 30 minutes.
"Published" Minimum Connect Time (MCT) international to domestic at LAX is 2 hours. Numerous LAX regulars advise that 3 hours is much safer. Wait times for incoming immigration and customs services are very inconsistent. While the vast majority of international flights arrive at the newly remodeled Tom Bradley Terminal, some airlines use older customs facilities in Terminal 2, 4 and 6. View recent postings in this thread for more information.
________________________________________
2019 INFO
Los Angeles International Airport website.
How to enter LAX/Parking Map.
LAX Terminal Maps.
Inter-Terminal Connections.
How Do I Connect from Terminal B through Terminal 8? Follow the Yellow Dots.
Only terminals 4 through 8 and Tom Bradley International Terminal are connected airside (through tunnels between terminals 4, 5 and 6, above ground hallways between terminals 6, 7 and 8, and an above-ground connector between terminal 4 and TBIT). There are occasional airside shuttles elsewhere, but are subject to change (e.g. AA to American eagle and Delta's shuttles between their gates in T2, T3, and TBIT). Airport policy allows you to access any LAX terminal, even if your flight departs from another, with a same day boarding pass for a flight departing from LAX.
Tom Bradley International Terminal serves most, but not all, foreign airlines.
In most instances, international arrivals require processing USDHS-CBP (immigration, recovering baggage and processing customs); if you are going on in your travels, there is a baggage recheck counter as you exit customs. This can be fairly rapid if you have Global Entry or are arriving at a slack period, but it can take 60-90 minutes if you are arriving during a busy arrivals period.
After clearing customs and immigration, you must exit to landside and proceed to your next terminal. It is now possible to connect from TBIT to T4, T5, T6, T7 and T8 through the secured airside area - link to map above - after clearing TSA security on the arrival level of TBIT at the exit from the Federal Inspections Services facility. Alternatively, you may take the free shuttle busses, which only proceed anti / counter clockwise direction (In Order: 1-2-3-TBIT-4-5-6-7-8), or you can walk. At ground level you will be sheltered by the overhead departures-serving roadway, but be exposed to vehicle fumes and cigarette smoke; on the departures level, you will be exposed to the weather. It should take no more than 5 minutes to walk from one adjacent terminal to another, but it can take significantly longer to walk between distant terminals - as long as 15 - 20 minutes.The prior threads on this topic, 2012 - "Consolidated Questions About Connecting at LAX" thread, 2013 Consolidated LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread, 2014 Consolidated LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread, 2015 Consolidated LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread, 2016 LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread and 2017 LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread contain relevant information, however, to keep them from getting too long they have been archived and the 2018 - 2019 updates are in this thread.
2018 -2022 LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread
Jan 8, 2018, 5:39 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: AA
Posts: 8
2018 -2022 LAX Connecting / Connection / Connections thread
I will be travelling from NRT to LAX on 4/7/18 on NH176 arriving at 0950hrs and connecting to MIA on AA2586 at 1210hrs.
some details:
International passport holder (tourist visa)
No checked in luggage
AA Platinum status
Will I have enough time for my connection?
some details:
International passport holder (tourist visa)
No checked in luggage
AA Platinum status
Will I have enough time for my connection?
Last edited by TWA884; May 11, 2019 at 9:52 am Reason: Merge consecutive posts by the same member
Jan 9, 2018, 11:38 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Plat, DL, AS, UA, IHG Plat
Posts: 2,407
But regardless, check in with AA in advance so they know you plan on making to flight.
Jan 9, 2018, 4:23 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: AA
Posts: 8
For US passport holders without checked luggage, 2 hours is generally a safe connection from TBIT Int'l arrival to T4 domestic departure. For foreign passport holders, 2 hours is really on the fence especially if you are on two separate tickets. You have to get in the long line to get finger printed which can take 1 hour or longer. But no checked luggage is a big plus... once you clear immigration, you can skip the luggage line and go straight thru custom. You can clear security in TBIT arrival level (see details on page 1 of this thread) or take a short walk to T4 and use the AA elite line, which may be shorter... or much longer. Hard to predict.
But regardless, check in with AA in advance so they know you plan on making to flight.
But regardless, check in with AA in advance so they know you plan on making to flight.
Jan 15, 2018, 12:30 am
#4
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Bay Area, California
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Amb., A3 *G, QF Plat
Posts: 107
Delta just killed my minimum connect time, I'm on one single DL 006 ticket, AKL-SYD-LAX-OAK, the connection time in LAX is now 1 hr 55 minutes, and it was 2 hour 15 previously.
I'm traveling in Business (intl) and First Class (US Domestic), do I have any recourse to changing flights with DL for the final leg since 2 hr is the specified minconnect at lax?
Reading the same day change policy it looks like we can change to any flight with First Class seats, but is one able to change the destination?
I'm traveling in Business (intl) and First Class (US Domestic), do I have any recourse to changing flights with DL for the final leg since 2 hr is the specified minconnect at lax?
Reading the same day change policy it looks like we can change to any flight with First Class seats, but is one able to change the destination?
Jan 15, 2018, 9:48 am
#5
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,639
A US passport holder with Global Entry and without checked bags will make this connection with time to spare.
Jan 15, 2018, 9:53 am
#6
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Bay Area, California
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Amb., A3 *G, QF Plat
Posts: 107
Gotcha.
Non US citizenship, not GE eligible, and traveling with 2 checked bags. Guess I’m toast.
Non US citizenship, not GE eligible, and traveling with 2 checked bags. Guess I’m toast.
Jan 15, 2018, 10:03 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Plat, DL, AS, UA, IHG Plat
Posts: 2,407
2 hours is probably the bare minimum required for this connection. But the good news is you are on a single ticket so Delta will be responsible for getting you to OAK, one way or another.
Jan 19, 2018, 6:32 pm
#8
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,639
Moderator's Note
Folks,
I've just deleted a bunch of posts bickering over "luggage line" at TBIT. Please do not argue about language or semantics. FlyerTalk is a diverse, multi-cultural community; some of our members use different terminology than others do.
Getting to the subject at hand, arriving international passengers without checked bags do not have to wait at the luggage carousels for their bags to show up. At TBIT that can save up to an hour's wait.
TWA884
Los Angeles moderator
I've just deleted a bunch of posts bickering over "luggage line" at TBIT. Please do not argue about language or semantics. FlyerTalk is a diverse, multi-cultural community; some of our members use different terminology than others do.
Getting to the subject at hand, arriving international passengers without checked bags do not have to wait at the luggage carousels for their bags to show up. At TBIT that can save up to an hour's wait.
TWA884
Los Angeles moderator
Jan 23, 2018, 9:58 pm
#9
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 12
No transfer desk at LAX?
My wife is flying PDX-LAX-HKG-BKK tonight, first leg domestic on AS and then CX for last two legs. J class award ticket from Alaska Mileage Plan, luggage checked through to BKK. This is *not* time sensitive.
At checkin at PDX they told her to get the LAX-HKG-BKK boarding passes at LAX. Upon arrival at LAX, she took the air side secure link from T6 to TBIT but then found there was no transfer desk and no way of getting a boarding pass. She asked at the Qantas lounge, and they have a printer for QF passes only. A TSA agent told her that she should go to the gate 45 minutes before boarding to get her pass. No CX employees nor agents anywhere to be seen.
This all sounded a bit fishy, so she called. I called Alaska, who were unable to help, and Cathay had a long wait time. I was amazed after a LOT of Googling to find only one official page guiding folks through this maze (Air NZ) and that seemed a little out of date (it didn't mention the airside connection to TBIT). To be safe, I checked her into CX using my mobile app and texted her the boarding passes. There was no indication she was checked in, and it seemed very possible that she might have been bumped as a no-show.
My question: what's the official method for domestic to international transfer at LAX if you need any assistance, for example, to collect a boarding pass? I'm really surprised the $150M they spent didn't include a desk to deal with this kind of thing (google pretty much any international airport code plus "international transfer" to see what I mean). Is she really expected to go in and out of security and use the land side check in desks?
We will be doing this trip as a family in the next year, so I really would like to know the official guide to what we're meant to do and if there's anything on the web describing this.
Thanks in advance.
At checkin at PDX they told her to get the LAX-HKG-BKK boarding passes at LAX. Upon arrival at LAX, she took the air side secure link from T6 to TBIT but then found there was no transfer desk and no way of getting a boarding pass. She asked at the Qantas lounge, and they have a printer for QF passes only. A TSA agent told her that she should go to the gate 45 minutes before boarding to get her pass. No CX employees nor agents anywhere to be seen.
This all sounded a bit fishy, so she called. I called Alaska, who were unable to help, and Cathay had a long wait time. I was amazed after a LOT of Googling to find only one official page guiding folks through this maze (Air NZ) and that seemed a little out of date (it didn't mention the airside connection to TBIT). To be safe, I checked her into CX using my mobile app and texted her the boarding passes. There was no indication she was checked in, and it seemed very possible that she might have been bumped as a no-show.
My question: what's the official method for domestic to international transfer at LAX if you need any assistance, for example, to collect a boarding pass? I'm really surprised the $150M they spent didn't include a desk to deal with this kind of thing (google pretty much any international airport code plus "international transfer" to see what I mean). Is she really expected to go in and out of security and use the land side check in desks?
We will be doing this trip as a family in the next year, so I really would like to know the official guide to what we're meant to do and if there's anything on the web describing this.
Thanks in advance.
Jan 25, 2018, 7:25 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Plat, DL, AS, UA, IHG Plat
Posts: 2,407
Transfer desk is not a thing in the US... we don't have exit immigration control so there is no sterile zone on departure.
Since your post 2 days old, I assume your wife got on the the CX flight without problem. But if someone is searching this thread later for the same information, there are several ways you can obtain boarding pass at TBIT air side:
The first way is the most obvious... you can check in online via your phone.
The second way is to use the automated kiosk. There are several located throughout TBIT air side and at least 1 in the T4-TBIT connector.
The third way is to show up at the gate and get paper boarding pass.
Since your post 2 days old, I assume your wife got on the the CX flight without problem. But if someone is searching this thread later for the same information, there are several ways you can obtain boarding pass at TBIT air side:
The first way is the most obvious... you can check in online via your phone.
The second way is to use the automated kiosk. There are several located throughout TBIT air side and at least 1 in the T4-TBIT connector.
The third way is to show up at the gate and get paper boarding pass.
Jan 25, 2018, 7:35 pm
#11
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 6,546
#3 would be subject to landside checkin cutoff time, so better the first two
Jan 31, 2018, 1:09 am
#12
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: YVR
Posts: 2,120
I am wondering if I am being totally delusional to consider a perfect world 1:40 connection (arr 22:50, dep 00:30) from T2 to TBIT?
I would go carry on only and be departing in J, checked in online (presumably with preprinted from home boarding pass) - the biggest catch is seperate tickets.
*Alternative involves TPAC from YVR likely in Y
I would go carry on only and be departing in J, checked in online (presumably with preprinted from home boarding pass) - the biggest catch is seperate tickets.
*Alternative involves TPAC from YVR likely in Y
Jan 31, 2018, 9:09 am
#13
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: The shape-shifting urban sprawl that is El Lay. FT member #71.
Programs: UA Gold & MM; DL & AA credit card dirt status; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Fool's Gold
Posts: 4,690
I wouldn't call you delusional, but instead - optimistic. You are hitting Bradley during prime time, and the terminal will be quite busy. Even with business class access, I've been finding it takes at least 20 minutes to go through security there in the last two years, at busy periods.
It's doable, but if you have something like a 20 minute delay getting off your Terminal 2 flight, your margin of error is going to be expended. With a 20 minute delay, you probably won't get to the back of the Bradley security line for at least another 12-15 minutes. Assuming the security line is 20 minutes, depending on the location of your gate in Bradley, you might need another 8-10 minutes to arrive at your plane. You might also investigate whether the airline you are using at Bradley has an early cut-off time, where you have to be on board.
This is not something I personally would attempt, but it's certainly not a delusional scenario.
It's doable, but if you have something like a 20 minute delay getting off your Terminal 2 flight, your margin of error is going to be expended. With a 20 minute delay, you probably won't get to the back of the Bradley security line for at least another 12-15 minutes. Assuming the security line is 20 minutes, depending on the location of your gate in Bradley, you might need another 8-10 minutes to arrive at your plane. You might also investigate whether the airline you are using at Bradley has an early cut-off time, where you have to be on board.
This is not something I personally would attempt, but it's certainly not a delusional scenario.
Jan 31, 2018, 9:14 am
#14
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,639
Are you sure it is T2? If you're flying to LAX on Air Canada, they've relocated to T6, which is connected to TBIT behind security (the wiki has a link to a map).
Jan 31, 2018, 9:36 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: YVR
Posts: 2,120
Thanks Craig6z, that is about what I suspected, but it's been a while since I've had a time crunch at LAX that required a land-side excursion. Mainly I wasn't sure when "busy" hours were and TSA app shows "not busy" then ... I didn't quite trust that. Usually I'd just hike over to another TSA preCheck terminal then do the corridor to TBIT, but clearly that's not a good choice in this case!
Unfortunately to pull this off I'd have to fly WestJet, which seems to now live in T2. If it were T6 I'd be way less concerned! 