Have I got enough time?
 

Hey FT!

Long time reader, first time poster.

I'm flying MEL - LAS on Monday for work and despite the plane change in SYD, I'm looking forward to trying out a new airline (normally I'm a QF boy!).

However, I've never done a close change at LAX before - I arrive on UA840 at 1015 in T6 and am due to depart at 1129 from T7 on UA1548.

I'm worried it's not enough time - what do others think? The international - domestic turnaround is 110 minutes from what I've read here, which isn't enough, but is there a chance, or should I change a flight four hours later?

Cheers ;)

Wirelessly posted (xx: BlackBerry8100/4.5.0.37 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100 UP.Browser/5.0.3.3)

I personally would not book a ticket that tight at LAX. Then again, if you miss the flight they will put you on the next one. I'd leave things as is and verify that there is space on the later flight.

The key question on this is whether you will have any checked luggage.

United has its own immigration and customs area at LAX and my experience is that it's one of the quickest in the U.S.. (But I am a U.S. citizen, so my experience may not be typical.) I've usually gotten through there in under 10 minutes.

T6 and T7 are physically connected and a very short walk.

So the problem is the potential wait for a checked bag to show up.

I'd probably book the later flight to LAS and try to get standby on the earlier one if I made it through quickly.

This is what I would do. With all the unpredictable delays I encounter these days, I no longer book short connections unless there is no other choice. It's also very difficult to estimate how long immigration and baggage claim will take.

Rather, I do as mhnadel suggests and book a comfortable connection (at LAX, I'd say about 2 hours is comfortable enough). When I get to the UA terminal, I simply ask to standby for the next available flight. I can't remember the last time I haven't cleared onto an earlier flight than the one I booked. (But then I am always going to SFO/SJC, and there are flights every hour, half of which are delayed or cancelled, so I never know in advance which one I will be able to make.)

I would book the later connection, and hope I get lucky. Having a guaranteed seat on the later flight and standing by for the earlier one is a better situation than the reverse.

Yes, I will have checked luggage.

Sounds like the consensus is to move onto the later flight, which is great.. I hate missing flights even if I do get rebooked (feels like a failure!)