Minimum layover time recommended to connect flight LAX?

[lisa31jane]

I have read lots of posts here regarding the nightmare that is LAX and so have a question - we have a flight landing from Australia into LAX around 6.30am and I am planning to book an ongoing flight to Mexico (not in the same original booking) that leaves 10.30am and is the only flight of the day to that destination.
Will that be cutting it too fine?

 

[serfty]

In at least 90% of cases a 4 hour window would suffice - but it could be expensive if you miss the flight.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

What airlines would you be travelling on into/out of LAX?

 

[lisa31jane]

Flying in with Qantas, flying out with either Delta or Virgin America - both depart around 10.30 am

 

[legroom]

I have read lots of posts here regarding the nightmare that is LAX and so have a question - we have a flight landing from Australia into LAX around 6.30am and I am planning to book an ongoing flight to Mexico (not in the same original booking) that leaves 10.30am and is the only flight of the day to that destination.
Will that be cutting it too fine?

From my own (limited) experience, 4 hrs seem reasonably adequate.

It would help if you travel in J as you would leave the plane earlier and with some power walking, you could queue up for Immigration in 10 minutes.

In Nov, it took me about 30-40 min from leaving the plane (J seating) to standing in the queue for Terminal 4 (AA domestic) including Customs clearance of the checked bag and bag-dropping it to the AA belt on the way out.

In short, power walking to the Immigration line followed by more (deliberate) power walking to Terminal 4 (walk outside, turn right, up the escalator... join the queue again).

I traveled AA in Y so the queue was longer; for J tickets, you could join the shorter Priority Access line.

Hope that helps.

But then, prepared for the worst: late arrival, long Immigration queue, longer AA queue ....

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Neither Virgin America (VX) or Delta Airlines (DL) are in the One World Alliance so your bags will only be tagged to LAX. After clearing customs and immigration with your bag you will need to make your way to either terminal 3 for VX or terminal 5 for DL.

I'm not sure whether you will be able to checkin for either of these flights at the Tom Bradlley International Terminal as I think that is only a bag drop facility if your bags are tagged on to your next flight. Someone here on AFF may be able to shed some light on this as I have always overnighted at the US gateway city & not made an immediate domestic connection.

Worse case scenario is having to take your checked luggage to the terminal where your next flight departs from so hopefully you've got a suitcase with wheels that's easy to tow.

 

[Boris spatsky]

4 hours should be ok unless something drastic happens ( like the inbound is 2 hrs late).

 

[madrooster]

4 hours should be ok unless something drastic happens ( like the inbound is 2 hrs late).

Like QF93 yesterday?

In all seriousness, the bag drop in TBIT is only if you have your bags already tagged on. You can't get new bag tags in TBIT so you would need to haul your bags to either terminal 3 (VX) or terminal 5 (DL) as ozbeachbabe has already mentioned.

 

[brucebrad]

Same question but different flights: We are arriving into LAX terminal 5 on Virgin Australia (10.30am on a weekday) and leaving terminal 5 on Delta domestic to Memphis. Delta have just now changed the time of the domestic flight so we only have 90 min connection time. (This is the last direct flight from LAX to Memphis on the day)

Our travel agent says that is sufficient, but we are now thinking of overnighting in LA and asking to have the Delta flight changed to the following day. The Delta website hints that we might be able to do that for no penalty - but maybe we have to be below some official transit time threshold?

 

[madrooster]

Same question but different flights: We are arriving into LAX terminal 5 on Virgin Australia (10.30am on a weekday) and leaving terminal 5 on Delta domestic to Memphis. Delta have just now changed the time of the domestic flight so we only have 90 min connection time. (This is the last direct flight from LAX to Memphis on the day)

Our travel agent says that is sufficient, but we are now thinking of overnighting in LA and asking to have the Delta flight changed to the following day. The Delta website hints that we might be able to do that for no penalty - but maybe we have to be below some official transit time threshold?

Are there any earlier LAX-MEM flights earlier than the one you've been placed on? If so, then you could book the earlier one on the following day and be within 24 hour transit rules (ie. no stopover charges).

 

[docjames]

There is no way I'd expect a 90 min international arrival to domestic drparture connection to work.

You may fluke it, but better to plan for a different flight time.

A 2hr connection is the absolute minimum I'd allow for a linked connection. If unlinked, my personal preference is 3-4 hrs.

If you are "protected" on the same booking, it could be worth the risk, but you'll spend your entire inbound flight stressing about the connection. Not fun.

 

[Fantic125]

Flying in with Qantas, flying out with either Delta or Virgin America - both depart around 10.30 am

With a 4 hour window you should be fine. T3 and T5 are right next to TBIT (where you will be arriving). 5 minute walk if you know where you are going, 10 minute if you don't.

You will need to take your bag with you and checkin. With Delta you'll need to pay $25 for each bag, not sure about VX.

 

[fewings85]

Just reviving a thread rather then starting a new one. ive been to LAX twice before but never had to make a connecting flight out of there.

what i have is VA flight arrive from melbourne at 830am into LAX. Im heading down from there to visit friends in Bogota, Colombia. Ive booked on Copa air which goes Via Panama. The flight leaves 1130 am so this is a three hour lay over. Now for the moment i have booked for a night stay in LA then taking the 1130 flight the next morning. Part of my decision was because of the lenght of flying would be huuuge as well. Coming from perth thats 3.5 hrs to melb, 4 hr lay over in melb, 14 hrs to LA 3 hr lay over in LA 6 hrs to panama another 1 hr lay over followed by another 1 hr flight.

But if i was to change my flight to the same day would a 3 hour layover at LAX to change between VA to Copa for another international flight be enough time or am i better keeping it how have it now? Most people on this thread seem to be for a domestic connection, however because this is another international connection on a different airline i want to see if 3 hours is enough. As it stands i think ive made the right choice by choosing to break up the flights abit and have that 1 night stay rather then stress about transiting same day.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Just reviving a thread rather then starting a new one. ive been to LAX twice before but never had to make a connecting flight out of there.

what i have is VA flight arrive from melbourne at 830am into LAX. Im heading down from there to visit friends in Bogota, Colombia. Ive booked on Copa air which goes Via Panama. The flight leaves 1130 am so this is a three hour lay over. Now for the moment i have booked for a night stay in LA then taking the 1130 flight the next morning. Part of my decision was because of the lenght of flying would be huuuge as well. Coming from perth thats 3.5 hrs to melb, 4 hr lay over in melb, 14 hrs to LA 3 hr lay over in LA 6 hrs to panama another 1 hr lay over followed by another 1 hr flight.

But if i was to change my flight to the same day would a 3 hour layover at LAX to change between VA to Copa for another international flight be enough time or am i better keeping it how have it now? Most people on this thread seem to be for a domestic connection, however because this is another international connection on a different airline i want to see if 3 hours is enough. As it stands i think ive made the right choice by choosing to break up the flights abit and have that 1 night stay rather then stress about transiting same day.

It's a bit like a school exam when you review your questions then go back & change your answer only to find out it's wrong & you should have left it as is therefore I would leave your trip exactly as it is with the one night stopover in LAX.

If you were checking in for the CM flights LAX/PTY/BOG you would normally want to me there 90 minutes prior to departure at the very latest which would be 1000 which means you would really need to be leaving LAX T3 ex your VA flight with your suitcase in tow by about 0930 & heading over to T6 for your Copa Airlines flight.

I think it's way too optimistic in one hour (0830 to 0930) to expect to have disembarked from your VA flight, walked all the way to passport control, queued up & be processed there, wait at the carousel for your for your luggage then line up at the secondary queue to hand in your arrival form. This is assuming your VA flight is on time or a couple of CI or KE 747's don't land just ahead of you which is bedlam.

I generally weigh up any decision based on tight connections on what the worse case scenario would be if your inbound flight was late & in your case that would probably be forfeiting the CM fare & buying a new ticket. Never mind the stress the whole way to LAX about whether you're going to make it or not.

Stick with the plan Stan!

 

[ftm]

I agree. Stick with Plan A. There is a lot of opportunity for things to get delayed between Perth and LA, so take the stress out of it and stay the night.

 

[legroom]

Just reviving a thread rather then starting a new one. ive been to LAX twice before but never had to make a connecting flight out of there.

what i have is VA flight arrive from melbourne at 830am into LAX. Im heading down from there to visit friends in Bogota, Colombia. Ive booked on Copa air which goes Via Panama. The flight leaves 1130 am so this is a three hour lay over. Now for the moment i have booked for a night stay in LA then taking the 1130 flight the next morning. Part of my decision was because of the lenght of flying would be huuuge as well. Coming from perth thats 3.5 hrs to melb, 4 hr lay over in melb, 14 hrs to LA 3 hr lay over in LA 6 hrs to panama another 1 hr lay over followed by another 1 hr flight.

But if i was to change my flight to the same day would a 3 hour layover at LAX to change between VA to Copa for another international flight be enough time or am i better keeping it how have it now? Most people on this thread seem to be for a domestic connection, however because this is another international connection on a different airline i want to see if 3 hours is enough. As it stands i think ive made the right choice by choosing to break up the flights abit and have that 1 night stay rather then stress about transiting same day.

You could tilt the odds in your favour with a carry-on only !

 

[DaleS]

I would definitely stick with the stopover plan but my reason is that LA is a great place to spend a day and there's so many things to do within proximity to LAX. I'm flying in on VA in 2 weeks and after clearing arrivals I'll pick up a car and drive up to West Hollywood (30 min) to have brekky at my fave LA cafe Blu Jam on Melrose Ave. Then I'm thinking of going to the La Brea tar pits as in all my trips to LA I've never been there. Then I'm close to Century City or Beverly Hills or if it's a nice day (as it usually is) I might go up to Mulholland Drive then end up in Santa Monica. By then I'll be ready to go to Hermosa Beach where I'm staying which has plenty of good restaurants & bars. After all that I'm ready for a good sleep and then I'm only 15-20 mins from the LAX rental car returns before my VX flight to Washington the next day. Cant wait.

 

[fewings85]

I would definitely stick with the stopover plan but my reason is that LA is a great place to spend a day and there's so many things to do within proximity to LAX. I'm flying in on VA in 2 weeks and after clearing arrivals I'll pick up a car and drive up to West Hollywood (30 min) to have brekky at my fave LA cafe Blu Jam on Melrose Ave. Then I'm thinking of going to the La Brea tar pits as in all my trips to LA I've never been there. Then I'm close to Century City or Beverly Hills or if it's a nice day (as it usually is) I might go up to Mulholland Drive then end up in Santa Monica. By then I'll be ready to go to Hermosa Beach where I'm staying which has plenty of good restaurants & bars. After all that I'm ready for a good sleep and then I'm only 15-20 mins from the LAX rental car returns before my VX flight to Washington the next day. Cant wait.

ive done LA to death but i do love it, booking a night at the hilton LAX then im going to head on off to do some shopping in the arvo. Thanks guys i think the way i have booked it is the way!

 

[fewings85]

thread bump again. as above I'm after advice on wether this leg would be viable. Its in different fare class to above so this is why im asking again. I have a flight into LAX from Cali, COL via San Salvador on Avianca in Business class. This is due to land at 12.35pm. Im now looking at booking my Australia to LA flights on SQ also in business. Now the leg on SQ leaving LAX departs at 3.45pm. So this gives me a lay over of 3 hrs and 10 minutes. As both these fares are in business I can obviously get off/on quicker then my previous post above being both flight in economy.

Last month a I did an Avianca flight from Cali to LAX in economy with a connection to VA also in economy and I reckon it took me 90minutes from when I got off the Avianca flight to when I was through security into TBI for my VA flight. Wasn't rushing either as my layover was 4 hrs 20 minutes.

So my judgement on this would be that I would be fine especially with business fares. Obviously barring some major drama I should be fine to book this correct? thoughts fellow members?

 

[docjames]

I assume the fares aren't on one PNR (linked)?

3hrs would be a bare minimum as SQ may not want to know about a delayed arrival - will depend on the fare conditions and change fees (of the SQ flight) if you misconnect.