Lax Transfer times

[pinehart]

I know this subject has been done to death, but some up to date will help. I have booked Qf16 to Brisbane leaving Lax at 2340. I need to book a Dallas to Los angeles with AA. Need to know if, with inter terminal transfer, and immigration, security, whether arriving in T4 at 1830 has plenty of time?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Give your QF16 itinerary to AA at DFW when you checkin and they'll tag your bags all the way to BNE & should be able to give you both your AA & QF boarding passes.

There is no outbound immigration from the USA. All you need to do is make your way from T4 ex the DFW flight next door to TBIT then head straight through the TSA screening point to the gate which should be a walk in the park with 5 hours to spare.

In any case you'd be protected in the event of a misconnection due to both QF & AA being in the same One World Alliance.

 

[RooFlyer]

I would say that's tons of time.

Not sure if your bags will be transferred across if not on the same PNR. If they are, as far as I'm aware, there is still an airside bus that leaves from T4 to TBIT, so no need to leave the terminal and re-do security. Its quite an interesting trip, but don't leave it till the last minute - its frequently held up on the tarmac as the bus gives way to just about everything.

There is no outgoing immigration etc when leaving the USA.

But even if there isn't bag transfer, you have 4 hours from landing to collect bags, walk across to TBIT, check in and clear security and still be at your gate and still be an hour before departure. TBITs a much nicer environment for waiting at these days .

 

[NM]

If you arrive at 18:30, you have heaps of time. From arriving at T4 to the security screening line at TBI should take no more than 15-20 mins. My experience with security screening at TBI in the evenings is that 15 mins would normally be more than enough time to get through.

However, if on a different ticket, you still have to determine what you will do if your arrival into LAX is delayed. What will happen if the flight to LAX is cancelled due to equipment failure, or your flight is diverted to another port due to some emergency (medical, weather, fault etc). While 90 connection should be comfortable for T4->TBI at that time of night, a 6 hour connection can turn into a missed connection when things don't go to plan.

 

[Warks]

This must be the most-asked question on AFF - I admit to asking it myself in the past.

Consensus is that three hours is about the minimum with most being more comfortable with four hours. The biggest risk is a flight delay inbound I guess. If you are connecting with the same ticket or alliance I assume you'd be okay.

The next question is what to do around LAX with 5-10 hours to wait for a plane?

 

[RooFlyer]

<snip>

The next question is what to do around LAX with 5-10 hours to wait for a plane?

There's a thread for that . (The comments there about transfer times etc and even the state of TBIT are obviously out of date now.)

 

[Warks]

There's a thread for that . (The comments there about transfer times etc and even the state of TBIT are obviously out of date now.)

Santa Monica on the Big Blue Bus for a dollar! The LAX shuttle takes as long to get to the City Bus Center as the BBB takes to get to SM!

 

[NM]

This must be the most-asked question on AFF - I admit to asking it myself in the past.

Consensus is that three hours is about the minimum with most being more comfortable with four hours.

I agree with those for an international arriving into LAX connecting to a USA domestic or another international flight, where US immigration, baggage collection and customs are involved. But for an outbound connection (from USA domestic going to international departure) the long delays associated with immigration, baggage collection/transfer and customs do not exist. 90 mins is heaps if arrival is on-time.

 

[serfty]

...

However, if on a different ticket, you still have to determine what you will do if your arrival into LAX is delayed. What will happen if the flight to LAX is cancelled due to equipment failure, or your flight is diverted to another port due to some emergency (medical, weather, fault etc). While 90 connection should be comfortable for T4->TBI at that time of night, a 6 hour connection can turn into a missed connection when things don't go to plan.

As indicated by OzBeachBabe, AA will protect with a Qantas connection, even on separate tickets.

American Airlines Travel Agency Reference

Booking and Ticketing Index | AA.com

 

[Jurahn]

I agree with those for an international arriving into LAX connecting to a USA domestic or another international flight, where US immigration, baggage collection and customs are involved. But for an outbound connection (from USA domestic going to international departure) the long delays associated with immigration, baggage collection/transfer and customs do not exist. 90 mins is heaps if arrival is on-time.

That's true, you don't have those delays, but if there's a hold-up at the security screening lines in TBIT, you'd really be cutting it fine it you'd only allowed 90 minutes. We flew LAX-SYD in March, and went through TBIT at around 4pm - the lines for security screening were huge, there would have been at least a couple of hundred people in the "regular" lines, with more arriving every minute. Thankfully we were flying J on this occasion so sped through to the head of the dedicated first class/business class line, and getting a lot of deathstares in the process from all those lined up as we zoomed past. Not sure whether there was any particular reason for the lengthy queues or whether it was normal for the time of day, but I imagine it would have taken quite a while for all those people to get through.