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[olliemaller]

Hello!
I hope everyone is well. I am catching a flight from Miami to Lax then lax to Mel. I have booked this all under the Qantas website and it is on the same ticket and itinerary. So It is a code share flight with American Airlines from Miami to lax. I was just wondering, at Miami do you go through customs and check in as an international passenger? also, will we have to pick up our bags at Lax and re-check in? or is it that you do customs and check in Miami the bags get sent through to Lax and then to Mel so all you have to do is walk to the gate where the Qantas flight is? Sorry if this is confusing I just am confused and want to understand what we do. I really hope someone can help me with this!

 

[Himeno]

The US does not have any exit immigration or customs formalities. You just have to check in with AA at Miami and they'll tag your bags through to Melbourne.
You just have to move to the Qantas gate at LAX. This will likely require a terminal change, but you can do all that airside with tunnels connecting the AA gates to the International terminal.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Mixing several terms here

• security. USA has many
• emigration (exit border controls) for people. USA has none. AU does.
• immigration (incoming border controls) for people. AU does
• Customs biosecurity~quarantine (tax and prohibited import items, often food) on arrival into a country. Had never read of customs on exit.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

And welcome on board AFF airlines.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF @olliemaller .

Himeno had given you the answer.

As there is no exit immigration from the USA, another time you could find yourself in a terminal about to depart on a domestic USA flight and have an international flight boarding and then departing right beside you.

That said you’ll probably be departing from the Tom Bradley International terminal at LAX. This is more function of where the Qantas flight arrived to, rather when they where they absolutely need to depart from. You will simply walk from your arriving AA flight/terminal at LAX into TBIT. Don’t go outside. Keep air side and find the connector tunnel.

 

[SYD]

AA T4 to TBIT is actually elevated (there’s a tunnel between T4 and T5). Note the thick black lines on the map:

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-experience/at-the-airport/airport-guides/los-angeles-airport-guide.html

If you’re lucky and arrive from MIA into T4, head towards arrivals but hang a left BEFORE the exit to baggage claim. According to the map ant the link, it should be near Gate 41 and signposted.

Arriving at T5, it’s a bit of a down to tunnel, back up and over affair but not too hard. As others have said, resist the temptation to go “landside” through doors marked Baggage Claim!

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

At the first smartgate in MEL, after you deplane, but before baggage claim, keep that flimsy bit of your "mug" shot photo printout on that yellowish flimsy paper.
Its as you come down that slight incline, from the gate, past all the beasts (aka duty free), till you get to the newly installed smartgate machines.
They changed the type of the first machine, about 12 months or 18 months ago, its not the same machine as when smartgate first came out.
They dont pop out the cardboardy printout anymore, but now, when you enter your passport into the shoulder high smartgate reader, and answer those few questions, if you pass that, it will ask you to retrieve your passport, but you must also take your photo slip with you.
Then you have to have your photo taken by the bright light camera, that first one prints the photo that is on your passport echip, the second photo is the one with the bright light, that takes a photo of you.
Then baggage claim.
As right before exit, your IPC and flimsy photo print out will be looked at, and taken off you.
After baggage claim, you can put your passport into a secure pocket, 99.9% of the time, its not needed anymore.
Just before exit to the open public area, they just visually read your IPC, and photo print out, and then decide if you can go through nothing to declare, or have to go the red channel.
Hopefully, your last stop if MEL, if another dom airport, hope you have enough time to go through incoming procedures.