Clearing LAX as a business traveller

[sydneytraveller77]

Hi Everyone

I am flying in to LAX (Terminal 5) from Sydney (business class) on December 18 with a SINGLE ticket through to NYC.

The internal code share flight (business class) is with Delta and my checked bag will go all the way to NYC. This flight also leaves from Terminal 5 at 8.30am. I will already have a printed boarding pass.

I understand I need to clear immigration and customs at LAX, but my questions are:

- do I need to completely leave the terminal after customs and then re-enter and go through security or is there a transfers entrance for other Terminal 5 gates once I have cleared customs?
- do people think 1 hr 45 minutes is enough to make my connecting flight, granted I will be first off the plane and potentially afforded a separate security line (if relevant) for going through security for the connecting flight.

I know things are looking pretty tight

Any help greatly appreciated.

Andy

 

[QF029]

I can't comend on non QF/AA transfers but you will need to claim your luggage and recheck it to NYC. I'd expect your bags to be tagged through to NYC so it should only add an extra couple of minutes.

 

[harvyk]

I don't believe there are any express lines for immi in the US. However as all booked on the one ticket you will be fine, worst case if you do miss your connecting flight, you will be automatically moved to the next available flight.

 

[serfty]

Hi Everyone

I am flying in to LAX (Terminal 5) from Sydney (business class) on December 18 with a SINGLE ticket through to NYC.

The internal code share flight (business class) is with Delta and my checked bag will go all the way to NYC. This flight also leaves from Terminal 5 at 8.30am. I will already have a printed boarding pass....

Welcome to AFF.

What airline are you flying with, what are the flight numbers?

 

[drewbles]

If you arrive into T5, you're in for a bit of a rude shock. It's a terrible arrivals area, especially if 1-2 other 777's are unloading there.

No express as serfty mentioned. You need to clear immigration, join the melee that is the two baggage carousels to collect your bags, then pass through customs. You leave and have to re-check your bags. I believe you will need to head upstairs in the same terminal to do so (iirc there are no bag re-check facilities in arrivals at T5, there are however at TBIT).

If you're on VA metal you arrive into TBIT. If you're on DL metal, I believe you'll be deplaning at T5.

 

[RooFlyer]

I can't comend on non QF/AA transfers but you will need to claim your luggage and recheck it to NYC. I'd expect your bags to be tagged through to NYC so it should only add an extra couple of minutes.

Slight correction, just terminology . If bags are checked through, they'll need to reclaim their bags and clear customs, but then just give them to the people there to do the bag transfer. No need to 're check'.

Don't join the first immigration queue you see, unless its very short. Most people do. Check to see if queues away from the entry point to the immigration hall are shorter or even empty. If you are able to surreptitiously look at the passports people are holding, avoid queues with a lot of pax ex Mexico, China and Korea, who seem to have longer than 'average' processing times.

Edit: I may stand corrected by drewbls comment re no bag transfer at T5. Long time since I did T5

 

[Simsy85]

There are 3 ways to gain an express route through Immigration:

1. Have an APEC card.
2. Be Crew
3. Require a wheelchair from the Aircraft door.

1hr 45? Very tight IMHO. TSA are not fun campers to deal with at the best of times.

Other than this, no.

 

[drewbles]

There are 3 ways to gain an express route through Immigration:

1. Have an APEC card.
2. Be Crew
3. Require a wheelchair from the Aircraft door.

1hr 45? Very tight IMHO. TSA are not fun campers to deal with at the best of times.

Other than this, no.

In T5, there is no APEC queue. 1:45 is not something i'd be willing to do, but if on the same ticket, you're protected and they'll sort you out in the event of a misconnect.

 

[Jamie R]

Went through LAX last year with a similarly tight connection. No express line so standing in with the herd watching the minutes tick by. In the end had to ask the 10 or so people in front of me if they minded if I jumped the queue so I could make my onward flight. Bless them all (mostly Aussies) they let me in and I cleared TSA. Customs took a while as well and the agents seem to know if you are in a hurry as they took almost sadistic pleasure in making me wait before calling me forward. Quick dash to the next terminal. Located the first counter, throw the bags on and made it. Good luck !

 

[cove]

Just change your onward flight time as that flight may not work. There is no need to book it on too tight a schedule.
Or if you leave it just understand that Delta will give you a seat on the next available provided you have the two flights linked.
A missed connection may give you a very ordinary seat on the next available flight.

 

[erkpod]

When I arrived on VA1 in January in T5, I was off the plane & on the street in about an hour. They were asking people with connections under 2 hours to make themselves known so they could be presumably processed quicker. I even had a woman direct me to the US citizens line.

 

[serfty]

VA1 no longer arrives at T5, it's TBIT for arrivals these days.

Although, we don't know for sure what flight the OP is arriving on.

 

[erkpod]

VA1 no longer arrives at T5, it's TBIT for arrivals these days.

Although, we don't know for sure what flight the OP is arriving on.

I'm interested in the implied statement that a business traveler needs a quick way through immi but someone on holiday doesn't.

I'm looking forward to arriving at TBIT on VA in January. At least they have food available between the plane & the street.

 

[drewbles]

I'm interested in the implied statement that a business traveler needs a quick way through immi but someone on holiday doesn't.

I'm looking forward to arriving at TBIT on VA in January. At least they have food available between the plane & the street.

TBIT arrivals are downstairs, where there is a bar and that's it. It's the 'most featured' terminal, but there really isn't much. I would not be wanting to hang around the airport after arriving in LAX at any terminal.

Business travellers may be off to a more obscure destination with very few connecting flights, and having them sit around waiting for a missed connection may cost them significant amounts of money as well as the inconvenience. The vast majority of both business and holiday travellers are off to major destinations though. I Guess 'time is money' is factored more into a business traveller.

 

[erkpod]

TBIT arrivals are downstairs, where there is a bar and that's it. It's the 'most featured' terminal, but there really isn't much. I would not be wanting to hang around the airport after arriving in LAX at any terminal.

Business travellers may be off to a more obscure destination with very few connecting flights, and having them sit around waiting for a missed connection may cost them significant amounts of money as well as the inconvenience. The vast majority of both business and holiday travellers are off to major destinations though. I Guess 'time is money' is factored more into a business traveller.

It's not that hard to get up to the food court at TBIT, that's what I might be doing when I arrive in January. Having said that, I'll be transfering to DL to head to LAS on the same day. But I've given myself a lot of leeway & lounging time if VA1 is on time. I'm looking forward to DL F after 15 hours in Y.

I think it's important to factor in immi processing times, especially at LAX. If plane A is on time & the connection to plane B is very tight because that's the way you've planned it, should you get priority (regardless of your reason for being there)?

 

[drewbles]

It's not that hard to get up to the food court at TBIT, that's what I might be doing when I arrive in January. Having said that, I'll be transfering to DL to head to LAS on the same day. But I've given myself a lot of leeway & lounging time if VA1 is on time. I'm looking forward to DL F after 15 hours in Y.

I think it's important to factor in immi processing times, especially at LAX. If plane A is on time & the connection to plane B is very tight because that's the way you've planned it, should you get priority (regardless of your reason for being there)?

I never book tight connections in LA. I've been known to, especially on work trips, stay overnight in an airport hotel. For the $80-100USD you spend on a hotel room, it saves my sanity. Get in early, go to hotel and veg out (or hire a car and go visit friends I have in LAX) and then fly out to the east coast the next day.

That's how I prefer to do it. Most don't of course. Many of the airport hotel properties will do a day room rate as well, 9am-6/7pm. That's also an excellent option for travellers who can take a load off, shower, freshen up and then head back on the free shuttle.

If you're going to lounge at DL, keep in mind they don't allow outside food to be taken into the lounge, you'll need to eat before you go in if you want food court fare (at least that's how it is at ATL, and I believe the DL lounges have the same policy, but having never flown DL out of LAX, I have no idea what the food situation in T5 departures is like). DL F isn't that great either, but then again, any US airline in F (with the exception of the 3 class transcon flights that AA and UA run, not sure if DL do) isn't great. Still, it's better than Y =)

 

[chemtrails]

When I arrived on VA1 in January in T5, I was off the plane & on the street in about an hour. They were asking people with connections under 2 hours to make themselves known so they could be presumably processed quicker. I even had a woman direct me to the US citizens line.

This sounds like my experience in T5. I was out and onto the bitumen very quickly, in fact I had made it to the Parking Spot 15 minutes before the shop opened (9am).

As others have mentioned though, VA now pull into TBIT. If arrival is going to be in T5, then it must be on Delta. This also means that there are less aircraft arriving into T5 in the morning as well, which bodes well for the OP.

In short, there is a chance you'll make it. Under 2 hours is a very fine connection but being in the same terminal is a good thing. Choke points are always Immigration and TSA. Do everything you can to get off the aircraft as quick as possible to be closer in the line.

 

[cove]

I love those folks who walk fast/run down the passageways to get to the slow/no moving immigration line.
We came to the same conclusion about stopping in Los Angeles rather than racing around.

 

[drewbles]

I love those folks who walk fast/run down the passageways to get to the slow/no moving immigration line.
We came to the same conclusion about stopping in Los Angeles rather than racing around.

I'm one of said 'fast walkers' that run. That faster I get to the front of the queue the better. I'd rather run and re-queue after a 14 hour flight too, as it's a nice way to stretch the legs and get the blood (or alcohol) pumping through me

 

[Fruitcake]

I love those folks who walk fast/run down the passageways to get to the slow/no moving immigration line.

As long as you keep to the side and walk in a predictable manner, that's fine. The slow moving queues are the ones where I want to be closer to the front.

As a data point for the OP, I arrived in T5 twelve months ago flying PE on VA. We overtook J pax on the way into immigration, which was empty when we arrived. We took less than 30 minutes from aircraft door to walking into the Sky Club, including checking in for the next flight (which was on a separate booking, but the bag drop desk checked us in) and clearing domestic security.