Transfer from QF11 at LAX

[Ken1]

In January I'll be arriving at LAX on QF11 at 0940 on a Wednesday as part of a J 280K One World Award and then flying LAX-LIM the following Tuesday night at 2320. I'm planning to visit Banff for a few days so will fly LAX-YYC on the day I arrive at LAX and WestJet has a flight departing at 1315 which would give me a 3hr35 transit time. Reading other threads about transfer times at LAX this would hopefully be enough time for a transfer, depending on immigration delays on arrival and security at T2.

AA sells the same flight as a code share at a price $30 higher than with WestJet for Y. Would there be any advantage in booking this flight through AA since AA is One World? Would that mean it could be possible to have my bag checked through to YYC even though it will be on a separate PNR so I could then just drop it off at a bag check at LAX after clearing US immigration, which would then save a bit of time when checking in for that flight? Is there any chance QF would check it through if I have it booked through WestJet?

They will of course not be on the same PNR but if QF11 was very late and I missed that flight is there a chance that AA may assist to book onto another flight? (I know they don't have to but I'm wondering if having an AA flight number could help). If I missed this flight I would have to wait until the next morning for a flight at 0850 - Westjet only have two flights a day. Air Canada also have two direct flights - at 1055 and 1845, but I'd rather book the WS flight since it arrives at YYC at 1720 while the AC 1845 flight arrives at YYC at 2251 and I couldn't head up to Banff until the next morning.

I'm planning to stay four nights at Banff and then fly back to LAX on the Sunday. While I'd like the extra day there I just want to play it safe and be back in LA by the Sunday night in case of bad weather causing delays since I have the LAX-LIM flight on the Tuesday night.

 

[NM]

In January I'll be arriving at LAX on QF11 at 0940 on a Wednesday as part of a J 280K One World Award and then flying LAX-LIM the following Tuesday night at 2320. I'm planning to visit Banff for a few days so will fly LAX-YYC on the day I arrive at LAX and WestJet has a flight departing at 1315 which would give me a 3hr35 transit time. Reading other threads about transfer times at LAX this would hopefully be enough time for a transfer, depending on immigration delays on arrival and security at T2.

Your risk is not with long immigration or customs queues, its with a late arrival of the inbound flight. Immigration/customs rarely takes much more than an hour. I know we read of horror stories, but anything over 90 mins is really rare at LAX these days. But flight delays due to all sorts of things (weather, maintenance, baggage off-loading for no-show pax etc), often at the start of the flight, can easily result in much longer delays than you are likely to experience at immigration at LAX. Its the inbound flight delays that cannot be predicted or avoided when they happen, and they are what is most likely to cause a problem with a 3+ hour connection at LAX. Likelihood is low, but impact can be very significant when on separate tickets.



AA sells the same flight as a code share at a price $30 higher than with WestJet for Y. Would there be any advantage in booking this flight through AA since AA is One World? Would that mean it could be possible to have my bag checked through to YYC even though it will be on a separate PNR so I could then just drop it off at a bag check at LAX after clearing US immigration, which would then save a bit of time when checking in for that flight? Is there any chance QF would check it through if I have it booked through WestJet?

They will of course not be on the same PNR but if QF11 was very late and I missed that flight is there a chance that AA may assist to book onto another flight? (I know they don't have to but I'm wondering if having an AA flight number could help). If I missed this flight I would have to wait until the next morning for a flight at 0850 - Westjet only have two flights a day. Air Canada also have two direct flights - at 1055 and 1845, but I'd rather book the WS flight since it arrives at YYC at 1720 while the AC 1845 flight arrives at YYC at 2251 and I couldn't head up to Banff until the next morning.

I'm planning to stay four nights at Banff and then fly back to LAX on the Sunday. While I'd like the extra day there I just want to play it safe and be back in LA by the Sunday night in case of bad weather causing delays since I have the LAX-LIM flight on the Tuesday night.[/QUOTE]