What happens when in-transit at LAX?

[lautray]

I am planning a trip in December, which will bring me back from London to Sydney via LAX. The arrival time at LAX is ~3pm & departure at 10.30pm. In that time, will we be issued with "pass-outs" so we can meet family within the airport, or are we confined to a transit lounge???

Not sure if is actual swapping of aircraft, as we come in to LAX as BA283 & then depart LAX as QF12.

 

[bigjobs]

as i understand it:

1. yes you will change planes. qf12 will be qantas metal.

2. you will not be in a transit lounge. these don't exist anymore. when you land in LAX you will clear customs/immigration and then go through the securtiy screening process to access your gate for qf12. so you will be 'stateside' for a period of time.

if i am incorrect others will set you straight. this is what i understand to be the case and has been my experience.

cheers

 

[NM]

I am planning a trip in December, which will bring me back from London to Sydney via LAX. The arrival time at LAX is ~3pm & departure at 10.30pm. In that time, will we be issued with "pass-outs" so we can meet family within the airport, or are we confined to a transit lounge???

Not sure if is actual swapping of aircraft, as we come in to LAX as BA283 & then depart LAX as QF12.

In the USA, there is no sterile immigration area of the airport as there is in Australia. Domestic and international departures share the same gate areas in the terminals.

The BA flight will arrive into TBI (Tom Bradley International terminal) and all arriving passengers will be required to pass through immigration and customs processing. Once you have done this, you are land-side and free to go anywhere. You will have to complete the green I94W Visa Waiver entry form (unless you have a USA Visa, which I assume you don't or you would be familiar with the process) for presentation at passport control on arrival at LAX TBI.

You will also be required to collect your luggage and clear customs processing at TBI upon arrival. You need to do this even if your luggage is lagged to Sydney.

Your QF12 flight to Sydney will depart from the AA Terminal 4. When you exit customs, turn right and follow the signs up the ramp to connecting flights. At the top of the ramp there is an area to deposit your luggage for connecting flights. There will be staff there to assist - just tell them the flight number and they will tell you where to leave the bags. They will be re-screened and sent to the aircraft for loading.

Then exit TBI terminal and turn right. TBI is at the apex of a horseshoe of terminals, and Terminal 4 is the next one around the horseshoe. Its about a 200m walk around the pavement. Then up the escalator to Terminal 4. You may have to collect your boarding pass there if not already issued in London by BA.

Then up the next escalate to the security screening for Terminal 4 departures level and through to either the joint AA/QF Business or First lounges (if you have access) or wait in the departure gate for the flight.

You can go anywhere between leaving TBI and passing through security at Terminal 4.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Welcome to AFF lautray

In the USA, there is no sterile immigration area of the airport as there is in Australia. Domestic and international departures share the same gate areas in the terminals.

That is true for the OP - no sterile immigration area, but not correct altogether. LAX T2 has a holding pen used by NZ on their LHR-LAX-AKL vv through flights. Unlike other countries, the US does however still require immigration formalities to be completed even if in international transit (and even for those pax using the airside holding pen).

Make sure that check in at T4, or the gate agent, removes the stub of the immigration form. If they don't collect it, it can cause issues when you next visit the US since those stubs are the only way they know you have left the country (yeah a real secure system :roll: )

 

[NM]

In the USA, there is no sterile immigration area of the airport as there is in Australia. Domestic and international departures share the same gate areas in the terminals.

That is true for the OP - no sterile immigration area, but not correct altogether.[/quote]
Having noted the OP's stated flights, I was not going to confuse them with the specific NZ situation as it does not apply to them .

 

[Platy]

Been thinking of using QF to Vancouver via SFO.

Would I need to clear customs/immigration even though it would be same plane etc through?

 

[NM]

Been thinking of using QF to Vancouver via SFO.

Would I need to clear customs/immigration even though it would be same plane etc through?

Plan on that being a requirement. I am not aware of a similar "sterile" holding area as used by the NZ flights through LAX. Assume it will be the same as the QF107 process at LAX for SYD-JFK passengers, even though the final destination will be Canada and not the USA. As this flight has not yet commenced (the SFO-YVR component), nobody has any practical experience with the process requirements at SFO. But we know the process for flights to Canada through HNL require both USA immigration and customs processing before reboarding.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I am not aware of any sterile area at SFO, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Odds are you'll need to deplane and clear immigration before being allowed back on.

 

[Dave Noble]

Make sure that check in at T4, or the gate agent, removes the stub of the immigration form. If they don't collect it, it can cause issues when you next visit the US since those stubs are the only way they know you have left the country (yeah a real secure system :roll: )

When I was in the US a week ago, on leaving the country at the aircraft, there was a person with a fingerprint n passport reader who checked passport and took fingerprint and then issued a "US VISIT" receipt. It seems like they may have improved over just using green slkips of paper

Dave

 

[NM]

Make sure that check in at T4, or the gate agent, removes the stub of the immigration form. If they don't collect it, it can cause issues when you next visit the US since those stubs are the only way they know you have left the country (yeah a real secure system :roll: )

When I was in the US a week ago, on leaving the country at the aircraft, there was a person with a fingerprint n passport reader who checked passport and took fingerprint and then issued a "US VISIT" receipt. It seems like they may have improved over just using green slkips of paper

Dave

I have only ever seen this in ORD. They were trialling the system when I departed ORD-NRT about 18 months back, and it was supposed to be going to be implemented everywhere withing 6 momths. Obviously they are running a little slow :roll:

 

[lautray]

Thanks for the quick replies. Definitely has helped in the planning.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Make sure that check in at T4, or the gate agent, removes the stub of the immigration form. If they don't collect it, it can cause issues when you next visit the US since those stubs are the only way they know you have left the country (yeah a real secure system :roll: )

When I was in the US a week ago, on leaving the country at the aircraft, there was a person with a fingerprint n passport reader who checked passport and took fingerprint and then issued a "US VISIT" receipt. It seems like they may have improved over just using green slkips of paper

Dave

Which airport was this? This year (to date) I have exited US from LAX, SFO, JFK and not seen this. I understand this system is being trialled but haven't heard/read when or if it is being rolled out to all international departure points.

 

[NM]

Which airport was this? This year (to date) I have exited US from LAX, SFO, JFK and not seen this. I understand this system is being trialled but haven't heard/read when or if it is being rolled out to all international departure points.

Pretty sure Dave was also departing the LOTFAP from ORD on his way to Eggland about a week ago.

I had it at ORD departing for NRT back in December 2004 (6th December at 10:30am at gate K16 according to my receipt). I have not seen it anywhere else since then, including departures from JFK and LAX.

 

[Dave Noble]

Pretty sure Dave was also departing the LOTFAP from ORD on his way to Eggland about a week ago.

I had it at ORD departing for NRT back in December 2004 (6th December at 10:30am at gate K16 according to my receipt). I have not seen it anywhere else since then, including departures from JFK and LAX.

Indeed. Departed on AA90 from K16 from good ole Orchard Field

Dave

 

[lautray]

The final plan changed. The complete itinerary is: SY - NRT - LHR - LAX - SY, with stopovers in each. Was booked solely using QFF points: 2 of us @ 140,000 each. Taxes were ~$1250 in total . But, cheapest rtw trip I'll have. No real problems with dates or flights. Will be late Nov - mid Dec this year. Can't wait.

Any helpful hints / words of wisdom / things to watch out for, at any of these airports???

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

You may want to stay at an airport hotel the last night in Tokyo. It takes a long time getting to the airport, so a very early start if staying somewhere central.

 

[Skyring]

I thought that RTW award flights were 122 500 points?

The LAX-SYD flight(s) leave late in the evening, which means that you are probably going to be hanging around T4 for a few hours. I've done this a couple of times and it's not one of my favorite terminal experiences. For one thing, there is an annoying voice message every quarter hour telling you to watch your luggage.

If you aren't already a member of the Qantas Club, it may be worth joining just to get lounge access for this leg. Alternatively, buy a couple of those QC invitations off eBay.

However, if you've accumulated 160 000 points, it's likely that you have some sort of status or QC membership already, in which case it's not an issue.

I'd also be very keen to hear about how you booked this trip. I've got to get to Chicago later on this year and I'm considering doing it on points.

 

[NM]

Taxes were ~$1250 in total.

That sounds too high for that few sectors.

By way of comparision, I have a DONE4 with 13 sectors and 8 stopovers and the total taxes are $677.59. Fuel fines being YQ=$327.72 and YR=92.60, while the combined taxes were XT=257.37.

Your stopover in London will incur a GBP20 departure tax (GB) that does add significantly to the combined taxes, and as I am only transiting London on my way to Frankfurt, I don't have that one included in my total. I do have two Hong Kong HKD120 departure taxes to pay for 2 over night stops through HKG (total HK=A$40.80).

So you may want to ask about a breakdown in those taxes, even if they just tell you the tax code letters and the amounts and we can break it down further here. The tax calculation line should look something like this:

XT9.80AY38.00AU9.87QR13.86WG21.64WY31.80UB11.90DE34.70RA40.80HK16.70MY6.60YC9.20XY6.60XA5.90XFLAX4.5

Enjoy the trip!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

NM - I suspect that is $1200 for 2 people not each.

Even my complicated RTWs haven't had taxes of A$1200, although the way surcharges keep going up I suspect it is only a matter of time.

 

[NM]

NM - I suspect that is $1200 for 2 people not each.

Even my complicated RTWs haven't had taxes of A$1200, although the way surcharges keep going up I suspect it is only a matter of time.

Yes, the OP clearly stated it was for two people. But my 13-sector, 8-stopover DONE4 has taxes of the same ballpark, and since fuel fines are added per sector, and most countries departure taxes are incurred on a stopover, I would have expected the OP's extras to be somewhat less than mine, which they are not.

And having been through the tax calculation exercise recently, I am willing to help check that the OP has actually been charged correctly for the taxes/surcharges/levies/fines etc.