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How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/6 22:25
My female friend will be flying back alone at the end of her trip and we were just wondering if 2 1/2 hours would be enough time to get through customs on the LAX side. Her flight from Narita is scheduled to arrive in LA (United) at 1110 and her flight home (Southwest) is scheduled to leave at 1335. The next flight is not until 1615 so she's really hoping to make the 1335 flight. If anyone has any advice/recommendations it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
by chuck (guest)  

Re: How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/7 18:02
I live in LA. I don't think customs itself would be an issue. I've always gotten through in 20-30 minutes when coming home internationally.
My main concern would be: which terminal is the arriving flight and which terminal is the connecting flight? If arriving at the Tom Bradley terminal, that's about as far from Terminal 1 (Southwest) as you can get. Despite all the back-patting announcements over the intercom about LAX being a "world class airport", we don't have a fancy monorail that goes from terminal to terminal. You wait for a shuttle bus, and if there's traffic on the loop, it can be brutal.
There are some international flights that arrive at other (closer) terminals, so that may be a possibility.
by Gregalor rate this post as useful

Re: How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/7 21:49
In my humble opinion, anything can happen. In 2014, we traveled from Narita to California, including LAX, and back, and both our international (UA) flights were heavily delayed. We, of course, missed our connection after arrival to California. At another time during the same trip, although it was our fault for being late to the airport, our domestic flight closed its door earlier than scheduled and we were forced to miss that flight too. The fact that security is heavy in California didn't help.

If the domestic flight is operated by the same airline as her international flight and if the airline says it clears minimum transit time, then the airline will endorse her to the next flight for free if anything happens to her international flight. That's all I can say.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/8 00:49
Her ticket for the flight with United says it lands at LAX terminal 7 but since it is international this means she will have to go through the Tom Bradley terminal? I tried searching around but didn't help much. Otherwise this means that Terminal 7 to Terminal 1 would take less time than Tom Bradley to Terminal 1?

If she were to miss her flight out of LAX with southwest, would they just put her on the next flight home or would extra costs be added? I assume this depends on the situation but again no clue how this works.

Thank you both for your input on the matter!
by chuck (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/8 08:32
I would say 2 hours for customs and immigration at LAX, then some more time for the transfer by bus

Southwest is the most flexible airlines of all in the US, they have free change policy if the same fare is available at next flight, I would suggest you call their customer service number in case you see that you are getting delayed and get on next flight. I am assuming you will have access to phone after landing.
by .... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/8 08:38
You can also look at this cbp website for wait times

https://awt.cbp.gov/
by .... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/8 19:38
While most international flights arrive at the Tom Bradley Terminal, United Airlines international flights arrive at terminal 7, which has its own immigration facilities.
by MG (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How long to get through LAX? 2018/4/8 21:02
Chuck, you really should be asking these questions to United, either by phone or web message.
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/Contact/default.aspx
by Uco rate this post as useful

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