Los Angeles LAX Airport

I thought the US had high standards but Los Angeles LAX is just terrible. The terminal is shocking with nothing to do. Shopping very basic too. The business class lounge has no quiet zone or comfortable sofas - it has bright lights when you need a rest. No showers to be seen so a very long layover is not a refreshing one.

Firstly, words cannot convey the impropriety, the detached aloofness of most staff at Los Angeles LAX. I have been to 15-20 large airports in the US, nothing, not one, comes anything close to this. Not to worry, the nice older janitor finally got me to my gate. The first time thru, outgoing to Sydney, was not too bad. I dismissed the 45 minute walk to my connecting flight as a good prep for my upcoming 16 hr nonstop flight. Coming back into the US, left me confused, angry, even embarrassed to be an American. Long story short, it took me 2 hours to go thru immigration and get to my gate. Improper signage, unhelpful clueless employees. I saw workers openly arguing and disagreeing with one another, to the astonishment of all of us travelers. People who are stationed and paid to help people are distant, busy socializing with other employees and intentionally ignoring, yelling at, belittling the travelers coming into our country. Only because I'm American and speak English did I make it thru in 2 hours. So many traveling foreigners wandering around lost, begging for help and getting none. The rest of the story is the layout. I walk every day for my health and enjoyment. But this was something else. The long subterranean passageways that were obviously built for maintenance and never intending to cattle people thru are the main arteries of LAX. These run under the runways where all planes are actively taking off and landing. Moving walkways anyone? When you get to the end of the long, concrete, unattractive hallways there are no signs telling where to go, where to turn, nothing. Overhearing 50% of the walkers were backtracking and lost. I witnessed people taking breaks halfway because it was so far. I could have handled the walk, had it not been for the two employees who told me the wrong way to go. Also, no charging stations. During my 2 hr tour thru this disaster, I saw no charging stations for our devices. I will pay anything to avoid this airport at any time in the future. As a reference, I have been thru immigration at other foreign countries and my recent experience with Australia had me thru customs in 10 minutes. From landing to driveaway in 20-25 minutes. Again, embarrassing on every level.

At Los Angeles LAX I had to transfer from a flight arriving from San Francisco to an international flight. The walk was 25 minutes to get there. But the worst part is that in the bowels of LAX (where you have to walk to transfer), signage is horrible. So I somehow exited the terminl which meant that I had to go through another 30 minute security check. It was a horrible experience. I will do my best to avoid LAX.

It took over 2 hours to go through immigration, with a long line of many people from several planes and very little counters opened. I used the self service kiosk as requested but in the end when seeing the immigration officer, I had to give fingerprints and photos again, so what is the point of the automatic kiosk? It is my 4th time flying through LAX and the experience is each time more painful. The staff at the security check are as unfriendly as they get. Overall, I'll try my best to avoid this airport in the future, there are other airports in the U.S. which are way better organized.

I am a US citizen that recently moved back from Thailand. I flew back to the states into Los Angeles LAX. It was my second time visiting this airport. My first time I was just departing and recently I was arriving internationally. I witnessed a few problems within the staff working in immigration and customs. There were foreign passengers trying to get through immigration who barely knew English and didn't even know how to sign in at the kiosk stand. I ended up assisting a few of them with their problems as seeing that none of the staff members would assist. I witnessed staff members everywhere constantly yelling at foreigners through the entire process. It was the worst thing I have ever witnessed. Los Angeles is one of the top international airports in the world and foreigners use it as their way to fly into the USA. It really isn't a welcoming first impression. If coming into LAX was my first impression of America then I would be extremely disappointed. Of all previous international airports I have used previously, I would say LAX is the worst with how they treat foreign passengers.

✅ Verified Review | Flew round-trip on Virgin Atlantic from LAX Terminal 2. If you are the kind of traveler who likes to walk around and explore, you will find Terminal 2 to be very small. This is a newly refurbished terminal that is well equipped, but doesn't have a "wow factor". While returning back from England, I used Automated Passport Control kiosks at Terminal 2. I was done with immigration, baggage claim, and customs in one hour.

Missed connection despite 3 hrs between international flight and domestic connection. Arrived 9.30am Wednesday and despite having A2 Visa which staff do not understand directed to long queues. All electronic machines were not working and ground staff were not co-coordinating, it was a very disorganised approach. After an hour and 3 people from the front of queue, they closed our queue and made us go back to the end of long lines so that we were behind newly arrived flights so back further than where we started an hour previous. There is no strategic organised approach and very few customs staff processing. All in it took 3 hrs but only because the staff do not take a coordinated approach. The level of incompetence was highly evident. The staff do not understand A2 visas, the signage is poor, the area was hot, stuffy and there was not a single announcement as to what was causing the delay and no apology for delay. I now understand why I have been told so many times to avoid LAX. I would plan travel not to use this subpar facility again.

I tried to avoid Los Angeles LAX for immigration due to long lines. Could not get another flight than arriving at LAX from Europe. I was surprised how fast and efficient the new immigration process at the Tom Bradley terminal is. Unlike 2 hours waiting as in the past, the self-service kiosks for ESTA travellers speed the process up a lot. I was thru all in about 40 minutes, though it was very busy. Leaving from Tom Bradley was alright. The lines for security were rather long and they do not provide any bins for small items - kind of strange as all items likes watches, phones, wallets etc had to be put in the carry-on. Still it went on fairly fast and the refurbished terminal makes a good impression.

✅ Verified Review | I missed my connecting flight due to air traffic control and we needed to ground at a different airport to refuel, customer service told me it was due to weather and no vouchers will be offered. The next available flight after waiting in two different lines for hours is 11 hours after I arrived. For such a big international airport the way the staff dealth with this situation was ridiculous.

Had a very pleasant experience at LAX. I was expecting the worst with memories from a few years ago. It has improved tremendously with a very smooth and fast arrival at TBIT. Electronic passport check was fast. I still had to fill in a blue form that no-one ever took? Had a brief and friendly conversation with an immigration officer and then quickly got bags off of carousel. Transferred to Terminal 2 which was pretty ordinary at check-in but once through security, which was very fast and security personnel were efficient and at least, civil. There were good food and drink options and adequate shopping. Toilets were clean and plentiful. WiFi was good. All in all, a very pleasant experience.