Los Angeles LAX Airport

Arrived here by Singapore Airlines at 1.20pm to an immigration full of people who had just unloaded from 2 or 3 A380s and other planes. It was packed to the fullest although the staff did try their best to move people down to the other queues. Queued for 2 hrs before we are finally able to get our passport stamped. TSA lady was okay and our bags were already off the carousal by then. TSA personal directed us to the fast baggage lane and we are out of the airport quickly though right into a complete pile of mess with little or no directions given. Return was basically the same as what many would expect. Body Scanners X ray. Just follow the rules and guidelines and you will be able to cross quickly. To be safe give yourself at least 3 hrs. TBIT departure lounge won't open till October though they are giving out free drinks and food which you can bring on the plane.

Just completed a round the world trip returning to LAX. Baggage handling appalling worst than any other airport. Arrived via American Airlines from JFK. Plane arrived early then we spent. Bags came down the chute to the carousel at a rate of 1 every 5 secs! Total wait 50 mins. Ridiculous these days.

Terminal 3 Virgin America Jet Blue etc. Has barely changed at all since the early 1970's at least. Only the airlines that use the terminal have changed. For you history buffs this was the TWA and Eastern Airlines terminal back in the day. The baggage claim area is a confusing dated loud disaster of a space with poor signs. Traffic on the arrivals level is wilting and at least Avis Rental car busses took a great deal of time to arrive and also get through the madness. Rental car facilities are all off sight and Avis treated it's customers to a two hour wait in line to rent already confirmed cars. The Departure level is busy but somewhat less frantic than the arrivals level thankfully. If you want to take a trip back in time walk slowly and admire the tile walls etc. that are from a bygone era.

There is no airport quite like LAX. There are 3 entrances to the International terminal all of which are packed and crowded. Like a funnel. 1000's of people entering each hour at only 3 entrances. After checking in the queue through security is horrendous typically 30 to 45 minutes. The TSA agents are rude (as they are at all American airports). The international dining area does not have enough seating. When returning to LAX from flights overseas you are again waiting in long queues. Immigration wait time is ok. However after picking up baggage everyone is funnelled into one queue to exit the baggage claim (sometimes there are 2 queues). For domestic flights routinely the wait to go through security is horrendous with too many TSA agents. Very rude very slow very inefficient. Routinely at terminal 1 and 2 the queues extend out into the street while waiting to get through security. As an American I am ashamed that we are a first world country with a third world airport. Parking is atrocious. Not enough parking in the international terminal parking structures. also expect to wait 20 minutes to 1 hour in the parking exit queue. Even you only park for 1 hour you may need to pay for 2 hours because of waiting in the queue. When exiting the parking everyone is funnelled into 1 lane of traffic this year because of construction. Horrendous.

Arrived through Hawaiian A/L with a connecting flight to Miami via AA walked from terminal 2 to terminal 4 15 minute walk with a 45 minute window for connecting flight. Myself and family members arrived 5 minutes before boarding due to the fact that we were stopped by the rudest staff (not to be confused by TSA agents). These were supposed to be greeters or people to guide you.

Passed through LAX T2 (in April on Air New Zealand) and T7/T6/TBIT (in June with United and Copa) and was reasonably happy with the lines for customs and immigration. I was especially pleased with the arrival on 24 June from Panama City at 4pm to TBIT which is pretty much the busiest time of the day. It was barely 25 minutes to get through with my luggage which was faster than through T2 and T7! T2 and T6/T7 need some work however haven't changed in 20 years or more.

For an international transfer to a domestic airline LAX is terrible! We had 2.5 hours to make the transfer and would have missed our domestic flight if it hadn't been delayed.

We arrived at Terminal 2 at 3.10pm on a slightly late flight from LHR and having read the reviews we were prepared for the worst. Flying in economy we were about the 100th passengers off the plane. Immigration took 11 minutes from the time we joined the shortish queue to when they had finished processing us we then waited 20 minutes for our bags and were through customs in about 1 minute. The total time from the wheels touching the tarmac to being landside was 50 minutes. We were delighted and relieved.

I flew from Phoenix to Hawaii with a connecting flight layover of 1 hour in LA - intolerable. The plane before us had mechanical issues so they held up the gate and had all passengers on my flight sweating because their connecting flights were going to take off. The layout of LAX is abominable. In a logical airport your connecting flight gate would be two steps to the left after disembarking. In LAX It's 800-1200 meters away. We had 5 minutes to make our flight before doors closed. LAX to Bangkok on Singapore Airlines again I gave myself a 3 hour layover this time and it was barely enough. Shuttles that transferred via Southwest to the Bradley (international) airport rarely came. I dragged luggage 20 minutes to the Bradley. Finally got to Singapore airlines ticketing counter and was greeted by hundreds of people standing in long lines with of course LAX only supplying 6 ticketing counters. Both security check points had 250+ passengers waiting in line. LAX should get a warning in all areas of service for this. Got to the airplane and everyone was confused to where to go and stand because LAX doesn't have a gate that supports the A380's. Service and inadequacy in all areas.

After using both LAX and DFW as my international gateways in the last month I honestly have to give LAX the overall edge. Maybe DFW offers a more comfortable mode of making your connection with its Skylink tram system. However I made a similar connection at LAX by taking a 5 minute walk outside between Terminal 4 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Sure I had to re-enter the secure area but 9 out of 10 times you have time built into your itinerary to spend elsewhere (area hotel restaurant etc) when connecting domestic with international and vice versa at LAX. As for TSA lines Los Angeles' moved faster and had more lane options. The clincher in this day and age of flying with the latest and greatest of technology I prefer the quiet comfort of the Airbus A380 over the older Boeing 747. The Airbus flies into LAX but not into DFW until they fork out the money for a serious terminal upgrade. Until then I won't even consider Dallas unless my back is to the wall and I have no other option.