Los Angeles LAX Airport

It took 5 hours for my in-laws to get through immigration after landing. Many others on their flight experienced the same wait. I've come to expect 2-3 hours on average when arriving at TBIT but this is beyond belief. Someone at CBP needs to be held accountable.

Arrived and departed at the new Tom Bradley terminal with British Airways arrival was easy and got through immigration within 20 minutes customs took a little more because of a queue of passengers from a Philippines Airlines flight with tons of boxes to scan but overall was out within 40 minutes. This terminal is light years of anything I have encountered in the US so far and although it is just a building it seems to have a positive effect on anyone working in it too; from immigration check-in customs TSA duty free or anyone else you would meet everyone was very friendly and efficient. Comparing my departure from LAX with my previous one at JFK terminal 2 last year is like comparing paradise with North Korea!

The Airport was crowded and the sign-posting was a little bit confusing due to construction works at our terminal. This was also the reason for long lines and noise inside the building. Security Control was fast and there are a lot of restaurants and shops inside the security area.

We travelled as disabled passengers into and out of LAX during the last month. Appalling is almost too enthusiastic for the treatment we experienced. It took almost 3 hours after landing to pass through immigration. Apparently Friday is a bad day! Constant calls for Chinese or other Asian speakers to come forward because transit passengers were about to lose their flights meant that groups of these passengers were brought to the front of the waiting queues time after time. Having endured the queues at immigration there was a further hour of queuing with the luggage just to get out of the airport through a further checkpoint. This is just not acceptable especially as we are unable to stand for long periods! No explanation is ever given. We will be avoiding LAX if at all possible in future - this is not the image which a major city hub should want to project. If 50+ immigration desks are insufficient something is going badly wrong.

I am adding to my initial review "Atrocious experience at the International transfer area". I flew back to NZ and this time the experience was completely different - courteous professional staff: I was very pleased. From my point of view the problem seems to lie with staff (excluding custom agents) from LAX International-arrivals. The experience upon arrival to US from the Pacific area is horrible - outrageously rude obstructive staff. Pity it projects such an abysmal image on LAX when staff from other terminals are so professional and polite. Because of my negative experience with LAX international I am downgrading my overall experience from 8 to 5.

Terrible attention by immigration officers. Made us wait an unnecessarily long time while chatting and taking an extra long time in "cleaning" their screens and keyboards. No consideration for elderly people tired children etc. Same long lines at customs very bad service - terrible.

Atrocious service at the International transfer area. As a NZ citizen I planned to travel to Chicago. I submitted an online form 4 days before boarding. I disclosed the fact that 15 years ago I was denied a visa from my native country but was allowed to enter the US twice after that. I arrived at 'International arrivals' in LA they refused to let me go further and sent me to an 'immigration review'. The 'immigration officer' apologised for the inconvenience saying it was a mistake and I should have been allowed to enter straight away. From my point of view I had no problems found the entire process to be appropriate. But that was my only positive experience from Terminal 2. I waited at immigration clearance post for 40 minutes despite my pleas that I was about to lose my flight to Chicago. Two persons that arrived after me and had no transit flights were given priority. The woman who was co-ordinating the whole allocation process was very rude and obstructive. Next stop : the "Connecting flight Drop baggage". About 200 people waiting in line. The same woman that gave me trouble at Immigration clearance was now monitoring the 'Drop-in process'. I pleaded with her to let me go in the front to make my flight that I was detained by error for such a long time at Immigration. She said that she knew my whole story but that I have to 'wait in line' like everyone else'. After waiting in line I finally arrived at the counter and was told that the check-in for my flight to Chicago had closed. Told that I should run quickly to terminal 7 because they arranged for me to board the plane without check-in. After running from terminal 2 to terminal 7 I was told that no one contacted them and that I should not board. Afterwards I had a good experience with the personnel from terminal 7 but this cannot make up for my overall experience. My overall impression was that LAX had the feel of a third world country where people are herded like cattle to fill seats in airplanes and to make money.

I recently booked an international flight from Hong Kong to Boston and had to move from one terminal to another at LAX. The most frustrating problem at LAX was the poor signage. Once I made it through immigration and customs I had to ask several airport staff for directions to the next terminal because there were no signs at all. Once out on the street I continued to ask strangers for directions. Coming back I was very worried about making my connection and the problem seemed more frustrating. You'd think 'Tom Bradley' would be signed outside the other terminals for those people who are traveling internationally. When I finally found it and checked in there were no obvious signs to the gates. I followed one sign upstairs but it led to restaurants with no other signs to gates. Another sign saying 'Gates' led to the side of the restaurants but no more gate signs. Finally I asked an airport employee who said the entrances the signs were supposed to lead to were not actually operational. She was very helpful and took me to a tiny entrance somewhere else that led to the gates. LAX please get some signs. I travel internationally very frequently and this was probably my most frustrating airport experience.

Most if not all non-US airlines fly to the main terminal that seems to be airy and modern. Unfortunately I flew Delta thus flying in and from Terminal 5. Arrival to Los Angeles from Tokyo Narita. Very claustrophobic endless tight halls with no windows or day light. Very old and looked like walking in an 80s office building corridors. Unacceptable by any standards of a major international airport to process passengers from 1 plane from 1 flight for 1 hour and 48 minutes stuck in a underground bunker room with no windows. Over staffed everywhere but activities duplicated extending the time needed and causing chaos. Manual punching info in so many computers. Departure is crowded security checks are strict but completely disorganized. Generally very surprised on the low comfort levels in US airports in my 3 weeks tour around the States. Next trip will have to be on a non-US airline to ensure landing and departure from the main terminal building. Oh and post cards sold anywhere and yet no post box or post drop box for last minute need. Use only if you need to.

It seems when you fly from and to Australia we don't have much choice but to fly into LAX. Our final destination was Portland where we were collecting our motorbike. The airport handles the huge amount of air traffic it has very well the isn't too much waiting and the customs and immigration are polite and efficient. The vehicular traffic is the biggest problem and there seems to be a lot of cars honking horns for various reasons. Perhaps they could restrict private cars from the front of the building?