Los Angeles LAX Airport

SYD-LAX transiting to ATL. Delta must have rose coloured glasses if they think 1hr 50min is sufficient time to transit LAX. After waiting 25 mins and going nowhere I skipped over to the US citizens queues and was processed quickly. Bags came off then a huge wait to get past Customs. Then to drop off bags for transfer to my continuing flight to ATL. Bags just queued up everywhere the fact that my bag made my flight was pure luck I'm sure. Last hurdle was having to clear TSA all over again - anyone trying to make an 8am flight will know the queues are obscene. After negotiating the queues and checks I had to run the concourse just making it onboard my flight as the door closed. If you arrive in LAX as first landfall and especially if you arrive at a terminal 5 (Delta) gate allow 3 hours. 1hr 50mins was just not enough - one delay in that process teamed with inadequate CBP resources and the need to re- clear TSA makes it too much of a gamble. If you have a chance to enter via SFO take it. LAX should be a complete teardown - doze it under and start fresh it's a disgrace.

After arriving on V Australia into terminal 1 with my wife and 14 year old daughter we found ourselves walking into a near empty terminal with little or no queues. Our bags arrived quickly. The best of American customer service was on show and greeted by a customs officer who went about his duty as required fingerprinting and photographing us but still welcoming us to the USA. Our bags were able to be transferred to our next flight which was several hours later. Next flight at terminal 3 easier to walk to than take the free bus on offer. The $7.00 bus to downtown is great value. Terminal 3 is pretty crowded with no real facilities. leave plenty of time to clear security as lines are pretty long. In all a good experience at a very busy facility!

Better then expected. Arrived at Terminal 5 which is old and dated. Flew to Mexico from Terminal B which is very spacious and modern. Good facilities and no queues. Arrival back at Terminal B was also good quickly through immigration - plenty of counters open and friendly staff. Flew back to NZ using Terminal 2 pleasantly surprised must have been renovated. Clean no queues and got to the lounge in no time at all.

After arriving on a 14 hour flight from Sydney we go ushered through some filthy poorly lit corridors to immigration. However the immigration area is way too small (terminal 5) and most of the flight was still queued in the hallway. After the long process of getting through customs etc no one seemed to know what the procedure for getting re-checked for my next flight. For one of the main entries into the country LAX is a total disgrace and would choose a flight to San Francisco if I ever head to USA again.

The most horrendous airport in the World. If you are in transit and there is a lengthy wait to your next flight there is nowhere to relax. Early morning check ins (7am or so) result in seemingly endless queues. Very few staff to help explain procedures that may be unknown to many travellers. Staff seem to shout requirements to inform groups of people. Food concessions are predictable and pricey. Doesn't improve over the years.

For a busy transportation hub Los Angeles Airport itself is in poor condition. The terminals are very outdated and not well taken care of. Many of the different airlines are placed too close together making one or two desks responsible for several flights boarding all at once. The food services are minimal and popular ones are dirty and extremely expensive. The layout can be misleading and confusing especially in the complicated Terminal 3. Wait times for security checks were horrendous Unfortunately the only alternative is Long Beach which does not offer much improvements.

Arrived on a BA flight from London at 1500hrs into TBIT and was transferring onto an AA flight departing 1735hrs from T4. We were ushered into the immigration hall which was already extremely busy although several processing desks remained unmanned while several immigration officers congregated chatting in groups. Joined a queue which moved unbelievably slowly indeed three people ahead of us were held aside and then escorted away for secondary screening. When we finally made it to the top of the queue (after standing for 55mins) the immigration officer was unbelievably rude and discourteous. If anybody was on a power-trip this guy was. Although my visa-waiver form was completed he claimed he couldn't read the telephone number I had supplied and told me to rewrite it. When I asked to borrow his pen he snorted that he didn't give out his pen and told me to go ask another passenger to loan me one. What is it with US Immigration? - Do they deliberately employ a certain number of people who have never had a decent upbringing? After finally leaving immigration I collected my luggage only to have to join a queue about 75 people long that snaked through the luggage hall in order to clear customs. I then had to recheck my luggage (which thankfully can be done in TBIT) before heading the few hundred yards stroll to T4. Thankfully I made my connecting flight - but I was glad I had the 2.5hr connecting window. All in all a horrendous experience. I shall avoid LAX at all cost in future.

Arrived on Southwest at Terminal 1 and found it quite ok to get to baggage claim and the bags where out after around 5 minutes. Was out after around 20 minutes after deplaning. Terminal is old but seems to work still fine however a face lift would be appreciated. Left through T5 on Delta. There was a line for the baggage drop but it moved quickly. Security was fast and efficient. Officers on duty where not rude as you expect them to be at LAX which was a nice surprise. Facilities at T5 are not very exciting with a McDonald California Pizza Kitchen take away and one or two small shops. Since it was breakfast time I opted for McDonald as you don't get anything on Delta domestic. The terminal had some natural light and did not feel dark or dingy. Arrived back at T5 at night and the terminal did not have many flights arriving. However it took around 40 minutes to get the bags which was extremely annoying. Also there was no ground staff available when a big suit case blocked the other bags to come out. Luckily a passenger took care of this which earned him a round of applause. The signage once you are outside is pretty clear where you have to wait for which shuttle. Next day left through TBIT to Heathrow and found the facilities have improved since my last visit to TBIT. They have done a face lift and are still working on it. Security took a while though and there is nothing actually after security. So eat and do your duty free shopping before security. All in all for the size of this airport it is not that bad actually if you know the tricks around it. However there is a lot of room for improvement.

Your experience at LAX will depend a lot upon when you are there. On our return trip from Sydney we arrived at Terminal 5 at around 07:00 AM. We then had an extremely long walk from gate 58A to the customs/immigration area. Customs/immigration was slow but that didn't make any difference because baggage had not even started to arrive when we got to the carousels. When luggage finally started to arrive it took a very long time for our bags to appear. We once we actually had our bags we went through the customs process quite quickly and rechecked our bags without any problem. Then it was back upstairs to go back through security. This time there was a long line which moved very slowly - and didn't move at all for about 10-15 minutes while TSA tried to decide what to do about 3 persons in wheelchairs. Meanwhile I counted 13 uniformed TSA employees standing around talking to each other. The total time to get back through security was about 30 minutes - -which I guess is fast by LAX standards. Much yelling by unhappy TSA employees. Overall a poor experience.

TBIT terminal is a real joke upon arrival. Getting through immigration takes up too much time - as baggage gets jammed on the carousel. I was one of the first through immigration and could witness the jam. Then getting through customs was another long wait. I noticed very rude staff when a visitor from Russia had simple questions on what to do at the customs line docments etc. Totally uncalled for.