Los Angeles LAX Airport

Coming into LAX from DXB a breeze. When you are leaving LAX the trouble starts - there is a major confusion at the check-in area.

I would agree that Terminal 3 is not big enough to accommodate V Australia Virgin America and Alaska Airlines and I would recommend that you eat elsewhere before heading through security. Other than that queue times were minimal I had heard horror stories but in my case I must have been lucky.

Check in was a breeze and the airline were going to take the baggage to the bizarrely elaborate TSA screening so no separate queue for us as on previous occasions. TBIT is still under construction but there are signs of progress. Security staff were noticably courteous but the processes remain frustratingly pointless. In response to previous comments there various staff members shouting out stuff but only in a very general public announcement kind of way. In addition to failing to appreciate the futility of their role they also fail to understand that shouting in English is going to miss about 80% of the audience in TBIT. There is a pinch point for a particularly slow passport and boarding card check and I am glad we were in Fast Track. TSA have completely failed to acknowledge that if they are going to be so puzzlingly meticulous they need more than two people assigned to that task.

My own recent experience with LAX is top notch. Coming from AMS on KLM with my bike in the lugage compartment of the plane everything went smooth. Passport controls quick and with good friendly touches from the customs officer and arriving into the baggage claim area - less than 20 minutes after walking off the flight I was happy to my bike was waiting for me in pristine condition. Same on return no hold ups straight through and with a very effective and happy crew at the security check. LAX was good to me - five out of five stars!

I tell it like I find it. Our latest arrival at LAX was pretty pleasant. We arrived on time on BA279 from LHR and in spite of recent Lufthansa and Korean arrivals we had no problems. The light airy immigration hall was well manned and staff were courteous (enough). It is comforting to be able to see back from the baggage carousel just in case your partner is having any problems getting through. Baggage was delivered quickly and the customs line was short. The exit areas are under heavy refurbishment and unattractive but the rental shuttle came within moments.

I have used LAX three times over the past week. Coming into LAX in terminal two then another flight out from terminal 8 with the last flight leaving from terminal two. All times were a breeze. On arrival I was processed by a pleasant immigration officer and was kerbside within 45 minutes of landing. Terminal eight (United Express) a few days later was easy to navigate quick security reasonable selection of food outlets once past security. Flying internationally from terminal two on the last flight was a breeze. 10 minutes to process security and screening then onto a very good Air NZ lounge. Unlike others I experienced no surly or unhelpful staff - which to be honest is a surprise given past experience here.

Arrived late afternoon at TBI. Long queues at immigration but moving quickly. INS staff surprisingly civil compared to other times. Long delay collecting baggage and a long queue for customs. Time from landing to out onto the street 2 hours. Dinner upstairs at TBI. Lots of construction going on but managed to find a place with a half decent sit down meal. Then walked to Terminal 5 for NWA kiosk check in and bag drop which was quick and efficient. Security check was somewhat chaotic with long queues at the machines holding up pre security boarding pass check which caused congestion and confusion. Resulted in my boarding pass being checked 3 times in the space of a few yards and a somewhat gruff exchange with the person concerned! Once airside terminal 5 was spacious and comfortable for our long wait. Toilets clean flight info readily available snack bars ok. Arrived back 4 weeks later thru Terminal 5 with no problems and walked to Terminal 3 for Virgin Australia check in. Small area and very hot and crowded with long queues with 2 VA flights due for departure within one hour of each other. Security check was efficient and quick. Food situation in this terminal airside is dire. Eat somewhere else before hand. Plenty of room to sit and wait however in the 1960's style decor. Not a bad LAX experience overall.

We travelled Amsterdam to Los Angeles LAX. Although I'd flown out of Los Angeles before and into it I'd never made it as a port of entry followed by a connecting flight. I don't know if we were just lucky but there didn't seem an enormous amount of people waiting to clear Customs when we reached the Immigration Hall a large number of officials doing passport checks etc on duty someone checking entry forms as you waited and the whole process did not take long. Didn't time it but might have been 30-45 mins. No great crowd at Customs to tell him you didn't have anything and hand your form in. After dropping the bags at LAX we then needed to get to Terminal 5 from Terminal 2 and there were staff standing around asking where you needed to get to and then giving you directions. As we had plenty of time for the next flight we walked and it's a simple route. Again the security checks to get to our gate were pretty quick. I would quite happily use LAX again. Don't quite understand why we were told to complete those ESTA (?) forms over the Internet for Immigration before we left for the trip as we still had to fill in one of those visitors green and white cards given out on the plane.

Spent 2 hours in transit here while travelling Air New Zealand from Auckland to London. Long queues rude staff and a lounge from hell. Would not recommend. Routine was as follows- get off plane stand in line for 20 minutes then go to immigration stand in line for further 30 minutes get shouted at by official fingerprints taken get blamed for the machine not working wait in line to go back up to lounge right next to plane wait in lounge for hour with no entertainment then board plane in fouler mood than when you started.

I must be one of the lucky ones as I never have any problems at LAX and I travel through there 3-4 times a year. Just last week we flew in and out of LAX with Southwest Airlines. The area was clean good signage and we were off the plane and had our bags and out off the airport in 15 minutes. Record breaking time as far as I am concerned which was great as we were on a very tight time schedule that evening. On our flight home the ground staff were very pleasant and in a good mood which made the whole experience very nice. We will be back there (LAX) in a few months for an international flight so we'll see how things go then but for now I have to give LAX a thumbs up.