transit times through LAX ? & flying AA

[Deb in NZ]

Ds#1 (22yo) is planning a trip back to the States to visit family.  Looking at different routes / airlines / etc., it looks like flying with American Airlines is about $800 cheaper than the next cheapest option.  I haven't flown with AA since '85 & never internationally.  The one thing that concerns me is that Expedia only has a 90 minute lay-over at LAX, where ds will need to pass through customs & immigration.  Ds is an US citizen & will be only taking a single carry-on bag, so that should speed up transit times a bit, but I'm not sure if 90 minutes is enough time.  Has anyone entered the US at LAX, transiting onto a domestic flight recently?  What terminal is AA using at LAX for international arrivals?  for domestic departures?

[Lanny]

I would be very concerned, about such a tight connection, if we were going from Colombia up to Orlando, which we did in April.   If your DS is going on a LONG flight, from New Zealand or Australia, into LAX, that greatly increases the possibility the flight might arrive late in LAX and that he will misconnect.     If I (or my wife or DD) were the passenger, and the Final Destination airport is a major city, that AA has a lot of later flights to, from LAX, I would cross my fingers, pray, and go for it.  I suggest that you look on AA.com to see what other flights they have, between LAX and his Final Destination, in case he misconnects.

 

Regarding arrival in LAX:   ASAP, after deplaning, he should go to Immigration.   U.S. Citizens are given priority. He should go to ta machine ASAP and input his information and have his U.S. Passport scanned and his photo taken. Then, he should stand in one of the lines for U.S. Citizens.  Immediately after clearing Immigration, he should go to U.S. Customs.  After clearing Customs,  he should look for information on the Monitors about which gate his connecting flight will leave from and he should get to that gate, ASAP.

 

FYI: When we went to Orlando in April, I scheduled our first flight, from Cali to Bogota, on the first flight in the morning, leaving at 522 A.M.  Had all gone well, we could have made our connection had we left on the 618 A.M. flight to Bogota.  When it was our turn at the Ticket Counter, we had a huge problem, the lack of a 3 cent photocopy, and almost had our trip cancelled ,at that point.  We had time to log onto the Internet in Bogota in a Kiosk and Print out the document we needed for DD and continued with our trip up to Orlando.

 

IMO, you are correct to be somewhat concerned about the very short connection time in LAX.    As a childhood friend wrote me, after our trip in April, "when you travel, you should expect the unexpected".  Be prepared, be flexible, and enjoy.

 

I would look on AA.com and see what connections they show.   I would be more comfortable, having much more time to connect in LAX, especially after a long Trans Pacific flight.   Better to have time to kill waiting for your connection than to misconnect.  My wife and I try to avoid tight connections.   

 

ETA: One needs to be VERY careful, when looking on an OTA (Online Travel Agency, such as Expedia) or airline web site, about the times and in your case, the International Date Line.  For our short trip, from Cali to Orlando, on the same airline, for the same fare, the OTA had schedules that took a total of 7 hours or up to about 24 hours, with a long overnight layover in an airport.  One needs to be very careful, about how many hours are involved.  And. about  how many connections are involved.  Click, to get more information about each flight your DS will be on.  

Edited June 25, 2016 by Lanny

[Deb in NZ]

Thanks Lanny,

 

I have flown numerous times internationally & that is why the short transit time raised a red flag with me.  I try to avoid entering the US at LAX if I have a choice, so it's been at least 7 years since I passed threw customs there & that time I was flying Air NZ, so had 8 hours to get through customs, etc.  In the past I seem to remember finding recommended transit times on the airport websites, but all I can find is check-in times & that doesn't really help when flying long distances, with many transits.  I use Expedia just to research different options.  Expedia has routed ds AKL-LAX (1hr 30min lay-over) LAX-Dallas (1 hr 7 min lay-over) Dallas-ATL (stop #1), ATL-Charlotte (2hr 39min lay-over) Charlotte-Burlington (stop#2), Burlington-Philly (49 min lay-over) Philly-LAX (1hr 43 min lay-over) LAX-AKL.  The LAX lay-overs seem a bit too short for comfort, even with traveling with only a carry-on bags & within the same Airline company.

 

I agree with expecting the unexpected.  One trip I had a transit through SYD that was 90 minutes (the minimum recommended transit time) As we were only transiting thru SYD, not entering Australia, I thought we would be OK.  Little did I know that SYD made even transiting passengers go through customs, immigration, & wait in line to get boarding passes, etc. & still get to their gate at least 30 minutes before departure time.  Needless to say even with running, we only made it to the gate 25 minutes before departure & were not allowed to board.  After a 10 hour flight, this was the last thing we needed.  I now avoid SYD completely.

[Lanny]

Deb you are welcome.  His Final Destination  from AKLis ATL.  I am assuming that AA does not have a nonstop flight from LAX to ATL?  If so, I would go for that.  I am also assuming that if Delta has flights from AKL to LAX or somewhere on the West Coast or even DFW, their fare is much higher than what you are seeing on Expedia for AA?  We use 1 or 2 OTAs that are here in Colombia, but I also check on the airline web sites, when I have a good idea from the OTA web site..  I booked our April trip on an OTA.  Lots of great information. The OTA I didn't use has a feature I love, which is that they show the scheduled elapsed time, for the entire trip.  That's not always intuitively obvious   If he was going from SYD I suspect there would be a higher  possibly he could get a nonstop flight as far as DFW.   Another possibility might be for him to go up to HNL and then nonstop from HNL into ATL.   However, as you are seeing, the differences in fares, between airlines, can be enormous.  I do remember, on 2 trips I made from CLO (Cali) to LAX in 1997, that AA was not only the least expensive airline on that route at that time, it was also the easiest route, using the same airline for both flights.  That's where being able to check on an OTA web site makes life  much easier as you can get a very quick idea of different routes and different airlines and fares.  

 

I would check on AA.COM  and on DELTA.COM      If he can fly into DFW or ATL or somewhere East of LAX  and go through U.S. Immigration and Customs and make a connection onto a Nonstop flight into ATL, that would eliminate one connection on his first leg, which is very long, going from AKL to ATL.  He is going to have "Jet Lag" for a week or so and should take it very easy.  

 

Yes, things usually go perfectly, but sometimes the unexpected happens and one needs to be prepared to misconnect, be rerouted, or stay overnight somewhere one wasn't planning to sleep. 

 

And yes, some airlines, like Avianca, frequently leave early.  I know of at least one morning in April where their nonstop flight from Bogota into Orlando left 40 minutes early. And, I know that on our Boarding Passes, Avianca printed, "Door closes 20 minutes before departure".    Returning from Orlando on May 1st, we were on the runway, beginning our takeoff roll, at the scheduled departure time from the gate ,which was 437 P.M.  

 

As you are well aware, the fact that he has two (2) stopover points in the USA (ATL and Burlington (Vermont?) makes planning more difficult, because of the 2 stopovers and the fare.

 

Possible suggestion: Have 2 separate tickets (this probably will not affect his baggage allowance if he only has carry on bags).  One from AKL to ATL and the other from ATL, a domestic U.S. ticket, to Burlington (Vermont or Mass?)   That might save $ and give him more flexibility on the AKL to ATL flights.   Constructing a fare with multiple stopovers can be tricky and I believe these days a Travel Agency or Airline  would charge you a fee, to try to come up with a better fare than you are able to construct yourself on an OTA web site or on an airline web site.  

[Deb in NZ]

Thanks again Lanny :-)  Looking more closely, yes there is a direct LAX-ATL flight that would give him 3hrs 40 min in LAX, a MUCH better connection time.  And if we route him through Washington, DC rather than Philly on the BTV-AKL home journey he gets 2hrs 15min in LAX (30 min more than going thru Philly) making that connection a bit less stressful.  I'm going to sleep on it & look again in the morning.  I do like the departure / arrival times that AA has as they are possible to connect with domestic NZ flights if we want, an option that I didn't have on my last trip 2 years ago with Hawaiian Airlines.  There's nothing like starting a 12 hr flight with a 3 hr car journey :-P  

 

Normally we just look for AKL-BTV flights, but ds wants to visit my brother as well, so we're trying to see if a multi city trip works out cheaper &/or easier.  This dc is my least confident child, even though he is 22yo.  Dd went to Europe on her own for 3 weeks last August with no trouble.  Ds#2 has traveled within NZ a lot solo & traveled to Australia as part of a NZ  team.  Two years ago both boys traveled together to meet us in Vt for a family wedding, but I think that ds#2 was the more confident one of the pair.  This trip will be very good for ds#1.

[livetoread]

I just flew AA internationally (US to Canada) and I swore never again (though $800 is a lot of money and I'd consider it for that). They cancelled our flight after we had already gotten to the airport and told us there was nothing until the next day. Luckily we had built in two days before our cruise, but we would have lost an entire day of vacation and sightseeing. (Two hours of very polite but firm negotiations with headquarters got us on another airline, but they kept telling me they don't do that.)They also assured us they couldn't put us up at a hotel because it was weather related. They had also lost my seat assignment after they inexplicitedly broke me off from the rest of the family and gave me a new reservation, so I would have been sitting by myself.

 

On a red eye on the way home, they had little blanket and pillow packages nicely put out on the seats when we boarded, but there was only one for every three seats. Was each row supposed to share the tiny blanket? I asked the flight attendant who was embarrassed and rightly so. We had an hour connection in Dallas, but the plane was 30 minutes late so we did an OJ through the airport and barely caught our next flight. Hate them.

[Lanny]

Deb I selected an arbitrary date and yes AA has nonstop flights from LAX to ATL.  Here's an example for 19 July from AKL to ATL:

 

 

Flight 1 Tuesday, 19. July 2016   Departure: 13:20 Auckland, New Zealand - Auckland International, terminal I Arrival: 06:30 Los Angeles, United States Of America - Los Angeles International, terminal B   Airline American Airlines AA 82 Aircraft: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner     Flight History

On-Time Late Canceled --- --- ---

   

Change of plane required. Time between flights : 3h40min.

    Flight 2 Tuesday, 19. July 2016   Departure: 10:10 Los Angeles, United States Of America - Los Angeles International, terminal 0 Arrival: 17:43 Atlanta, United States Of America - Hartsfield-Jackson Int, terminal N   Airline American Airlines AA 1249 Aircraft: Boeing 737-800     Flight History

 

 

On-Time Late Canceled 85 7 0

   
 

 

 

NOTE: Possibly you noticed that AA does not show the "On Time" performance of their flight from AKL to LAX?   :-)   You may be able to find that information on FlightStats.com or Flightaware.com I think is the other site.  Not a good sign...  Good that AA has nonstop flights from LAX to ATL. 

 

Buying 2 separate tickets is not what the airlines would like one to do. If one were an International Passenger, with checked luggage, the allowance on the domestic U.S. flights would probably be much greater than the allowance on a domestic U.S. trip, where it seems the airlines charge for everything except the use of the restroom. Spirit Airlines will probably charge for that soon...

 

If you buy 2 separate tickets, he will need to pay U.S. taxes on the domestic U.S. ticket.  The only "big" risk I would see to that, assuming that it saves a lot of money, would be if on the return from Burlington to AKL, he misconnects in ATL. That could be a HUGE problem, because it would not be an International ticket, from Burlington to AKL.  You must think about that.  If it were me (or my DD) I would probably want to arrive in ATL the day before I was scheduled to fly from ATL to AKL, to be on the safe side.

[Deb in NZ]

Deb I selected an arbitrary date and yes AA has nonstop flights from LAX to ATL.  Here's an example for 19 July from AKL to ATL:

 

 

Flight 1 Tuesday, 19. July 2016   Departure: 13:20 Auckland, New Zealand - Auckland International, terminal I Arrival: 06:30 Los Angeles, United States Of America - Los Angeles International, terminal B   Airline American Airlines AA 82 Aircraft: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner     Flight History

On-Time Late Canceled --- --- ---

   

Change of plane required. Time between flights : 3h40min.

    Flight 2 Tuesday, 19. July 2016   Departure: 10:10 Los Angeles, United States Of America - Los Angeles International, terminal 0 Arrival: 17:43 Atlanta, United States Of America - Hartsfield-Jackson Int, terminal N   Airline American Airlines AA 1249 Aircraft: Boeing 737-800     Flight History

 

 

On-Time Late Canceled 85 7 0

   

 

 

 

NOTE: Possibly you noticed that AA does not show the "On Time" performance of their flight from AKL to LAX?   :-)   You may be able to find that information on FlightStats.com or Flightaware.com I think is the other site.  Not a good sign...  Good that AA has nonstop flights from LAX to ATL. 

 

Buying 2 separate tickets is not what the airlines would like one to do. If one were an International Passenger, with checked luggage, the allowance on the domestic U.S. flights would probably be much greater than the allowance on a domestic U.S. trip, where it seems the airlines charge for everything except the use of the restroom. Spirit Airlines will probably charge for that soon...

 

If you buy 2 separate tickets, he will need to pay U.S. taxes on the domestic U.S. ticket.  The only "big" risk I would see to that, assuming that it saves a lot of money, would be if on the return from Burlington to AKL, he misconnects in ATL. That could be a HUGE problem, because it would not be an International ticket, from Burlington to AKL.  You must think about that.  If it were me (or my DD) I would probably want to arrive in ATL the day before I was scheduled to fly from ATL to AKL, to be on the safe side.

I would guess that they don't have any stats on the AKL-LAX flights as they are just starting that route in the next few weeks.  But it is a bit worrying with what livetoread said about their service (or lack there of).  I may look at direct AKL-BTV flights & adding a BTV-ATL return mid visit for him

thanks again everyone for your input

[sassenach]

LAX is the worst. I loathe that airport. I would not count on anything going in a speedy manner.

[Lanny]

"trying to see if a multi city trip works out cheaper &/or easier."

Much much easier and cheaper than making 2 trips to the USA from New Zealand.  The cost of a multi stop trip will be higher than a simple point to point fare, especially if you have available on the route from New Zealand to the USA, Round Trip Excursion fares. Here, the fares are all one way fares.

If there is a Discount, for a Round Trip flight from NZ to the USA, that would be the least expensive and I would try to get that all the way to ATL. They used to have for example, 14, 21 and 30 day Advance Purchase Round Trip Fares. Those were the least expensive.

[OhanaBee]

Logistically, if he needs to exit the International Terminal and go to the AA terminal, those two are right next to each other.  The bad news is it's kind of confusing, because you actually need to go outside, turn right, and walk down the sidewalk to the next terminal.

 

LAX is a mess, constantly under construction and completely overcrowded.  I would go for the longer layover if it's at all possible.  And try to find out from which terminal your son will be departing so you two can map things out before he travels.