Following on from the what to do in Utah thread my flights are booked.

Slow day with broken hand so some research is getting done.
Getting in – visa/electronic thing will get done via work so no issues there
Arriving into LA then onto Salt Lake – Assume I do immigration along with the rest of the world in LA?
Do you have to get bags and recheck them?
Are there any bio security checks? The oz entry for bikes can be strict (it will be getting a good scrub on the way out)
Any tips?
As for departing is there an exit process? Would that be done in SL or LA?

I flew Sydney – Dallas – Washington a few months ago. Went pretty smoothly at Dallas, you had to collect your bags, go through immigration, back into landside departures, then through security and immigration again. Took about an hour all-in. Didn’t see anything biological in terms of checking bags.

LAX (on the way home) was a total shermozzle….. good luck.

oh joy….

From what I’ve read is seems it, though I should hopefully get into the posh lounge if I can get to the right terminal.

Was hoping to avoid lugging bags too far, depending on what I do I’ll have 2 or 3 and maybe 90kg if I pack heavy… need to decide if I cash in some points for an upgrade for the long haul

You’ll have to queue for immigration at LA. Depending on the time of day and which other flights are coming in it can be a long, long queue as well 🙁

Once through immigration you will need to collect your luggage, pass through customs (where I seem to recall they will ask if you’ve been on a farm or near animals recently – not sure how bikes would fare but I’d make sure they are spotless), then normally there’s another belt to drop luggage off if it’s checked through to the destination before you go landside…

When landside you will prob have to go to one of the domestic terminals, there’s a bus service outside, and from there back through security to domestic departures. US domestic lounges tend to be pretty poor compared to transatlantic ones though (although the AA flagship domestic lounge at LA is OK with a reasonable food buffet)..

When you are coming back you should be able to check your luggage all the way through to the destination without having to carry it between belts mid journey… There’s no other exit process as such, they got rid of the exit controls a few years back…

Like jon_n says you will pass through immigration on arrival into LAX, collect your bags, go through customs and then drop your bags back off on a belt to go on to your SLC flight. This is true as long as you are booked on one ticket through to SLC or on the same alliance of carriers who will ‘interline’ your luggage. You will declare at customs that you are not importing soil and have not been in contact with livestock recently, so best to clean the bike well, but I have never seen any biochecks entering the USA.

Assuming again that you are one ticket booked through to SLC, if you are delayed getting to or in the queues at immigration at LAX the US airlines are pretty good at rearranging travel if necessary. But if you are on a short connection (~2 hours for international-domestic at LAX) then it’s a good idea to have a plan of when the next flight is, even if it’s with a different carrier or on a different route.

The ‘exit’ process is done by the airline, the same as in the UK. Once you are on the LAX flight back then you have effectively left the US, no other formal checks.

Tip – take a pen with you on your flight to fill out the landing card, as well as the address where you are staying the first night.

90kg

That’s going to be expensive! I am sure you are aware no individual bag can be more than 32kg.

Good lounge at LAX?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHA

HAHAHA

HA.

😉

yeah got the landing card pen thing covered, do it every time I get back to Oz.

one of the up sides of knowing airports inside out…
Tossing up if I spend some points on Premium Economy, 14.5 hrs is a long time in the back

cheers flashy, I should get into the first lounge in the new star alliance lounge if there is room, any good?

(and I’m not flying first before anyone jumps in on that one)

LAX is a hellhole. I vommed in (and around) one of the bins in the halls once, as the mean lady wouldn’t let me out of the “line-up” to use the “restroom”.

Always hot, always busy, always awful. And the rudest airport staff you could imagine.

Luckily AirNZ has it’s own transit lounge now so my exposure is more limited.

LAx is second only to CDG in shitness.

at least the biking will make up for it 🙂
It can’t be worse than Jakarta, potentially my next landing

@mikesmith – premium economy, depends entirely who you are flying with. I spent 2 years going to/from Singapore in economy with Singapore Airlines on the A380 and it was fine – 14 hours each way once every 6-8 weeks. On the LAX route I would say you probably should on the way back.

I have nothing to add on US customs other than turn up with patience and very low expectations, they will both be required.

It can’t be worse than Jakarta

Correct 🙂

Yeah think I’ll overnight in Singapore rather than rush into Jakarta. See if I only do one way I might be able to scrape the points for Business 😉

edit virgin aus international
Did the economy to Abu Dhabi at christmas for about the same flight time was OK one way but crap on the way back. Both flights are over nighters so getting some sleep might help

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Good lounge at LAX?

The AA flagship lounge isn’t that bad.. Certainly better than some of the BA lounges about the place!

If the OP is on Star Alliance I guess you are going to be limited to United lounges for domestic, but only if you are flying United on your internal flight. And their domestic lounges (red carpet club) are pretty crap…

The AirNZ lounge for non-domestic is pretty cool just for s’leb spotting!

CaptainFlashheart – Member
LAx is second only to CDG in shitness.

You can pretend to be a hamster in CDG tho 😉

Global Entry is awesome for going to the US – rock up, skip the queue and the customs officer and be through immigration in 5 minutes… A bit of a ball-ache to get though, you need a criminal record check and to book an appointment for the sign up process 6 months or so in advance 🙁

Flying with bikes through LAX is a bit more of an ordeal – you’ll have to clear customs, which as many people have said, can be super lengthy depending on how lucky you are, reclaim your bags – hope your bike arrives at the oversize belt – then dump your bags on the connecting scan belt thing. The issue is that your bike will more than likely be too big to go through the the x-ray machine at this point – which means you’ll have to lug them all the way to wherever the check in desk for your next flight is, then on to oversize

I’ve only flown through LAX with bikes once, and I’d really like to avid it again. I have the misfortune to be commuting through there every few months, and as one of the other posters said, the domestic terminals and lounges are pretty mediocre at best, and a bus trip away from anything else.

I have the misfortune to fly through there once every couple of months, and it’s definitely amongst my least favourite airports….

Coming home I get this one

Los Angeles, USA
Star Alliance First Class Lounge

outbound I think I’m with the Delta one for the domestic side of things