pawleys1960

My Husband and I will be traveling to New Zealand from Fairbanks, AK and will have a layover At LAX for 8 hours. Is it better to check luggage all the way through to Auckland or pick it up in LA and recheck. Nervous about luggage being lost.

Jed

Post this on Airline forum also.

kiwi_rob

If you are able to check it right through to AKL and you are satisfied that you don't want to gain access to it in LAX, I would suggest that you do the through-check and get rid of it. It's one less thing to worry about at LAX and will leave you with more time to enjoy your layover. We have never had any problem with checked-through luggage. Maybe we have just been lucky, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it.

Enjoy NZ.

Melnq8

Make your life easier and check it through - LAX is enough of a nightmare without having to worry about collecting luggage, checking back in, and then clearing security again.

Some airlines won't allow you to check luggage until a few hours before a flight, so if you collect your bags when you arrive at LAX, you could potentially be sitting on the land side of the airport with your bags for HOURS before you can check back in.

If you have plans to leave the airport, you probably don't want to lug your bags along with you. I don't know if LAX has short term luggage storage or not.

If it's any help, I've been flying internationally on a regular basis for about 12 years and my luggage has never truly been lost. Misplaced a few times, yes, but always returned within a few days.

Pack your essentials into your carry on bag and relex. Take a book or an IPOD to fill the hours of your layover if you're staying in the airport. If your luggage does go astray, the airline will compensate you for some essentials at your destination, track down your bags and then deliver them to your hotel anywhere in NZ.

This has happened to me twice on arrival in NZ. Both times I was given some cash to make emergency purchases, and my bags turned up at my accommodation in NZ a day or two later - both times I'd left the city I've arrived in.

Don't worry, relax and have a great trip.

pawleys1960

Thanks for the help. This forum has been alot of help in all the planning for this trip.

SnR

If you want to leave the airport, the really nearby area of Playa del Rey has a nice beach to walk along, Marina del Rey has a lot of restaurants. You could get a few hours of sunshine to last you through the 14 hours of being in an airplane. Lots of taxis (I dont' know about busses but assume there are lots). However, be sure to be back for the required hours of getting through security. LAX lines can be long, depending on the day and time of day. Although they are pretty efficient in the international terminal, I still wouldn't leave it to the last minute.
Sally in Seattle, whose daughter used to live in Playa

Neil_Oz

When we transited LAX on our way home from our first visit to the US we had a half-day layover. Some kind soul suggested we take the airport shuttle to the public bus station, then take a regular city bus to Santa Monica. It was good advice, because we got some needed exercise - I think the bus went along Lincoln Bvd/Pacific Coast Hwy, which means you have to get off and hoof it down to the beach at Santa Monica. We also checked out Venice Beach on the way back, a somewhat longer hike.

Incidentally, we'd through-checked our baggage at Santa Fe NM on a tortuous journey that involved four aircraft, and we had no problems. Like Melnq8 we've never actually lost our bags, although a couple of times they got to see places that we never did.

Neil_Oz

Something I didn't mention in the last post was the food situation. When we got back to LAX we were peckish, but finding anything edible in that terminal proved unbelievably difficult. And we weren't in a fussy mood - we were so desperate we'd have eaten at a McDonalds if we'd found one.

Maybe we were looking in the wrong place, don't know, but it's something to keep in mind if your flight, like ours, departs very late at night. Our UA flight was due to leave about midnight and finally got away about 01:00, so we found ourselves eating dinner (or what passed for dinner on UA) at about 02:00. And after that it was a long haul to breakfast.

Melnq8

Interesting point Neil - I'm always amazed at how scarce food outlets are in LAX. It seems like an ideal opportunity to profit from all those captive transit passengers, yet food is next to impossible to find (even bad food).

In this day and age of mega-malls and food courts in airport terminals, I just don't get it.

I believe LAX is undergoing a much needed overhaul, but it'll probably be awhile before improvements make an impact.

Neil_Oz

LAX certainly needs some help. All else being equal I'd go through SFO every time.

But then, SYD is no great shakes either. I believe the terminal there is also getting a remake and I hope it resolves the unseemly crush in the baggage claim/customs area at peak arrival times. Nothing, unfortunately, will fix the physical separation of the international and domestic terminals, short of starting all over again.

mlgb

Check your luggage if you can, I don't believe there is any luggage storage at LAX.

Here's a list of the over 50+ dining establishments at LAX. Most of them close by 11pm or midnight, however. If you don't see anything you like inside the checkpoint at your terminal, you can always go over to the Tom Bradley Int'l Terminal (TBIT).

"Encounter" is the restaurant in the spaceship building. It's good but not inexpensive, check the hours as they are not as late as others. Great place for a drink if your flight is delayed.

http://www.lawa.org/LAX/tenantlaxres...mp;s_airport=4

mlgb

For Neil, the McD's at TBIT is open til 2 am.

For those not familiar with the regional chains, the following aren't too bad:

Ruby's, Sushi Boy, Gordon Biersch, Karl Strauss, Wolfgang Puck, Baja Fresh, Jody Maroni, Cali Pizza Kitchen.

Toucan2

Pawleys, if you don't want to leave the terminal, you might want to do what we did. We bought a daypass for the American Airlines Admirals club. it was $75 for the two of us, there was access to a variety of lounges, reading materials, music rooms, and work areas. They served light meals in the bar area, and as I recall we had sandwiches that weren't too bad. The nicest thing though was to be able to take a shower and get freshened up before getting on the 14 your flight. Also, are you flying Qantas? (don't want to assume). If so, they also have a Qantas check in desk in the club.

pacificisland26

God. I really hat LAX. Lost lugguge there for a while once. Haha.