LAX as bad as DFW
To me, LAX now equals DFW as the worst airport. Going through security, in a serpentine route, around various cubicle wall barriers (some attached to each other with duct tape), we were asked 4 times to show our boarding passes. We then walked on nasty carpets to our gate and the whole airport was unclean, unkept, and no one seemed to care. Previously, I’d thought Dallas Fort Worth was the worst and vowed to never fly into that airport again. Right up there, equalling DWF, is LAX.
The sadness of LAX can be seen in the photo of a weary traveling trying to sleep in a notch in a wall next to the bathroom.
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Depends on which terminal you’re in…
United’s operations are much cleaner/newer than most others.
Terminal 3 is the pits, to be sure, I flew out on Alaska a week ago and it was really raunchy and very late 70s. And you’re right about security — they check your ID and boarding pass going up the escalator to security and then check it again at the top of the escalator. Makes no sense!
The Tom Bradley International Terminal is a 3rd world country in comparison, though. Security is strange there, too, and the baggage check process is annoying… getting into that line prior to checking in with the airline and relying on the TSA to bring your bags to checkin. Ugh. And lines can snake outside the terminal and down the sidewalk. Departure lounges are a joke. While the Qantas/BA lounge itself is okay, none of the lounges have their own restrooms (let alone showers) and the upstairs shared public facility is disgusting.
That said, there are plenty of other bad airports in the US! Ever try to depart Washington-Dulles at 5pm on a Friday?
And once you get outside the U.S. there are some awful airports as well. My favorite one to moan about is Mexico City…
ok. I had never flown Alaska at LAX and don’t remember other terminals being that nasty. There was also a foyer to the jetways that were a total cluster of travelers jockeying for position.
The Washington Dulles terminal I was in last week (United Domestic) was worse than anything I’ve seen at LA.
It must be like our trip to Hawaii, where were felt like we missed a better time, like it had come and gone - there must’ve been good times for airports and was it back in the 70s when the ugliest ones were built or even before then, maybe all the way back to the 50s.
When I was living down there, I would always insist on flying in and out of Ontario (ONT). It’s a sweet, beautiful, clean little airport about 40 miles West of LA with direct service to most major US cities. Best of all, you can show up 45 minutes before your flight, check bags, and make your plane comfortably.
The tradeoff is that you’ll battle traffic on the 10. But Ontario is worth it. If you want a nice place to stay the night before a flight so you don’t have to battle LA morning traffic, the Ramada in Claremont is always a safe bet. Just be sure to ask for a room away from the freeway side.
Driving in from LA to Ontario can be a hassle though. Once, when the 10-Eastbound was a nightmare, I took the 405-S to the 105-E to the 605-N to the 60-E to the 57-N to the 10-E.
Yes it’s a big loop and you’ll put more miles on the rental car, but you’ll use less gas and get into the inland empire 40 minutes faster in rush hour.
The lesson: avoid the 10 and LAX at all costs.
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