Earliest Flight Out of LAX

[Teach2cruise4fun]

Hello Everyone!

 

What is the earliest flight you have made out of LAX when the boat docked that morning?

 

There is only one non-stop delta flight at 10:30. Makes me nervous!

[Colo Cruiser]

Hello Everyone!

 

What is the earliest flight you have made out of LAX when the boat docked that morning?

 

There is only one non-stop delta flight at 10:30. Makes me nervous!

 

 

We have done and always do a 10:30 flight.

Best to do the first self walk off with your luggage and get a cab (approx $60).

Have a backup plan.

[Teach2cruise4fun]

Thanks so much Keith!

 

Suggestions with what your backup plan is?? :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks so much Keith!

 

Suggestions with what your backup plan is?? :)

 

 

Always research other flights the same day in case we miss the first one.

Be prepared to spend the night in a worst case scenario.

Many will say don't do it and have to worry during your cruise about making your flight.

[tailspintom]

Always research other flights the same day in case we miss the first one.

Be prepared to spend the night in a worst case scenario.

Many will say don't do it and have to worry during your cruise about making your flight.

 

I suppose I am one of the many. If we can't find a bit later flight, we stay overnight at a hotel close to LAX and take an early flight out to get back to the east coast in the afternoon. Our rationale is precisely as Keith mentioned, eliminate the worry. More than once immigration delayed us and we were thisclose to missing our transport.

[babycutie]

Our last cruise out of Long Beach docked on Jan 13th, 2017. We did self walk off that started around 7:30am, got in a taxi and were at LAX before 9am. Our flight to Canada was 11:50am so we got there in plenty of time.

 

 

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[SadieN]

What day of the week are you debarking? Doesn't make too much difference these days. Traffic is almost always horrible.

 

10:30 flight

8:30 need to be at LAX

8:00 latest time to be in transportation.

7:30 off the ship.

 

It can be done but it'll be stressful. Took us more than 30 minutes to get thru CBP on the 17th in San Pedro. Many were lined up waiting for transportation.

On the 22nd (Sunday) we had no traffic going to LAX til we got in the Tunnel. Took 30 minutes to get to the Terminal from there. That'll add about 20

minutes to the timeline above.

Definitely have a backup plan.

 

***

What has happened in the past has no bearing on what will happen. Angelenos know that our freeways can come to a standstill for everything and anything.

Edited January 27, 2017 by SadieN

[Pam in CA]

I would be very, very nervous as I know that everything would have to go perfectly.

 

Disembarkation in LA usually starts at about 8am. It's later than at other ports. You would have to be one of the very first to self-disembark (carry your own luggage.) You have to go through Immigration and Customs and then find transportation. It can take 30-60 minutes to get to LAX, depending on traffic. I've had it take over half an hour just to get from the entrance to LAX to the terminal although 10-15 minutes is more the norm. LAX recommends arriving two hours early for check in for domestic flights, three hours for international flights. Checking in, going through Security and getting to your gate can take another 10-15 minutes.

 

I now living near LA but for years, flew post-cruise out of LA. I always booked a flight after Noon. Sometimes I had a wait but I'd rather not stress or have anxiety that I'll make my flight.

 

You'll find that people who don't live near LA will say, "Go for it! Do it all the time." But anyone who lives in Southern California knows better. We've experienced the massive traffic and delays.

Edited January 27, 2017 by Pam in CA

[Pam in CA]

Here's the current traffic from the port to LA at 9:30, past rush hour. Doesn't look bad. The 110 is clear and the 405 is its usual parking lot. I'd guess 45 minutes from San Pedro to LAX.

[mattie00]

Don't do it. Not worth the stress. Both times we have disembarked in L.A. we have had long line-ups at immigration. People who had morning flights missed them. In one case we were not off the ship until close to 1:00 p.m. due to problems with immigration and more than one ship disembarking at the same time. Book an afternoon flight or stay overnight.

[satxdiver]

Last cruise out of San Pedro we were off the ship in record time (self assist), through immigration and out in front of the terminal by 8:30. Grabbed an airport transfer, left the port, entered the freeway and then it happened on a Saturday morning. Traffic jam due to accident caused a delay of several hours. Luckily we had an afternoon flight so we made it but accidents do happen on the freeway or they just are crowded. Moral to story: always plan ahead for snafus.

[COMBOY]

Hello Everyone!

 

What is the earliest flight you have made out of LAX when the boat docked that morning?

 

There is only one non-stop delta flight at 10:30. Makes me nervous!

 

Well, if everything goes as planned. I live just north of LAX and I was off the ship and home a little after 9:20AM so 10:30 is doable as long as it a Sat or Sun. We started self debarkation at 8:15 and I was thru customs and immigration by 8:30 and in my car by 8:40A. If it other then a weekend I'm not sure with morning rush traffic...you might really be pushing it.

[Baseball fan]

Can you use Long Beach? Much easier and smaller airport. I too live in LA and would only do what the first person suggested, self disembark and taxi if you take an early flight from LAX.

 

 

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[DrivesLikeMario]

I've made a 10:30am flight before but we were practically running for the gate. Our bags didn't make the flight, so once at our destination, we had to wait 3 hrs. for the bags to catch up with us.

 

It's do-able especially on a Saturday or Sunday early morning but during the week, it's a crap shoot.

[easyboy]

Have not considered a flight before noon on all my cruises. It's always on the safe side for me than be sorry.

[rvmike]

I live in Orange county and keep my airplane at Hawthorne airport. Mon-Fri I won't get on the freeway until at least 9:30 and leave no later than 2pm. If I go earlier or later a 40 min. trip turns into 1 1/2 hrs. don't do it unless you like stress. PEOPLE HERE ARE ALSO BIG TIME RUBBER NECKERS SO ANY INCIDENT WILL RUIN YOUR DAY.

Edited January 28, 2017 by rvmike

[riclop]

Everything has to go perfect.

[Cruise Raider]

I would never chance it. We once booked a flight way after noon out of LAX. CBP computers were down and the lines ... oh, the lines!! This was still at the pier. Even when someone took pity on us and let us go to the front of the line, we still barely made our flight. Thankfully, we did but only because of the kindness of others.

[Tapi]

There is only one non-stop delta flight at 10:30. Makes me nervous!

 

 

A nonstop may sound attractive, but this is one time when I would search for other options, even if you need to connect. Since you mentioned Delta, they have almost hourly service from LAX to ATL from where you can easily connect to your destination.

 

With all of that said, we flew out of SNA (Orange County Airport) after we returned from our Princess Cruise. Even though SNA is a bit farther than LAX, we encountered zero traffic and we got there around 9:30am. It's a modern, much smaller airport and, when we arrived, there were zero lines at security. Our flight wasn't until 12:50pm so we had 3 hours to kill before our flight departed.

 

So look at other airports in the area if you wish to avoid the chaos normally associated with LAX. They may be a better choice even if they don't provide nonstop flights to your destination.

 

 

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[philabos]

Arrived Island Primcess Jan 4, late docking, 90 minute delay in getting off, no explanation, broken escalator, immigration not too bad, curbside 1015.

[SadieN]

Just to add another fly into the ointment. Delta flies out of T5. Even using the shortcuts, it can take a while to go around the horseshoe.

https://www.airport-la.com/info/terminal_map.html

Edited January 28, 2017 by SadieN

[WeAllLove2Travel]

We just disembarked from a RC cruise out of Miami a couple of weeks ago. Our return flight home was at 9:30am. It was very close and my nerves were shot! We made it and it was fine but I was a bit concerned at dinner the last night of the cruise and didn't sleep well because I was fretting over it. Luckily there was plenty of room on the other flights for the remainder of the day. However being stranded in an airport with young fussy children (if we'd missed our flight) was not something we were looking forward to experiencing.

 

 

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