Took us 45 minutes just to check our bags. The line to check your bag is hundreds of people long and wraps around the entire terminal and back. Half of the kiosks are empty.
Yea I hope maybe some people are helped by this. We missed our flight as well as 20 other people on our flight. They put us on another flight that had people missed it as well. I assume there was a cascading effect for them until they get it figured out. What a mess
December 2001. And it wasn't just Southwest. Many flights went out half full because it was taking 3+ hours to get through the check in line and then the security line. It was the first big travel period after 9/11.
I showed up 3 hours early -- and got to the plane just as the doors were closing.
The news said this year there was gonna be record breaking traveling. Guess people that haven't traveled are finally traveling after the pandemic started....
It feels contradictory: layoffs everywhere, finances stretched thin, but record breaking travel. Is this a sign the country is sinking further into debt?
Credit card debt in the US is up 500BN since Covid. I don’t know who needs to read this, but it’s not your sole responsibility to keep corporate earnings up. Stop spending money you don’t have.
You got these buy now pay later apps that are sky rocketing because you get those attractive deals, I had one for Expedia from affirm $5000 vacation package with 0 Apr for 12 months but they waiting for you to miss a payment to raise that Apr to 29%.
FYI on JetBlue - On Saturday, every other kiosk had “Error cannot print bag tags right now” and then the ones that didn’t? Surprise, would give an error at the last step.
I was also Delta and it was really quick, but my flight was at 8AM which I’m sure helped. Last year I took a red eye and it was 2 hours getting to the gate from the start of LAX.
Just dropped someone off at LAX. Use the departure Arrivals (lower level) to drop them off until about afternoon. It was fairly empty while the top deck was very crowded
went to lax on saturday night - i took the 9:20 pm flyaway and arrived at terminal 1/the first disembarking point at ~10:15. security was relatively quick, maybe 7 mins, but i didn’t travel with a ton of electronics and it was the end of the night (and you apparently don’t have to take your shoes off anymore..??). i made it to my gate in time for the 10:50 pm initial boarding call with time to browse random stores
In regards to the return Flyaway. If you are arriving in the United Terminal, waste no time in crossing the airport to Terminal 1.
On Thanksgiving Saturday, the outgoing Flyaway bus filled up in the first 2-3 terminals. For an hour we watched full buses sailing past us at full speed.
When we went a couple weeks ago, there was hardly anyone in that line and it took FOREVER. A ton of people working just standing around doing a whole lot of nothing. Probably only 20 in the line and it took close to 40-45 minutes to get through.
Just a PSA: If you're arriving into Terminals 4 - 7 and notice that the Flyaway Van Nuys buses just pass you by....chances are that they're packed.
Take the Terminal Connector bus that LAX operates for free to Terminal 1 and catch the Flyaway VN bus there. It might be a hassle, but at least you'll get a seat on the bus with the rest of the T1 arrivals.
Hopefully, Flyaway VN will roll more buses for the next two weeks.
Happened to me once after a 12 hour flight and it was from TBIT. Actually, I waited for 2 scheduled buses that never came and an hour later, a bus finally arrives but its full. I've been using a private shuttle ever since for arrivals.
Bag check at Frontier took an hour and a half. First time in my life I've had to run to catch a flight (and barely made it despite showing up at 6am for a 9am domestic flight)
Was at the southwest check in 430AM Sunday morning and was in line for 45+ minutes to check a bag. There were only two kiosks open but there were many employees milling about yelling at us to make sure we already printed our tags out. Seems like their time would be better used actually helping people. I’ve flown southwest almost exclusively for 15 years and have never seen it that bad!
When I flew the day before Thanksgiving, there were only three or four people working the Southwest bag check. Private equity is a scourge. Like, yeah, you save money if you don’t pay enough people to do the job… but the job doesn’t get done and it sucks for everybody!
We intentionally did it despite my SO preferring direct. The layover was a breezy half hour. Probably will continue to do so until the Metro rail line to LAX is fully finished.
They only just implemented being able to pay for your bag through the app. And the self serve kiosks are not the best at reading your card. There are a lot of confused people.
Also, a lot of people are choosing SW for the cost and are not familiar with how SW operates. Lots of confusion paired with people who don’t fly regularly and it’s at a stand still. If you don’t have to check a bag with SW right now don’t do it.
My family is flying tomorrow and was planning on checking one bag, but now I've split everything up and we're taking three carryon roller bags instead, in addition to our backpacks. I'll gate check them if needed but the last thing I need is to spend 45 minutes in line before security.
Why don’t you just pack a carry on with must haves that can’t be purchased elsewhere and once you arrive at your destination then stop by at Target to buy a pack of underwear socks pajamas toiletries etc. That sure beats these long lines.
Flying from LA to the east coast at Christmas often involves bringing both gifts and winter clothes. Boots, warm coats, lots of clothing layers. It can be done with a carry-on and an under-seat bag with very careful planning and a thoughtfully-curated mix-and-match wardrobe, but omitting socks and undies and your shampoo doesn’t really help all that much. I get that there are r/onebag road warrior enthusiasts who can live indefinitely out of a teeny backpack and a lot of merino & techwear, but most folks don’t have the time (or the money) to maximize their travel gear to that extent just to take the kids to Grandma’s for the holidays.
That’s not really a feasible way to travel. Especially since we are going to a colder climate and had to pack winter clothes and boots. We also packed some presents for my family. I’ve flown carryon many times but Christmas isn’t really possible.
this sounds like a good idea but logistically where are you storing the underwear socks pajamas toiletries etc for the way back? is it that you just buy another suitcase or something and check the bag on the return flight?
If it's light enough you could probably ship it back for cheaper than the cost of a suitcase+baggage fee.
My friend shipped his clothes back from Japan using standard airmail, because his luggage was full of stuff he bought on the trip. It took a few months to arrive, but was cheaper than paying for another checked bag on his flight.
Someone was asking on Reddit yesterday if it was gonna be chaotic at LAX today (lol)....well I hope they see this post.
Yea I hope maybe some people are helped by this. We missed our flight as well as 20 other people on our flight. They put us on another flight that had people missed it as well. I assume there was a cascading effect for them until they get it figured out. What a mess
Just got stuck in the same mess… wish I had listened to my friend last night when they said do NOT check a bag.
Well yeah…… it’s Christmas week.
I’ve traveled for Christmas over a dozen times and never seen anything close to this before.
December 2001. And it wasn't just Southwest. Many flights went out half full because it was taking 3+ hours to get through the check in line and then the security line. It was the first big travel period after 9/11.
I showed up 3 hours early -- and got to the plane just as the doors were closing.
The news said this year there was gonna be record breaking traveling. Guess people that haven't traveled are finally traveling after the pandemic started....
It’s record breaking every year after Covid.
It's almost like the human population is growing
It feels contradictory: layoffs everywhere, finances stretched thin, but record breaking travel. Is this a sign the country is sinking further into debt?
K shaped economy
Credit card debt in the US is up 500BN since Covid. I don’t know who needs to read this, but it’s not your sole responsibility to keep corporate earnings up. Stop spending money you don’t have.
You got these buy now pay later apps that are sky rocketing because you get those attractive deals, I had one for Expedia from affirm $5000 vacation package with 0 Apr for 12 months but they waiting for you to miss a payment to raise that Apr to 29%.
lol the pandemic ended for most people 4 years ago
Yeah it’s Christmas week and Southwest didn’t staff for the extra people.
FYI on JetBlue - On Saturday, every other kiosk had “Error cannot print bag tags right now” and then the ones that didn’t? Surprise, would give an error at the last step.
Just got here in 45 min from mid city. Parked at P6, through security, and to my gate in 30 minutes. Term 3 Delta not terrible.
It’s a Christmas miracle!
I was also Delta and it was really quick, but my flight was at 8AM which I’m sure helped. Last year I took a red eye and it was 2 hours getting to the gate from the start of LAX.
I’m sorry, that sucks. How is everything else right now? Traffic to the terminal, security, etc.?
Just dropped someone off at LAX. Use the
departureArrivals (lower level) to drop them off until about afternoon. It was fairly empty while the top deck was very crowdedEdit: Oops, got the departure/ arrivals mixed up.
You got it reversed - arrivals are lower level.
Thanks for the catch
Traffic and security are busy but normal.
That is very frustrating. Is it just southwest or is everyone short-staffed?
I went from West LA to my gate, checking two bags, in 40 minutes. United. So, pretty good here (at 6:15).
I’m not sure. Southwest is a mess.
It's going to be everyone. I try to avoid traveling this week each year because of this.
went to lax on saturday night - i took the 9:20 pm flyaway and arrived at terminal 1/the first disembarking point at ~10:15. security was relatively quick, maybe 7 mins, but i didn’t travel with a ton of electronics and it was the end of the night (and you apparently don’t have to take your shoes off anymore..??). i made it to my gate in time for the 10:50 pm initial boarding call with time to browse random stores
In regards to the return Flyaway. If you are arriving in the United Terminal, waste no time in crossing the airport to Terminal 1.
On Thanksgiving Saturday, the outgoing Flyaway bus filled up in the first 2-3 terminals. For an hour we watched full buses sailing past us at full speed.
Damn OP at 5 am? Shit. I’m traveling tomorrow, dreading it.
Leave now.
for real. i visit family either on the day of the holiday, or a full week after/before. Not worth the nightmare.
Last year Burbank Southwest bag drop was an hour + on 23rd. Plane was delayed an hour waiting for bags to pass through security.
The porters at the sidewalk usually have no line and just want a $5-$10 tip for the service.
When we went a couple weeks ago, there was hardly anyone in that line and it took FOREVER. A ton of people working just standing around doing a whole lot of nothing. Probably only 20 in the line and it took close to 40-45 minutes to get through.
That’s infuriating.
This was actually for the security line (I misread). Yeah, I don't know what they were doing :(
Thank god for one-bagging with a carryon backpack.
Just a PSA: If you're arriving into Terminals 4 - 7 and notice that the Flyaway Van Nuys buses just pass you by....chances are that they're packed.
Take the Terminal Connector bus that LAX operates for free to Terminal 1 and catch the Flyaway VN bus there. It might be a hassle, but at least you'll get a seat on the bus with the rest of the T1 arrivals.
Hopefully, Flyaway VN will roll more buses for the next two weeks.
Happened to me once after a 12 hour flight and it was from TBIT. Actually, I waited for 2 scheduled buses that never came and an hour later, a bus finally arrives but its full. I've been using a private shuttle ever since for arrivals.
Bag check at Frontier took an hour and a half. First time in my life I've had to run to catch a flight (and barely made it despite showing up at 6am for a 9am domestic flight)
That’s infuriating.
Was at the southwest check in 430AM Sunday morning and was in line for 45+ minutes to check a bag. There were only two kiosks open but there were many employees milling about yelling at us to make sure we already printed our tags out. Seems like their time would be better used actually helping people. I’ve flown southwest almost exclusively for 15 years and have never seen it that bad!
Southwest is a shell of what it used to be.
It really is! This is the last time I’m flying with them. It’s just not worth it for the price anymore.
When I flew the day before Thanksgiving, there were only three or four people working the Southwest bag check. Private equity is a scourge. Like, yeah, you save money if you don’t pay enough people to do the job… but the job doesn’t get done and it sucks for everybody!
Thanks for heads up
I noticed T1 have bad baggage claim wait times so I can only imagine during this holiday season.
So the self serve kiosk bag drop line was bad too?
Took us 45 seconds to get our own tags at the self serve kiosks and 45 minutes to drop our bags off.
Ouch. So much for efficiency. I bet the sky cap guys were getting killed too cause people thought that would be faster
Everything was the longest line I’ve ever seen.
You would think it'll be quick to drop off your bags. SMH.
Is it going to be chaotic on Christmas Eve??
Alaska bought Southwest and now Southwest is the same kind of shit show that Alaska puts on.
I wonder if a snow storm will collapse their services like it does to Alaska (ironic, huh?).
I hope you made your flight!
Southwest out of Burbank with a layover in Denver was a breeze yesterday.
Yea we should have flown out of Burbank!
We intentionally did it despite my SO preferring direct. The layover was a breezy half hour. Probably will continue to do so until the Metro rail line to LAX is fully finished.
Yeah, that's pretty much every airline. It's Christmas week.
They only just implemented being able to pay for your bag through the app. And the self serve kiosks are not the best at reading your card. There are a lot of confused people.
Also, a lot of people are choosing SW for the cost and are not familiar with how SW operates. Lots of confusion paired with people who don’t fly regularly and it’s at a stand still. If you don’t have to check a bag with SW right now don’t do it.
Oof.
My family is flying tomorrow and was planning on checking one bag, but now I've split everything up and we're taking three carryon roller bags instead, in addition to our backpacks. I'll gate check them if needed but the last thing I need is to spend 45 minutes in line before security.
Breakings News: Traveling just before Christmas sucks
Just went through Delta, it was fine! Seriously!
flying out of terminal 2 tomorrow with spirit and one checked bag... getting nervous lol
Wow, that’s crazy! I was there last night and there was no line. I must have gotten lucky with my timing. The line for TSA-pre was longer!
Volaris at TB in LAX was 2 hours the other day.
it’s busy at a LAX right before a holiday? holy moly. the world has gone crazy.
Oh no! The busiest travel day of the year and you’re mildly inconvenienced!!
This just in! The sky is blue
Why don’t you just pack a carry on with must haves that can’t be purchased elsewhere and once you arrive at your destination then stop by at Target to buy a pack of underwear socks pajamas toiletries etc. That sure beats these long lines.
Flying from LA to the east coast at Christmas often involves bringing both gifts and winter clothes. Boots, warm coats, lots of clothing layers. It can be done with a carry-on and an under-seat bag with very careful planning and a thoughtfully-curated mix-and-match wardrobe, but omitting socks and undies and your shampoo doesn’t really help all that much. I get that there are r/onebag road warrior enthusiasts who can live indefinitely out of a teeny backpack and a lot of merino & techwear, but most folks don’t have the time (or the money) to maximize their travel gear to that extent just to take the kids to Grandma’s for the holidays.
That’s not really a feasible way to travel. Especially since we are going to a colder climate and had to pack winter clothes and boots. We also packed some presents for my family. I’ve flown carryon many times but Christmas isn’t really possible.
neither is traveling on the busiest week of the year 😅
Not everyone can travel whenever they want, at the price they want. Your comment really adds no value beyond a piss poor attempt at humor? Snarkiness?
this sounds like a good idea but logistically where are you storing the underwear socks pajamas toiletries etc for the way back? is it that you just buy another suitcase or something and check the bag on the return flight?
If it's light enough you could probably ship it back for cheaper than the cost of a suitcase+baggage fee.
My friend shipped his clothes back from Japan using standard airmail, because his luggage was full of stuff he bought on the trip. It took a few months to arrive, but was cheaper than paying for another checked bag on his flight.
Just throw em away, the American way!
Just throw away the used ones, as wasteful as it is!
that seems unsustainable on many levels
Crazy wonder what’s going on this week