LAX - The not LEAN process
The rest of my trip home was wrought with delays, hurry up and wait, very little information on what was happening next from any of the several organizations that touched my journey (United Airlines, TSA, US Customs, etc.) - it was a difficult part of my trip.
Getting through customs coming into the US at LAX means you need to pickup your checked luggage and then ideally re-check it after walking it through customs. But starting with no information on which baggage carousel my luggage was going to be on, then no information on where I was to re-check my luggage, the LAX experience only go worse from there. US customs required that I fill out a form before my arrival but the form was never looked at by customs, the same questions are asked at the kiosk they make you use. My passport was also electronically scanned and compared to a photo the kiosk take but I still had to meet with an agent who does the same thing - Not a very LEAN process.
The coordination between United, TSA, Customs, and the airport workers seems to be non-existent. After I had my passport verified and answered all the required questions I was directed to the baggage claim but as I said the reader board had no listing for my flight, wondering around I found the right carousel. Finally I get my luggage, but now what? where do I go with it? no information is posted and there's no one to assist except a stewardess that had been on my flight and she was nice enough to point out the direction to the next customs line - yep I go through customs again with my luggage which was never inspected, just roll up to the agent who asks the same questions and finally I'm though customs. Now what? where do I go? what about my luggage? an airport worker informs me that I need to go to terminal 7 for my connecting flight - which leaves in 30 minutes by the way - "out the door and turn right" I'm told. So out the door I go. Now I standing outside the airport on the curb where the courtesy buses and cabs are - hmm where's terminal 7? Oh, there's the nice stewardess again so I follow her, "it's a good ten minute walk this way" she says - hmm, thanks for instructions on how to make my connection United, or perhaps a shuttle to terminal 7 which turns out to be over half a mile away (I measured it on google maps).
This is where the fun starts, I walk the 1/2 mile in record time but again there's no information for someone connecting from an International flight, still nothing about what to do with my checked luggage. I flag down a UA person and tell her that I am about to miss my my flight and show her my ticket, I end up at the front of the security line with my now "unchecked" luggage. The TSA agents berated me for having on my shoes and belt, not putting the luggage flat in the bin, altogether very rude and not appreciating that I had no idea this was coming or I would have been prepared. They made me take my shirt off and give them my nylon passport wallet - but the leather one in my pocket was some how OK - didn't make any sense to me but I just wanted to make my flight so it was "yes sir" to whatever they asked. A few minute later I was putting my clothes back on as they riffled through my day pack, then I repacked it grabbed my rolling luggage and I was off again to the next challenge - where's my gate?
As I'm heading to my gate with only minutes to spare I was picked up by one of those "golf carts" to help be get to the gate on time - thank you for that. Now I'm sitting in the cart looking at my unchecked luggage and realizing it is now a carry-on - still not sure how that made it through TSA, hmm.
OK, finally I get to the gate as the last few people are boarding and I make it on to the plane - whew. Now we sit there for an hour. Before finally taking off for San Francisco.
Getting through customs coming into the US at LAX means you need to pickup your checked luggage and then ideally re-check it after walking it through customs. But starting with no information on which baggage carousel my luggage was going to be on, then no information on where I was to re-check my luggage, the LAX experience only go worse from there. US customs required that I fill out a form before my arrival but the form was never looked at by customs, the same questions are asked at the kiosk they make you use. My passport was also electronically scanned and compared to a photo the kiosk take but I still had to meet with an agent who does the same thing - Not a very LEAN process.
The coordination between United, TSA, Customs, and the airport workers seems to be non-existent. After I had my passport verified and answered all the required questions I was directed to the baggage claim but as I said the reader board had no listing for my flight, wondering around I found the right carousel. Finally I get my luggage, but now what? where do I go with it? no information is posted and there's no one to assist except a stewardess that had been on my flight and she was nice enough to point out the direction to the next customs line - yep I go through customs again with my luggage which was never inspected, just roll up to the agent who asks the same questions and finally I'm though customs. Now what? where do I go? what about my luggage? an airport worker informs me that I need to go to terminal 7 for my connecting flight - which leaves in 30 minutes by the way - "out the door and turn right" I'm told. So out the door I go. Now I standing outside the airport on the curb where the courtesy buses and cabs are - hmm where's terminal 7? Oh, there's the nice stewardess again so I follow her, "it's a good ten minute walk this way" she says - hmm, thanks for instructions on how to make my connection United, or perhaps a shuttle to terminal 7 which turns out to be over half a mile away (I measured it on google maps).
This is where the fun starts, I walk the 1/2 mile in record time but again there's no information for someone connecting from an International flight, still nothing about what to do with my checked luggage. I flag down a UA person and tell her that I am about to miss my my flight and show her my ticket, I end up at the front of the security line with my now "unchecked" luggage. The TSA agents berated me for having on my shoes and belt, not putting the luggage flat in the bin, altogether very rude and not appreciating that I had no idea this was coming or I would have been prepared. They made me take my shirt off and give them my nylon passport wallet - but the leather one in my pocket was some how OK - didn't make any sense to me but I just wanted to make my flight so it was "yes sir" to whatever they asked. A few minute later I was putting my clothes back on as they riffled through my day pack, then I repacked it grabbed my rolling luggage and I was off again to the next challenge - where's my gate?
As I'm heading to my gate with only minutes to spare I was picked up by one of those "golf carts" to help be get to the gate on time - thank you for that. Now I'm sitting in the cart looking at my unchecked luggage and realizing it is now a carry-on - still not sure how that made it through TSA, hmm.
OK, finally I get to the gate as the last few people are boarding and I make it on to the plane - whew. Now we sit there for an hour. Before finally taking off for San Francisco.
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