US Airlines

[lynny 0]

I have flowed with American Airlines. Delta . United. Amercian Eagle My choice would be Delta as it has lots of leg room which is great when you have flowed all cramped up from Australia,

Personally i Would not chance only 2 hrs in LAX If 2 international flights land at the same time the immigration line and custom lines are going to be huge, I always allow myself 4 hrs mininum when i fly from Aus

lynny

Edited May 22, 2006 by lynny

[antone 0]

ok.....have been looking online for my flight from Sydney, Australia to FL. I will be flying into LAX or SF with Qantas but I'm looking for advice/experiences on who to fly with once in the US for the leg to FL. The flights that I am looking at give me these choices.......

Frontier

American West

Delta

US Airways

United

I want one that aint gonna crash lol and has good service.

None of them will crash

and since they are all US carriers, the standards will be far lower than what you're used to with Qantas.

[patricks 0]

Southwest Airlines or Jet Blue OK

[Lou Lou 1]

Another tip would be to check seatguru.com when you book so you can pick a good seat (as long as it's not already taken of course!).

[MandR 0]

Frontier is a great airline...... Good service, newer aircraft and satelite Directv with individual monitors at each seat and you control what you want to see.

Also 2.5 hours through immigration to connect to another flight I don't think is enough time.

[aussiewench 9]

again more useful info for me to mull over.....thank you all

[CarolineM 0]

i've flown every one of those - either from LAX to florida or SFO to florida...(After coming from Oz of course...)

they're all fine...I usually fly US airways but now america west IS us airways so it's at the same standard.

What airport in FL are you flying into?

In terms of immigration - Stewart had exactly 2 hours in LAX...and that was changing airlines...

he made it with 20 minutes to spare...

just fYI. They said if he missed it they would reschedule him no worries..

[aussiewench 9]

i've flown every one of those - either from LAX to florida or SFO to florida...(After coming from Oz of course...)

they're all fine...I usually fly US airways but now america west IS us airways so it's at the same standard.

What airport in FL are you flying into?

In terms of immigration - Stewart had exactly 2 hours in LAX...and that was changing airlines...

he made it with 20 minutes to spare...

just fYI. They said if he missed it they would reschedule him no worries..

Orlando or Miami......either one, so I'm looking at flights to both.

I know 2 1/2 hours may cut it fine depending on how long it takes.......I just dont want to be sitting around twiddling my thumbs for hours after the long flight from australia. If I miss my connecting flight, so be it....I will take my chances. Thanks Karo

[jodee 30]

Lorelle,..

I flew into LAX on quite a few occasions. You will fly into the TOM BRADLEY INTERNATIONAL terminal. QANTAS flys in and out of that teminal exclusively, or did last time I travelled SYD to LAX. If you arrive on a early morning flight eg.6AM-7AM, AND GET OFF THE PLANE QUICKLY, you will have plenty of time with 2.5 hours. Every time I flew into there I was off the plane and through customs within 20minutes, including the somewhat lenghty walk from the plane to the customs desk. But the other poster was right, if more than one international flight arrives at the same time at LAX, its a mad dash, as the lines build up rather quickly. They have separate lines for visitors and residents. There is about 20 customs officers sitting there waiting at their desks. I had my "envelope " out and in my hot little hand before I even arrived at the customs area, and the customs officer that was controlling the lines saw the envelope in my hand, and asked me if I had just arrived on a immigrant visa, when I said yes "k1", he smiled, said good luck to me and directed me through the residents line. And to my surprise, after I cleared customs,and headed to my luggage I turned around and looked, and damn, if the visitors line wasnt twice as long as the residents....A hint for you, pay attention to the announcements for the carousels for luggage, as first class, and business class, comes through on one carousel, and economy on the other. I watched a lot of tired travellers patiently looking at the wrong carousel. Sometimes the luggage comes out before people start to clear customs too, and it gets taken off the carousel by luggage attendants as it builds up rather quickly, so really watch out for your luggage.....

After just typing all that, I just realised you have probably done it befre, but oh well, never hurts to have hints and tips from frequent travellers....

Good luck with the flight plans,..

Jodee

[aussiewench 9]

Thanks for the heads up Jodee

The only time I have travelled internationally, my POE was Hawaii...but I did tie xmas tinsel all over my luggange lol so it stuck out like a xmas tree. I also played the good ole defenceless female thing and it got me through things really quick. Most men love a woman in distress I just got waved on through with most things. Hoping that will work again hahhahaha

[Ladylethal 12]

You must be so happy! Can´t wait to make flight plans! I am thinking of going through Panama and do my POE in San Juan, Puerto Rico instead of Miami.

[StellaR 0]

Oh wenchie the christmas tinsel is a great idea, I was thinking of big bright fairy stickers or something.

Yeah look my flight got in late last time and I always get pulled up for that extra "is she a terrorist" attention. I had a total nervous breakdown screaming on the top of my lungs "Somebody's got to help meeeeee" that always works at airports too I have found. They soon push you in front of maybe hundreds. I am a coeliac and had had no food from Sydney to LAX, they forgot my special diet. I had had enough. Maybe the immigration will be efficent but you just don't know what else can happen.

I flew Air Tahiti Nui, loved the french accents of the pilots and the little frangipanis they give you to wear, cheap and thinking of them again. Anyone ever flown with them???? The rest was American Airlines and they truley did help me and I was a difficult passenger. I had major problems with my on-line booking mob "best flights". You can't beat Qantas though, and I have flown with quite a few good carriers in the past.

Any one flown Tahitian????

[chri'stina 190]

i've flown every one of those - either from LAX to florida or SFO to florida...(After coming from Oz of course...)

they're all fine...I usually fly US airways but now america west IS us airways so it's at the same standard.

What airport in FL are you flying into?

In terms of immigration - Stewart had exactly 2 hours in LAX...and that was changing airlines...

he made it with 20 minutes to spare...

just fYI. They said if he missed it they would reschedule him no worries..

Orlando or Miami......either one, so I'm looking at flights to both.

I know 2 1/2 hours may cut it fine depending on how long it takes.......I just dont want to be sitting around twiddling my thumbs for hours after the long flight from australia. If I miss my connecting flight, so be it....I will take my chances. Thanks Karo

Sujeet has gone through both Orlando and Miami as POEs. (Miami when he came on the K1, Orlando after getting his greencard). So if you have any questions about it, I'll ask him! ( I know they won't be your POEs)

Edited June 2, 2006 by stina&suj

[ual777 0]

Oh wenchie the christmas tinsel is a great idea, I was thinking of big bright fairy stickers or something.

Yeah look my flight got in late last time and I always get pulled up for that extra "is she a terrorist" attention. I had a total nervous breakdown screaming on the top of my lungs "Somebody's got to help meeeeee" that always works at airports too I have found. They soon push you in front of maybe hundreds. I am a coeliac and had had no food from Sydney to LAX, they forgot my special diet. I had had enough. Maybe the immigration will be efficent but you just don't know what else can happen.

I flew Air Tahiti Nui, loved the french accents of the pilots and the little frangipanis they give you to wear, cheap and thinking of them again. Anyone ever flown with them???? The rest was American Airlines and they truley did help me and I was a difficult passenger. I had major problems with my on-line booking mob "best flights". You can't beat Qantas though, and I have flown with quite a few good carriers in the past.

Any one flown Tahitian????

Aussiewench,

United flies to SYD, and MEL using the SAME aircraft as Qantas (Boeing 747-400). You could just buy 1 ticket on United and accumulate the miles all the way. This would also probably be cheaper than buying two separate tickets.

You will only accumulate the miles on American Airlines IF the flights that are domestic have a Qantas 'code-share' number.

If not, you will have to split the miles between the two programs which would be worthless.

I fly about 50,000-80,000 miles a year on airlines (about 30-50 segments) and my personal favorites are United and Continental.

I used to fly American Airlines, but the interiors on their 757s to South America are in HORRID condition and the seats are very old.

United also has Economy Plus on all their aircraft for a little extra $. That 6 inches of extra legroom will make a HUGE difference on a 14 hour flight.

Southwest isn't as cheap as it used to be and there are no assigned seats. I refuse to fly them. I just don't find them very professional, and I dont like the "Fall of Saigon" lines at the gate because everyone fights over the aisle seats.

[irishgirl73 0]

I have flown to Ireland 7 times & each time I flew on US Air-with no problems. They did lose my luggage on a flight from Boston to Philly-go figure but international flights have been great!

Anyway-I have had decent experiences with US Air-hope you find a cheap flight-whichever airline you chose Aussie

Edited June 2, 2006 by irishgirl73