Travelling back to LAX for 6:15 am flight

[moreisgood]

To get to the airport by 5 am, we'd need to leave our hotel by 4 am, or a little earlier, which means getting up by 3 or 3:30? And since we often don't go to bed till 1 am, that's not much time. Rather than spend all that money on a room, I'm think of just checking out of my hotel the morning before, storing our luggage, and then going to the airport late the night before, and just hanging out/trying to sleep till early morning. Has anyone ever done this? I've been stuck in airports overnight, but I've never planned to be there overnight. And I don't know LAX. Any advice/thoughts are appreciated.

 

[smartlabelprint]

That wouldn’t work for me. Maybe move to an airport hotel the night before?

 

[ERQTraveler]

How are you going to freshen up before the flight?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I agree with the others that a better option would be to check out the evening before and sleep at a hotel near the airport. Yes, you'd save on $, but getting even a few hours real rest would be better. There are a lot of hotels/motels near the airport and you can always either take one of their shuttles or a taxi/Uber/Lyft.

 

[smchristy]

We were in a similar situation a couple of weeks ago and ended up checking out a day early, spending the day at Universal and then staying at a hotel near the airport. Our flight was at 7:00 am and we needed to return a rental car. It worked out great for us because we were close to the car rental place and the shuttle got us to the airport quickly.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Our flight was at 7:00 am and we needed to return a rental car. It worked out great for us because we were close to the car rental place and the shuttle got us to the airport quickly.

When I have a car and stay near the airport...I usually return the car the night before then just take the hotel shuttle to the Airport for early flights...one less step in the AM.

 

[Mr Snappy]

Another option here is to change your departing flight (if you can). Years of travel has taught me that the less stress the better, especially when you can change it. However, it might be substantial money and I understand it might be worth jumping through hoops. On our departure days, I like to leave around 3-4pm. That gives us time to check-out after sleeping in and maybe one last chance in the pool. Then it's load the rental car, get some IN-N-OUT and head to the airport with several hours to spare. This usually ends up costing us about $100 extra total for the 4 of us, but it's so worth it.

 

[TammyLynn33]

I can’t imagine going to the airport with the intention of trying to sleep. With my laptop, purse etc I’d be terrified id wake up to something missing .
We are moving to airport hotel and will hang out around there for the night, enjoy one last swim try to get some sleep

To get to the airport by 5 am, we'd need to leave our hotel by 4 am, or a little earlier, which means getting up by 3 or 3:30? And since we often don't go to bed till 1 am, that's not much time. Rather than spend all that money on a room, I'm think of just checking out of my hotel the morning before, storing our luggage, and then going to the airport late the night before, and just hanging out/trying to sleep till early morning. Has anyone ever done this? I've been stuck in airports overnight, but I've never planned to be there overnight. And I don't know LAX. Any advice/thoughts are appreciated.

 

[moreisgood]

I would love to get some sleep, but I'm not sure that checking into a hotel at 1 am, and getting up at 3:30 is going to get us much sleep. And certainly not worth $200 to me. I could switch flights for about $100, but all the later flights have longer layovers, so it would add about 3 hours to our 7 hour trip, getting us back much later at night, and then we have early commitments the next morning, so we really need to get on that early flight. Re-entry to life will be bad enough as it is!

So, let me ask a different question - can I get pass TSA and into the airport 5 hours before my flight takes off? Is TSA open all night? I do know that most businesses in airports close overnight, but that would be OK if they open again at 5 am so we could grab something to eat before we board.

 

[socaldisneylover]

So, let me ask a different question - can I get pass TSA and into the airport 5 hours before my flight takes off? Is TSA open all night? I do know that most businesses in airports close overnight, but that would be OK if they open again at 5 am so we could grab something to eat before we board.

TSA normally opens up a couple of hours(at most), prior to the first scheduled flight out of the terminal. So in your case, it should be open by around 4:30 AM. Best to check with your airline for more info.

 

[moreisgood]

TSA normally opens up a couple of hours(at most), prior to the first scheduled flight out of the terminal. So in your case, it should be open by around 4:30 AM. Best to check with your airline for more info.

So, I suppose the real question is - what time does TSA close at night? Good advice to ask the airline. Thank you!

 

[gottalovepluto]

So, I suppose the real question is - what time does TSA close at night? Good advice to ask the airline. Thank you!

Are you checking bags? If so also find out how early you can check your bag and what the airline's counter hours are at the airport. I concur with don't fall asleep if you're waiting at LAX, you don't want to wake up having had something stolen from you.

 

[Keyframer30]

I don't mean to sound snarky...but wouldn't the easier thing to do is to just go to sleep earlier than 1am to actually get some sleep before waking up at 3am to head to the airport?

 

[DnA2010]

Last fall DH and I did one day at DL post cruise before flying home- 7:15am flight- we stayed till the parks closed (11pm?), did the hour post close shopping on main street, so left just after 12? we then drove (we had a rental) to In and Out Burger and had some food, then drove to the car rental return, got to the shuttle to the airport and then we had a little snooze at the airport on our bags..there were lots of people doing the same thing. I think TSA opened around 4:30, so we went through, got to our gate and then snoozed a bit till our flight...we were going to get a cheap hotel close to the airport, but in the end just didn't want to leave the parks so decided to skip the hotel and just enjoy.

 

[moreisgood]

I don't mean to sound snarky...but wouldn't the easier thing to do is to just go to sleep earlier than 1am to actually get some sleep before waking up at 3am to head to the airport?

I don't mean to sound snarky...but wouldn't the easier thing to do is to just go to sleep earlier than 1am to actually get some sleep before waking up at 3am to head to the airport?

That's not a snarky question. I just can't go to sleep early. If I do, I just toss and turn for hours and hours. I sometimes take Ibuprofen PM, but it knocks me out for 6 hours or more, and it still has to be later in the evening when I go to bed. My whole genetic family is like this, and it can be a real pain. None of us work 9 to 5 jobs because of it. I prefer not to be like this, but at 60, I can't count on it changing. Any time I have an morning activity that I can't miss, like a class or flight, I know that I won't be sleeping at all the night before, because I also worry about not waking up.

 

[dbb727]

It’s been several years since I’ve flown to LAX but I remember being stuck there overnight/late at night once and the international terminal had the best options for benches/food/etc overnight but it can be a long haul from other terminals, especially if you have more than one bag. For any of the terminals, you can enter and hang out in the unsecured areas 24/7 and you likely won’t be the only ones so that’s probably your best bet but security won’t open til ~4am. I don’t think they let people stay within the secure area overnight and wouldn’t even let you through without boarding pass for that date so there is no point to get there “before they close” on the evening prior.
Check out this site:
https://www.sleepinginairports.net/

 

[moreisgood]

Last fall DH and I did one day at DL post cruise before flying home- 7:15am flight- we stayed till the parks closed (11pm?), did the hour post close shopping on main street, so left just after 12? we then drove (we had a rental) to In and Out Burger and had some food, then drove to the car rental return, got to the shuttle to the airport and then we had a little snooze at the airport on our bags..there were lots of people doing the same thing. I think TSA opened around 4:30, so we went through, got to our gate and then snoozed a bit till our flight...we were going to get a cheap hotel close to the airport, but in the end just didn't want to leave the parks so decided to skip the hotel and just enjoy.

So, I'm not the only one who has thought of this! So, there are places to sit in LAX before you get to TSA? Some airports don't have that space. Is there a hotel in the airport? If there is, the lobby would be another good place to wait.

 

[starry_solo]

So, I'm not the only one who has thought of this! So, there are places to sit in LAX before you get to TSA? Some airports don't have that space. Is there a hotel in the airport? If there is, the lobby would be another good place to wait.

There aren't really places to sit at LAX before you get to TSA. There are the airline check-in desks and then, to get to the terminals (and any places to sit), you have to pass through TSA.

 

[ashley0139]

What airline are you flying? To where? Probably depends on the terminal if you'll be able to get in. However, something to know about LAX is that you can enter at any terminal with a valid boarding pass. So you could enter the international terminal even though you are flying domestic. I don't know if their TSA closes, but I would guess not. From there you can walk easily to terminals 4+ and less easily to the others (involves a shuttle). The international terminal has the most stuff. Because of the way the terminals are set up, I agree that it wouldn't be easy to sleep landside, though I'm sure people have done it. Airside there is much more space.

 

[gottalovepluto]

So, I'm not the only one who has thought of this! So, there are places to sit in LAX before you get to TSA? Some airports don't have that space. Is there a hotel in the airport? If there is, the lobby would be another good place to wait.

Yes. There are chairs to sit in when you are in the airline check in areas. If there aren’t in the terminal you are in go to the arrivals level and or another terminal. I had to wait once for a few hours for an airline check in to open and was able to sit but there have been a lot of remodels over the last few years so idk if all the terminals have that availability but you ought to be able to find something. There is stuff (like places to eat) on the arrivals level and pre-security, heck there are apparently 3 different Starbucks locations pre-security/arrivals levels but look online as there aren’t a lot of things and I have no idea if anything would be open. Here’s the LAX website to help you get a feel for what might be available pre-security https://www.flylax.com/en/lax-dining-and-shopping. FYI LAX has a shuttle bus that runs between all terminals pre-security 24/7 so you can go wherever you want IF you have lots of time.