LAX and the Lost Day

LAX to Fiji: Jan. 7 – Jan. 9

Hey there, everybody. Due to travel and the dearth of wireless availability over the past few days, we haven’t been able to post much lately, but a lot has been happening. We’re currently in Auckland now, having arrived on Friday at about 1 pm local time. We’ll try and catch up the blog to what we’re actually doing soon, but will post our experiences in Fiji first.

Most of this was written from sunny Fiji. Our flight to Fiji from LA was largely uneventful, which is always good. Air Pacific is as friendly as advertised and does a nice job, as our 10-hr flight to Fiji was probably more enjoyable than our 6-hr flight to LA. There was champagne with breakfast and a free sleeping mask and toothbrush to make the flight more comfortable. They even served two meals (and snacks) during the flight! Take that American airlines... A 10:30 PM departure from LA on Sunday, January 7^th meant we landed in Fiji at around 5 AM on Tuesday, the 9^th, so we in effect lost the 8^th almost entirely. As Stephen Colbert might say, January 8^th, you’re dead to us! Especially since Ohio State did its worst to represent the Big Ten against Florida in the National Championship game on that day – Ohio State, we knew there was a reason we don’t like you… Anyway, flying international out of LAX these days is not the most fun experience.

Not to get off on a travel rant this early in our trip, but here goes. Our flight reservation indicated that we should arrive 3 hrs before our 10:30 PM flight, and when we got there, lines snaking out the front doors at LAX looked like we’d need the entire 3 hrs to get through them. In the end, we didn’t need quite that much time to get to our gate, but the experience seemed pretty poorly conceived.

From what we could see, the lines in the international terminal are pretty poorly marked at LAX, so it was hard to tell where one line began, where another ended, and who was waiting in what line. Add to that a sea of people from other countries that don’t speak English, and it becomes an even bigger mess. To get to the gates, you must wait in three separate lines. One to check-in at your airline, a second to lug your checked baggage over to an X-ray machine (apparently you have to be there while that happens for international flights, but this seems not to be a concern for domestic flighs), and then a third line for security check before you get on the flight. I’m not an aviation expert, but it seems amazing that no one has thought of a more efficient or orderly way for people to get through the airport.

This in and of itself is bad, but since you’re at the airport and time always seems to be of the essence, you feel like you have to rush through to your gate way before it ever boards. At that point, hope you’re not hungry: after you pass through security in LAX’s international terminal there is only one place to get anything to eat, a way overpriced little café that serves little beyond $4 hot dogs and $7 mini pizzas. I mean, I expect to get gouged at the airport, but come on, that’s just rubbing it in at that point. There looked to be decent food options before the checkpoint, but it didn’t seem to be a risk we should take, especially when you don’t know how long the security line will turn out to be. Thanks LAX, you make flying a special experience.

We will try to update more often (and with photos) as Internet access allows. New Zealand is not as far along in free wi-fi as the U.S. They even charge you for wireless access at Starbucks. But a grande non-fat chai latte tastes just as good here as it does across the Pacific.