Nine terminals in a great horseshoe, four runways and a city that defies a map. Los Angeles International is one of the busiest airports in the world, and, after decades of frustration, it is finally getting a train. Here is how to make LAX work for you, not against you.

Los Angeles International is one of the busiest airports on earth and the gateway between Britain and the West Coast of America, serving a vast, dispersed metropolis whose economy spans entertainment, technology, aerospace, trade and finance. For the British traveller it is both a major destination in its own right, the airport for Hollywood, the studios, Silicon Beach and the corporate world of greater Los Angeles, and a Pacific gateway for onward travel. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both fly here from London, into the Tom Bradley International Terminal at the heart of the airport’s famous horseshoe.

That horseshoe is the first thing to understand. LAX is built as a great loop of nine terminals around a central road, a layout long notorious for its traffic and for the absence, until now, of any rail or people-mover link. The big news, after decades of complaint, is that LAX is at last being connected. An automated people mover, the SkyLink, is opening through 2026 to link the terminals to a new Metro rail station, the rental-car centre and intermodal facilities, part of a vast modernisation ahead of the city’s hosting of the 2028 Olympic Games. For now, the working airport remains busy and spread out, with the central-area congestion still to be reckoned with. This guide covers the terminals, the new transit, getting across an enormous city, and the things every US arrival demands: immigration, the trusted-traveller programmes, the dollars and the tipping.

Which terminal? Tom Bradley is the one that matters

LAX’s terminals are numbered 1 to 8, with the Tom Bradley International Terminal, also called Terminal B, at the top of the loop. For the UK traveller, Tom Bradley is the building to know. British Airways flies from there, and it is the airport’s principal international terminal, home to more than forty-five mostly foreign carriers and the main facility where international arrivals clear customs. Virgin Atlantic, as a partner of Delta, checks in among the Delta terminals, 2 and 3, but its international arrivals are processed at Tom Bradley too. The domestic carriers ring the rest of the horseshoe: American at Terminals 4 and 5, United at 7 and 8, Delta at 2 and 3.

Historically the terminals were poorly connected, requiring a walk or a shuttle around the congested loop, though airside connectors now link Tom Bradley to some neighbours, and the SkyLink will at last tie the whole airport together. Confirm your terminal on your booking, and if you are being dropped off, be aware that the central horseshoe is often gridlocked, so allow extra time.

The fast way in: a train, at last

Getting from LAX into Los Angeles has always been the airport’s weak point, in a city famous for its freeways, its traffic and its want of public transport. It is improving. The new SkyLink people mover and the adjacent LAX/Metro Transit Center, opening through 2026, connect the terminals to the city’s growing rail network, the C and K lines, allowing a journey into parts of Los Angeles without a car for the first time in the airport’s history. Alongside it, the long-running FlyAway bus runs non-stop from the airport to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles for around ten dollars, a reliable and inexpensive option for a downtown destination, taking forty-five minutes or so depending on the traffic.

That said, Los Angeles remains a city where most journeys are made by road. Its business is scattered from Santa Monica and the coast to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, downtown and beyond, across an area no single rail line can serve. For most travellers a taxi, ride-share or hire car is the practical way to get about, with the Metro and the FlyAway useful for downtown and the rail corridor. Match the mode to the destination, and you have the measure of the place.

Taxis, hire cars and the LAX-it lot

Los Angeles is built around the car, and for a trip that ranges across its vast geography a hire car is frequently the answer, giving a freedom no transit line can. The rental-car centre, hosting the major firms, is reached by shuttle and, increasingly, the new SkyLink. For those who would rather not drive, a taxi or ride-share is the door-to-door option, but a particular LAX quirk must be understood first: to ease congestion in the horseshoe, ride-share and taxi pick-ups do not happen at the terminals. They happen at a dedicated lot, known as LAX-it, reached by a free shuttle bus or a walk, which adds time and can mean a wait at busy hours. Plan for it and it is manageable; arrive expecting a kerbside cab and you will be caught out.

Taxi fares vary with the destination across so large a city, from around thirty dollars to the nearer beaches to fifty or seventy and more to downtown or Hollywood, before the customary tip, and journey times swing wildly with the notorious traffic. Ride-share fares move with demand and spike at the peaks. The verdict leans towards the hire car for a wide-ranging trip, ride-share from LAX-it for single destinations, and the FlyAway or Metro for downtown.

Immigration and security: the part to master

Every UK visitor needs authorisation to enter the United States before travelling: for most business trips that means an approved ESTA under the Visa Waiver Programme, applied for online well ahead and valid for two years, though some travellers require a full visa, so check early. The ESTA fee has also risen sharply, as we reported when the new charges were announced.

On arrival at LAX you will clear US Customs and Border Protection, most often at Tom Bradley, which as one of the busiest international gateways in the country can mean a substantial queue at peak arrival times. The single most valuable thing a frequent visitor can do is enrol in Global Entry, the trusted-traveller programme open to UK citizens, which lets you skip the main queue at an automated kiosk. It requires a UK background check, a US fee and an interview, so apply months ahead, but it transforms the arrival.

Departure security is run by the TSA, and at an airport this busy the checkpoints can be crowded, so allow time. For anyone connecting onto a US domestic flight, TSA PreCheck, included with Global Entry, gives a faster lane, and CLEAR, a paid identity-verification service, moves you to the front of the queue. Sort the ESTA before you fly, allow real time for immigration, and if you cross the Atlantic regularly, treat Global Entry as the single best investment in a smoother trip.

The lounges worth the walk

Tom Bradley has a lounge offer to rival any terminal in the United States. British Airways passengers in a premium cabin or with oneworld status are looked after in the Oneworld Lounge and the splendid Qantas First Lounge, both in the terminal, while Virgin Atlantic operates its own Clubhouse for Upper Class passengers. There is also an American Express Centurion Lounge for eligible card holders and a Star Alliance lounge among a striking choice of premium spaces. Elsewhere in the horseshoe the airlines run their own, including a Delta One Lounge at Terminal 3 and a United Polaris Lounge at Terminal 7, but for the British traveller the relevant lounges are conveniently concentrated at Tom Bradley.

Know what your ticket, status or card opens before you build your timings around it. A Club World ticket or oneworld status opens the Oneworld or Qantas lounges; Upper Class the Clubhouse; a premium Amex the Centurion. Given LAX’s slow security and busy terminals, a good lounge turns the long wait before a transatlantic departure into working or resting time, and here the choice is exceptional.

Eating, buying and the last good meal

The rebuilt Tom Bradley terminal is a showcase for Los Angeles, with a genuinely impressive food-and-drink offer: outposts of celebrated city restaurants and chefs, fresh Californian cooking and the coffee culture the region is known for, all in a bright, art-filled building that reflects the city’s creative confidence. A proper Los Angeles meal before the flight home is easily had, a marked contrast to the plainer fare of the older domestic terminals. The shopping is similarly elevated, with strong luxury and designer names alongside the practical and the duty-free, and plenty of Californian gifts for a last-minute present. The working traveller’s rule: replace the forgotten charger or US plug adaptor airside, do your eating and buying at Tom Bradley, and keep an eye on boarding, because the terminal is large and the gate can be a fair walk.

Where to stay

LAX has no hotel within the terminals, but a long strip lines Century Boulevard just east of the airport, among them full-service Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Sheraton and Westin properties, reached by shuttle and well used to the international traveller. For a dawn transatlantic departure, one of these is the sensible choice. But Los Angeles’s business life is spread across an enormous city, so for most trips you will stay out where the work is: the Westside or Santa Monica for the coast and the technology district, downtown or Hollywood for those worlds, often a considerable drive from the airport. Given the distances and the traffic, the location of your hotel relative to both your meetings and the airport matters a great deal, so plan it carefully and allow generously for the drive back to LAX.

Connecting onward

LAX is a significant hub for American, United and Delta, and a major Pacific gateway, so the UK traveller may well connect here. The United States makes every arriving international passenger clear the border before going on: there is no airside transit, so you must clear immigration, collect your bags, pass through customs, re-check the bags and clear security again, even on a single ticket. At LAX this can be a particular trial, because the terminals are separate and you may need to travel around the congested horseshoe to your onward flight. Allow an especially generous buffer, lean on Global Entry and the included TSA PreCheck, and go hand-luggage-only where the trip allows. The process is the same at every US gateway, as our JFK guide explains, but LAX’s layout makes it more awkward than most.

The regular’s playbook

The habits of the seasoned LAX flyer distil to this. Sort the ESTA well ahead. Know that Tom Bradley is yours. Get Global Entry. Remember the LAX-it lot for ride-share and taxis. Take the FlyAway for downtown, and the SkyLink and Metro as they open. Budget for tipping, 15 to 20 per cent, and always for the traffic. Use the exceptional Tom Bradley lounges. For an early flight, sleep on Century Boulevard. Connecting onward, allow a long buffer and a possible trip around the horseshoe.

The bigger picture

The defining story at LAX is a transformation decades in the making. The airport is part-way through a modernisation costing many billions of dollars, its centrepiece the long-awaited SkyLink and the new Metro station, driven in part by the deadline of the 2028 Olympic Games, for which the city is racing to improve its transport, just as it prepares to host matches at the 2026 World Cup, covered in our guide to the host cities. For an airport long criticised for its access, it is a turning point. The fundamentals of a US arrival remain as this guide describes them, and the city’s traffic and distances will always demand planning. But the direction is unmistakable: the gateway to the West Coast is improving faster now than at any time in its history.