Triangle Trip

There are nine (9) terminals in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) – Terminals 1 to 9 and Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). Not all LAX terminals have airside connections (i.e., you will need to go through security from TBIT to Terminal 1).

The American Express Centurion Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is located in Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT), which is the main terminal with many international airlines. TBIT has also been recently expanded to include a set of West Gates. The AMEX Centurion Lounge is located on the south side of the TBIT right after TSA Pre-Check. For those who do not have TSA Pre, Clear is also located at the same checkpoint. If you do not have TSA Pre, you will need to go through security at the other end of TBIT.

If you are departing from Terminals 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 and want to access the American Express Centurion Lounge before your flight, we recommend you go through security at TBIT. Below is a chart of estimated walk times to get to your terminals and gates. Allocate more time if you are traveling with children or a slow walker as there are escalators (more walking if they are out of service) that connects these terminals.

The Tom Bradley Terminal (TBIT) is NOT connected to Terminals 1, 2, and 3. This means you will need to go through security at TBIT to access the Amex lounge and go through security at your terminal again for your flights going out of Terminals 1, 2, and 3. As of 2022, LAX Terminal 1 is mostly Southwest flights and Terminals 2 and 3 are Delta flights and its codeshare partners like Virgin. If you’re an American Express Platinum member, you can go to the Delta lounges as an alternative.

United Airlines now operate out of Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) Terminals 6, 7, and 8. Following my previous post on how to get quickly get through LAX security in Terminal 7, this post gives you two more options should the LAX Terminal 7 garage security checkpoint is closed for whatever reason or becomes too crowded.

Option 1 – Use United Premier Line in Terminal 6:  United has their Premier check-in counters and security line in Terminal 6. Unlike LAX Terminal 7 (or other airports), Terminal 6’s security checkpoint does not have a pre-screener to look at your ID or re-validate that you are a United Premier member. If you walk into Terminal 6 and make an immediate left, you will see the United Premier security line. This line is generally empty and connects you to the normal Terminal 7 main security line. However, the Terminal 6 security line is much shorter as it does not wrap around like Terminal 7’s main line. If you do see a pre-screener and he/she does not let you go through, just tell him/her that you were dropped off by the rental car bus and have to catch the flight that’s in an hour. If that fails, go to Option 2.

Option 2 – use LAX Terminal 6’s TSA security line to get to Terminals 7 and 8:  This option will require some walking. Terminal 6’s normal TSA security is to the right of United Premier check-in. LAX Terminal 6 does not have many big airlines (AirTran, Continental, Spirit, Virgin America, etc.) so the security lines are generally shorter than Terminal 7. After you have cleared the Terminal 6 security line, make a left and walk through a tunnel that connects you to Terminal 7.

For your convenience, below is a map of LAX highlighting the United Terminals. I have labeled locations for Options #1 and #2 in red.

LAX United Terminal Map

I have tried both options and both worked like a charm. I was at LAX at 3:20PM to catch a 4PM flight and there was no pre-screener at the United Premier security line in Terminal 6. I bypassed the normal Terminal 7 pre-screening and the long wrap around line. I have also tried go through security at Terminal 6 and walking back to Terminal 7. The entire process (clearing security to walking to the gate) took less than 15 minutes as no one uses the TSA security lines in Terminal 6.

I am still waiting for Clear to show up at the world’s 6th busiest airport. Here’s a link to my previous post regarding this topic. I would also like to give credit to Statusmonger for telling me about the United Terminal 6 secret.

We all know that Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is one of the worst airports in the US (see why in our previous post). LAX’s Terminal 7 belongs to United Airlines (UAL) and it has one of the poorest TSA screening process (maybe the Alaska Airlines terminal 3 is worst). LAX Terminal 7 has the longest lines and the TSA checkpoints don’t have enough room for you to unload your laptop and toiletries before the X-Ray machine.

To avoid the normal UAL security line which normally wraps around 3x, make a left after you entered LAX Terminal 7 and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. There’s a TSA security line right after you exit the elevator which no one knows about. The TSA checkpoint is connected to the short term parking garage that offer quick entry from short term parking. Since most people don’t park in short term at LAX before getting on a flight. Unlike the normal LAX Terminal 7 TSA checkpoint which puts you on one end of the gates (70s), this TSA checkpoint is located in between Terminal 7 and Terminal 8. Upon clearing TSA Security, you will be in between the two terminals where you can take a left for the gates 70 to 79 and make a right for gates 80 to 89 (see map below — the blue line is the TSA security checkpoint). Terminal 8 at LAX is not on any map as it is where UAL has its United Express flights. It could be a long walk if you went through the normal TSA checkpoint and have to get to a gate in the 80s.

I was at LAX yesterday (a Friday night). Both lines were extremely long – they had to shut down the normal line and this secret line I am sharing with you were out to the short term parking lot. How could the WORLD’s US’s 6th busiest airport, the US’s second largest city and fourth busiest airport be opearting this way?  … and to add fuel to this fire, there’s still no (Fly) Clear service at LAX. I have not used my Clear membership for the past two months due to lack of Clear locations.