… was actually a pretty nice place to be first thing this morning! I HATE having to come into or go out of LAX as it’s usually a bloody nightmare. Not so this morning — at least part of it.
We touched down around 7:30am as scheduled, but we couldn’t get off the plane until 7:50 even though we were at the gate and the jetway doors were lined up by 7:40 (I have no idea what the hold up was).
Because this aircraft (A380) is so huge and it’s two storeys high and there’s a jetway for both storeys, I think we were in a different part of LAX. It was a LONG walk through a major construction zone (are they EVER going to finish that airport? They’ve been in construction mode every time I’ve landed there since 1993!). When we got to immigration, they was much joy (in my heart anyway) — we were the only plane being processed! Yay! Last time I landed at LAX it was just after a couple of 747s came in from Korea and South America and the immigration lines were very long and very very slow.
Anyhow, immigration took seconds, the bags came through nice and quick, and I was waved through customs.
I was out in the street, on a rental car shuttle bus, and had signed up for the rental car by 8:20am! That has to be a record!! Maybe it’s the downturn in the economy, maybe we were just lucky. Whatever. My experience meter at LAX just went into positive territory.
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 
Hope I get the same experience (immigration wise) when I go through LAX on my way to Atlanta! I’m getting the A380 from Sydney, which will arrive in Tom Bradley (last time I got routed through Syd thenight before, and arrive in T4, and immigration there, though a very small area, was much faster than Tom Bradley!).
That’s funny! Remember how you said you thought I flew back to Australia on the same A380 that you flew into LAX on? I think we did. When we arrived in Melbourne they couldn’t attach the jetway to the plane and we all had to exit via the lower level using the stairs in first class.
It really is a small world, one day we’ll stop just missing each other and actually meet!