On our trip to Hawaii, I booked flights with Delta for 17,500 SkyMiles and $5.60 each. As the flight got closer, Delta changed our flights and a 45-minute layover became a 4 hour stop at LAX. I pondered if it was worth trying to get SkyClub access and as it turned out, I applied for an AMEX Platinum card.
We headed upstairs after arriving at LAX terminal 2, right near the SkyClub. The smaller two clubs were at capacity, so we headed to the larger lounge. After having our boarding passes and vaccination cards checked, we headed into the club. The friendly agent informed us that our flight to Hawaii was leaving from gate 135, which was located in TBIT. We’d have to take the interterminal bus near gate 21B and leave the club 20 minutes before the scheduled boarding time.
We got some breakfast at the club since we’d already been awake for 6 hours with no real food.
About 1 hour before our scheduled boarding time, the SkyClub agents called guests flying to Hawaii to the counter to get their wristbands. Having these saved us a great amount of time once we landed in Kauai and shows why having club access is worth so much more than just getting free trail mix.
With our bags in hand, we left the club 30 minutes before the boarding time and walked through the terminal to gate 21B, which took a few minutes.
From there, we had to walk down a long hallway that led to the bus station.
At this point, I stopped taking pictures as I was starting to worry about getting on our flight on time. It had taken us 15 minutes to get to this point and we weren’t even on the bus.
We went downstairs and loaded on the bus which entailed a number of employees shouting “DELTA?” as we entered.
Once on the bus, we were on our way. I partly enjoyed driving on the tarmac and getting up close to the planes, while still being worried about our timetable.
That’s when we came to a stop because a Southwest plane was blocking the road. And we waited, and waited and waited. What could we do? We were on a bus, waiting for a jet plane.
Eventually, the bus driver got on the walkie-talkie and spoke to someone who talked to someone who spoke to someone who told the Southwest pilot that they were blocking the road with a bus full of passengers who needed to get to their connecting flights. It was probably only a 5-10 minute delay but it felt like forever.
When we could proceed, we were let off outside the US Immigration center of TBIT, which was empty. We were told we needed to move IMMEDIATELY into the building and up the ramp into the terminal. Do not stop. Do not wait for your party. Exit the bus and walk into the terminal.
I’ve seen what happens to people who don’t listen to orders around US Immigration so we headed up the ramp and into the FAR END of TBIT.
Fortunately, we were leaving from gate 133, located at the end of TBIT. As we walked to the gate, 10 minutes after the scheduled boarding time, they announced Main Cabin 3, which is one level above Basic Economy passengers. We’d usually be boarding with Main Cabin 1 since we have a co-brand Delta credit card. We hoped there’d still be space in the overhead for our bags and there was. We boarded the plane and greeted our rowmate for the 6-hour flight.
I was glad I had filled our water bottles and went to the restroom before leaving the lounge.
I previously read about how terrible the connection between T2 and TBIT was, but I figured the SkyClub agents would know how long it takes to get between terminals. They had no idea we’d hit a traffic jam on the tarmac or that the agents (presumably) would start the boarding process before the scheduled time.
In the end, everything worked out fine. However, we did have some stress during the process. So heads up – if you need to transit terminals with Delta at LAX, give yourself way more time than you’ll think you’ll need.
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