LAX Airport Guide 2027

LAX at a glance

Every row below was checked against LAX's own published information on November 10, 2026. Where LAX publishes no figure, this guide says so rather than filling the gap.

This is a guide to Los Angeles International Airport as it stands going into 2027 — a working airport in the middle of a rebuild. If you are flying through LAX and want to know where to park, which lounge is in which terminal, what is open before security, or whether that train everyone keeps mentioning is running yet, this page answers it. The date it was checked is on the page because airport facts go stale fast.

What changes at LAX in 2027

Any LAX airport guide written before 2026 is now partly wrong, because the airport is roughly halfway through the largest rebuild in its history — 29 active projects, against an approved capital program LAX puts at $24.4 billion. Three of those projects will change how your trip feels.

SkyLink, the airport train, is still not open

SkyLink is the LAX people mover — the elevated train that will finally connect the terminals to parking, the Metro station and the rental cars. It will run six stations along 2.25 miles of elevated guideway — three inside the Central Terminal Area and three outside it, serving Economy Parking, the LAX/Metro Transit Center and the Rental Car Center at its eastern end. When it opens it will run 24/7 and be free, not just for ticketed passengers but for staff and for anyone dropping off or collecting someone.

It is not open. As of November 10, 2026, LAX's own ground transportation page still introduces it as "everything you need to know about the train before it opens." Opening dates have been targeted and missed before, and LAX does not currently publish one. Our own LAX terminal map records the latest target as January 2027, not confirmed. Treat that as a target and not a timetable. Until it runs, those connections are made by shuttle bus.

Terminal 5 is gone, and LAX has not said when it is back

Terminal 5 closed in October 2025. It is not being refurbished; LAX says it is being demolished and rebuilt from the ground up as a 15-gate terminal. LAX publishes no reopening year. Our own LAX terminal map, re-verified on November 7, 2026, records an expected return in 2028, and that is the figure to plan around until the airport states one. Its airlines moved out. If you are holding an old guide, a cached map, or even an AI answer that lists airlines departing Terminal 5, it is wrong — LAX's own dining and shopping filter does not even offer Terminal 5 as an option any more.

The rest of the work you will actually notice

LAX construction is not confined to Terminal 5. Terminal 4's modernization topped out in May 2026 and the Tom Bradley refresh is underway, so both are still active work sites. The Midfield Satellite Concourse North will add 12 gates. The landmark pylons at the Century Boulevard entrance came down in January 2026. The practical effect is simple: the horseshoe has less room in it than it used to, and that is felt most at the curb.

LAX terminals and the airport map

The LAX airport map is simpler than its reputation. Nine terminals sit around a two-level horseshoe. Departures are upstairs. Arrivals, baggage claim and almost every ground transport option are downstairs. Terminals 1 to 8 run in order around the loop, with Terminal B — the Tom Bradley International Terminal — in the middle, between Terminals 3 and 4. Every terminal is connected after security, so once you are through screening you can walk between them; LAX suggests allowing 10 to 15 minutes per terminal.

Which airline uses which terminal changes more often than anything else at this airport, and it changed again when Terminal 5 closed. We keep that in one place and re-check it rather than repeating it here — see our LAX terminal map, which carries the current airline-by-terminal list with the date it was last verified.

LAX parking: every option and what it costs

Parking is easy to get wrong at LAX, usually by defaulting to the terminal structures, and it is the part of this LAX airport guide worth reading twice. There are four tiers and the gap between them is large.

Cheap parking at LAX

Cheap parking at LAX really comes down to one lot. LAX Budget Parking is the cheapest official option at $20 for 24 hours, with more than 2,000 uncovered spaces and a free shuttle to the terminals every 20 to 25 minutes. It is frequently left out of LAX guides altogether, which is how people end up paying three times as much. There are no EV chargers there.

LAX Economy Parking

Economy is the middle choice at $35 a day, with over 4,000 spaces and 514 EV chargers. The shuttle runs 24 hours, picking up on Level 1 of the garage and, back at the airport, at the pink LAX Shuttle zones on the Arrivals level.

Terminal and valet parking

The structures opposite the terminals cost $9 for the first hour and $7 per half hour after, up to $60 per 24 hours. P3 and P4 cost more by the hour — $11 for the first hour, then $9 per half hour — with the same $60 daily maximum. Premium spaces on the Arrivals level of P1, P3 and P7 are $70 a day. LAX valet parking, at P1, P3, P4 and P7, is $75 a day with a 24-hour minimum — so a six-hour valet stay still costs $75.

Two details worth knowing. Every terminal structure gives you 10 minutes free, which is enough to collect someone who is genuinely already outside. And the structures have real height limits: 6 ft 10 in at P2B, 7 ft at P5 and P7, 7 ft 6 in at P1, P3 and P4. A tall van does not fit.

EV charging

LAX has added more than 1,200 chargers across the terminal garages and Economy. Charging is $2 per session plus $0.45 per kWh on Level 2, or $0.80 per kWh on DC fast, and there are no idle fees — you can leave the car plugged in for the trip.

Waiting for an arrival without paying

There are two free cell phone waiting lots: the 96th Street lot at 6217 96th Street, with 100 spaces, and the Century lot at 5800 W Century Boulevard, with 23. Both are free for up to two hours, open around the clock, and you must stay with the car. Note that commercial and ride-service vehicles are not allowed in either — which is why a licensed chauffeur does not use them. More in our LAX cell phone lot guide.

LAX lounges, by terminal

LAX lists 17 lounges. Eight of them are in Terminal B — the LAX Centurion Lounge among them — which is a good reason to walk there on a long connection if your access allows it. Note the oddity at the bottom of the list: the only LAX lounge sitting before security is the Delta One Lounge in Terminal 2.

One thing to be careful about. LAX publishes the lounges, but not the rules — no access price, no membership terms, nothing about which cards or fares get you in. That includes the LAX Priority Pass lounge question people ask most: the airport does not say which of these accept it. You will see day-pass figures quoted confidently in other guides. We are not repeating them, because the airport does not publish them and we have not verified them with the operators. Check with the lounge or your airline before you count on getting in.

LAX restaurants and food

LAX airport food runs to around 75 outlets, and they are overwhelmingly after security.

The four places you can eat before security

This is the part worth knowing if you are meeting someone, dropping someone off, or arriving and waiting. Across the entire airport, only four outlets are listed before the checkpoint:

• 7-Eleven — Terminal 1
• Dunkin' — Terminal 7
• Starbucks (Arrivals) — Terminal 6
• WPizza by Wolfgang Puck — Terminal B

Everything else requires a boarding pass.

Past security, by terminal

LAX airport hotels and how their shuttles work

The LAX airport hotels sit in a row on West Century Boulevard, a few minutes from the loop:

• Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport — 6225 West Century Boulevard. Runs a free shuttle to and from LAX.
• H Hotel Los Angeles, Curio Collection by Hilton — 6151 West Century Boulevard.
• Los Angeles Airport Marriott — 5855 West Century Boulevard. Runs a free shuttle to and from LAX.

The bit that catches people out. Hotel shuttles do not collect from the arrivals curb where you landed. LAX puts it plainly: shuttle stops for hotels and for privately operated off-airport parking lots are on the Upper/Departures Level, marked by red curbside pylons. So after you collect your bags downstairs, you go back up to catch a hotel shuttle. Taxis, ride apps and prearranged cars are all downstairs. It is an easy wrong turn to make — and the reason a prearranged LAX car service meets you on the level you are already on.

We are not publishing shuttle frequencies. You will see them quoted confidently elsewhere, including by Google's own AI summary, but no hotel states one on its own page, so we are not passing a number along that we could not check.

LAX amenities: first aid, animals, money and Wi-Fi

This LAX airport guide lists what the airport itself publishes, and says plainly where it does not publish anything.

• First aid. There is one First Aid Station, in Tom Bradley / Terminal B on the upper Departures level, staffed Monday to Thursday, 10am to 8pm. When it is unstaffed there are two phones outside it for medical help. Defibrillators are positioned at security posts past screening and carried on bicycle patrols. For an emergency inside the airport, contact any airline employee or Airport Police.
• Animals. LAX runs a therapy-dog program called Pets Unstressing Passengers (PUP), and publishes animal relief stations — the LAX pet relief area list is on the airport's own site, by terminal.
• Money. LAX publishes ATMs and a LAX currency exchange and business services section. We could not read a terminal-by-terminal list of either on LAX's site, so check the terminal page for your flight rather than assuming.
• LAX free Wi-Fi, nursing rooms and water. LAX publishes these per terminal rather than centrally; check the terminal page for the one you are flying from.
• Lost property. LAX runs a LAX Lost and Found for property left at the airport.
• LAX wheelchair assistance. LAX publishes its disability provisions on its own site. Note separately that iRide360's own vehicles have no ramp or lift; see below.
• Long layovers. LAX sleeping pods come up often in searches. LAX does not publish any, and we have not verified a provider, so we are not sending you to one.

Getting out of LAX, and where the rest of this LAX airport guide points you

Everything that moves you away from the airport leaves from the lower Arrivals level, with the one exception above. Rather than re-run comparisons we have already done properly, here is where to go:

• How long it all takes — How long does it take to get through LAX?
• Every option ranked by real time — The fastest way out of LAX
• Every option priced — The real cost of LAX ground transport
• The train and the bus — Taking the Metro from LAX · The LAX FlyAway bus
• Uber and Lyft, and the LAX-it lot — Rideshare at LAX
• Arriving and finding your way out — LAX arrival guide

What a private car from LAX costs

An iRide360 car from LAX starts at $119 in an executive sedan and $142 in a luxury SUV. Those are real figures from our own booking screen, not estimates, and they exclude the optional gratuity. What you pay depends on where you are going, the vehicle, the time, any extra stops and any child seats — not on traffic and not on demand. The price is fixed when you book, tolls and taxes are already in it, and it does not move afterwards.

For the exact figure to a specific address, the booking page prices it in a few seconds, and our individual route pages carry the fare for that destination — for example LAX to Beverly Hills or LAX to Santa Monica.

What is included: 60 minutes of complimentary wait after you land, flight tracking so your pickup moves with a delayed flight at no charge, and 15 minutes of wait on non-airport pickups. Extras are priced up front: meet-and-greet inside the terminal with a name sign at $25, child seats from $25 each, and a $25 pet fee that never applies to a service animal.

Who operates your ride

iRide360 is a CPUC-licensed black car and chauffeur service based in El Segundo near LAX, and a California CPUC charter-party carrier, TCP 43833-A.

• California CPUC charter-party carrier TCP 43833-A.
• Every iRide360 vehicle carries at least $750,000 in liability insurance.
• Every chauffeur, including our affiliate partners', is screened and background-checked.
• Your ride is operated by iRide360 or a vetted, licensed affiliate partner.
• Before any partner goes live, we run a background check, verify the driver's license with the DMV, confirm insurance, and review a vehicle inspection report.

We meet you on the lower Arrivals level, or inside with a name sign if you choose meet-and-greet. We do not use the LAX-it rideshare lot. Our office is near LAX, and we are rated 5.0 on Google.

A note on what we are not: our two vehicle classes are an executive sedan and a luxury SUV, and neither has a ramp or a lift, so there is no vehicle you can ride in while seated in your own chair. A guest's own wheelchair can be carried and stowed in the luggage space — the luxury SUV is the vehicle with the room for it — and it takes up luggage capacity, so count it when choosing the class. Anything beyond that, call dispatch and we will tell you straight.

LAX airport FAQs

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