Holiday travel at LAX: busy days, timing and pickups

LAX publishes a forecast before each major holiday, and the pattern is consistent. For Thanksgiving 2025, the airport expected nearly 2.5 million guests from Thursday, November 20, through Monday, December 1, with Sunday, November 30 the single busiest day at more than 230,000 guests. For the 2024 to 2025 winter holidays, it expected more than 3.2 million passengers from December 19 through January 2, with peak volumes on December 21, 27 and 30 and January 2.

The 2026 forecasts were not yet published when this guide was updated. In recent years the airport released its Thanksgiving forecast a few days before the holiday and its winter forecast just before Christmas, so check the LAWA news page in the week you fly. Until then, plan as if the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the days around Christmas and New Year will again be the heaviest.

LAX advises allowing at least two hours before departure, and three for international flights, and those numbers matter most on holiday peaks. The airport has warned that its parking facilities are expected to reach capacity on the busiest travel days, one reason many travelers choose to be dropped off. Add the high end of your neighborhood's drive range from our departure timing guide, then a little more for the loop around the terminals.

The freeways that feed the airport carry holiday traffic too, and a slow drive eats into the airport time you planned. If your flight falls on one of the forecast peak days, book the pickup at the early end of what the formula gives you. Arriving early at a holiday airport is an inconvenience, while arriving late can mean rebooking.

LAX is in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar modernization, and its construction usually pauses for the peak holidays. The airport's alerts have listed a Thanksgiving roadway construction moratorium, November 21 to December 1 in 2025, and a Christmas and New Year moratorium for the Central Terminal Area. Fewer lane closures do not mean light traffic, though, because the terminal loop carries holiday volumes all day.

Terminal 5 remains closed for construction, with reopening anticipated in 2028, and SkyLink, the new airport train, was still in testing when this guide was updated. Check your airline's terminal before the trip, and see our terminal-by-terminal guide for where each airline checks in.

If relatives are flying in for the holidays, book their pickup with the airline and flight number. The chauffeur monitors the flight and arrives based on the actual landing time, which matters when winter weather elsewhere in the country delays departures. Domestic arrivals include a complimentary waiting period after landing, and international arrivals include 45 to 60 minutes.

For grandparents or first-time visitors, Meet & Greet includes up to one hour of terminal waiting, so the chauffeur meets them inside the terminal instead of at a crowded curb. The airport also suggests checking the arrival terminal before heading out, which is worth doing before you pass the details to your guests. Our delayed flight guide covers what happens when a holiday flight runs late.

Reserve as soon as your flights are set, and earlier still for a larger vehicle such as the Mercedes Sprinter Van. A reservation is confirmed once payment is completed and the confirmation e-mail arrives, and a saved quote is not a reservation. Holiday luggage grows with gifts, so count bags generously when you choose the vehicle.

Under the booking terms all sales are final, with refunds considered case by case for cancellations received 24 to 48 hours before pickup, so book once your plans are firm. If several relatives land at different times, book a separate pickup for each flight, so each one follows its own landing time instead of one long wait.

Run through this list a week before you travel, and again the day before. It takes a few minutes and covers the details that cause most holiday delays, from a missing flight number to a vehicle that is one bag too small. Keep the confirmation e-mail where you can find it offline, too.

• Check the airport's holiday forecast and construction alerts the week you fly
• Use the two-hour domestic and three-hour international advice, plus the high end of your drive
• Add flight numbers to every arrival pickup
• Book round trips together so both legs are linked
• Count gifts and extra bags when you choose the vehicle
• Keep phones charged and on for chauffeur messages