The short answer is… sort of? It’s not really “secret” in that it’s pretty well known that there’s a tunnel system underneath the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) terminals post-security (although I don’t think this existed back in 2017 when Ariel and I went to New Zealand), but exactly HOW to navigate this dungeon-like maze is really confusing. There’s no guide anywhere and only a rather unhelpful map of the airport that is extremely light on details. The various lounge/points review websites also don’t tell you how realistic it is to pull it off, but I did it and I want to share with you how I did, so you can too — without wandering around in circles like I did at first.

First… some quick background. LAX is an absolutely massive airport with terminals that are labyrinths themselves. LAX was also heavily integral to the show LOST, which was very much into at its peak. It’s also a gateway to the Pacific, and such far flung locales as New Zealand, Hawaii, and Tahiti. Afiel and I traveled through LAX on all of our trips to further points westward.

And if you’re like me, and enjoy finding your own Rivendell amidst the chaos of air travel, finding somewhere quiet to relax before a flight is almost as important as arriving at your destination on time. Some terminals have lounges, and some do not. For example if you’re flying United out of LAX and want to hang out at a United Lounge, the terminal to do that is terminal 7. But some United flights (like the one I flew out of recently) go out from terminal 6. If you want to access the United Club, just look for an escalator into the tunnel system and walk over the terminal 7 – it’s about 5-10 minutes depending on how hard you hustle.

But if you’re like me and have an AMEX platinum card and don’t want to pay for United lounge access (which outside of Newark is often among the worst of the lounge options) the only option is aaaaaallllllllll the way in Terminal B on the international side of LAX. Normally it’s not worth doing this, but if your flight is hypothetically delayed by 3 hours and you have nothing better to do, it’s about a 20-30 minute walk in each direction, that is kind of an insane experience in and of itself. And if you’re in terminals 3 or 4 it’s a much shorter walk.

Another option is to enter the airport via the Tom Bradley International (Terminal B) entrance and just head right over the Centurion Lounge if you know in advance you will have at least 60-90 minutes to kill. This is BY FAR the better option because the Centurion Lounge is right past security and anyone with a boarding pass at LAX can enter via Terminal B, which is (not-so-easily) connected to terminals 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 via tunnel. There’s also a way to get to terminals 1 and 2 post security but I didn’t go that way so I can’t speak to the experience. Note that there USED be a proper Priority Pass-aligned lounge in Terminal B but the KAL lounge has cut off access to *Priorty Pass members so don’t waste your time if you have that program.

In any case, if you’re flying out out of terminals 3 or 4 it’s no real issue, because it’s only about a 10 minute walk or so. But if you’re in the further reaches of LAX (Terminals 5+) the back/forth can be really taxing, and the time consumed makes it questionable at best, unless you really are trapped in an atrocious delay. But if, like me, you had 2+ hours to kill, it can work! If you’re willing to hustle…

So here’s what to do.

Get dropped off at Terminal B (Tom Bradley International terminal). Go through security, and right when you get to the main area, you’ll walk right past the Centurion Lounge. That’s it, now enjoy yourself for as long as you’re willing to risk it. A good timetable would be if you’re at Terminal 5, leave about 15-20 minutes before boarding. Terminal 6, 25-30 minutes. And then add another 10 minutes for each terminal beyond that.

If you regularly get to the airport about 60-90 minutes before a flight (or 2+ hours like they tell you), that gives you about 20-60 minutes at the lounge to at least eat/drink/use the facilities quickly depending on how fast you get through security and how long you have to walk. And if there’s a delay (like I had) you’ll have plenty more time to relax. If nothing else, I’d rather get some free food/drink instead of paying absurd airport prices or buying airplane food. Even though this is definitely one of the lesser Centurion Lounges in the system, their food can’t be beat vs just about anything else in the airport.

Ok so you’ve had your fill and now it’s time to go.

After you exit the lounge the journey begins. From here you’ll want to go the floor above the Centurion Lounge and start following signs to your terminal. At this point you are ABOVE ground level. If you’re going to Terminal 3 you’re already almost there as it’s just one bridge away. Note that the connections to Terminals 3, 2, and 1 are on the opposite sides of the connection to Terminals 4 and beyond.

As you cross the bridge to Terminal 4, you then take a down escalator and then follow signs to your gate. However, if you’re going beyond that, your journey is just getting started.

Continue following signs to the LONG down escalator from Terminal 4 to the further reaches of the airport. At this point you are going to stay underground until you get to your final destination. Unlike the bridge situation, the underground tunnels are more similar to the New York subway or DC Metro. You keep moving beneath terminals until you come to the escalator you need to take up.

HOWEVER! The most important thing is to PAY ATTENTION to where you’re going. At every terminal you pass, you will have THREE options:

1. Take the up escalator to the terminal itself.
2. Veer LEFT (or right if you’re going in the opposite direction) to baggage claim/ground transportation.
3. Continue straight to the next tunnel/terminal.

This is really important because these tunnels are LONG. If you make a mistake and don’t realize until you get to the other end, you could EASILY lose 10 minutes backtracking to where you started.

It’s really not very intuitive so keep your eyes peeled for signs as there are actually a lot of distractions in the bridges/tunnels. There are some fun facts about aviation history, some about where various airlines fly to, and other random exhibits.

At one point I walked through what I assume is the Mines of Moria section, where the ceiling, tile floor, and walls disappear and give way to pipes/HVAC, bare sheetrock, and plain concrete. Maybe that’s part of a renovation, but I don’t know.

Also VERY important – do a reality check on where your departure gate is BEFORE going into the tunnels. For example, when I told the hotel shuttle I was taking United, he told me I needed to go to Terminal 7 (which is the United hub), but actually I was at the very end of Terminal 6. Later when things went pear shaped with my flight and I had to hustle to try and catch an American Airlines flight, I looked on the map and saw they fly out of Terminal 5, but my flight was actually out of gate 48 (Terminal 4). So after running up the escalator in Terminal 5 only 30 minutes before departure time I saw on a screen I was in the wrong place so had to run down and hustle over to Terminal 4, which was another 10 minutes away and I ended up getting to the gate just 2 minutes before the flight closed.

The longest tunnel seemed to be between terminals 5 and 6, after which you enter an area that really does look like an NYC subway station. From there it was TWO more escalators to get to my the end of Terminal 6 where my original flight was leaving from.

All in all it was about 25 minute or so commute at a fairly brisk pace from my seat at the lounge to the top of the final escalator, with each terminal being about 5-7 minutes to get across (including the entirety of Terminal B). Had I started at Thomas Bradley this would have been worth it for sure. But starting where I was, meant I spent a total of about 50 minutes (plus an extra 10 minutes of back and forth as I initially abandoned my quest when I thought it was only going to be a 30 minute delay) with less than 40 minutes in the lounge itself. I mean it was fine, because what else was I going to do with a 2 hour delay, but that’s certainly not the right way to do it.

Finally, there was one LAX employee near each of the terminal exit escalators. I’m not sure if they’re explicitly there to answer questions, but two of them did answer mine.

All in all, this was a lot of work for minimal reward, but if I had known what I know now I would have had a MUCH better experience.

*Honestly I’m not sure why anyone would bother with Priority Pass at this point. Especially if you’re mostly traveling within the USA.