[bcrdukes]

I don't think Uber is allowed to pick passengers up at LAX anymore. The laws keep on changing, so I don't know the situation anymore (it's out of control.) Make sure you do your research before taking Uber. Pidish seems very insistent on you using it, so your mileage may vary. You could take the car rental shuttles and have the Uber pick you up there, but I'll leave that for you to decide. It isn't something I would do on a personal basis.

murd0c - It's your call, really. 7 hours is a lot of time to kill, but it flies once you're in LA traffic especially if you know it will be well over 3pm when you land in LA. In which case, I would pass on it.

If you really want to stay in the vicinity, I would at most go out for an In & Out Burger on Sepulveda which isn't far from the airport, however, I do not suggest walking there. Not going to Santa Monica isn't the end of the world, so it's best you make the judgement call.

Terminal 2 at LAX was gutted, but I can fully assure you that it's fully renovated, so you have a few restaurants to eat at or there are airline lounges upstairs (if you're allowed to buy in.)

Terminal 7 and 8 for United - You don't go through customs because you're already in the US; you go through a security check point. It's a real fucking gong show there and they operate at capacity with only 2 lines for regular folk, and 1 for TSA Pre-check qualified travelers. It can take forever because that terminal is huge and only serves United. Have you ever played "Snake" on an old Nokia phone? Yeah, that's what it's like when the line ups for the security check point are like when they're at capacity.

If your flight back home is on Air Canada at Terminal 2, security check point is relatively fast. I'm in LA very often so I know the city very well and how LAX operates. In fact, I was just there over the weekend. Hope that helps.