So, how are those Airport waits going?

I flew from Dulles (IAD) to Madrid on Sunday, May 15. I got to the airport about 2:30 for a 6:05 PM flight, just in case. It took me about 23 minutes to go through security. Would have been at least a couple of minutes faster if I had known money belts were a no-no.

I'm not sure this means too much since that hour on a Sunday is probably a low-traffic period.

Security has never given me grief for wearing a money belt. You don't put razors in yours, do you?

Security will give you grief if you have a money belt and you are going through the full body scanner.

Really, they give you grief with a money belt? What do you do, take it off and put it in one of those bins? You must have to watch it like a hawk then...

When I came through SFO in transit from Europe, about a week ago, when going through security for my connecting flight, they required me to take EVERYTHING out of my pockets -- paper money, scraps of paper, comb, etc. First time I remember that. That said, security checks went pretty smoothly and were not bogged down.

There wasn't anything metallic in the money belt, just a little bit of US currency and back-up ATM and credit cards.

That is the difference between a full-body scanner and a metal detector. Money belts are not problem with a metal detector, since they usually don't contain any metal, but with a full-body scanner you are not allowed to have even a Kleenex in your pocket.

People do inadvertently leave a lot of items behind at airport security, so I'd rather wear my money belt. But it's just not possible here at SeaTac Airport, unless you're going through the TSA Pre-Check line. So that means securing valuables in your carry on before entering the security line. You can rearrange things again in the bathroom when you're safely on the other side, if you're not expecting a security check at any later connecting airport.

Another variation of the issue that I had in Paris CDG a few years back was that the metal detector detected something else (maybe a bra wire), so I then had to get a full pat-down, and had to remove my money belt after it was patted.

I had to remove my money belt in Houston when I went through the full body scanner last December. I also had to remove it at Parliament in December. I had to put it on the conveyor belt both times. Fortunately, my daughter and I do not go through the scanner together so she was waiting for it as it came through the scanner.

I think waits are so airport specific and random that any experiences are not really helpful.
I had a flight last Friday from West Palm Beach to Boston, received an email from JetBlue on Wed warning of long lines due to lower number of TSA workers and to arrive at least 2 hours early.
Got there at 8 AM for a 10 AM flight, place was a ghost town. Took about 10 minutes to reach the gate and we sat and waited for the next 2 hours. Better safe than sorry of course.

In Boston there is always a line but lately has been no different than usual, certain times can be bad and others easy so Logan in Boston is very time/day dependent which is mostly random and out of one's control.

Flights recently I have noticed are all at full capacity it seems though. And if you were up for gambles you could lately not pay to check a bag and get it gate checked for free. Every flight the carry-on bins are filling up so they are always asking people to gate check for free.

Last Friday I went through the San Antonio, TX TSA divert lane in 45 seconds!

I agree with m reynolds, individual experiences at airports are less than useless. They are only even slightly predictive for the same airport, at approximately the same time, on the same day of the week, etc.. Someone's experience at Atlanta airport on a Saturday morning is not going to give me any idea what my wait might be at PDX on Wednesday evening. This goes for immigration desk, TSA screening (with or without TSA pre check), changing planes and/or airlines mid-flight, etc.. It's all just very subjective and anecdotal.

Although it is certainly different at individual airports and even terminals there obviously is some consistency. The TSA thinks it's head of security Kelly Hoggan, who was fired in response to "thousands of passengers" missing their flights.

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/05/23/head-of-security-for-us-tsa-removed-from-post/21382441/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl4%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D-1742955396_htmlws-main-bb

So we should see far fewer long lines at security checkpoints, right?

Not so fast: High season is coming. Soon the lines will still be very long because of the steep increase in passengers. The TSA cannot put off hiring more people to do airport security checks.

We went through O'Hare security in late April for a flight to London - and several more airports over a couple of weeks. We followed the guidelines and then some, arriving at ORD about 3.5 hours ahead of our flight. Security check was 5-10 minutes. Way too much time to sit in the bar before the flight. European security lines were all very efficient. Longest wait was for passport control when we arrived back in London from within the EU (Italy), maybe 20 minutes. Customs agent in FCO seemed downright upset that people were bothering him by visiting Rome. Other than that every time we had contact with airlines or security or customs in Europe, the lines were reasonable, moved quickly, and everyone was very pleasant.

My friend missed a domestic flight from LGA (La Guardia) due to extraordinarily long security line during first Saturday of May. I was flying out of DCA (Ronald Reagan National Airport - much smaller than LGA) the same morning to meet up with her at a common destination and did not experience any issues. It's very context specific so I would not try to extrapolate - it seems like a good idea to arrive (extra) early unless you are really risk averse and want to chance missing a flight.

If the Federal Government does not want to spend money to hire more TSA staff, then they should impose a law on airlines that they can no longer charge a baggage fee for the first piece of luggage.

Since the practice of charging baggage fees have become the norm, people are taking everything but the kitchen sink as carry on luggage and that is slowing down the security check process.

Also someone has to explain to me why you need to take your shoes off when you depart from the US, but it's ok to keep shoes on when you come to the US from foreign airports. Do shoe bombs detonate only on outbound flights?

I agree that individual experiences are only just that, and not "transferable." So, for what it's worth, here's mine.

I flew out of ATL on 5/19. I had not only read the stories of 2-3 hour lines, but got a specific warning on my phone from the Delta app about these. So, of course I made sure to get to ATL three hours early.

I was through security in about 2 minutes. Seriously, it usually took me longer before 9/11 than it did that morning. I was so early that I paid $50 to take an earlier flight.

Part of the "trick" was the multiple lines were open, but most people went to the ones directly in front of the boarding pass check, rather than looking left or right to see the much shorter lines. The other thing was, for the first time in several years, I didn't go through the millimeter wave scanner, but instead through a metal detector (other lines were using the scanners).

Leaving San Antonio yesterday (5/23), I again got the airport early. It seemed the TSA Pre-Check lines were longer than the main lines (I don't have Pre-Check). This time, it may have taken 5 minutes (I did get the millimeter wave scan). Lots of time for web-browsing on my phone while waiting for the flight.

I agree with the idea (someone posted it on this Forum) that dealing with airports these days, you can either be panicked or bored. I choose bored, so I get to the airport early.

Since the TSA head of security has been fired in the last 2-3 days and there are Congressional hearings on long waits as we speak, there are definite pain points at certain airports (ORD - Chicago last week was one of them).

My husband and son went through security at Chicago's terminal 5 (international terminal) today in about 5 minutes.....phew!