Long TSA wait at SEATAC?

No worries, help is on the way. The Port of Seattle is going be bring in contractors to help TSA with the increase in travelers this summer tourist season http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=5c8b23d6ffbe2be83ed5b1e26&id=4f1a02d019&e=a8830033cf

There is a free app called My TSA. You can find wait times at various airports. I just downloaded it today. I am interested to see how it works. I did hear about it on a travel talk show on the radio today.

There is a free app called My TSA. You can find wait times at various airports. I just downloaded it today. I am interested to see how it works. I did hear about it on a travel talk show on the radio today.

I heard about that app too. But when I looked at the reviews, it didn't really have good reviews. The info is based on travelers putting in the info themselves not the TSA so who knows. But that would be great info to have.

Let us know how it works when you use it.

No worries, help is on the way. The Port of Seattle is going be bring in contractors to help TSA with the increase in travelers this summer tourist season http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=5c8b23d6ffbe2be83ed5b1e26&id=4f1a02d019&e=a8830033cf

That is awesome news!! And it looks like it will take place before I get there on our return from sailing. Thanks for sharing!!

The info is based on travelers putting in the info themselves not the TSA so who knows....

That's the same as "Border Buddy" for land crossings - you do it yourself. I don't think it would be abused... people usually like to help each other out. :)

I was watching CNBC yesterday and they had the top TSA person

arrive at O Hare airport and magically all those long line disappeared while he was there.

What I was saying that they were extra careful in checking passengers. Most passengers are not angry that TSA is being extra careful. It is better than having your plane destroyed and you killed.

They would spend a lot of time looking at carry-ons and sometime running the carryons through 2 or 3 times. All passengers were patted down, especially everyone's shoulders. There most of been some threat for TSA to do what they were doing. There are 4 checkpoints at SEA Tac and I always pick the one with the shortest line. Good news, SeaTac just hired 75 temporary contract employees for the cruise season and they are starting this Friday. SeaTac has had a 25% increase in passenger in the last 2 yrs and have have not increased the TSA workforce. The extra revenue from the airlines paid by our ticket purchases went to the City of Seattle for their budget.

is it easy to see which line is shorter?

is it easy to see which line is shorter?

Not particularly. There are Port and TSA employees at the heads of the queues with radios who are actually pretty accurate and informed about which are fastest.

In *general*, 5 is the sneaky one. There is a substantial waiting area behind the ID checker. If 4 is open and allowing non-pre-check passengers, it's usually the one that really moves because it's using the dogs on regular passengers. 2 vs 3 is a toss up. 1 is rarely the right answer on cruise days because there are a large number of, um, *less experienced* passengers which can cause delays.

We flew out of Sea-Tac in March (non-cruise) before the news coverage had ramped up so we were totally unprepared. We were in the security line over an hour and a half. We missed our flight, along with most of the others around us. Fortunately we got rebooked, but instead of flying out at 7:50am, we flew out at 6:30pm. We spent the day chatting with countless other people (different airlines, different destinations) who also missed their flights due to the TSA. One family with 3 young kids had to upgrade 2 of their seats to first class in order to rebook and get out the same day.

Experiences are obviously going to vary. Historically I've never planned to arrive more than an hour early and we've never had problems. I guess there's always "that one time!" ;)

We flew out of SEA yesterday morning. We got there at 3:45 a.m., and they weren't even open yet. They opened at 4, and although there was already a long line we got through very quickly. They were extremely thorough. This was the first time in more than a year so so that I was asked for my bag of liquids, and DH had to take his cpap machine completely out of its case. We even overheard a pilot who irritated that his carry on was subjected to a search.

All of the staff we interacted with were very friendly and upbeat, too.

The contractors running queue management and shuffling bins around and such came online this week. It's definitely part of the solution: peak waits the last couple of days have been under 30 minutes.

The wait time on May 29 around 3:00 was less than 20 minutes. Three cruise ships in port.

Cheers.

We arrived 3 hours early at noon on May 28. We were through security line 3 about 30 minutes later. It's good that Seatac has a variety of places to eat.

The wait time on May 29 around 3:00 was less than 20 minutes. Three cruise ships in port.

Adding to this, SEA-TAC has one security checkpoint exclusively for cruise ship passengers, opened limited hours. Keep your ship's card for reference.

http://www.portseattle.org/Sea-Tac/Traveler-Updates/Pages/Security.aspx

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That one is almost inevitably the worst because, um, many cruise passengers aren't frequent air travelers and their bags often contain things found by screening that have to be removed. The line would have to be 50% shorter to make sense.

We flew from MSP to SEA on May 21. We did have our boarding passes stamped TSA preapproved. We do not pay for it, but seem to get it about 75% of the time. At MSP going out, we walked right up to the TSA agent, no one was in his line. Coming back from SEA on May 29, we waited less than 5 minutes in the TSA line. We had a longer wait to check in luggage at the airline desk. I had downloaded the TSA app, but did not use it at all.

Will be flying in to SEATAC from Vancouver on Alaska Air, changing planes (still on Alaska Air) and on to California. Will we have to go through customs when we change planes in Seattle?

Pretty sure the answer is NO - once your clear US Customs at Vancouver you are considered domestic for the remainder of your US trip.

Hope this helps

Cheers!

Dennis

That process of clearing customs surprised the heck out of us when we cleared US Customers at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Our connection onward to Minneapolis was handled as domestic travel.

As long as I am posting in this old thread about Seattle TSA delays it might be good to p[ass along that with the end of the cruise and vacation seasons TSA has reduced the extra staff they put on to clear the long lines last Spring. Glad I have Pre-Check. ;)

Will be flying in to SEATAC from Vancouver on Alaska Air, changing planes (still on Alaska Air) and on to California. Will we have to go through customs when we change planes in Seattle?

The last time we flew in to Vancouver from Europe we cleared U S Customs in Vancouver. No custom clearing in Seattle.:)

What is PreCheck?

Also, someone mentioned a special TSA line for first-class passengers at Sea-Tac, where is that? We'll be flying first class on Alaska Air (couldn't resist the larger seats for the price) and will gladly take advantage of any other available perks.

The expedited security line is clearly marked. Just go to the TSA area and look for signs or you could easily ask someone.

Pre check refers to TSA precheck. It's a known traveler program that you apply for. Cost is 85.00 for 5 years of access. Some folks get TSA precheck randomly on their boarding pass. You will have expedited access due to being a first class customer and don't need to worry about that for this trip.

I did apply as I travel enough to warrant the low fee and don't have to wait in the big line..:)

Thanks for the info on Precheck. I fly about once every 3-5 years so it doesn't sound like a good investment even if I wasn't flying first class. ;)

Always recommend two hours prior to boarding as ideal and two hours prior to departure as a minimum. A couple of years ago I was flying from Seattle to DFW on first class. Short line to check baggage (supposedly) and short TSA security line. Gate was the closest one to the TSA check point. Husband dropped me at the closest door two hours before departure and I barely made the flight. Last passenger on and the door closed behind me. Most of the time this is not the case but better to be safe than sorry!