Port Canaveral to MCO - travel times and security lines

[Embracedbylife]

Anyone know how a typical holiday of travel looks like heading from the pier to Orlando airport? We are traveling on Monday morning the 17th which is President's day. Any idea of what the airport security lines are like when MCO is busy?

 

Should we figure 1.5 or 2 hours to get from pier to airport? or longer?

 

1.5 hrs or more for security or longer??

Edited February 7, 2014 by Embracedbylife

[megr1125]

A little over an hour to the airport, give or take.

 

Security lines can be VERY long...BUT since they KNOW it will be busy, chances are there will be a LOT of lines open....it moves pretty quickly IIRC...just be sure you've got all your stuff ready....liquids out, shoes off, etc...

 

Even in a LARGE mob, I have never spent more than about 45 minutes in line...YMMV

[Embracedbylife]

Thank you so much. You put my mind at ease a little. I figured about an hour wait would be the worst, so that's what we'll plan for! THankfully I don't have t check any bags!! I heard that there is NO first class security line, is this true? Assuming there isn't then we will be well prepared!

[Capt_BJ]

I live in the vicinity of the port

 

when flying from Orlando I always give myself 3 hours to make the flight, the drive is normally 50 minutes door to door.

 

My last flight there was an accident on SR528 that diverted ALL traffic off. This added significantly to the travel time. I arrived at security with 20 minutes to make my plane and faced a sign that said "wait 60 minutes". Had I not held "TSA-PRE" boarding pass I'd have missed the flight, as it was I made it with less than 5 minutes to spare.

 

528 is the one direct route to the airport. Accidents shut it down routinely.

[Embracedbylife]

Thanks so much for this info!! I think 3hrs and 15 mins will be safe enough, but we'll see so long as the car service is on time. I will be outside a few minutes earlier anyway so hope it'll be ok.

 

Capt_BJ - do you know if there is a first class line at Orlando airport? We are flying back first class so I was hoping this will help with the security line, but one never knows!

Edited February 8, 2014 by Embracedbylife

[Embracedbylife]

I called the airline who told me to speak to MCO TSA and after emailing MCO they replied with "Yes, we do have priority lanes for select passengers from Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, Southwest, Lufthansa, Frontier, AirTran, Copa, British Airways, Delta, Air Canada, American Airlines, Alaska, JetBlue, United and US Airways. Which passengers are eligible to use the priority lanes varies from one airline to another, so please check directly with your airline. "

 

Good info!!

[Capt_BJ]

previous post is 100% correct but don't read too much into it .. as you'd WANT to do

 

you want to read up on TSA PRE

http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck

 

just because you are first class does not mean you'll get TSA PRE ... for many airlines the PRE is an extra cost perk

 

But not ALL ... for SW for example, it has been hooked to the frequent flyer program (I did NOTHING to get TSA PRE qualified on my SW flight)

 

But the rules are many and varied so you need to look into it. Sometimes one member of a party receives a TSA PRE pass and the partner does not .... and a 'bye' for the no person is not part of the program . . .

 

But I've NEVER seen a line in Orlando TSA security marked "first class"