Long TSA wait at SEATAC?

[Montana]

News has been discussing long wait through TSA at airports. Wondering about Seattle.

[Blondie008]

Whats TSA?:confused:

[VibeGuy]

Super-variable. Waits as long as two hours on random Tuesdays, other days ten minutes with everyone getting Managed Inclusion I (dog sniffing turning an entire line into everything-stays-in-bags, shoes and belts on, no body scan).

 

The last couple of weeks have apparently been somewhat better. We haven't had any three-ship days yet though. Traffic from Seattle is expected to be up around 10% over last summer thanks to some brutal fare competition and expansion of Seattle flying by Delta.

 

Allow time, consider PreChek, look for the shortest security line as all gates are accessible from all lines.

[Roz]

Blondie,

 

I see you're in Scotland. :D TSA is the Transportation Security Administration here in the States. They conduct the passenger security screenings at US airports.

 

Roz

[mtwingcpa]

FWIW, there have been a handful of local news reports about long delays at SEATAC in the last couple of weeks. I haven't experienced it first hand, but I would be prepared for anything.

[FritzG]

We have a 6 a.m. Flight on Monday, May 23. Are very early Monday mornings a busy time?

[Roz]

Monday mornings at all airports seem to busy - a lot of business travelers getting to their work destination for that week.

 

Roz

[Langley Cruisers]

Since we got Nexus/Trusted Traveler, we are pleased with the reduced wait time, but indeed, SEA TAC has some of the longest wait times we have ever experienced. Ugh, so frustrating. And I concur with member mtwingcpa, the news channels have been reporting the longer lines in recent weeks.

 

OP, what time is your flight out? Are you concerned? Is this after a cruise?

[crzndeb]

I just flew out of Seatac on the 10th and it was not bad. I was there at about 0830, and did have TSA Precheck (never paid for it, just always get lucky) which took less than 10 mins. The regular lines weren't bad at all either. Were moving quickly. I would say no longer than 20 mins.

Edited May 14, 2016 by crzndeb

[FritzG]

Since we got Nexus/Trusted Traveler, we are pleased with the reduced wait time, but indeed, SEA TAC has some of the longest wait times we have ever experienced. Ugh, so frustrating. And I concur with member mtwingcpa, the news channels have been reporting the longer lines in recent weeks.

 

OP, what time is your flight out? Are you concerned? Is this after a cruise?

 

Our flight is at 6:03 a.m. We're staying over one night post cruise.

[mapleleaves]

Checkpoint warning for the port:

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

 

Keep in mind that you can use ANY TSA checkpoint at SeaTac, not just the one closest to your gate. This is especially important if you arrive by shuttle where bus loads are dropped at the south end and go to checkpoint #1 which is the first one they see.... send someone ahead to check out the other checkpoints.

 

Hours and map:

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

[Langley Cruisers]

Our flight is at 6:03 a.m. We're staying over one night post cruise.

 

Yes. I was actually addressing my question to "Montana", who started this thread. S/he did not say what time the flight was. For you flying at 6, I think you should be there by 4 am or so, and then once through security you can have a coffee and breakfast. I know it's not an ideal start to your day, but better to be safely through and have extra time.

 

Checkpoint warning for the port: http://www.portseattle.org/Sea-Tac/Traveler-Updates/Pages/default.aspx

 

Thanks for those links. Yes, indeed, the first one says:

 

"The busiest times at TSA checkpoints typically are between 5 -11 a.m."

.

.

[iluvcruzin]

We have a 6 a.m. Flight on Monday, May 23. Are very early Monday mornings a busy time?

 

I flew out on Monday May 2nd early morning. It was fairly busy then but will be more so later in the month when Alaska cruise season is in full swing. Plan according to your boarding time not flight time. Sometimes this is 30-45 mins. before depending on plane size. Before 4am would be my recommendation.

[FritzG]

I flew out on Monday May 2nd early morning. It was fairly busy then but will be more so later in the month when Alaska cruise season is in full swing. Plan according to your boarding time not flight time. Sometimes this is 30-45 mins. before depending on plane size. Before 4am would be my recommendation.

 

Thanks, that's our plan. We'll be at an airport hotel, and we plan to get the shuttle at 3:30.

[notentirelynormal]

We flew out of Seattle for LA on May 2nd. Our flight was around 10:30 (we opted for an earlier flight since we got there so early) and the TSA line was so much longer then the regular that we took the non TSA precheck and even with having to take off the shoes, rummage through carry on looking for the laptop it was a breeze checking through. There must have been a hundred people in that line. We went right to the front in the non precheck line. Everyone and their brother was in the pre-check line.

[Blondie008]

Blondie,

 

I see you're in Scotland. :D TSA is the Transportation Security Administration here in the States. They conduct the passenger security screenings at US airports.

 

Roz

 

Thank you for explaining :)

[P.A.]

Was wondering about this as well. We'll be returning from a cruise (Pier 91) on Fri, June 3rd and our flight is at 11:35am. We will do a walk off with our luggage so hopefully off by 7:30am then taking a taxi to airport. I'm saying a prayer!!

Edited May 18, 2016 by P.A.

[cruisinfanatic]

Was wondering about this as well. We'll be returning from a cruise (Pier 91) on Fri, June 3rd and our flight is at 11:35am. We will do a walk off with our luggage so hopefully off by 7:30am then taking a taxi to airport. I'm saying a prayer!!

don't see why that would be a problem at all

[chewap]

News has been discussing long wait through TSA at airports. Wondering about Seattle.

 

I went through SeaTac last week and it took about 20 minutes at 11 AM. It seemed that TSA deliberately was having a slowdown. TSA would run many carryon bags through twice. Everyone had a pat down, first time for me. I usually get a Precheck, but this time no Precheck.

[Roz]

Why would they deliberately slow things down and make people angry?

 

Roz

[P.A.]

don't see why that would be a problem at all

 

I hope your right!! THANKS!

[jimsig]

Why would they deliberately slow things down and make people angry?

 

Roz

 

From what I have heard the have cut the number of TSA agents as they thought more people would have signed up for Pre-Check by now. I'm not saying they are but by slowing things down and making people angry those people may complain to their Rep's and Senators. By having people complain the agents may be hoping that more people would be hired.

[sherryf]

I flew out of SeaTac April 26, mid morning. That was before cruise season, so things could be worse since then. When we headed toward security, an employee sent us down to a different checkpoint, saying it would be faster. When we got there, they told us to not bother taking out laptops, but we still had to take off our shoes. In our group of 10 (2 adults and 8 high school students) two got Pre-check, but that really didn't do us much good since they just had to wait for us on the other side. We all got through within about 20 minutes. We were only slightly held up by the kid carrying a robot intake mechanism in his carry-on. :rolleyes: We had plenty of time to grab some Ivar's before heading to our gate.

 

We waited longer in the TSA line in St. Louis on our way home 5 days later.

[mrsjetpup]

I live in Washington and fly in and out of SeaTac all the time. (Just flew from there today). Typically TSA lines are about 20-40 minutes for the general boarding lines. Of course something can back it up, and they never seem to have all of the checkpoints opened. Today it took me about 25 mins from the time I got in line to being all done and back with my stuff. I've never waited more than about 40 minutes, but have never walked right up like at some airports, unless I was booked in first class.

[chewap]

Why would they deliberately slow things down and make people angry?

 

Roz

 

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.