rylan

If you have to check in and check bags at the airport, then you are at real risk of missing the flight.

If you can do online checkin and arrive with your boarding pass already printed and have a carry on, then you can probably get to the gate with 15-20 min left before departure.

Blumie

OLCI and carry ons only. Thanks.

sweeper20

Its still tough... Those flights typically go out of the remote gates -19, 20, 21and security at Boston (without status) is hit or miss at best. I went through last Monday and the line (for non elite) I would estimate being at least 20 mins long.

rylan

Agreed... it really depends if they are making everyone go through the useless body scanners or not. Late Fri morning should be better for security, but it can still range anywhere from almost no wait to 20 min at that time.

Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable getting there 45min before departure. I normally arrive at BOS at least 60 min before departure.

tingalex

Yea...security is, indeed, pretty hit-or-miss. You should be able to get away with getting access to the elite line (I swear, do they enforce who can enter the line anyway??) It could still be tough though; you may have to ask other people to let you pass them in the security line. My driver was late picking me up the other day, and I arrived at Logan 45 mins prior to departure -- 5 mins of security through the elite line, and I still ran to the rate to make sure I was there for the beginning of boarding. As I arrived at the gate, they were just starting to board, but I was running pretty quickly through the airport.

Hope to get lucky, and if they won't let you in the elite line, tell them you have a flight you have to make leaving very soon, and they should let you in the line without a problem, IMHO.

Good luck.

rylan

I can't remember the last time I actually saw any of the 'security' actually checking boarding passes or elite cards at the elite line entrance in BOS. Usually there is somebody standing there a having conversation with other line guards or whoever, and are too 'busy' to enforce the line restrictions.

sweeper20

Very true! Also, they let passengers from the non elite line cross over to the elite screening area after they clear the ID portion - it drives me crazy!

avidflyer

Yup. Luckily for me MHT has has some great deals and I have avoided loan for almost 2 months now. The problem is that TSA use the lines as their own tool to shift the load without regard for the Elite line. The elite line was exclusively getting the "benefit" (lol) of the Nude-O-Scope for the first few months it was open. It would take 2x as long to get through the elite line as the regular line. Generally BOS is a great airport with horrible TSA....a lot like my other "home" LAX except LAX is horrible across the board

LoganFlyer

I'd give you a 90% chance of making it. That said, I'd check in advance if there's room on the later BOS-ATL flights just in case. There's one almost every hour, so I wouldn't be too concerned.

cfischer

BOS is the worst DL outstation and nobody takes care of the Elite security lines either in the front or in the back. I am wondering when DL management will finally deal with this continued mess ... I am wondering if the station mangement in BOS is either \incompetent or just ignorant. In the morning I have been waiting > 30 minutes in the Elite security line and I swear that everyone in front of me had a regular non-Elite BP ... mostly college kids.

Blumie

Thanks for the input everyone. I have managed to rearrange my schedule, so I should be able to get to Logan around 1100a, and hopefully parked and in the terminal by 1115a, so I should be fine.

On the subject of access to the elite line, I can report that it's been at least two or three years since I last have been asked to show any proof of status to access the elite line at the AA terminal -- I just adopt a DYKWIA air of confidence and walk right into the line. (I have no objection to showing my credentials, but the line monitors usually are busy chatting with their colleagues, talking on their cell phones, or staring blindly into space.) The same usually works at US, too. So maybe this strategy will work with DL. I'll let you know!

Blumie

On my flight now. I was able to get to Logan around 1100a and there wasn't much of a line at security. I snuck into the elite line just to see if I could, but it didn't save me that much time. The screener in my line was painfully slow, but fortunately they were not using the new body scanners, so the line moved ok.

It's a humbling experience to be top tier on one airline and to fly statusless in Y on another!