The Best and Worst Airports for Holiday Travel

There’s just over a week to go until the festive travel season comes into the flow and as travelers prepare to take to the nation’s airports, Upgraded Points has unveiled the results of a study that analyzes data from 25 of these facilities by their Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wait times.

With just a little over a week to go until the festive travel season kicks into high gear, Upgraded Points has released the results of a study that analyzed data from 25 of the nation’s airports according to their Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wait times, reports Forbes.

The Methodology

Explaining the methodology behind the survey, the site explained that it used the total passenger boardings at what were the nation’s 25 busiest airports back in 2018. “We used data on security line wait times directly from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which publishes the average wait time for each hour of the day and day of the week. This is based on their historical data, which is updated in 56-day periods. Our data was collected in late spring,” it said, adding further clarification.

While the website admitted that the time of year in which these figures were collected could skew the final results, it said that they offer a comparison of recent travel trends.

After these hourly figures were gathered, the site then worked out both overall and daily wait times.

Offering an even more detailed explanation of how this data was used to rank these airports, the site said, “To find the best and worst times to go through TSA security at each, we searched through every day of the week to find the maximum and minimum average wait time. We only looked at data for 4:00 a.m. through 11:00 p.m. when determining the best time to go through security, as this time period is most realistic for travelers and is when the majority of flights depart.”

While Upgraded Points has offered a very handy interactive map of the results here, it also provided a rundown of the top five best and worst airports in terms of their security line wait times.

The Best Airports for the Shortest Waits

Starting on a positive note, the website’s analysis found that Salt Lake City International (SLC), Washington Dulles International (IAD), Boston Logan International (BOS), Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) and, jointly, Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and Detroit Metropolitan (DTW) airports all came tops in terms of the shortest TSA wait times.

First and foremost, it noted that, “Salt Lake City International Airport has an average security wait time of 9.1 minutes, the shortest wait time on the list by far…If you’re booking a trip that goes through SLC, the best time to go through security at that airport is Wednesday from 6-7 p.m., which had an average wait time of two minutes.”

The worst window of time to be at this airport, it observed, was on a Sunday between 11 p.m. and midnight, when wait times were around 26 minutes.

The runner up in terms of best wait times was Washington Dulles International Airport, which was observed to have an average security wait time of just ten and a half minutes. “Security lines run the quickest on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10-11 p.m. at an average of about 1 minute. On Fridays from 9-10 a.m., however, you’ll wait for about 28 minutes in the security line,” said the site.

Third up was Boston Logan International Airport, which had an average wait time of 10.6 minutes. Analyzing the data from this facility, the site said, “The best time to go through security at Logan Airport is Thursdays at 10-11 p.m., where you’ll only wait around three minutes, whereas the worst time is Friday at 5-6 p.m., where you’ll wait a whooping 45 minutes.”

In fourth place was Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where wait times averaged to around 13 minutes. Offering its advice to passengers, the outlet said, “If you’re heading through MSP, try to book your flight so that you can head through security from 8 – 9 p.m. on a Saturday, and you’ll most likely wait only a minute. If your flight has you departing near 2-3 p.m. on Monday, you have a bit worse luck – the security line will be around 43 minutes long.”

Finally, sharing the fifth place spot were Charlotte Douglas International and Detroit Metropolitan airports, which both had an average wait time of 13.2 minutes. The site advised that, for those passing through the former facility, the optimum time to make their way through screening, “…would be Wednesday from 4-5 a.m. (two-minute wait time), and the worst time would be Thursday from 5-6 p.m. (29 minute wait time).”

For Detroit, the analysis of the data showed that the optimum time here is, “…Tuesday and Thursday from 10-11 p.m. (1 minute wait time), while the worst time would be Sunday from 5-6 a.m. (33 minute wait time).”

The Worst Airports for the Longest Waits

On the flip side, the website showed that, with a wait time of 23.1 minutes, Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) fared the worst when it came to lengthy lines.

“If you’re booking a trip that goes through Newark, the best time to go through TSA would be Friday from 10-11 p.m., which had an average wait time of 15 minutes. The worst time would be Monday from 12-1 p.m., which would have you waiting in security lines for about 60 minutes,” the site advised.

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) showed a delay time of 19.8 minutes, the second lengthiest in the study. However, the site observed that, “The shortest wait time in the security line at IAH is between 5 and 6 a.m. on Wednesday, at eight minutes. The longest wait time in on Sunday from 5-6 p.m. at around 51 minutes.”

Miami International Airport (MIA) came in third place when it came to long delays and showed a time of 19.6 minutes. Sunday night, however, is a good time to speed through the facility, particularly between 10-11 p.m. when waiting time is just eight minutes. Thursdays, however, showed a peak wait of 37 minutes between 4 and 5 a.m.

Fourth up was Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), where waits averaged around 18.2 minutes. The website observed that waiting times at this airport were a lot longer than at Washington-Dulles Airport, which it suggested as an alternative for travelers not willing to put up the lengthy lines in Baltimore.

However, it also clarified that, “If you need to fly through BWI, security lines move the quickest on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10-11 p.m., at around two minutes. On Mondays from 2-3 p.m., however, lines can take up to 35 minutes.”

McCarran International Airport (LAS) took the fifth and last spot and has an average security line wait time of 17.3 minutes. The site specified that, “When traveling through McCarran, the easiest wait time in the security line is Tuesday from 6-7 p.m., which is around 7 minutes. The most tenuous wait time is on Sunday from 6-7 a.m., which ends up being 37 minutes.”