PDXPremier

Next summer I'll be on an award ticket from PDX-MSP that has me connecting from a QX flight to a DL flight in GEG. On this trip, I'll be with my wife and kids and figured GEG would be a relatively easy, small airport in which to make a connection. When I looked at the terminal map online, it looks like QX and DL flights are in different terminals with no connector, therefore requiring us to exit and re-clear security. Is that really the case or is there a way to go from one terminal to the other without the hassle?

United757

Ouch..you might want to change those awards. Pretty sure you'll need to exit security if transferring over to the Delta gates as they're in a different terminal (Term B). Only Term A and B are connected airside, and of course AS is over in C.

dayone

Yes, you'll have to exit security but the walk from C to B is quite manageable. It's shorter than the walk to the rental car counters.

PDXPremier

Yeah, my preference is the non-stop PDX-MSP on the E175 but there are 4 of us and unfortunately not that much award space. I rarely go to GEG so I never thought that they wouldn't have all the gates accessible within security...oh well.

willyplur

You are talking about a tiny airport with zero wait time. I wouldn't stress it at all. Keep your ticket, the only time involved with the maneuver will be the time exiting and then entering another terminal. No wait time in security, you are good to go.

PDXPremier

Yeah, I'm not going to change my ticket...it's just an unexpected annoyance. Maybe someday they'll build a connector like they eventually did at PDX

dayone

Nurse Traveler

Now that you know, it really isn't a big deal at GEG. As you mentioned, it is small and easy and the traffic is generally spread out enough that it isn't terribly busy. It's annoying but very manageable at GEG.

fairviewroad

Seems like a waste of TSA resources to staff separate security gates at such a small airport.

PDXPremier

That's what I thought.

AndyPatterson

Last time I was at GEG, I saw a longish line at A/B, presumably for the Southwest flights. Don't know how routine that is, though. Or whether Precheck/Global Entry would help.

I was going to C, so didn't have to wait.

PDXPremier

It looks like UA, WN, and DL are all in the A/B section so that makes sense that the A/B security check-point would be the longest. I didn't book long connection times since I figured it was going to take about 5-10 min. to go from the QX gates to the DL gates, but I guess I was wrong on that one.

dayone

Let's not get overdramatic. This isn't like making an international connection. We're not talking about ATL or DFW here.

Ten minutes is probably fine.

AKLifetimeFlyer

If I did it in DFW when I was 15, you surely can do it in GEG.

Tall Paul

Are you on the 11:15 to 12:20 flight from PDX; then leaving on the 1:30 delta flight?

Assuming you leave PDX flight timely, you should arrive in Spokane early (flight times are usually around 50 minutes).

C is a great terminal and you will be out in less than 5 minutes. The walk from C to A/B is like the full length of C in PDX (without moving sidewalks) - maybe 10 minutes if you have little kids. Getting to the rental counter is like walking to downtown Portland (ok, maybe slightly exaggerated!).

Waits are much better than they use to be before construction but have gotten longer again mid-day as they cut staff ( nothing like Seattle). Our 2 busiest times are 5:30a and 1:00p as many flights leave then. Just looking at the lines (precheck is great now) I'd guess it would be close to 10 minutes. Delta gates are at the end of B - but it's like getting to the B gates in PDX.

So total time maybe 20-25 minutes if you have little kids. Grown kids 10-20 minutes. Precheck family 10-15 minutes.

BTW - I do fly to ATL (a lot) and DFW; GEG can be longer because of the C to AB walk/security