Security Lines JFK
 

Flying JFK-LAX in J on Apr 17. Are the security lines crazy long? Is TSA Pre-Check Touchless ID much less of a wait than Standard or TSA Pre-Check?

This is 3 weeks away…. Things can change with DHS funding. Not sure what you expect this far in advance

for sure... but just curious.

I would expect that either a funding bill will be passed or if that doesn't happen, significantly more, TSA agents will be calling out sick and or quitting and lines will be worse. Because it's so far away it is impossible to tell. Write to your senators and representatives.

JFK was about 37% TSA no shows...draw your own conclusion.

I flew out of JFK last evening, and the touchless precheck line was empty while the "traditional" precheck line maze was completely full. I got to cut in front of ~200 people because my boarding pass had the touchless icon.

JFK also had a dedicated check in line for status members.. (T-8) which then lets out to what seems a dedicated
TSA agent booth.. last week it was under 5 minutes for me.. so with your EXP status. shouldnt be an issue

The Flagship checkin / precheck cut line was unavailable yesterday reportedly due to TSA's request. Even CKs were thrown into the regular precheck scrum.

My son is flying out of T8 this morning. He does not have pre-check. He arrived on the line at 8:20 and was through in one hour. His friends had pre-check and it took them 50 minutes. Just one data point.

They did away with the FF cut line some time back. FF check-in at JFK is really only good for checking bags now. Annoying.

I don’t know what you mean by sometime back, but I remember using it about a month ago.

THIS is what I wanted to read..... Have used Touchless several times over the past 2 months - including at MCO 2wk ago where the Precheck line was massive but there were only 4 people in front of me on the Touchless line.

It was at the end of last year but going to LHR i checked in at the premium counter to the far right of the terminal and upon completion was escorted to the front of the precheck queue. Quite nice. But I couldn't help myself from thinking "now I am the douchbag cutting the line" :D

I departed JFK on 3/18, no issues, 5 minutes through precheck. But that was like 100 years ago in this saga.

Today the precheck line took 1 hour to get through. The regular line started outside the terminal. This was around 6:15 am.

The FF checkin was bringing people to the precheck line ahead of everyone. They had a separate ID check for them. When nobody from FF they were processing people in the precheck linel,

Thanks for sharing. Did you notice if Touchless Pre-Check was open?

Am told by AA that spouse and I (both EXP's, booked in F) have been enrolled in Touches. However, I see no little marker (as we have on UA touchess boarding cards) designating touchless status). AM on the phone with AA EXP line and agent says she can see we are enrolled as touchless. She further said the reason I do not have contactless status is I checked in on my home computer (expecting boarding card to be emailed to my phone, which it was).
The agent pointed out that one should only check in by one's app on one's phone. I said: "How stupid of me. I won't let it happen again". Agent offered a mechanism whereby we would go to the airport checkin counter and ask agent to "uncheck" us in, re-do the checkin, and hope/pray we have the contactless marker on the boarding passes. Caveat was that we might well lose our assigned F seats (2A,2B) by going this route.
I asked if we were the first one's enduring this glitch. She said no. Lots of complaints.

Touchless Pre-Check was blocked off when I went through this morning at around ~5:30am

And anecdotally took me about ~50 minutes to get through the Pre-Check line starting at around ~5:00am. The most difficult part was honestly figuring out where the tail-end of the line was, but at least everyone seemed civil and line following for the most part.

Flying out of JFK tomorrow and have read lot of conflicting reports on what to expect for security. EXP in Intl J (flagship) is there any benefit to using the dedicated checkin area? Or am I just going to get thrown in regular precheck line anyway? No bags to check, I do have touchless TSA.

Got in line around 5:45am this morning (Saturday) for TSA Pre, took ~60 minutes to get through. It was orderly, to the extent these long lines can be. Several American-uniformed (I think) agents in the lobby helping answer questions, such as the most common question (which was my question too) about how to find the end of the correct security line. Very professional and thumbs up to those folks working what can't be an easy job right now. They helped to smooth the process and address some of the confusion in the lobby.

Numerous people playing dumb to try and cut into the TSA Pre line, fellow passengers not falling for it, directed each of them to the back of the line (nobody was rude about anything, but nobody was getting played this morning either)

Touchless was open, but the split of the TSA pre-line to 'regular Pre-check' and 'Touchless Pre-check' occurs after you've waited through the winding line in the lobby. So everyone with Pre-check (Touchless or not) is in basically the same boat at T8.

It did not look like anyone was able to enter the TSA Pre-check line from the business/first premium check-in, or at least I did not see it occur. I only checked briefly though, so I can't speak with certainty.

Listening to the employees working the lobby, it sounded like the lines can vary widely by day and time, all dependent on staffing levels at given time which is an unpredictable right now. Therefore, the wait times are also unpredictable.

The general line snaked back and forth throughout the entire lobby. I have no idea how long that took, though they (logically) had more general lanes than Pre-check lanes so hopefully the general wait times were not excessively worse.

I was just on the phone with the CK desk to see if I could re-route on BA tomorrow night to avoid a just-above MCT JFK connection given the TSA situation (unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it would be a voluntary change). The agent called the JFK premium services team to see how things have been at 9 pm and they said that it has been extremely variable. Pre generally shuts down at 9 pm based on experience so it will be fun!

You can more easily access the touchless precheck line by using the path through the flagship check in area.

Interesting.......
Hoping that this all gets resolved with the release of funds to pay TSA salaries.
But just curious: I assume they are using same established criteria for accessing Premium Check-in area? I am EP in J on JFK-LAX so am NOT entitled to Premium Check-in. Have they in any way changed these rules?
In my experience, the "bouncers" at the Premium Check-in area are very rigid and, even when they are mistaken regarding access, do not even allow discussion.

That is correct (and works well), however that is assuming that Pre is open and they are using Touchless. My wife was told a few weeks ago that the machine wasn’t in operation because of the partial shutdown. Hopefully it is all resolved soon enough and we can return to the typical T8 experience.

Arrived at 7 AM to T8, precheck line was snaking out toward the business bag drop area past a few ticket desks to the left and then back out toward the front doors. Took me about an hour to get through. The line for everyone else seemed to go all the way around the ticket desks (toward the bathrooms all the way on the left) and back to the entrances, so much longer.

Answering a few of my questions in case it helps anyone else. The priority checkin access to security is open. From where it dumped me in the precheck line, it was 10-15 minutes through security. I arrived long enough before the Europe rush (~2:30) that it probably only saved me a another 10 minutes, but could be a lifesaver later on. TSA touchless precheck line was closed.

Last Friday (3/20) the touchless line was open but the machine was down. The ID checker alternated between the touchless line and the precheck line.
However crews were also using the touchless line.

Wonder how it’s going to be Monday morning, I’ll be going through around 7am

I think the morning is the worst time. I was in line at 6:15 am for a 10 am flight but there were a lot of people that had afternoon flights in the line also. The media has cased the morning lines to be very long.

Ended up with ~35 minutes on an I>D connection due to delays. TSA wasn’t lengthy at 10 pm (regular only), but a rep helped me get through, which saved my connection. I was on a mission to get through as fast as possible, but it looks like the latest F check-in funnels you back to the entryways for the various lines (Touchless, Pre, Regular) versus walking straight ahead to TSA (this may have also been where the sign was positioned given the time).

Yes, that is what the CK rep mentioned to me while we were running to the gate. Other than wanting to get home, avoiding JFK TSA for a 6:30 am flight was a big motivating factor!

F check in really came in handy this morning.
Switched to the earlier BA flight instead of AA to LHR, so arrived at JFK at 5am, expecting at least 30min for security. Went through F check in, and one of the agents escorted me and another passenger to the touchless lane and instructed the guard to let us through. I didn't even have touchless because I'm on BA, but the machine still wasn't being used anyway.
Easily saved 30+ min in the regular pre-check line, and I was in the Chelsea lounge less than 15 min after arriving curbside.

Has the Term 8 priority Flagship security reopened? JFK

Assuming that TSA wait times back to normal at JFK T8?

Seemed that way when I was thru there on Sunday. Touchless was even open.

Exactly what I wanted to read....