jamesteroh

I agree the lines at LAX can be a real nightmare at time, especially around 10 at night when there are all the people trying to get on redeyes, but still find the priority line a godsend. The agents I always encounter are strict about enforcing the line there and it seems to always move faster than the regular line.

The places I find SP lanes not to be beneficial at are airports like PIT and DEN where the agents let people in the SP line that have no business being in them, and when the SP line merges in with the regular line after the ID checker like MDW used to be (since they have other lines for priority customers past the ID checker for the xray machines, it is a LOT faster getting through security than when the line would merge in with the kettles).

DCAproducer

Unless they have changed something in the past 3 weeks, the only recent change is that the security exit is now on the other side of security. This has been this way for a while. There is still a SP lane that runs the outside edge of the other lines and then goes into TSA near the SP checkin desk that's near security.

One good thing about DCA, I have always found that the TSA is relatively alert when it comes to opening extra lines for big crowds and going back to the metal detectors when things get busy. I usually go through DCA in the mornings.

UKCatsHoopsFan

This is always confusing at RDU. It seems that the DL staff are even unclear on this. There is a "First Class" line; however, no true "Sky Priority" lane (or any other Airline elite line). I've asked the DL staff when checking in and half will tell you that you can use it as Sky Priority, while the other half say its only if you have a FC boarding pass.

vatraveler

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.5.0.81 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

The setup yesterday was Sky priority to the far left rather than on the right like in the past.

DMIrishFlyer

Yup, I avoid Monday mornings at all costs, if I have to I take the earliest flight I can to avoid the 7/8 am rush.

DaveNC

I was going to say that RDU does not have a SP lane for security (but does have one for check in). I've never tried using the FC lane without a ticket in F, but I suspect the TSA agents would not notice.

Now that DL, UA, AA, and US are all flying out of the same concourse, I doubt that a dedicated SP line is forthcoming, as it would have to accommodate elites from all the airlines and would probably be just as busy as the kettle lane.

Of course, a busy day at RDU means I have to wait 10 minutes in security, so I won't complain.

skyvanman

DEN rarely enforces it which pisses me off a lot...also it isn't always faster, but it is a shorter walk and I'm lazy so I usually take it. Also since I sometimes have to fly WN (what one of my clients pays for) I can show my DL PM card to the agent and get in the fast line...it's helped a few times.

jamesteroh

I did that once at DEN. I had to connect on DTW/LAX trip in May in DEN on Southwest. My DTW/DEN portion had a mech. irrops and had to spend the night at DEN once I arrived at 2 a.m. Thanks to the way WN handles Irrops I am lucky if I got two and a half hours sleep that night.

That is one time I was glad the TSA premium line wasn't being enforced. I jsut showed the agent my Delta PM card bright and early a few hours later that morning and went right through. It also is handy when I am forced to fly WN at MDW. Just show the agent your Delta card and you go through a much shorter line.

I saw a person one time show their WN A-list card at DTW at the delta terminal and they went right through although only skyteam flies out of that building.

OKDiamond

OKC now has a preferred security line, been in place maybe 6 weeks or so?

cmn.jcs

Son of a gun. Only 6 weeks after I left! Where is it? East or west checkpoint?

stlBased

Agreed that when it's backed up on the 'normal' lines to the left, the First Class / Employees line is a big lifesaver. It's helped me have more breathing room to catch a flight more than once, especially on an early morning departure Mon or Tues.
However - the bottom line is that A concourse security in STL is a total crapshoot. The biggest determinant to how long it takes is what time of day and whether they have more than 2 lanes open...and it's not a linear relationship - there are times when it should be slow and they've backed down the staffing so that the lines end up being long - at other times you might expect it to be busy (morning bank of flights) and they've got 4 lanes open so it's pretty efficient.
You may also have the misfortune of being in the First Class / employee line as a gaggle of flight crew come through (always seem to come in bunches) - I've witnessed, no joke, 4 separate crews come through in rapid succession. 15 people jumped to the head of the line (I really don't have any problem with this, just really slowed up that FC line that day) and made FC security much slower than regular.
The other thing is that in my experience, it's not a true SkyPriority or Elite line. It's labeled (not too conspicuously) as First Class / Employees only. When I'm upgraded to F I use it. When I'm not, I generally hit the main line.

Paddlenpedal

OKC does now, and it's usually convenient-Kinda funny, the first time I got an upgrade before showing at the airport, my first thought was "Great, I can skip the security line!" (I'm still Silver) ironically, after printing the boarding pass and dropping bags, I went over to the Sky Priority line....which had a dozen or so folks in it.......then noticed the cattle line was almost empty....I left the sky priority line, and walked around 8 or so still standing in the priority lane by using the regular line! Go figure.

Between 6 and 7 am on a Monday it's awful handy though!

OKDiamond

West concourse...and it is always empty!

wbl-mn-flyer

Quoted for truth.

Saw this same thing yesterday afternoon.

Delta needs to spot-check this thing.

wecnews727

That answers my question....

I guess my usual airports are abnormal. But at mine the SkyPriority lanes are always EMPTY and the regular lines are miles long. At these airports adding silver would totally help move things along.

My experience has always been 0 line at priority or there's no line.

But sounds like others have different experiences.

Thanks for the input.