Mike624

Hi All,

Doing MSP-LGA on Saturday after Thanksgiving, around 11:30 am.

On previous trips I've used the carry-on only/Skyway security checkpoint (#10) and have been happy with the short lines.

This is the first trip I'm taking out of MSP since I got PreCheck and I'm wondering if it's worth looping around to security checkpoint #4.

I'll be returning a rental car, which I think leaves me pretty close to #10. Not sure if it affects the decision, but I don't have SP.

I'm just looking for the quickest way through security. I don't mind taking off shoes/belt and taking out electronics at #10 if that ends up being faster than circling around to #4 and waiting in a longer line.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
-Mike

fti

#4 means you avoid the Nude-O-Scopes. I went through #10 last week with Opt Out and I think it was still quicker than backtracking to #4 then to my gate near the end of C.

Check which gate your flight to LGA departs from. If it departs from D/E/F, low G's or low C's, I would go to #4. otherwise I would go to #10.

MSPeconomist

Yes, the rental car return counters are very close to the skyway security (#10), which then can be a shortcut to some gates, especially A, B, high C, and high G. If your flight departs from other DL gates, skyway security doesn't mean a (much, if at all) shorter path to your gate. IME late morning is likely to see TSA using the nude-o-scope at the skyway security station (as opposed to early morning or a time when this checkpoint is lightly staffed), but I haven't been there much recently.

PreCheck was wonderful when it first started at MSP, but now at peak times the problem is that you sometimes must wait in a long line to see whether you have PreCheck that day and then, if not, wait again for another document checker before going through the regular SkyPriority security line, which merger with a kettle line at the second document checker. The DL MSP line dragons are usually pretty good, but I suspect that a number of people are just saying they have PreCheck in order to gain access to the elite line.

mersk862

That's the reason I have always trekked to the main terminal (despite the fact that I normally arrive at the airport on the Light Rail). Checkpoint 4 - no NOS - no grope. Win all around!

MSPeconomist

Sometimes if you're near the skyway checkpoint, you can see whether the nude-o-scope is currently being used.

fti

In the past six months or more, I have always seen the NOS's being used at the skyway checkpoint.

Re: the elite/Pre Check line. I don't find the system bad at all. If you don't get Pre Check I don't see the wait to the second document checker bad at all. Maybe the lines have changed since I last did this.

dd1612

Having traveled the week before and last week .... must say that the Pre-Check process has changed quite a bit. There are 2 SP/ skypriority lines now - one for Pre-Check and 1 for those with SP but no pre-check.

Obviously the Pre-Check line is really short and moves fast.
On each occasion (and I have 3 outbounds in the period Nov 9 to Nov 14), it took me about 2-3 minutes from entering the SP+Pre-Check line to exiting security with my carry-on bag.

The line dragons are now doing a better job patrolling the SP line - and directing those with Pre-Check to the Pre-Check line, otherwise if one is unsure whether one has or does not have Pre-Check the line dragon directs one to the SP+Non Pre-Check line.

Now sometimes the wheelchair attendants think they are smarter than the line dragon and can cause a delay!

txhem

If you want speed of going through security, especially from the car rentals, go to the Skyway Security Checkpoint.

DL0620

My strategy is to quickly go up the escalators to the skyway checkpoint to check the size of the line. If the line is short, I stay. I have gone back down to the tram to #10 during the morning or afternoon rush, but I usually decide to stay. At most, going up and down the escalators takes 2 minutes.

On a Tuesday morning at 10am a few weeks ago, I only had 4 people ahead of me. Last year on a Friday afternoon about 4pm in early December, the line was past the barricades. A TSA supervisor blamed low staffing due to budget issues.

MSPeconomist

This is good news if the SkyPriority security area at MSP is now working better than it had been. I've experienced a real mess several times, when there was a long wait to get to the point of learning whether one had PreCheck that day and then another long wait to go through the regular line. The wait for the regular line was so long and backed up that PreCheck was empty but the PreCheck checker couldn't process anyone because you couldn't get near that podium.

What happens if you go for the PreCheck line and are denied that day? Also, do you mean that the line dragons are no longer allowing people who (say they) are PreCheck without SkyPriority to use the PreCheck line? (Does MSP have a second PreCheck line that isn't restricted to DL elites? I think someone with GE could get PreCheck for DL domestic flights if their GE number has been entered and stored on delta.dumb even if they do not have elite status on DL, although they would need to have a DL FF number I believe.)

MSPeconomist

I've sometimes done this too, but sometimes the skyway security line looks very good until a big bunch of crew members arrive and go to the front the little line. I've also seen the TSA employees here waste a lot of time playing with their nude-o-scope.

Mike624

This is my situation. No SP but I have PreCheck via GE.

This will be my first flight with my GE# coded to my DL account -- hoping things will work smoothly but bringing my physical GE card as a backup.

Can't even test it on LGA-MSP as my DL flight is leaving from Terminal 3, which does not offer PreCheck.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

Will check to see what MSP gate I'm departing from and try and eyeball the Skyway line before making a final decision.

Anyone have any experience with opting out of the NOS? My traveling has been curtailed of late and I've only had to go through them a couple of times, deciding it wasn't worth the hassle to request a pat down.

The more I read about the machines, the more I think I'd prefer to opt out. Do TSA give you a hard time about requesting a pat down if you're friendly about it?

I've read a lot of the other threads on this and there seems to be widely varying answers. I'm curious what this MSP-centric crowd thinks.

dd1612

1. What happens if you go for the PreCheck line and are denied that day?
Answer: why would one be denied for Pre-Check? If one is denied one goes onto join the SP line, basically cut in and join the SP line.

2. Also, do you mean that the line dragons are no longer allowing people who (say they) are PreCheck without SkyPriority to use the PreCheck line?
Answer: My observation was that the line dragons were pretty strongly denying entry into SP line for folks that did not have Elite status.

3. (Does MSP have a second PreCheck line that isn't restricted to DL elites? I think someone with GE could get PreCheck for DL domestic flights if their GE number has been entered and stored on delta.dumb even if they do not have elite status on DL.

Answer: don't know. Have only used the Pre-Check at 4.

MSPeconomist

Thanks.

1. It's happened to me. If I then must enter the back of a different line and start again, this would add a delay and would not be fun. PreCheck is not guaranteed to participants who have been invited by DL and/or have GE. Moreover, some folks are unaware that they cannot be approved (currently) for PreCheck on an "international" itinerary, even for a domestic connecting flight.

2. I've observed people get past the line dragon by saying that they're eligible for PreCheck with no proof when they are not SkyTeam elites.

3. I wonder if PreCheck is available at the all airlines elite security station at MSP. AFAIK it's not, but logically there should be some provision of someone without SkyPriority can have PreCheck for a DL flight.

LedgeT

I'm doing MSP for the first time this week for a Thanksgiving outing with friends. What should I expect Sunday, MSP-ATL? Any tips from the locals?