cbastian

Traveling with a group of 10 in early July for a late international flight, and most people don't have pre-Check. Assume we'll hit the line btwn 9 and 9:30 PM. Any idea what we should expect?

OskiBear

Evenings are fairly busy as a lot of Asia-bound flights depart. However, a lot of the ruckus is at check-in, versus the security line.

If you still need to check-in at the counter, you might send a couple of your group out for reconnaissance to check the TBIT line as well as the T4 line next door. Now that there is a secure walkway between the two, you can use either entry point.

UAPremExecflyer

How do you expect anyone to be able to answer your question?
Your trip is five or six weeks away.
No information from today is likely to be relevant by then.
Suggest you check back a few days before departure for some potentially more informative observations.

Mabuk dan gila

Over the previous few months it has been chaos for me at TBIT. The TSA screeners <redacted by moderator>. Things like taking several minutes per person to just check a passport against a boarding pass or several minutes per bag running them through the xray while only briefly even looking at the display screen. Last week it was pretty good. <redacted by moderator>.

There is no Pre-Check line at TBIT anyway so there is no disadvantage to not having it, though I suppose that if someone had Pre-Check and TBIT was really bad and Pre was really good, you could theoretically use the Pre line at T4 since the after security connector tunnel has been open since February.

In any case, last weeks singular experience contrasted to previous months gives me some hope the situation has improved. I got through in about 20 minutes then, as opposed to well over an hour in previous months.

princeville

Related to this, can anyone that has recently flown out of TBIT tell me if there is a priority lane through security for business class passengers? The results of a search for this have not been helpful - some say there is no premium line, some say there is, and some say that some airlines give a front-of-line pass. I'd love to know what to expect when flying out of TBIT later this month!

Mabuk dan gila

There is, and always has been, a designated business class security line at TBIT. It is for holders of First or Business class boarding passes.

bzcat

It's confusing because the way people ask the question and how people answer the question.

There are no separate queues for premium cabin passengers for TSA document check - everyone get in the same 2 lines. There are premium cabin luggage screening lines once you get past TSA document check but they may or may not be operating when you get there.

There are security screen stations for premium cabin but there are no separate queues to reach the TSA document check. You get in either the north or south queue and once you get pass the TSA document check, you can then proceed to a second set of queues for luggage screening. At this point, you may access the premium cabin screening station(s) which may or may not have a shorter line.

I've seen people get escorted to the crew line past the TSA document check but I don't think they are just regular business or first class passengers.

Pulley

I am flying CX883 that leaves at 10:25p.m. I read a blog that said you should get your boarding from TBIT and go to T4 to clear security. Then use the walk way to TBIT. Supposedly it is much faster than the long security lines at TBIT. Anyone have any experience doing this?

Thanks

bzcat

At 10PM, I suspect the line at T4 is much shorter than TBIT.

However, unless you have OneWorld status, you can't use the priority line at T4 so you have to get in line with the riff ruffs.

You can also use the arrival TSA station at TBIT which may not be busy at that time.

Pulley

I have TSA Precheck but i don't believe that helps but I am flying F so maybe that will help.

OskiBear

Your profile indicates you are from South Carolina. Are originating at LAX or connecting? If connecting, depending on the airline you arrive on, you can now connect airside from terminals 4-7 to TBIT. Would that solve you having to go through TSA?

Pulley

Sorry for not being clear. I am originating at LAX.

Statman

The TSA lines at that time of night are not too bad. You can definitely do that, but between the time it takes to walk from TBIT to T4 and back again, you might as well just go to the TBIT security line.

If you were flying TBIT in the afternoons or early evenings, it's another story because you have the passengers on the European bound flights to deal with, but at night, TBIT security isn't bad at all because it's just Asia bound flights.

Zarmakuizz

Hello FTers,

I have a departure flight on Monday 21st at 16:50 from Terminal B. This is an international flight with KLM.

A Van driving service suggests to arrive at 13:00, so 4 hours before departure. It seemed excessive to me, so I wanted to double check with you whether it was really necessary to arrive that early.

I have Skypriority, no clue if I may benefit from it to clear security at Terminal B. And passport check? Do they do that as well?

What do you think? How early in advance should I really arrive?

TWA884

That is peak time for departures to Europe, so the security lines will be busy. That being said, four hours is excessive in my opinion. TBIT does have priority lanes for elite frequent fliers, thus, if your boarding pass indicates that you have priority access, you will be able to use those.

In the US, there are no formal immigration exit controls; passport checks are done by the airlines at the ticket counter or at the gate (if you check-in online).

Please take a look at this thread, where your post will ultimately be merged:
TWA884
Los Angeles moderator