ehchan

For those stuck flying a non PreCheck carrier out of TBIT, the "transit" security entrance on the south (left) side of the arrivals level in TBIT is still up and running. During the Christmas holiday my family and I were flying on Fiji and saw the normal lines bursting at the seams, so we took the elevator down to Arrivals level and entered the secret "transit" (but open to anyone) TSA checkpoint. There was a "bouncer" at the front to make it look like the checkpoint was closed. Of course, when asked, they let us in. The ID checker seemed to be genuinely disappointed to have to work, and the bag checkers also tried to make life miserable for anyone who dare intrude upon their secret lair. Nevertheless, we passed through in minutes and avoided the heavy lines at the normal entry point. 👍

RandomNobody

It's open, but the hours are limited. It's usually closed for the late evening/midnight Trans Pacific departures.

It's usually set up for heavy arrival times for connecting passengers as passengers have to re-clear to connect, not departure times where any connecting passengers are already airside as they're likely to be from domestic flights.

Dr Jabadski

Best Kept Secret at LAX (circa 2017)

Is this checkpoint still in operation? Thank you.

FWIW, last night after starting this thread I posted the same question in the comments section of Matthew’s 2017 blog entry (linked above). His reply timed 11 minutes later is “Yes.” Thank you Matthew.

chrisl137

Never tried that one. But I was using CLEAR+Pre in TBIT to get into T4 for a while when T4 CLEAR was closed due to construction. It was always very quick.

mtimmer

Based on the post above, it looks like the secret checkpoint is still in operation--it's been many years since we've taken it, but it's very helpful. But can anyone tell me the hours or direct me to a link that lists hours for the various TSA checkpoints? If such a link exists, I can't seem to find it. Flying out of TBIT on a late night on Fiji Airways, which doesn't have pre-check, although hoping to clear security no later than 8:30 pm.

Craig6z

An alternative at 8:30pm is use the American Airlines security entrance in T-4. Once you are through you will be able to walk to the central part of Bradley in under ten minutes.

beachfan

When I was in TBIT the path to T4 from baggage claim was no longer there, and you had to go outside.

this used to be the quick, short TSA line that you could get back into TBIT airside. Is it still gone?

bzcat

It's still there but has erratic operating hours, probably due to staffing shortage.