Long Pre TSA Lines at MDW
Oct 25, 2018, 12:26 pm
#16
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
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Not sure how this worked at MDW but at IAH the lines were 15-30m just to get past the dogs. Completely unacceptable.
Oct 29, 2018, 7:56 pm
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: MDW/ORD
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Posts: 526
Flew out of MDW this morning. The dog was there, but there were no lines. There was also a separate Pre Check line that bypassed the dog.
Oct 30, 2018, 6:03 am
#18
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,459
So TSA is changing it around again. There was no separate pre line today, nor have I ever seen it. Today, everyone went past the dog, though at 6:30 am the line was almost non-existent.
Oct 30, 2018, 6:24 am
#19
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
Oct 30, 2018, 8:50 am
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
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I've never seen a separate precheck line at IAH, either. Everybody has to go single file past the dogs, which is why the lines are long. Idiotic and pointless.
Nov 6, 2018, 4:59 pm
#22
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 10
Came by here to see what the deal is with MDW and it's lines.
Starting to get frustrated, half the time the line is up the ramp and into the hallway to the parking garage. They seem to not care about TSA Pre-check, nor about priority lines. Southwest Announces they have a Fly By line at MDW, but they absolutely don't.
They don't do anything with pre-check or Fly By/Priority until you go through the huge line by the ramp, past the dogs, through the labyrinth, etc.
Why is this??
Starting to get frustrated, half the time the line is up the ramp and into the hallway to the parking garage. They seem to not care about TSA Pre-check, nor about priority lines. Southwest Announces they have a Fly By line at MDW, but they absolutely don't.
They don't do anything with pre-check or Fly By/Priority until you go through the huge line by the ramp, past the dogs, through the labyrinth, etc.
Why is this??
Nov 6, 2018, 5:50 pm
#23
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,459
Nov 6, 2018, 11:11 pm
#24
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Nov 7, 2018, 5:27 am
#25
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
Indeed. If they tried something like this at O'Hare, there'd be bad press. They're probably banking on the national media not knowing just where the heck MDW is.
Nov 7, 2018, 10:15 pm
#26
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 78
Hmmm. I had noticed this thread a few weeks ago; I'd flown out of Midway on business trips in August and September and not noticed a problem with lines, but we're leaving on a personal trip (!) tomorrow, 8pm flight, so I think we'll just allow lots of time just in case. At least there are some decent food options there now, like Big n Little's.
The problem that I always have with Midway is the very long time it takes to recover checked baggage, which when I'm traveling for work always includes cases of gear. I suppose it's the distance from the gates to the terminal and the necessity to cross Cicero, but still, it's a ridiculous amount of time, like 45 minutes. A baggage handler told me they're also short-staffed.
And don't get me started on the 'traffic support' out there, who seem trained to stand in the road and do everything they can to obstruct the safe and speedy flow of traffic.
I was just reminiscing with a friend about the 'old' Midway where you could park and walk in.
Ah well sorry to bring these other subjects up. Carry on!
The problem that I always have with Midway is the very long time it takes to recover checked baggage, which when I'm traveling for work always includes cases of gear. I suppose it's the distance from the gates to the terminal and the necessity to cross Cicero, but still, it's a ridiculous amount of time, like 45 minutes. A baggage handler told me they're also short-staffed.
And don't get me started on the 'traffic support' out there, who seem trained to stand in the road and do everything they can to obstruct the safe and speedy flow of traffic.
I was just reminiscing with a friend about the 'old' Midway where you could park and walk in.
Ah well sorry to bring these other subjects up. Carry on!
Last edited by chicagoal; Nov 8, 2018 at 6:36 am
Nov 13, 2018, 8:33 pm
#27
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 78
Wife and I flew out of MDW 11/8, went through security at 6pm. No lines. Came back 11/13, mid-day. Saw no lines. I also did not experience lines flying out in early September or late August (just checked calendar), nor have I ever seen this bomb-sniffing dog there. I am not at all sure that this is a real problem any more.
Nov 14, 2018, 7:06 am
#29
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
Nov 14, 2018, 7:58 am
#30
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: ATL
Posts: 1,919
Last WED 11/7, 5am, regular line was extremely long, zig-zagged at least 4 times from the start of the line where the check-in kiosks used to be, to the TSA screening agents; back/forth/back/forth.
TSA precheck line was very short thankfully; didn't have to wait in the regular/long line
TSA precheck line was very short thankfully; didn't have to wait in the regular/long line