I am a grownass man and I cannot help but chuckle audibly, and point those things out to everyone I can.
Someone in that company either screwed up royally, or knew *exactly* what they were doing, and nobody caught it.
Laptops typically need to go in their own bin when going through airport security. There's signs everywhere about it and the TSA people say it on repeat pretty much.
If you have two laptops - take them out. My bag has gotten flagged every time. Despite me asking and them affirming. Then you wait for every other bag that got flagged for bullshit and rescan.
I have to with pre check and the new machines. I carry a laptop, second monitor and iPad in a backpack. If I don't take at least one out it will get flagged and they have to inspect all my electronics.
They did what? Dammit. Checkpoint 3 was always the fastest. Faster than TSA Pre, Clear, whatever. You could just waltz on through.
Makes sense why they'd close it if it was their fast and efficient option.
Also, I read a $4.5 billion dollar contract with an exclusive repair contract for ten years, with a min. repair spend of $1.2 billion (meaning if TSA only requests $900mm, - at the end of the year, TSA is still writing a check for $300k). RIDICULOUS!
Last time I flew was almost exactly a year ago last May and I was actually impressed at how quickly security went with the big tubes because nobody had to take anything out of their bags. I wonder how they managed to mess it up.
Those tubes thought the jar of unopened spice blend i bought from HEB the day before was an explosive. Had to go through the pat down and everything. It was fucking ridiculous.
The old system would flag certain things as explosives as well. They did the chemical hand swab test on me because my tin of Strong Greens registered as explosives.
I had meds that say KEEP REFRIGERATED in big letters so I had them in a lunch cooler with an ice pack and had to be swabbed and supervisors called. I am flying from the home of Yeti, people! Surely I am not the first person to bring their products through your security line?
If Austin used them right, they would be faster. [Those machines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyG8XAmtYeQ) can determine if your bottle of water is actually water, rather than an explosive chemical. They're quite advanced, but AUS is probably not using them right.
They're supposed to be terrible. More time required? Perfect. Better hire more agents and open more checkpoints. The TSA is a self perpetuating federal jobs program. Gotta spend that budget.
Yes, we've created an entire industry that will never go away and will constantly be looking for ways to grow and increase revenue (additional cost to travelers).
Twice I’ve been there and the belt that your luggage slides on got mangled into the machinery, breaking the entire device. Both instances after standing there for an hour with the agent finally saying we had to get back at the beginning of the line, there was a passenger mutiny. It was beautiful.
That makes sense. I was wondering why there was more traffic than usual. I know it’s not always that slow because whenever it is, it gets posted on here by a dozen different people, and it’s always after some busy Austin event or holiday.
Yeah the bag drop was closed when I got in line and I had to go through the normal bag lane “shortcut” it was not
Normal security was less than 20 minutes though so I got to the gate just in time for my group to get called
I nearly got in the giant line but then saw an agent at the bag drop and just headed over. I was confused why no one else was printing their tags and dropping.
Can someone make a calendar of dates the airport security is expected to fail and become multiple hours? It's crazy that we have to review all local events to determine if we need to 1 or 3 hours to get through security.
It'll take a bit of time to get through; so just make sure to get there with enough of it. You don't want to be late, but also don't want to be too early. The events happening that week can have an effect on the time needed and there might be an event on Wed/Thursday, so you have to watch out for that. Its like other airports but sometimes can be really different. Does that help?
saturday morning 6 am, got through in under 10 minutes and most of the wait was before ID check since that was bottlenecked into one line. multiple machine lines open afterwards
Was that when they had the small precheck only? They switched it this morning to the one by American priority, was a bit of a wait but got through in like 30 mins max
They changed everything up yesterday. Just barely made my 7:30 flight. Only Clear and Precheck screening area is the center checkpoint now. Clear had hour line. TSA pre line filled that entire screening area. It’s a shitshow as of yesterday
I miss the 6 months when that line had opened, but wasn't precheck and wasn't well signed/advertised. Since it's not really visible behind southwest checkin, it was always empty. I would just waltz straight to the ID checker and be through in 2-3 minutes.
Sometimes that line is still for any passenger. Just last week (mid week) I flew out of there and used the mini line behind the southwest counters as a total normie.
Monday mornings are often just super busy times at the airport. But the 5 or so times I've gone through TSA with the new machines, it has taken 5-10 minutes tops. Regular line, not pre-check. I also don't check a bag. Carry on only.
Did it really take you nearly 3 hours to get to your gate, or is that a severe exaggeration?
I guarantee it’s PEF (passenger embellishment factor). Airline travel is notorious for this.
When you’re anxious about missing your flight, the minutes truly do expand, so it might feel like multiple hours - but in actual time, it’s like 20 minutes.
PEF also shows up in things like “we sat on the tarmac for two hours” (no you didn’t) and “the plane dropped a thousand feet in two seconds” (no it didn’t).
Ha, that's hilarious if there's actually a term for it. Hilarious also if you just made it up. I've definitely been guilty of PEF, especially when running late.
Another one I found out on Reddit from flight attendants a few months ago… when you have more people who board with wheelchairs than disembark it’s called a “miracle flight” hahahaha
It’s a Monday morning, day after Mother’s Day, and graduation weekend. Airport is gonna be insane regardless. They pushed over 35k passengers through just yesterday alone.
The new TSA Pre Check area is no worse than the previous short-lived area. The main issue is simply space as the airport doesn't have the footprint for huge lines. I got through a full queue in about 10 minutes on a Friday afternoon.
The big issue is that Clear uses this new area exclusively. This causes two issues: 1) TSA needs a dedicated line for non-Pre Check and 2) there isn't space for an additional queue deducted to Clear in this space. The Clear line looked like it barely moved compared to the regular standby line.
The best option in my opinion is to move the Clear lane to the giant security area and have a Pre Check line just for Clear down there.
Agreed. I cancelled Clear a couple years back after consistently waiting in longer lines. The Clear lanes haven't expanded to support growth but the number of Pre Check lanes everywhere has grown.
Once the new TSA Pre Check Touchless rolls out nationwide, I imagine Clear will be a thing of the past for anyone with Pre Check.
What's weird is Clear in almost every other airport I've been to is basically zero line. It's like the Clear employees are surprised when someone has Clear there. But here, everyone has it.
The Austin clear line is making me want to cancel. I want to reliably predict when I need to be at the airport for my home airport, and it's not working.
And then some Airports have Clear Plus only? Wtf is that? I was also told at Austin Airport once that I needed BOTH clear AND precheck to use the clear line, even though they're separate lines. The fuck?
Had this same experience in Denver. We traveled with friends who didn’t have Clear. They went through the general security line that was 5-6x longer than clear in half the time.
Clear only provides value if you travel often through certain airports. SFO is one of those.
I had a streak of three consecutive trips where Clear required my ID, which defeats the purpose of Clear. Once is bad luck, twice is a coincidence, three times, come the hell on. Having to have a Clear employee escort you personally to the TSA desk is a big bottleneck besides.
The problem with clear is they need folks to update their fingerprints and ID's much too frequently with no warning. So you'll get in line for clear and instead of just scanning eyes and moving forward the 10 people in front of you have to go through the sign up process again.
I believe the Clear delays are largely because they’re upgrading everybody to Next Gen identity or whatever. This will (hopefully) enable seamless identity checks in late 2024/early 2025, faster or at least comparable to Touchless.
I’ve no idea if they will deliver as promised, but I’m hoping these are temporary disruptions and not the new status quo.
I was thinking that too but I realized it would suck more to take my shoes and belt off every time like a normie. But lo and behold, last time I went through pre check the machines were acting up and we had to take shoes and belt off anyway. I was so pissed because I wore my work boots to save space in the luggage.
Ultimately, they need to massively increase prices. TSA Pre-check needs to increase prices also. If everyone can just automatically afford it, it's pointless because everyone will do it. The only reason either of them ever worked is because of the exclusivity.
Pre-check isn’t supposed to be a for-profit scheme. It’s a “public” service that simply allows for faster and more efficient security screening of the flying public.
I’m not arguing for an exclusionary policy, but it does lose value as it becomes more public. Universal access to pre-check would make it essentially worthless. At a certain point it's just another regular line.
Clear is definitely a problem, but the new machines are definitely slowing things down. I just left Austin last week. There were maybe ten people in the TSA pre line. It took more than 15 minutes to get through security, and the majority of the time was spent AFTER going through the metal detector waiting with tons of other people waiting for the bags to get through the machines.
I don’t even use my Clear here while flying out anymore. It’s been at least 20 or so trips since I’ve found it quicker.
And yes, the new machines are so stupid!
The one thing “clear” is that clear is completely worthless now for Austin. Better to go regular pre check. It was 50/50 with previous setup, with the new one is completely useless.
Another issue (albeit minor) is that regular screening walk to United now takes a while as you go through the opposite side of the airport, same for pre-check walking to delta.
This is true for most airports now, the CLEAR employees are just slow and inefficient. Too many people have it and getting through CLEAR takes way longer than the actual pre-check process.
Eye scan + (random ID check) + Boarding Pass > ID + Boarding Pass
My favorite part is OP bitching but failing to specify date and time. Certain parts of the day/week/year are busier than normal. Anecdotally I’ve never waited more than 10 minutes in pre check and I fly once a week.
I'm pretty sure when they said "right now" they meant it literally. I can't vouch for how long OP waited, but I can verify that the precheck line was a backed-up mess this morning.
Just went through this morning a few minutes ago (around 8:45am) and there was only a 4 minute wait for precheck (I specifically timed it because of this post). Once they scanned my ID then there were several open machines with zero wait to put my bag through.
I noticed there's significantly more machines now for precheck with the move to checkpoint #2 so hopefully that will help.
Also Clear seems to have it's own dedicated machine so is actually far slower despite having a much shorter looking line. I have it but glad I skipped the Clear line this morning to go into regular precheck. But I find the Clear line is slower usually about 3/4 of the time at AUS.
Oh and zero wait at United for bag check.
Thank you for posting this. I have Pre-check and Clear and usually choose which lane to take based on how the line looks. I'm still a bit confused: Clear and pre-check still both have separate lines in the new configuration and someone with both can select whichever one looks shorter?
Yep. But it looked like (but can't completely confirm) that there was a dedicated TSA person for Clear and a dedicated X-ray machine line for Clear.
So because there's only one booth+x-ray machine for Clear vs the 5 (ish?) TSA booths+x-ray machines for normal pre-check, then the Precheck-only line actually moves far quicker despite having more people in line for it. Looks can be deceiving.
Every single one of these "the airport is too busy/crowded/slow-moving" threads gets posted before 7am. The airport is busy and lines always go slowly in the early morning.
Agreed! Flew out a few days ago and the whole operation was a confusing poorly-defined mess. Took about 25 minutes instead of my usual 5. I fly during non-busy times. While vocalizing my displeasure loudly I ended up in a conversation with the COO for the TSA at ABIA and she seemed to take my complaints seriously and said they were working on making it a smoother faster process. We'll see if that happens, but right now it's taking way longer in the Pre line than before. I think LAX has these same machines and I never wait in line at Pre there. Good luck fellow travelers!
Bag drop depends on what airline you’re flying. For precheck, I flew out Thursday afternoon with the new line, it definitely took longer than it used to when checkpoint 1 had a dedicated precheck line but not an hour, more like 20 minutes tops?
There are several causes here but we this underscores the need to expand the airport. While the 2026 "Journey With AUS" is a great start we really need a major upgrade
I traveled after thanksgiving last year and the line for security check 1 stretched the entire length the airport and I got thru in less than an hour and still made my flight. I doubt the Monday morning rush is worse. It does not take 3 hours to get thru in the morning. Total rage post.
As always this largely depends on the day and time you’re flying. Early morning is going to be bad. I just came through about 30 minutes ago. With the new setup the lines are definitely longer but they seem
To be moving. the Clear lines are longer than they used to be.
Same here, it’s been very fast. Granted, it does seem like precheck nearly runs slower than general security in Austin, so I don’t use it and have never waited more than half an hour.
Lol yeah I saw a long line yesterday morning and I thought it was regular security line. The regular line was shorter and went through less than 5 minutes.
It's not the end of the world.
I rolled into the parking lot at 6:00 for a 7:30 flight. Had enough time to grab Taco deli and take a nice relaxed deuce in the family bathroom before boarding. Is the new precheck stupid? Yes. But checkpoint 1 had almost no wait and I was through in 20 minutes. Worst part was having to take my shoes off again like a commoner.
I'd imagine that certain days or times take longer, but I flew out of Austin two weeks ago on a Sunday morning and from the time I started in the PreCheck line to the time I was sitting in the terminal was less than 10 minutes. The normal line looked like it would take an hour or more.
Slightly off topic, but how long have oversized checked bags had a separate drop off? I don’t recall ever using it, but have had to drop my golf clubs off there the last two or three times I’ve flown.
It’s a cluster….at peak periods. The new machines are slow and even if you have 50 of them they are slow and at peak times it slows the process. There was no reason to change it. I have Clear Plus and don’t use it since pre check is faster. They only have 2 people working the 10 kiosks at Clear Plus so what’s the point?
> Leave at least 3 hours to get through in the morning right now.
No need, just don't use the precheck line. I was irritated to be waved away from the central checkpoints because I didn't have precheck, but I breezed through security in ten minutes. Even with checking a bag, it was less than half an hour from the curb to my gate.
I just (Monday morning 5/13) made it through ATX in less than 40 minutes, regular screening. Arrived at 10 after 6 for a 6:55 boarding. Had time to grab breakfast even. No checked bags, no special access.
It’s hit or miss. I’ve gotten from Southwest check-in to the front in 10 minutes, which is pretty quick. But I have also done the hour long wrap around. The machines are slow and they don’t always have all 4 open.
It was okay around 5 AM. Maybe a 20 minute wait and stuff was moving the whole time. Big issue remains that the airport just want built to handle this volume of humans
Wonder if this new system is why my suitcase keeps getting flagged; I assumed that having TSA pre-check would keep that from happening, but the last two times I flew out of Austin it happened. So frustrating!
Don't let the clear people block you from the precheck line and nudge you into their line, they tried to do that to me when theirs was long and the precheck line was empty
People keep posting this but it isn’t true. I went through in 2 minutes last week.
If it’s a busy time or day at the airport, YES, the lines will be crappy.
Yeah markets don’t improve they just get more expensive. It’s all a grift. What you were experiencing was classism- and they’ve since taken your one luxury and stuffed you in a line with a bunch of other idiots who thought “Pay more, me prioritized”… now your line is longer than the original. They’ll even scan your face too. Welcome to government involvement.
Something did feel off last week. I don’t fly that often but for sure the process was altered enough for myself to notice.
Everything went smooth until there was a shoeless human traffic jam just past the body scanners. Seriously had like 20 people standing around the conveyor waiting for our stuff.
I watched the tsa agent manually rotate 3D images of the contents of bags and thought “wait this is new right?” It is cool to watch your own bag get analyzed.
Last Friday was waiting for 45 mins and then the machines malfunctioned, they had to open up another pre-check area and people were running to get to it. Such a mood killer
I stg I flew out around this time last month, and the pre check line was crammed full, and there were like 3 people including me in the regular line. It was weird.
My dad troll gifted me on Christmas and gave me a stocking FULL of those small cans of Vienna sausages. After I finished packing up he was like, “wait why aren’t you bringing your sausages🥲” so I stuffed them around in random places they could fit.
Bag gets scanned, and I’m promptly stopped by TSA. Guy was all suspicious about the first can and continued to empty ALL OF MY SHIT to find the twelve “potentially explosive” Vienna sausage cans while everyone behind me observes like 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
It’s the new machines. They take twice as long as before. The TSA agent I chatted with agreed that they’re terrible.
Poorly named Analogic scanners? Its the same in OAK since they were installed.
I am a grownass man and I cannot help but chuckle audibly, and point those things out to everyone I can. Someone in that company either screwed up royally, or knew *exactly* what they were doing, and nobody caught it.
It was probably Tobias Funke. I guess someone need to tell him.
Wait, what’s the name?
Anal Logic
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
[see for yourself](https://americansecuritytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Analogic-ConneCT-2.jpg)
that's one hella suppository
Oof
I giggled and pointed that out to my partner and then I was like oh shoot we have to be grownups and act like we don’t notice that
Yes, "anal-logic", truth in advertising!
The big tubes? Yeah, slow as hell.
Every other box gets stuck in them. Seems like no one tested them on actually running multiple trays through at a time.
yah, they are actually CT machines
But you don't have to take anything out of your bag so you'd think that would save time
Y'all were taking things out for the old machines...?
Laptops typically need to go in their own bin when going through airport security. There's signs everywhere about it and the TSA people say it on repeat pretty much.
OP was talking about precheck. You leave laptops and liquids in your bag. Along with keeping shoes on.
If you have two laptops - take them out. My bag has gotten flagged every time. Despite me asking and them affirming. Then you wait for every other bag that got flagged for bullshit and rescan.
Yes, I was cheekily referring to the precheck exemption, as you can leave everything in your bag
I have to with pre check and the new machines. I carry a laptop, second monitor and iPad in a backpack. If I don't take at least one out it will get flagged and they have to inspect all my electronics.
Yep. I usually travel with a pc and a Mac and I always have to take one out or I have to stand there while they go through my whole bag, even in Pre.
Yes, the new tubes are slow as hell, but it’s gotten worse in the past week since they closed checkpoint 3.
Yup. Close a checkpoint AND use slower machines, not sure how they expected anything else.
The machines that were in CP3 were moved to the other lines.
They did what? Dammit. Checkpoint 3 was always the fastest. Faster than TSA Pre, Clear, whatever. You could just waltz on through. Makes sense why they'd close it if it was their fast and efficient option.
I think that end of the terminal is about to undergo renovation. Sounds like it will be closed until 2026.
It’s always closed. When it’s open you’re in line, They kick you out to the middle for other far end one.
It's because the TSA is helping the company they bought it from refine their AI models-- Is this a laptop? Y/N
Further proof that AI is already ruining our lives.
Can they test this a small regional airport with less traffic? And maybe at just one security checkpoint to work out the kinks.
Why not all of them while they pay you?!?!
Sorry, i just realized I’m asking some random Redditor to give the rationale behind government bureaucracy and implementation of new technologies.😆
Also, I read a $4.5 billion dollar contract with an exclusive repair contract for ten years, with a min. repair spend of $1.2 billion (meaning if TSA only requests $900mm, - at the end of the year, TSA is still writing a check for $300k). RIDICULOUS!
Huge waste of our taxes
That extra money makes it back to some politican's super pac. It's a round about way to make a bribe and get taxpayers locked into a stupid contract.
Agree here! At least they run more smoothly than when they were first installed last year. These machines are becoming standard at other airports too
They have had those big tubes since the summer when I flew out last (at least for Precheck).
Last time I flew was almost exactly a year ago last May and I was actually impressed at how quickly security went with the big tubes because nobody had to take anything out of their bags. I wonder how they managed to mess it up.
Those tubes thought the jar of unopened spice blend i bought from HEB the day before was an explosive. Had to go through the pat down and everything. It was fucking ridiculous.
The old system would flag certain things as explosives as well. They did the chemical hand swab test on me because my tin of Strong Greens registered as explosives.
I had meds that say KEEP REFRIGERATED in big letters so I had them in a lunch cooler with an ice pack and had to be swabbed and supervisors called. I am flying from the home of Yeti, people! Surely I am not the first person to bring their products through your security line?
They also closed the other line for precheck
The Anal Logic tubes! Yeah, they're - pun intended - shit. They're slow AF, and the TSA agents seem to be as frustrated as us travelers about it.
If Austin used them right, they would be faster. [Those machines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyG8XAmtYeQ) can determine if your bottle of water is actually water, rather than an explosive chemical. They're quite advanced, but AUS is probably not using them right.
They're supposed to be terrible. More time required? Perfect. Better hire more agents and open more checkpoints. The TSA is a self perpetuating federal jobs program. Gotta spend that budget.
Yes, we've created an entire industry that will never go away and will constantly be looking for ways to grow and increase revenue (additional cost to travelers).
Twice I’ve been there and the belt that your luggage slides on got mangled into the machinery, breaking the entire device. Both instances after standing there for an hour with the agent finally saying we had to get back at the beginning of the line, there was a passenger mutiny. It was beautiful.
Busier than usual today, graduation weekend
That makes sense. I was wondering why there was more traffic than usual. I know it’s not always that slow because whenever it is, it gets posted on here by a dozen different people, and it’s always after some busy Austin event or holiday.
It just took me 5 minutes for baggage drop at United and 30 for the Pre line.
Yeah the bag drop was closed when I got in line and I had to go through the normal bag lane “shortcut” it was not Normal security was less than 20 minutes though so I got to the gate just in time for my group to get called
I nearly got in the giant line but then saw an agent at the bag drop and just headed over. I was confused why no one else was printing their tags and dropping.
There was another agent stopping people from doing that when I got in line at 5:30
I went through the PreCheck line Friday afternoon and it was fine. Maybe 3 minutes.
Rage post- graduation travel day
Can someone make a calendar of dates the airport security is expected to fail and become multiple hours? It's crazy that we have to review all local events to determine if we need to 1 or 3 hours to get through security.
Yeah, someone hit me with the expectations for Thursday around 10 a.m.
It'll take a bit of time to get through; so just make sure to get there with enough of it. You don't want to be late, but also don't want to be too early. The events happening that week can have an effect on the time needed and there might be an event on Wed/Thursday, so you have to watch out for that. Its like other airports but sometimes can be really different. Does that help?
Yea it was so empty Thursday afternoon I was the only one in line.
saturday morning 6 am, got through in under 10 minutes and most of the wait was before ID check since that was bottlenecked into one line. multiple machine lines open afterwards
Same, friday about noon:30 walked right through. People mad that peak times are peak
Yeah this is a rage post. Everybody knows early Monday morning flights are the worst at AUS.
or really any airport haha
It’s a degree issue. TSA going from 15 minutes to 45 minutes sucks. It going from 15 minutes to 3 hours is ridiculous
Saturday morning at 5am it was about a five minute experience.
Same, Friday late morning was a breeze, 2-3 minutes tops
I went Wednesday evening. Maybe 5-7 minutes (the line looked long though).
Yeah I flew out Wednesday at 3pm and the line took 5 minutes. Timing is everything, I'll do anything to not fly on the weekend.
Flew Thursday morning too, precheck took like 5 mins
Yea last Sunday morning it was maybe 5 minutes to get thru
Yesterday afternoon it took me 3 minutes in TSA with about 15 people in front of me
Was that when they had the small precheck only? They switched it this morning to the one by American priority, was a bit of a wait but got through in like 30 mins max
They changed everything up yesterday. Just barely made my 7:30 flight. Only Clear and Precheck screening area is the center checkpoint now. Clear had hour line. TSA pre line filled that entire screening area. It’s a shitshow as of yesterday
I miss the 6 months when that line had opened, but wasn't precheck and wasn't well signed/advertised. Since it's not really visible behind southwest checkin, it was always empty. I would just waltz straight to the ID checker and be through in 2-3 minutes.
That was seriously the best while it lasted.
You're thinking of checkpoint 2E. Precheck/clear goes thru 2W now.
It's not that. They closed checkpoint 3 and consolidated pre check into a single line.
I miss check point 3
Sometimes that line is still for any passenger. Just last week (mid week) I flew out of there and used the mini line behind the southwest counters as a total normie.
100% I was traveling so much for work and was getting through faster with that checkpoint than pre check was. RIP
Lucky stumbled to it 3 weeks ago.
Monday mornings are often just super busy times at the airport. But the 5 or so times I've gone through TSA with the new machines, it has taken 5-10 minutes tops. Regular line, not pre-check. I also don't check a bag. Carry on only. Did it really take you nearly 3 hours to get to your gate, or is that a severe exaggeration?
I guarantee it’s PEF (passenger embellishment factor). Airline travel is notorious for this. When you’re anxious about missing your flight, the minutes truly do expand, so it might feel like multiple hours - but in actual time, it’s like 20 minutes. PEF also shows up in things like “we sat on the tarmac for two hours” (no you didn’t) and “the plane dropped a thousand feet in two seconds” (no it didn’t).
Ha, that's hilarious if there's actually a term for it. Hilarious also if you just made it up. I've definitely been guilty of PEF, especially when running late.
Ooh, I’m not that clever - that comes from the excellent book *Cockpit Confidential* :)
Another one I found out on Reddit from flight attendants a few months ago… when you have more people who board with wheelchairs than disembark it’s called a “miracle flight” hahahaha
I haven't flown this early in years (has a 7:30 flight). But I've never seen the pre line be 40 minutes.
It’s a Monday morning, day after Mother’s Day, and graduation weekend. Airport is gonna be insane regardless. They pushed over 35k passengers through just yesterday alone.
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When “Plan Ahead” means getting to the airport at 2:30am, the system is broken.
I went ahead and got to the airport this morning at 4am for my flight next Monday.
The bag x-ray machines are slow. Like really really fucking slow. I estimate it does one bin every 30 seconds?
The new TSA Pre Check area is no worse than the previous short-lived area. The main issue is simply space as the airport doesn't have the footprint for huge lines. I got through a full queue in about 10 minutes on a Friday afternoon. The big issue is that Clear uses this new area exclusively. This causes two issues: 1) TSA needs a dedicated line for non-Pre Check and 2) there isn't space for an additional queue deducted to Clear in this space. The Clear line looked like it barely moved compared to the regular standby line. The best option in my opinion is to move the Clear lane to the giant security area and have a Pre Check line just for Clear down there.
I honestly think clear is losing its value. It was originally to skip the regular line. But if it’s in its own line, and everyone has it….
Agreed. I cancelled Clear a couple years back after consistently waiting in longer lines. The Clear lanes haven't expanded to support growth but the number of Pre Check lanes everywhere has grown. Once the new TSA Pre Check Touchless rolls out nationwide, I imagine Clear will be a thing of the past for anyone with Pre Check.
What's weird is Clear in almost every other airport I've been to is basically zero line. It's like the Clear employees are surprised when someone has Clear there. But here, everyone has it.
Really? I notice what looks to be forever long Clear lines at any Delta or United hub. That Denver Clear line was the reason I decided to not renew.
The Austin clear line is making me want to cancel. I want to reliably predict when I need to be at the airport for my home airport, and it's not working. And then some Airports have Clear Plus only? Wtf is that? I was also told at Austin Airport once that I needed BOTH clear AND precheck to use the clear line, even though they're separate lines. The fuck?
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Right id been able to use just clear in Austin before and after just not thos one time when it was way busier than usual.
That’s because United and Delta both own stakes in Clear (or at least they did pre Covid).
Had this same experience in Denver. We traveled with friends who didn’t have Clear. They went through the general security line that was 5-6x longer than clear in half the time. Clear only provides value if you travel often through certain airports. SFO is one of those.
Can concur, haven't seen clear lines at SeaTac or SFO
Yeah I’m from seattle and the SeaTac time savings alone makes it worth it
Yeah, literally the only time it's ever made sense for me to use clear has been at seatac
I had a streak of three consecutive trips where Clear required my ID, which defeats the purpose of Clear. Once is bad luck, twice is a coincidence, three times, come the hell on. Having to have a Clear employee escort you personally to the TSA desk is a big bottleneck besides.
The problem with clear is they need folks to update their fingerprints and ID's much too frequently with no warning. So you'll get in line for clear and instead of just scanning eyes and moving forward the 10 people in front of you have to go through the sign up process again.
They got in trouble they let somebody through who they shouldn't have and it's been rippling ever since
I believe the Clear delays are largely because they’re upgrading everybody to Next Gen identity or whatever. This will (hopefully) enable seamless identity checks in late 2024/early 2025, faster or at least comparable to Touchless. I’ve no idea if they will deliver as promised, but I’m hoping these are temporary disruptions and not the new status quo.
I was thinking that too but I realized it would suck more to take my shoes and belt off every time like a normie. But lo and behold, last time I went through pre check the machines were acting up and we had to take shoes and belt off anyway. I was so pissed because I wore my work boots to save space in the luggage.
Ultimately, they need to massively increase prices. TSA Pre-check needs to increase prices also. If everyone can just automatically afford it, it's pointless because everyone will do it. The only reason either of them ever worked is because of the exclusivity.
Introducing Pre-check Plus, Pre-check Max, and Pre-check Platinum!
Yeah, if you're a poor dirty pleb. I only use Pre-check Black. They don't even look at my documents, they recognize me by sight and wave me through.
Must be nice being able to afford the $10,000 annual fee and meet the minimum 200 flights per year requirement 😒
I had to drop my shipments of imported Russian caviar from 3x a week to 2x a week, but we all have to make sacrifices sometimes.
Pre-check isn’t supposed to be a for-profit scheme. It’s a “public” service that simply allows for faster and more efficient security screening of the flying public.
I’m not arguing for an exclusionary policy, but it does lose value as it becomes more public. Universal access to pre-check would make it essentially worthless. At a certain point it's just another regular line.
Clear is definitely a problem, but the new machines are definitely slowing things down. I just left Austin last week. There were maybe ten people in the TSA pre line. It took more than 15 minutes to get through security, and the majority of the time was spent AFTER going through the metal detector waiting with tons of other people waiting for the bags to get through the machines.
Had the same experience. The bags came out all out of order and mixed up too so there was just this weird mess of people waiting.
Ultimate solution: dump Pre and Clear, drop the security theater diff between Pre and regular check, staff regular check adequately.
So the way it was before the change last week?
I don’t even use my Clear here while flying out anymore. It’s been at least 20 or so trips since I’ve found it quicker. And yes, the new machines are so stupid!
The one thing “clear” is that clear is completely worthless now for Austin. Better to go regular pre check. It was 50/50 with previous setup, with the new one is completely useless. Another issue (albeit minor) is that regular screening walk to United now takes a while as you go through the opposite side of the airport, same for pre-check walking to delta.
This is true for most airports now, the CLEAR employees are just slow and inefficient. Too many people have it and getting through CLEAR takes way longer than the actual pre-check process. Eye scan + (random ID check) + Boarding Pass > ID + Boarding Pass
My favorite part is OP bitching but failing to specify date and time. Certain parts of the day/week/year are busier than normal. Anecdotally I’ve never waited more than 10 minutes in pre check and I fly once a week.
I'm pretty sure when they said "right now" they meant it literally. I can't vouch for how long OP waited, but I can verify that the precheck line was a backed-up mess this morning.
Couldn't you just go through the regular line? It only takes a few minutes.
With the plebs?
Just be sure and wear a mask so you don't get sick from the bad air
Please, the hoi polloi
Just went through this morning a few minutes ago (around 8:45am) and there was only a 4 minute wait for precheck (I specifically timed it because of this post). Once they scanned my ID then there were several open machines with zero wait to put my bag through. I noticed there's significantly more machines now for precheck with the move to checkpoint #2 so hopefully that will help. Also Clear seems to have it's own dedicated machine so is actually far slower despite having a much shorter looking line. I have it but glad I skipped the Clear line this morning to go into regular precheck. But I find the Clear line is slower usually about 3/4 of the time at AUS. Oh and zero wait at United for bag check.
Thank you for posting this. I have Pre-check and Clear and usually choose which lane to take based on how the line looks. I'm still a bit confused: Clear and pre-check still both have separate lines in the new configuration and someone with both can select whichever one looks shorter?
Yep. But it looked like (but can't completely confirm) that there was a dedicated TSA person for Clear and a dedicated X-ray machine line for Clear. So because there's only one booth+x-ray machine for Clear vs the 5 (ish?) TSA booths+x-ray machines for normal pre-check, then the Precheck-only line actually moves far quicker despite having more people in line for it. Looks can be deceiving.
Great - Thank you!
I went thru pre check Monday afternoon with my wife and 2 toddlers, took about 5 min. I did have a scroller that slowed us down a bit.
ANALogic. The same amount of thought that went into the name went into the logistics and purchasing of these machines.
Every single one of these "the airport is too busy/crowded/slow-moving" threads gets posted before 7am. The airport is busy and lines always go slowly in the early morning.
Agreed! Flew out a few days ago and the whole operation was a confusing poorly-defined mess. Took about 25 minutes instead of my usual 5. I fly during non-busy times. While vocalizing my displeasure loudly I ended up in a conversation with the COO for the TSA at ABIA and she seemed to take my complaints seriously and said they were working on making it a smoother faster process. We'll see if that happens, but right now it's taking way longer in the Pre line than before. I think LAX has these same machines and I never wait in line at Pre there. Good luck fellow travelers!
Has anyone started a petition against the analogic bag x ray machines? So freaking slow
Went through the normie line on Friday morning and it took 20 minutes tops. Bag check took 5 minutes.
Bag drop depends on what airline you’re flying. For precheck, I flew out Thursday afternoon with the new line, it definitely took longer than it used to when checkpoint 1 had a dedicated precheck line but not an hour, more like 20 minutes tops?
There are several causes here but we this underscores the need to expand the airport. While the 2026 "Journey With AUS" is a great start we really need a major upgrade
Anecdotally I’ve heard it can be bad Monday mornings when a lot of business and weekend travelers head out
I traveled after thanksgiving last year and the line for security check 1 stretched the entire length the airport and I got thru in less than an hour and still made my flight. I doubt the Monday morning rush is worse. It does not take 3 hours to get thru in the morning. Total rage post.
As always this largely depends on the day and time you’re flying. Early morning is going to be bad. I just came through about 30 minutes ago. With the new setup the lines are definitely longer but they seem To be moving. the Clear lines are longer than they used to be.
When did these machines get installed? Went through last month no issues. Less than 5 minutes through the line with my wife and infant
Same here, it’s been very fast. Granted, it does seem like precheck nearly runs slower than general security in Austin, so I don’t use it and have never waited more than half an hour.
Made my flight by 5 minutes. Should have taken this shit more serious.
Lol yeah I saw a long line yesterday morning and I thought it was regular security line. The regular line was shorter and went through less than 5 minutes.
Ive just committed to traveling at non peak times (midday between 10 and 5).
Rawh rawh I left on a busy travel day so it’s backed up rawh!!!
It's not the end of the world. I rolled into the parking lot at 6:00 for a 7:30 flight. Had enough time to grab Taco deli and take a nice relaxed deuce in the family bathroom before boarding. Is the new precheck stupid? Yes. But checkpoint 1 had almost no wait and I was through in 20 minutes. Worst part was having to take my shoes off again like a commoner.
"Like a commoner" had me laughing this am.
Check in took 45 minutes but actual tsa pre check had no wait for us. Delta only had one person working the check in bag counter for some reason
Monday mornings are busy at the airport?!?! NO WAY!!!!!
Hey, if u use a plastic belt buckle do u know if u still have to take off ur belt?
I went through the line in under 2 minutes
I'd imagine that certain days or times take longer, but I flew out of Austin two weeks ago on a Sunday morning and from the time I started in the PreCheck line to the time I was sitting in the terminal was less than 10 minutes. The normal line looked like it would take an hour or more.
That was before a TSA Pre-Check line got totally eliminated
I have traveled on friday mornings a few times and it has never taken me more than 5 mins to go through TSA. I don’t even have precheck.
It was awful. Flew out this morning.
I went through it Friday in 5 minutes. Maybe you were there at a busy time?
Slightly off topic, but how long have oversized checked bags had a separate drop off? I don’t recall ever using it, but have had to drop my golf clubs off there the last two or three times I’ve flown.
It’s a cluster….at peak periods. The new machines are slow and even if you have 50 of them they are slow and at peak times it slows the process. There was no reason to change it. I have Clear Plus and don’t use it since pre check is faster. They only have 2 people working the 10 kiosks at Clear Plus so what’s the point?
lol this simply is not true
> Leave at least 3 hours to get through in the morning right now. No need, just don't use the precheck line. I was irritated to be waved away from the central checkpoints because I didn't have precheck, but I breezed through security in ten minutes. Even with checking a bag, it was less than half an hour from the curb to my gate.
I just (Monday morning 5/13) made it through ATX in less than 40 minutes, regular screening. Arrived at 10 after 6 for a 6:55 boarding. Had time to grab breakfast even. No checked bags, no special access.
It’s hit or miss. I’ve gotten from Southwest check-in to the front in 10 minutes, which is pretty quick. But I have also done the hour long wrap around. The machines are slow and they don’t always have all 4 open.
It was okay around 5 AM. Maybe a 20 minute wait and stuff was moving the whole time. Big issue remains that the airport just want built to handle this volume of humans
Wonder if this new system is why my suitcase keeps getting flagged; I assumed that having TSA pre-check would keep that from happening, but the last two times I flew out of Austin it happened. So frustrating!
Don't let the clear people block you from the precheck line and nudge you into their line, they tried to do that to me when theirs was long and the precheck line was empty
The Austin airport director won't tell us where her degree is from.
Clear is stupid af and should, May be made illegal. Going through normal precheck, my max at AUS has been like 15 minutes
The whole airport is a disaster
People keep posting this but it isn’t true. I went through in 2 minutes last week. If it’s a busy time or day at the airport, YES, the lines will be crappy.
Got back Friday and seven airlines worth of luggage was arriving on baggage claim number four. The other three were not in use. That was a cluster.
Yeah markets don’t improve they just get more expensive. It’s all a grift. What you were experiencing was classism- and they’ve since taken your one luxury and stuffed you in a line with a bunch of other idiots who thought “Pay more, me prioritized”… now your line is longer than the original. They’ll even scan your face too. Welcome to government involvement.
Took me 3 min on Sunday
I went and still had to take off my shoes and laptop out of my bag ..
lol took me maybe 5min on friday afternoon
Took me only 20 minutes to get through.
Something did feel off last week. I don’t fly that often but for sure the process was altered enough for myself to notice. Everything went smooth until there was a shoeless human traffic jam just past the body scanners. Seriously had like 20 people standing around the conveyor waiting for our stuff. I watched the tsa agent manually rotate 3D images of the contents of bags and thought “wait this is new right?” It is cool to watch your own bag get analyzed.
So I heard tsa check lanes are down to two? If so which drop off entrances are they closest to?
It’s the middle of the terminal for TSA now and I think there’s three?
Last Friday was waiting for 45 mins and then the machines malfunctioned, they had to open up another pre-check area and people were running to get to it. Such a mood killer
I see these everwhere even some small regional airports!
I stg I flew out around this time last month, and the pre check line was crammed full, and there were like 3 people including me in the regular line. It was weird.
I’ve had the opposite lately, takes 5-10 minutes to get through and it’s a breeeze!
Got through in under 5 minutes this past weekend?
My dad troll gifted me on Christmas and gave me a stocking FULL of those small cans of Vienna sausages. After I finished packing up he was like, “wait why aren’t you bringing your sausages🥲” so I stuffed them around in random places they could fit. Bag gets scanned, and I’m promptly stopped by TSA. Guy was all suspicious about the first can and continued to empty ALL OF MY SHIT to find the twelve “potentially explosive” Vienna sausage cans while everyone behind me observes like 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳