The only issue I have with Clear (which is a must although I guess there is now a new thing coming) is that some airports dont have it (like the small Terminal here) and others arent staffed well so the Pre Check line might move faster... ...Beyond that though it is worth it just for the look on the faces of everyone when you get escorted to the front and then get checked in ahead of the TSA Precheck people.
Other than the joy of getting to laugh at people who didn't pay $200 for the opportunity to cut in line, why do you consider Clear to be a must?
I have never had a case where I've ever had to wait more than at most 15 minutes in a precheck line, and even that has been rare. As many times as not, I've seen the clear line be slower as people struggle to operate the facial recognition machines, while the staff is too busy trying to get more people to sign up to be able to assist. If your credit card will cover the cost, sure I get that, but beyond that the whole concept of clear is both unnecessary and annoying in my book.
I think we're a bit blessed at MSP with TSA speed. As discussed earlier in this thread, Orlando was a disaster on Sunday getting out of FL. While the TSA pre-check line was certainly faster than the regular line (the regular line was causing people to miss flights, and not just a few on a flight) it was still long for pre-check. Certain airports are always risky if you're not there with large amounts of time (Atlanta is one that's caused me issues on more than one occasion).
What I like is that, even at MSP, I know if I'm not checking a bag I can get from my house, parked, and to the gate in ~30 minutes without issue.
You can have Clear and not have TSA-precheck, so if you only care about skipping the line and not the convenience of keeping your shoes one, not having to take electronics out of a bag, etc. Then Clear by itself just gets you to the front of a longer line.
The only issue I have with Clear (which is a must although I guess there is now a new thing coming) is that some airports dont have it (like the small Terminal here) and others arent staffed well so the Pre Check line might move faster... ...Beyond that though it is worth it just for the look on the faces of everyone when you get escorted to the front and then get checked in ahead of the TSA Precheck people.
Other than the joy of getting to laugh at people who didn't pay $200 for the opportunity to cut in line, why do you consider Clear to be a must?
I have never had a case where I've ever had to wait more than at most 15 minutes in a precheck line, and even that has been rare. As many times as not, I've seen the clear line be slower as people struggle to operate the facial recognition machines, while the staff is too busy trying to get more people to sign up to be able to assist. If your credit card will cover the cost, sure I get that, but beyond that the whole concept of clear is both unnecessary and annoying in my book.
That has only been the case with me once and it was negligible. That was at MSP on one of the record breaking days last month.
MSP is not the best place for it yet (it will be) but it makes Vegas 10 times faster, NoLa, Seattle amongst others. If you travel a lot and you fly major airlines it makes life so much easier.
Ymmv.
The only issue I have with Clear (which is a must although I guess there is now a new thing coming) is that some airports dont have it (like the small Terminal here) and others arent staffed well so the Pre Check line might move faster... ...Beyond that though it is worth it just for the look on the faces of everyone when you get escorted to the front and then get checked in ahead of the TSA Precheck people.
Other than the joy of getting to laugh at people who didn't pay $200 for the opportunity to cut in line, why do you consider Clear to be a must?
I have never had a case where I've ever had to wait more than at most 15 minutes in a precheck line, and even that has been rare. As many times as not, I've seen the clear line be slower as people struggle to operate the facial recognition machines, while the staff is too busy trying to get more people to sign up to be able to assist. If your credit card will cover the cost, sure I get that, but beyond that the whole concept of clear is both unnecessary and annoying in my book.
MSP isn't that big of a deal, but it legit took me 110 minutes to get to my gate from getting to the airport in Orlando on Sunday.
Holy crap!
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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TSA was joking about what a mess it was with us as we got to front of the line at 5am.
I think we were lucky to have a later flight out of Orlando. Friends who flew out midday sent a photo of one of the terminal ends where it was wall to wall people standing as there were hundreds more people than seats for the multiple gates nearby.
We flew out at 8:30pm. While Mr. Global entry flew through, I was left to fend for myself with the masses and despite the board noting 27-31 minutes to get through security it was well over 45 minutes. Of course several folks decided they didn’t need to wait their turn and pushed through to the front of the line once through the security guard which didn’t help. The nice person in me hopes they were about to miss a flight.
we always plan two hours early for flights but I really need to get precheck or something.
If you really want a good time without precheck or clear, go to Denver. I had to fly three times for work last fall. Two of my flights were at 6:30 am and even getting to the airport before 4:30 there was already a 1+ hour line to security. That place is a nightmare.
MSP isn't that big of a deal, but it legit took me 110 minutes to get to my gate from getting to the airport in Orlando on Sunday.
Was that the regular line or with Precheck?
I dropped off my rental car in Orlando at 11:15 for a flight that started boarding at 12:40. I'm sure in the regular security line that was at least an hour long, I would have been racing to get to my gate, but with precheck, I was through in a few minutes and had plenty of time to enjoy a couple of bloody marys in the lounge before strolling up to my gate.
I'm not questioning the value of precheck - it's worth its weight in gold, especially in a place like Orlando on a holiday.
It's Clear that seems like a waste to me. If you have precheck, I've never seen a case where it would save more than a couple minutes, tops (maybe Sunday morning at MCO was different). If you don't have precheck, I guess it would be valuable to get to the front of the line, but at twice the cost of precheck, if you're going to choose one service, I don't know why you'd pick the one that costs twice as much yet only works at some airports and still forces you to remove your computer, shoes, belt, etc.
Everything was smooth out of Tampa last evening. Maybe 15min in the TSA regular line at TPA. Also had zero issues flying Sun Country as well there and back. So much nicer flying through the Humphrey Terminal.
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I will say one thing... A lot of people complain about the highway system here in Minnesota. But it is lightyears ahead of Tampa/St.Pete. So much growth down there caused busy roads to just get bigger. But they didn't have the room to remove the lights. So unless it was an Interstate. Their "highways" are a complete cluster when getting around... and way too much traffic.
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It's interesting, TPA used to be the disaster airport. Back in the 90's and 00's, you had to get there forever early (my aunt and uncle lived in Sarasota) and MCO was never a big issue. That has since flipped.
I will say one thing... A lot of people complain about the highway system here in Minnesota. But it is lightyears ahead of Tampa/St.Pete. So much growth down there caused busy roads to just get bigger. But they didn't have the room to remove the lights. So unless it was an Interstate. Their "highways" are a complete cluster when getting around... and way too much traffic.
And I'm so glad we don't have toll roads.
It's interesting, TPA used to be the disaster airport. Back in the 90's and 00's, you had to get there forever early (my aunt and uncle lived in Sarasota) and MCO was never a big issue. That has since flipped.
Flew in and out of MCO at Christmas and didn't have any issues at all. Having to take the monorail to get baggage/rental car is the only pain but not that big of a deal.
MSP isn't that big of a deal, but it legit took me 110 minutes to get to my gate from getting to the airport in Orlando on Sunday.
Was that the regular line or with Precheck?
I dropped off my rental car in Orlando at 11:15 for a flight that started boarding at 12:40. I'm sure in the regular security line that was at least an hour long, I would have been racing to get to my gate, but with precheck, I was through in a few minutes and had plenty of time to enjoy a couple of bloody marys in the lounge before strolling up to my gate.
I'm not questioning the value of precheck - it's worth its weight in gold, especially in a place like Orlando on a holiday.
It's Clear that seems like a waste to me. If you have precheck, I've never seen a case where it would save more than a couple minutes, tops (maybe Sunday morning at MCO was different). If you don't have precheck, I guess it would be valuable to get to the front of the line, but at twice the cost of precheck, if you're going to choose one service, I don't know why you'd pick the one that costs twice as much yet only works at some airports and still forces you to remove your computer, shoes, belt, etc.
Clear does not force you to take anything out. Whoever told you that is either lying to you or has no idea what they are talking about. Clear has all the same rules as Pre-Check only you get to jump the line. I havent taken anything out of my bag since I got my Delta Skymiles Card same with my shoes.
MSP has a stupid setup which makes it seem lame. Fly out of Vegas some time and you will see the value. NoLa is crazy they have dedicated lines for Pre-Check, Clear and Clear with Pre-check. (I have that but have never had to pay for Pre-Check)
It is worth it if you use the airports it is best at. If you fly to smaller airports or on say Sun Country then there is no point.
Was that the regular line or with Precheck?
That was the regular line, when I started the board said something like 15 min wait and it extended to an hour while I was waiting to even get my ID checked. Met a nice couple from Buffalo though who were neighbors with BC player Trevor Kuntar who just signed with the Bruins.
Did anyone stay in Tampa and attend the NHL game tonight?
Flew in late last night from Tampa. Had no issues with the Tampa airport. All the separate terminals had their own security so it wasn't busy at all. The only real issues we had was driving to the games on Thursday and Saturday. Stayed at Treasure Island it was about an hour each time to get to the game because of traffic. Good thing we left in plenty of time. Had planned to extend the trip a few days after the game just to chill on the beach. That was worth it. While walking on the beach Saturday morning, ran into Tom Serratore with his family. Stopped and chatted for a few minutes. The St. Pete area had a ton of breweries too. I would suggest to anyone the next time Tampa hosts to stay on the beach and visit a bunch of breweries during the off days.
Somewhat amusingly, it's warmer in Minneapolis today than in Tampa.
Saturday night aside, another great Frozen Four trip.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
It was unseasonably hot in Tampa while we were there. 90 degrees in the sun is a bit much (not bad in the shade). Don't worry, next week it will be 30-40 degrees here again and still nice there.
@jwg Here, here. I don’t know how the fans in pants and jerseys did it in the fan zone outside. Like the nerd I am, I researched appropriate attire for attending games in Tampa in advance of flying down. It took some convincing to persuade my father that he should wear shorts to the game.
The only issue I have with Clear (which is a must although I guess there is now a new thing coming) is that some airports dont have it (like the small Terminal here) and others arent staffed well so the Pre Check line might move faster... ...Beyond that though it is worth it just for the look on the faces of everyone when you get escorted to the front and then get checked in ahead of the TSA Precheck people.
Other than the joy of getting to laugh at people who didn't pay $200 for the opportunity to cut in line, why do you consider Clear to be a must?
I have never had a case where I've ever had to wait more than at most 15 minutes in a precheck line, and even that has been rare. As many times as not, I've seen the clear line be slower as people struggle to operate the facial recognition machines, while the staff is too busy trying to get more people to sign up to be able to assist. If your credit card will cover the cost, sure I get that, but beyond that the whole concept of clear is both unnecessary and annoying in my book.
I think we're a bit blessed at MSP with TSA speed. As discussed earlier in this thread, Orlando was a disaster on Sunday getting out of FL. While the TSA pre-check line was certainly faster than the regular line (the regular line was causing people to miss flights, and not just a few on a flight) it was still long for pre-check. Certain airports are always risky if you're not there with large amounts of time (Atlanta is one that's caused me issues on more than one occasion).
What I like is that, even at MSP, I know if I'm not checking a bag I can get from my house, parked, and to the gate in ~30 minutes without issue.
You can have Clear and not have TSA-precheck, so if you only care about skipping the line and not the convenience of keeping your shoes one, not having to take electronics out of a bag, etc. Then Clear by itself just gets you to the front of a longer line.
I don't fly often but I was at Humphrey Terminal for a 7:30 flight out Wednesday AM with Sun Country. We arrived at 5:20 AM and didn't get through TSA until about 6:30. Saw quite a few people ducking under ropes running to their flights. Checkpoint 2 was the only one running, checkpoint 1 was closed. Not sure if that is normal for Wednesday at 5:30 in the morning but I am glad I listened to my fiance and we left when we did. Had enough time to use the restroom, wait for Starbucks and we were pretty much boarding.
Had a great experience with Sun Country minus the turbulence basically the entire flight down, which is pretty much out of their control (drink service didn't start until about the last 45 minutes of the flight). Flew out of St. Pete Sunday, tiny airport with not much for shops/food in gates 4-8 area and no security line for a 12:30 PM flight. Found it odd they had different TSA areas for different gates so you could not experience the shops the other gates had, perhaps that's common outside Humphrey. Had to go back to ticketing because they got my birthday wrong on my ticket, which was a pain. My checked bag had someone else's name on it too, which was odd to see. Only problem there was we got back to MSP 30 minutes early and they weren't ready for us so we circled above the airport for about 25 minutes.
I haven't flown out of T2 in years (2007?), I have status on Delta due to work so am strictly out of T1 and the north checkpoint is usually 10-15 minutes. They never reopened the skyway checkpoint post covid - that was really slick.
MSP's site does say they only use the 2nd checkpoint at T2 in peak periods.
When covid hit, we had flights booked through Sun Country, Southwest and Delta that spring and summer. Southwest and Delta gave us 100% credit towards another flight for 2 years and Sun Country kept a portion of the money we paid as a processing fee or something like that. Will never fly them again.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Can't say anything for any other times, but I used the North checkpoint with PreCheck on Tuesday heading to Tampa, went through security around 10:30 AM, and I was able to just walk up, there was no line at all.
As to Sun Country, they were my preferred airline if they were flying where I wanted to go, and roughly the time I wanted to go. Then they changed to full low-cost airline, and dropped to "I may still use them if it really works out" Then a while later, they stranded that entire flight worth of people in Mexico by not sending a plane to pick them up when a storm cancelled the last flight from MSP -> (whatever airport it was, Cancun maybe?), and only offered to refund half their ticket price, leaving people to try to book one-way return fare at the last moment. THAT stunt put them on my "You'd have to have a gun to my head, and I'd have to be pretty sure you'll pull the trigger" to get me on one of their planes again.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
I was in Mexico at the beginning of COVID (Walz made his announcement to shut down Minneapolis on my 40th birthday...yay!) and they stranded a bunch of Spring Breakers down there as well. We were on a catamaran cruise with a bunch of Bison and they had had their flight cancelled and were moved to a Delta flight 2 days later. They obviously didn't care but geez!
Can't say anything for any other times, but I used the North checkpoint with PreCheck on Tuesday heading to Tampa, went through security around 10:30 AM, and I was able to just walk up, there was no line at all.
As to Sun Country, they were my preferred airline if they were flying where I wanted to go, and roughly the time I wanted to go. Then they changed to full low-cost airline, and dropped to "I may still use them if it really works out" Then a while later, they stranded that entire flight worth of people in Mexico by not sending a plane to pick them up when a storm cancelled the last flight from MSP -> (whatever airport it was, Cancun maybe?), and only offered to refund half their ticket price, leaving people to try to book one-way return fare at the last moment. THAT stunt put them on my "You'd have to have a gun to my head, and I'd have to be pretty sure you'll pull the trigger" to get me on one of their planes again.
My friend and her HS daughter were on that flight, or non-flight! It was out of Mazatlan and it took them 4 days to get home and cost thousands. SunCountry eventually refunded the RETURN portion of the cancelled flight, but they had to pay for 4 more nights at a hotel, during prime season, so no inexpensive rooms. Plus they had to pay for last minute one way tickets home, the highest priced tickets airlines sell. SC did NOT refund that cost. It was a nightmare for them.
SC may be fine for quick short hops within the US, but I would never under any circumstances use them to fly internationally and honestly after what happened to them, I’d never fly them. There is no worse business decision than to literally abandon over 200 people in a foreign country and just walk away. It bordered on criminal.
What have I got? I got no snacks and I got no respect.
Travis-age 6