Trying to Check Airport Security Wait Times? Here’s Why You Can’t Trust the TSA
With holiday travel coming up, flights are going to be crowded and security lanes are going to be long. Checking TSA wait times before you go would be a good way to make sure you’re leaving enough time before your flight. The TSA mobile site even offers an option to view security wait times.
The problem, it’s crowd sourced.
And depending on the airport, you might be getting data points 3 days old. Not exactly helpful.
There’s not actually a lot of options out there. Whats Busy seemed like it was the best/most comprehensive, but their estimates are based on historical data, not necessarily current conditions. So while it’s helpful to check, also leave extra time just in case.
My advice? Also check Twitter (no account required), searching hashtags using your airport’s abbreviation ex: #IAH or the airport’s official account. Granted, its just another way of crowd sourcing, but hopefully if lines are truly terrible someone will tweet in frustration.
If you other reliable sources for airport security wait times, please let me know!
