TSA lines at airports: If you are flying out of a major airport, give yourself extra time! [View all]

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The TSA changes are here.


My husband and I flew out of our home airport--Raleigh/Durham--to Newark last Friday for a weekend in NY. No problem with our home
airport--and they had a TSA pre-check line operating before 8 am.

Flying home from Newark was another story. It took us almost an hour to get through security to get to our gate area in Terminal A.
They had ONE station open and staffed (with equipment for several other lanes sitting closed, idle, and unstaffed). They handed out pre-check
laminated cards --at a pre-check line on entry--which were worthless since there was only one line and no separation of pre-check passengers.

They also are giving full groin inspection to males and full boob handling to females. Both my husband and I have hip replacements. I often
get through our Raleigh/Durham security without triggering the alarm, but my husband never does. They had a full body scanner at Newark and they STILL
made us both go through the invasive pat-down. Count extra time for that and probably more of them being done.

My husband and I travel a fair amount and have been in our share of lines. But I have to say I haven't been in an almost hour long line just to get through security since about 2003 when it took me and my sons over an hour to get through a giant security line in Denver in June. That was a close call; when we got to the gate for my sons flight (they were flying home to Raleigh/Durham and I was going elsewhere to meet my husband) they were calling boarding. It would have been a major PITA if they had missed their flight when the plan was for us to go separate ways.

And if you don't fly frequently, be aware that airlines are closing their gates routinely anywhere from 10-15 minutes prior to stated flight time so they can log on-time departures. We watched two women miss their flight when the plane was still at the gate and there was still 10 minutes to flight time. The gate agent closed the door, went down and pulled the jetway away from the plane. One of the women was literally banging on the gate door. SOL. Just SOL.

We have two more flying trips booked and then I'm done. If I can't get there on the train or by car, I'm not going. It is just too much of a PITA to fly any more. Security lines. Canceled flights. Delayed flights for equipment problems (we had a gate change because another flight was more than two hours delayed while they fussed with an electrical issue and then finally gave the flight new equipment). Squashed in coach seats. Not enough overhead space. Absolutely full planes. Rude airline personnel. Rude passengers. I'm fortunate that at age 66 there really aren't any places that I'd like to go (other than Tahiti) that I'm willing to endure the ordeal of flying in order to get there.

Just be prepared.