New-to-me phenom at MCO Terminal C

[Miffy]

Reporting from MCO, where I'm waiting waiting waiting for my JetBlue flight, currently 3 hours late.

But I'm posting because here at Terminal C, when I went through security at about 4:45 pm, there was almost no one in the regular line and the TSA Precheck line was vast. The non-Precheck people were definitely getting through faster than the Precheck people were.

I've never seen this before, so I thought I'd post.

Am I getting rid of Precheck? No! I still like being able to keep my shoes on.

 

[bdrex28]

Reporting from MCO, where I'm waiting waiting waiting for my JetBlue flight, currently 3 hours late.

But I'm posting because here at Terminal C, when I went through security at about 4:45 pm, there was almost no one in the regular line and the TSA Precheck line was vast. The non-Precheck people were definitely getting through faster than the Precheck people were.

I've never seen this before, so I thought I'd post.

Am I getting rid of Precheck? No! I still like being able to keep my shoes on.

I've seen this multiple time during work travels and vacation travels. It's much easier to obtain TSA precheck than in the past with CC offerings and so many other ways to get TSA. Plus it can also be due to the time and day you're flying. Orlando has a lot of conventions etc and many of these end on Thursdays and people are flying back home, so a lot of business travelers. Most of those will have TSA.

You're posting at roughly 6:30pm Thursday in Orlando. Prime business travel return flight time.

 

[Miffy]

I've seen this multiple time during work travels and vacation travels. It's much easier to obtain TSA precheck than in the past with CC offerings and so many other ways to get TSA. Plus it can also be due to the time and day you're flying. Orlando has a lot of conventions etc and many of these end on Thursdays and people are flying back home, so a lot of business travelers. Most of those will have TSA.

You're posting at roughly 6:30pm Thursday in Orlando. Prime business travel return flight time.

Interesting. I'd just never experienced it before

 

[Genie+]

You’ve got to get Clear now too. Then they whisk you to the front of TSA precheck. We did it at Terminal C Jet Blue a few weeks ago.

 

[EACarlson]

Interesting. I'd just never experienced it before

I've seen it a few times, usually as I'm leaving a business conference. Usually, even though the Pre line is longer it goes much faster as theoretically, everyone knows what they need to be doing to get through the line efficiently. Had this discussion with someone, how much longer would the Pre line have to be over general to go through general. Answer we came up with was 45 minutes longer and at least 10 times the people. 6:30 on a Thursday is also going to be a deadzone for transatlantic flights, which is most of what goes out of C other than JB.

You’ve got to get Clear now too. Then they whisk you to the front of TSA precheck. We did it at Terminal C Jet Blue a few weeks ago.

You still have to have Pre in order for that to happen, and Clear isn't all that valuable most of the time for the $189 they are charging annually. I had Clear for 9 months using it on average of twice a month. Saved me a total of 30 minutes in that time, a couple of airports it was actually slower than Pre.

 

[Anthony1971]

We have seen this at Newark airport much less Terminal C at MCO. Our experience with terminal C is walk through period.
Pre check is available for free with many travel cards its not like the past where one had to pay real money for it. Way back when it did save time these days I am not sure it is worth the hassle on most travel days with major holidays being a huge exception.

 

[kdonnel]

When everyone is special, no one is special.

At least you get to keep your shoes on.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You’ve got to get Clear now too. Then they whisk you to the front of TSA precheck. We did it at Terminal C Jet Blue a few weeks ago.

Just a note for others- they only “whisk” you to the front of TSA-Precheck if you’re TSA-Pre, otherwise they bring you to normal TSA.

And whisk is a bit optimistic outside of MCO Terminal C. So many people have Clear now (#ThanksAmex) that for the last year and half for me the TSA pre line for ID check has been faster than Clear at most airports.

 

[kylenne]

I've seen it a few times, usually as I'm leaving a business conference. Usually, even though the Pre line is longer it goes much faster as theoretically, everyone knows what they need to be doing to get through the line efficiently. Had this discussion with someone, how much longer would the Pre line have to be over general to go through general. Answer we came up with was 45 minutes longer and at least 10 times the people. 6:30 on a Thursday is also going to be a deadzone for transatlantic flights, which is most of what goes out of C other than JB.

You still have to have Pre in order for that to happen, and Clear isn't all that valuable most of the time for the $189 they are charging annually. I had Clear for 9 months using it on average of twice a month. Saved me a total of 30 minutes in that time, a couple of airports it was actually slower than Pre.

Clear was so much better before everyone and their mother got it from their CCs. I still get value out of it during holiday travel out of NYC (and getting into Yankee Stadium funny enough) but anywhere & time that is biz travel heavy it's like molasses. TSA started randomly checking IDs now too so it feels extra pointless.

When flying DL you are way better off using Digital ID, I find.

 

[gottalovepluto]

When flying DL you are way better off using Digital ID, I find.

UA is also participating in the Digital ID pilot!

 

[VAtink]

This is pretty common in DC where Government employees don't have to pay for precheck so most everyone here has it. Before I had precheck I'd make it through security much faster than my friends without it. Still worth the wait to keep the shoes on and liquids in my bag!

 

[EACarlson]

This is pretty common in DC where Government employees don't have to pay for precheck so most everyone here has it. Before I had precheck I'd make it through security much faster than my friends without it. Still worth the wait to keep the shoes on and liquids in my bag!

When I flew out of DCA last year, on a Friday, Clear was 5 minutes, Precheck was 7 minutes and standard was 20.

 

[VAtink]

When I flew out of DCA last year, on a Friday, Clear was 5 minutes, Precheck was 7 minutes and standard was 20.

Ok? That's like saying the one time you went to Florida it was in the 50s so that's standard. I never said the precheck line here was always slower, I said it's common here. I used to fly out of DCA 3-4 times a month for my job, and more often than not the precheck line was longer than the regular. For a good chunk of that time I didn't have precheck and usually got through security before my coworkers who had it. Of course there are times precheck is shorter, I have experienced it myself here as well. During heavy commuting times it's often longer though.

 

[kylenne]

Ok? That's like saying the one time you went to Florida it was in the 50s so that's standard. I never said the precheck line here was always slower, I said it's common here. I used to fly out of DCA 3-4 times a month for my job, and more often than not the precheck line was longer than the regular. For a good chunk of that time I didn't have precheck and usually got through security before my coworkers who had it. Of course there are times precheck is shorter, I have experienced it myself here as well. During heavy commuting times it's often longer though.

My BIL works at DCA and your experience definitely tracks with what he sees. One reason I try to come into BWI instead, even though you do still get a lot of fed employees with pre I find lines move a lot better there.