Tampa airport security bad too?

[hercamore]

Hi,

For our May trip, we are flying into MCO and flying out of TPA (spending some time in Sarasota).

Never been to TPA before. I have rented a car thru National. Can someone compare rental car return times at TPA vs MCO and how are the security lines at TPA these days.

I'm trying to get a feel for when I should leave Sarasota for our 6:56 p.m. flight.

Thanks, herc.

 

[Snoozan]

It's been a couple years since I last flew out of Tampa and I found the security line long, but it was during mid-morning, which I always find a busy time. At the time, this was the only airport that had us take off our sneakers - so I'm sure that contributes to the line. Tampa is smaller airport than MCO so it's easier to get around so that helps save some time.

 

[SomePixiedust]

I'll try to help a little. I flew out of TPA last month from WDW and had rented from Alamo, which shared a terminal with National. You will have to take a shuttle from National to your airline. If National returns the same way Alamo did, it was a breeze. Return your rental car first. I just pulled up to a line of cars, a rep from Alamo was right there. He turned the ignition to check the gas tank, took my rental receipt and scanned it in on a hand held scanner. I was returning my car 3 days early and the receipt with the credit printed right out on his little portable scanner. I then took my bags to the shuttle bus just a few feet away and we headed right away for the airport terminal. There were 4 other families on the bus and we were all headed for different airlines, but I was JetBlue and got off first, so I don't know what the rest of the order was. I did curbside check in (only waited about 5 minutes) and then took the train/tram to the JetBlue gates. The security lines seemed a little daunting at first but then I realized that one long line then dispersed into 6 individual security areas. We probably waited about 10 minutes. Not too bad...it kept moving. This was was for an 11:50 flight mid week. We left Disney around 8:45 am and stopped for gas close to the airport to return the car full. I would say from the time I pulled into Alamo until the time they got me to JetBlue was probably about 15 minutes (at the most). We had plenty of time to grab a snack and relax before boarding.

I hope this helps. Maybe someone can confirm if National returns the same way as Alamo

 

[JDietz40]

We flew in and out of Tampa in November and used Dollar to rent our car. I thought that it was very quick getting through security and the rental went quickly as well although we arrived late Friday evening so it may be busier at another time. The security line was much shorter than we have experienced at MCO in yhe past.


John

 

[Disneyjosh229]

We've rented through National at TPA and there dropoff is a breeze. MAYBE 2 mins at the most for the rep to check over the car, they show you were to get on the bus and the driver will drop you off at your respective terminal. As far as security lines go, Ive flown 2 times out of TPA. The first was a quick line (maybe 3 mins) when flying Northwest. The second was much slower (15-20 mins) when flying Delta. If you are flying during the week (Tuesday-Thursday) your wait shouldn't be over 10 mins, but if you are flying on the weekend, allow up to 30 mins for wait times....