Sky Harbor/TSA issues (Mesa: purchase, moving, vacations)

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

When reporting on your luck (or lack thereof) at Sky Harbor it would be useful to know if you have TSA Pre-Check.

I definitely do not and refuse to do so. Part of me believes the chaos in some airports is orchestrated by TSA as an excuse for more funding or to get more people to get into the pre-check program.

I'll report back about my Sky Harbor experience in June.

My experiences at Sky Harbor, even with TSA here, have been very positive. Everything moves quickly (even when processed for the physical pat down). It sounds like the chaos in other parts of the country hasn't hit here yet. Hopefully that holds.

[ElleTea]

No Pre-Check for me either, and I have never had to wait a very long time at Sky Harbor. Like anything else it depends on what day you fly, what time, etc. But I have done various days/times of day and no issues.

[Minntoaz]

Sky Harbor is always quick. It is voted "The Friendliest Airport" after all. They really live up to to their name. I won't go into detail on that but let's just say the TSA gets you in and out. Contrast that to say Minneapolis where they pretty much every time pat me down. Those white, blonde girls...

[JGMotorsport64]

Fly out of Sky Harbor weekly, it's about the same as comparably sized airports. The big issue was that baggage glitch last week where people didn't get their luggage for days after they left. I'd fire the TSA after that spectacle.

[ElleTea]

Actually the head of TSA Security was fired


TSA Security Head Fired Over Long Lines

[JGMotorsport64]

PHOTOS: Baggage stored in cellphone lot after Sky Harbor TSA issue | 12NEWS.com

Sky Harbor needed a direct response to this specifically.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

I've been hearing about all of the controversy with TSA wait times so far this summer. Articles I've read have all discussed issues in Chicago and the east coast. How has Sky Harbor been as of late?

Flying to Newark on June 2 at 8:30am. Curious if I should go earlier than normal. I typically leave 2 hours before my flight. I pre-print my boarding pass and don't check luggage but I do opt out of the body scan.

There was an issue with baggage at PHX a few weeks ago, but there is not the systemic dysfunction of eastern airports. In fact, I fly out once a week and haven't noticed anything. Both the elite line and the precheck line take about the same amount of time for me. I usually stick with precheck, but it depends on the airport. In PHX, the general boarding lines look like they could be 20+ minutes at certain times, but I haven't used one in a decade. Also, if you're flying out of terminal 4, you can use A/C or B/D security lines. Sometimes a walk to the other line saves you some time.

FWIW, Chicago O'Hare (ORD) always has been a disaster. Every aspect of O'Hare is a problem. PHX is a traveler's paradise in comparison to that awful dump.

[RubyJune]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

FWIW, Chicago O'Hare (ORD) always has been a disaster. Every aspect of O'Hare is a problem. PHX is a traveler's paradise in comparison to that awful dump.

This is truth. When I have absolutely no choice but to go through O'Hare, I always plan on being late. I've never gotten in there on time, never gotten out of there on time. Once, I had to sit on a runway for 3 hours in Moline, IL just because they were so backed up, our flight couldn't take off until they sorted themselves out.

Atlanta is no better, though.

Now, of course, you'll say "but these are the two busiest airports in the country!" to which I say, yes they are, and they have been for at least two decades. There is no excuse for them not to have figured out their problems by now.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

I definitely do not and refuse to do so. Part of me believes the chaos in some airports is orchestrated by TSA as an excuse for more funding or to get more people to get into the pre-check program.

I'll report back about my Sky Harbor experience in June.

My experiences at Sky Harbor, even with TSA here, have been very positive. Everything moves quickly (even when processed for the physical pat down). It sounds like the chaos in other parts of the country hasn't hit here yet. Hopefully that holds.

We never applied for or paid for TSA Pre-Check, it just started showing up on boarding passes. I had to ask what it was.

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by johnp292

My wife just flew to Newark Friday morning on a 10am Southwest flight. She said the line was very short.

She's coming back tomorrow afternoon, I bet her experience at EWR isn't as pleasant.

And, just to follow up, she told me the line in Newark wasn't bad either. Color me surprised!