Do you know how long you are going to wait at the airport? You will now! A new report shared by Bounce, a luggage storage app, shows which airports give the longest and shortest wait times at security.
For travelers, the wait time at airports can affect their travel experience, and having data about selected airports can help them make better decisions when visiting certain cities.
The study analyzed data from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Customs & Border Protection Airport to determine the average waiting time at the main airports in the United States.
Some of these airports with long wait lines are even among the top 10 airports in the world, but focusing only on security time might show different results.
The luggage company explained that they considered data from March 2021 to March 2021. Time estimates vary depending on many factors, but here’s what the statistics have shown.
US Airports With Longest Wait Times
These lists combine passport control and security wait times. It’s important that travelers also consider that luggage and other exceptional circumstances can increase these time estimates.
The longest wait time: Miami International Airport
According to the analysis, travelers will have to wait an average of 46 minutes and 57 seconds to go through security and passport revision. The longest wait process is security where passengers usually wait almost 25 minutes and also about 22 minutes at passport control.
Miami International Airport handles many international flights and is the main flight connection for those visiting the United States from Latin America and the Caribbean. Bounce suggested that this is probably why security controls take longer than in other airports.
The second-longest wait time: Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport
Another airport in Florida takes the unfortunate long wait award. At these airports, travelers wait 46 minutes and 41 seconds. The time to go through security takes on average 18 minutes and 18 seconds, and the passport control wait time is 28 minutes and 23 seconds.
This airport controls fewer international flights, compared to the Miami International Airport, but remains very busy. According to the data shared, this airport handles over 700 daily flights.
Third longest wait time: San Francisco International Airport
The next airport with the longest wait time is across the country. Passengers usually wait 45 minutes and 56 seconds to have their passports checked and pass TSA control. Security wait is nearly 28 minutes and passport control wait is 18 minutes.
It is expected that one of the busiest airports in the United States ranks on this list. After Los Angeles International Airport, this airport is the busiest in California, and also serves as a getaway to Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
US Airports With The Shortest Wait Times
It’s important to highlight also those airports that make travel smoother and that might be considered by travelers in a rush. This is what Bounce’s report shows:
The shortest wait time: Raleigh–Durham International Airport
Passengers could transit to this airport for as short as 16 minutes and 9 seconds in total. On average, it takes travelers only 10 minutes to wait at the TSA checkpoint and about 6 minutes to go through passport control.
The second shortest wait time: Baltimore/Washington International Airport
At this airport, passengers wait less than 20 minutes, exactly 19 minutes and 14 seconds. According to the information shared, it could be a good option to consider this airport instead of the Washington Dulles International Airport since travelers might save up to 13 minutes in security wait.
The third shortest wait time: Charlotte Douglas International Airport
At this airport in North Carolina travelers wait less than 20 minutes. It takes on average 9 minutes and 54 seconds on security wait time and 9 minutes and 20 seconds on passport control. A surprising result, considering that this airport is transited by 50 million passengers every year.
