Know Before You Go: Unlock the Secrets of Your Home Airport

A Broader View — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:39:23 +0000

Every terminal has tricks that savvy fliers can use to save time and reduce hassles, says one seasoned traveler. Find out how to get a leg up on your fellow passengers during the holiday season.

It’s a busy Friday evening at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and I’ve just flown in from London. More than 300 of us have collected our bags and passed through customs and immigration. SeaTac’s arrivals area is a Hieronymous Bosch madhouse — hundreds of people jostling for space at the passenger pickup curb, cigarette smoke choking the air, horns blaring, cars stacked bumper-to-bumper, kids fussing and airport police barking commands.

Ah, but I’m upstairs at the virtually deserted departures level, where peace and quiet reign. My wife zips up in the Toyota, I hop in and off we go. It takes all of 30 seconds. Once again, I’ve beaten the system because I know my home airport inside and out. In the evening (in fact, almost all the time) the departures level upstairs is by far the better place to wait for a ride home.

Travel can be hell — unless you’re a savvy frequent traveler who collects practical expertise to save time and avoid hassles. If you fly 80 to 100 times annually, as I do, saving as little as 10 minutes at each end of a flight adds up to 18 hours each year. That equals reading the paper at home with a second cup of coffee once a week.

I don’t want to give that up (and my airport expertise usually saves far more than a paltry 10 minutes), so I collect secrets for all the airports I use. At SeaTac, for instance, the middle security gateway that leads to the food concourse is invariably quickest — with a line half the length of the queue that leads to the North Satellite terminal. SeaTac is arranged so that passengers can reach any gate in the entire airport once they’re inside the security envelope. Why not use the security gateway that takes the least amount of time?

If you want to join the savvy-airport club, here are five ways to start:

1. Open your eyes. As Yogi Berra said, you can observe a lot just by watching. Early for a plane one day? Take a stroll and check out the alternative security checkpoints. Look for options you haven’t noticed before, such as premium express lines. You can even follow business travelers who look like they know what they’re doing.

2. Ask airport personnel if they have any tricks. Talk to gate agents at check-in, information volunteers or crew members. Ask them, for example, “What’s the easiest way to get to Concourse D?” Virtually every airport has some Transportation Security Administration checkpoints that are quicker than others, and security personnel are happy to tell you about them, since it makes their jobs easier.

3. Ask the frequent travelers you know for advice. People like me catalog airport secrets not only by necessity, but also as a sort of codex for our fraternity. I trade tips at conferences and meetings. Perhaps you’re having your neighbor, the Southeastern U.S. insurance adjuster, over for dinner; offer homemade pie for dessert and ask his secrets. Believe me, he’ll know how to get through Atlanta’s Hartsfield as expeditiously as possible.

4. Check the many online sources of information. The TSA maintains a comprehensive database on security wait times at U.S. airports at http://waittime.tsa.dhs.gov/index.html. Also, the Web sites operated by each airport offer tips and terminal maps; spend a little time before you fly browsing the site for each airport you’ll be visiting on your trip.

5. Avail yourself of the universal tricks frequent travelers can use. For example, consider getting a Clear card, which for $199 speeds travelers into express security lines at 21 airports, including such notorious choke points as Atlanta, Washington’s Dulles and the New York area’s three airports.

“That Clear card is the best travel investment I ever made,” says Justin Ball, a Denver-based executive with Fast Enterprises, an accounting and finance firm. Ball also suggests that if you’re stuck in a long line at the many airports that have two or more customs funnels, you can ask an official to be escorted over to the shorter line.

International traveler Chris Staab, of Airline Information Inc., urges flying through secondary hubs — Zurich, Switzerland, rather than Frankfurt, Germany; Cleveland rather than Newark, N.J.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla., rather than Miami; or St. Louis rather than Dallas. They’re quieter, less crowded and more user-friendly, though recent airline cutbacks have decreased the number of flights at some smaller airports.

Another tip: If you’re flying home from overseas, avoid checking a bag if at all possible — you won’t be able to catch an earlier plane should one be available.

The following list of tips for specific airports is meant to be illustrative rather than comprehensive. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to start compiling your own secrets.

Atlanta (ATL): Delta Air Lines offers curbside check-in kiosks on the lower level. But the full-service lines are often shorter than the Web check-in bag drop lines — have a look at both options before you commit yourself to one or the other.

Denver (DEN): The south security gateway usually has the shortest line, but you can ask airline check-in personnel for their recommendation. Also, the airport has TV monitors that show the line length at each security area; look for these at the top of the escalators that lead down to security.

If you’re using a rental car or hotel shuttle, walk over to the southeast station on the lower level. Since this is the last stop for these buses, it can save you 20 minutes, compared with getting on at the first stop. Conversely, if you’re catching a plane, get off at the first shuttle stop, for United Airlines. It’s a quick walk through the airport to the check-in desk and security checkpoint, no matter which airline you’re flying.

Dallas (DFW): Here, too, shuttles loop around the access drive at each terminal. The last stop is at the end of the terminal that corresponds to the lowest gate numbers; a three-minute walk could save you 10 minutes of waiting.

Houston Bush (IAH): Just like Seattle, the best place for pickups is on the upper-level departures drive. And outbound travelers should always check to see which terminal they’re departing from; the different terminals at Houston are separated by great distances, so if you arrive at the wrong one, it could take up to half an hour to get to the right place.

Los Angeles (LAX): As at many other airports, the quickest, quietest and least crowded spot to be picked up on arrival is usually the departures level upstairs. And if you’re flying out of Terminal 1 (Southwest Airlines), allow extra time — it’s notorious for security lines that snake out the door and down the sidewalk.

London Heathrow (LHR): The south side security checkpoint is almost always quicker at Terminal 5, British Airways’ snazzy new international terminal. And international-arrival passengers should follow the transfer signs very carefully to avoid being shunted back through security.

Experienced London travelers know that the best way to get in and out of the city is the Heathrow Express train, which whisks you to and from Paddington Station in about 25 minutes. The Tube’s Blue line is cheaper, but much longer — more than an hour to get to central London.

San Francisco (SFO): If you arrive at United’s domestic terminal to catch an overseas flight, you can either walk a quarter-mile out to the main terminal, then go through security again to get inside the international terminal — that takes a half-hour — or you can watch for the inconspicuous signs that guide you to the inter-terminal bus, bypassing the first security checkpoint and taking just 10 minutes.

Washington Dulles (IAD): A Clear card is the most reliable way to speed your way into the airport — security checkpoints back up inexplicably and haphazardly at what is one of the world’s most-used international hubs. Sure, it costs nearly $200, but if you take more than 10 flights a year, your time’s probably worth more than that.

The only danger in all of these tricks is cutting corners too closely and not leaving yourself enough time to make your plane. But, as the saying goes, “If you’ve never missed a flight, you’re wasting way too much time at the airport.”

Actually, I never have. Maybe I need to push the envelope a bit more.

Tags: Airport, Secrets, tips, Travel

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