There are many ways to rank airports.
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Some are harder to navigate thanks to oddly shaped terminals and pure square footage. Others excel when it comes to extras like art installations or even cutting-edge new infrastructural approaches to air travel.
Others are perfect for booking short day trips, shopping in duty-free sections, or turning a long layover into its own separate adventure. (Looking at you, Changi!)
But what about when it comes to security lines?
The TSA is launching quite a few changes that will help streamline air travel—even if the ongoing government shutdown is delaying many of those initiatives. From shoes-on security checks to family-friendly security lines to new CLEAR biometric programs, the TSA is working hard to minimize the time you spend in security lines at US airports.
There are a few hubs that do it better than others, especially during the busy holiday travel season. That’s doubly true when customs is involved.
International airports, thanks to their international flight routes, have the longest security lines in the country.
Want to know which airports you should give yourself some extra time at when traveling internationally this year? These are the worst US airports for holiday travel based on security line waits.
(The study I’m referencing for this list was conducted by Upgraded Points on the 41 major international airports across the US that have customs lines operated by US Customs and Border Patrol. Data from the study was pulled from its Airport Wait Times dataset.)
Worst airports for holiday travel in the US in order
- Orlando International Airport (MCO)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Nashville International Airport (BNA)
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
- JFK International Airport (JFK)
- Miami International Airport (MIA)
- San Diego International Airport (SAN)
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) (Houston)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Detroit Metro Airport (DTW)
Top 15 worst airports for holiday travel in the US—give yourself extra time for security
Below are the rankings for the worst airports for holiday travel in the US based on wait times at security and customs. They’re ranked from longest to shortest. If you want to dig in even further, you can check out the full rankings for all 41 airports in the study.
Pay close attention to the stats for ‘percentage of waits over 60 minutes’, as this shows a percentage of how many travelers needed to wait over an hour to get through security.
Orlando International Airport (MCO)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 23.1 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 32.7 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 26.1%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 12.6%
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 20.1 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 30.3 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 29.5%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 11.5%
Nashville International Airport (BNA)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 26 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 27.9 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 24.1%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 4.2%
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 22.7 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 27.3 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 35.6%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 9.1%
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 23.2 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 26.9 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 33.5%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 5.4%
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 19.4 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 26.3 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 39.5%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 9.6%
JFK International Airport (JFK)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 14.6 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 26.1 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 39.7%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 8.5%
Miami International Airport (MIA)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 14.3 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 23.9 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 41.2%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 7.6%
San Diego International Airport (SAN)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 20.9 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 23.4 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 31%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 1.3%
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) (Houston)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 17.7 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 23 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 41.6%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 5.2%
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 14.1 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 22.9 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 45.5%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes. 7.2%
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 20.6 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 22.8 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 44.3%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 5.8%
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 18.3 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 21.4 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 40.2%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 3.2%
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 15.7 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 20.7 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 45.1%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 3.7%
Detroit Metro Airport (DTW)
- Average wait time for US travelers: 18.4 minutes
- Average wait time for all travelers: 20.5 minutes
- Percentage of waits under 15 minutes: 46.6%
- Percentage of waits over 60 minutes: 3%
