If you find yourself having to fly the allegedly friendly skies anytime soon, my goodness—good luck.
Even in the best of times, heading to an airport can be an unpredictable headache. Now, in the midst of our current U.S. TSA meltdown, security wait times are climbing to crazy new highs. And the effects of that can often ripple far, even if you’re lucky enough to begin your journey in an airport (within the U.S. or without) that’s reasonably all right.
Today, for an especially timely Cool Tools suggestion, I want to share a trio of resources with you that’ll help you see exactly what to expect before you head to the airport—and thus be able to plan and be prepared for how much time you’ll need to get to your gate.
These resources will be absolutely invaluable now, but they can also be useful anytime—even when we aren’t in the midst of an unusually chaotic moment in air travel.
This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures!
Your eye on airport security wait time—worldwide
Now more than ever, relying on genuinely human, crowdsourced estimates of airport security line wait times is the best bet you’ve got.
➜ And the good news is that some smart, up-to-date resources exist that offer exactly that kind of insight for airports within the U.S. and beyond—on demand, anytime, and without any costs or complications.
⌚ In fact, you can find the info you need in as little as a single minute with any of these sites.
💡 Each has a slightly different strength and set of data, so it’s well worth your while to hang onto all ’em and keep ’em handy for the next time you need to travel.
Up first is Flighty Airports—a simple single-page website that shows you delays and disruptions at any airport around the world in both an interactive map and a list-based view. You can click on any specific airport in the map or the list to view more detailed info, and you can use the search box at the top of the site to look up any airport anywhere in the world, even if it isn’t appearing prominently on the page to start.
Next is the aptly named TSA Wait Times. This one, as you’d expect from its title, is limited only to U.S. airports—but it’s a solid set of secondary data that can help confirm any trends for such locations and give you an even more accurate view of what’s happening on the ground.
And last but not least is a site called Qsensor. Qsensor has a wealth of live data on lots of airports worldwide. It doesn’t include every airport, but when it comes to larger and busier places, its data can be an incredibly helpful addition.
Bookmark these or save ’em wherever you’ll remember, and you’ll at least have the advantage of knowledge and preparation for your next flight adventure—whenever that may be and however long it may require.
- Flighty Airports, TSA Wait Times, and Qsensor are all completely web-based and available in any browser on any device you’re using.
- The core services are all free. Some of the sites offer a premium plan or present you with other complementary services you could consider, but you never have to take those paths or pay a single dime to tap into the type of travel intel we’re talking about here.
- No sign-ups are required, either, and you never have to share any sort of personal data.
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