March 21, 2026
The Airports Are A Mess. We Can Help. (Or You Can Just Wait On Congress)
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RSS Feed As of this recording on Saturday morning, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson has security line wait times over 2 hours. After 5 failed votes to fund the Department of Homeland Security and TSA, we’ve been warned that this week’s delays and chaos will be “child’s play” compared to next week. We have some pro tips on getting through the airport as quickly and as painlessly as possible, based on decades of flying.
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00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, it is Saturday, March twenty first, it is day thirty six of the partial government shut down. And what impact is it having today after a month. Well, if you're at Atlanta Hartsville Jackson International Airport right now as we are recording this, the current main TSA security line, the wait is two hours and five minutes. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. That is a real and if you want to try another one somewhere else in the airport, they have a couple more. The other two. One of them's ninety minutes and one is ninety five. Now we've gone through Atlanta a whole lot in our lives robes.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: Is that typical?
00:00:52
Speaker 3: No, that is not git all weekend.
00:00:54
Speaker 2: It's a busy airport.
00:00:55
Speaker 3: It's a busy airport.
00:00:56
Speaker 4: But I would even think on a Saturday morning, that's usually a chill time at an airport. Thursday night, Friday night, Sunday night, those are all big travel nights from what I can recall.
00:01:06
Speaker 1: Saturday mornings, well, Saturday morning is when a lot of people do want to take off and go somewhere. They're heading somewhere. You throw in, what do we have now? Spring break going on.
00:01:15
Speaker 4: Oh, that's true right now as well. It's a spring break month.
00:01:18
Speaker 2: You reeled off.
00:01:19
Speaker 1: Do A lot of people know we are seasoned travelers, obviously, but if folks hearing our voice right now, it seems common sense. What are the busiest days times generally to fly. You just hit on a couple they're already. But Monday morning and Thursday night, those make sense.
00:01:40
Speaker 3: Yes, they absolutely make sense.
00:01:41
Speaker 4: And look, I think one of the big hacks this is why I'm a little shocked that it's already two hours and five minutes, is that when you get I guess it is a little bit later, But when you get one of the first flights out of an airport, it's your best shot at it not being delayed, first of all, and perhaps having the least amount of crowds.
00:02:01
Speaker 2: Oh that was before, my dear.
00:02:03
Speaker 1: Yes, getting there and getting the early flight they'll keep you from having a flight cancelation or delay. But it is doing nothing right now for these tsa wait times. Yes, folks, we are hopping on here. We're going to go through. Look, there's a lot out there and people telling you tips and tricks and all the stuff you can do.
00:02:22
Speaker 2: Frankly, ropes. There's not a whole lot.
00:02:24
Speaker 1: There's a handful of things, maybe five, but it's not a whole lot we can do to avoid it.
00:02:31
Speaker 3: That's the hard part.
00:02:31
Speaker 4: Even folks who are seasoned travelers and have all the tools at their ready, still it's whether or not you can afford some of these tools because they are expensive, and whether or not you actually are forced to travel at certain times. Sometimes you don't have the option to pick some of these lesser travel days or times. That's pretty much your wiggle room to have something that you pay for, some service, or trying to rearrange your flights for the least traveled periods.
00:03:01
Speaker 1: So we're going to help you out here a little bit and quickly the update right now at least when is this going to end? We don't know, and there's no sign, no indication, no hope, no offering.
00:03:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, they even brought Home in in the guy who solved all the problems in Minneapolis. He didn't solve all the problems, but certainly got fail well.
00:03:19
Speaker 3: He righted the ship. Everything was a total mess.
00:03:21
Speaker 4: He came in and he made things clear, and it seemed like he was a voice that both Republicans and Democrats respected to an extent.
00:03:31
Speaker 1: You know what, I didn't realize this to your point. Homan met with Republicans and Democrats on Thursday. Rome's They said, it's the first time in six weeks that both sides have gotten in a room to discuss the shutdown.
00:03:47
Speaker 4: Well, that's disgusting. First of all, that is hauling and that should not be allowed. But yes, if one guy can bring them together and look over Ice, this was this is all over Ice, So it makes sense to bring and the guy who at least solved that problem, this basic standoff that was going on in Minneapolis now coming in to try and solve I actually felt hopeful for the first time hearing that he was getting him.
00:04:13
Speaker 1: Yes, he met with him on Thursday and Friday. Nothing came out of that. But here we are on day thirty six. Now they did vote again, was it Thursday or Friday? In the Senate? But what is the same thing they did in the last yet even close? You're just going to keep voting on the same legislation. What's the point? But that is what they are currently doing once again. But yes, it failed once again on Friday, and not even all of the senators got involved.
00:04:34
Speaker 2: To vote. They didn't even bother the vote.
00:04:36
Speaker 4: Honestly, there have only been five votes correct, So that's also appalling, And not that you want them to keep voting on the same thing with the same outcome, but to not even do anything to give some allowance on one side to see where the vote heads the next time. To have only had five votes in thirty some days, thirty six days where people aren't being paid, anyone who has to travel either for business or play, and this again is spring break season. It's just unacceptable that they're not working harder and making allowances.
00:05:07
Speaker 3: That's what it is.
00:05:08
Speaker 4: That's what our founding fathers set up, so that you have to negotiate. You don't get everything you want. You don't get it your way or no way.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: And a reminder there are food banks being set up, donations are being made, tip boxes are even set up at some airports to pay the people that we say are incredibly important to this country, safety, our tsa agents. Again, I think another miss paycheck is when.
00:05:32
Speaker 4: Is it this?
00:05:32
Speaker 3: I believe it's next Friday.
00:05:33
Speaker 1: Okay, duff he did mention that, so, yes, they have missed a couple of paychecks, one full paycheck already those rates continue to be up there. Call out rates are still at around ten percent, they say, nationally, but some airports we have seen are going up into the twenties, thirties and even forty plus. Percentage of TSA workers who are calling out day and day out not because they're just pissed. They're trying to find a way to make money, world to put food on the table, their money. They are told you have to come to work, but you're not going to get paid. Who would be okay with that?
00:06:04
Speaker 4: And it's fair that most Americans can't miss a paycheck. I couldn't miss a paycheck for the majority of my first i'd say fifteen years on the job. I could not have missed one paycheck. I had to not take maternity leave as long as I wanted to because I had to get paid. Like everyone who works understands, you can't just not get a paycheck.
00:06:23
Speaker 3: Not getting two paychecks. That's devastating.
00:06:26
Speaker 1: And we should a reminder folks with folks you're seeing at the TSA gates. These folks are making forty fifty thousand dollars, so you can't if you have a family and depend on what city you're living in you got to drive to an airport that's way out somewhere. That's just it does not work. It doesn't make sense. So that is where we are with the shutdown. So what does this mean for all of us at the airports? It continues, These long lines continue, So everyone start with that Robes.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: We kind of hit on it.
00:06:52
Speaker 1: First of all, when to fly, These are strategies that can help if you have the option. Robes, you do not want to fly on a Thursday evening and a Monday morning, and it's because we are uch very frequent travelers. Those are the times you get the rush of business traveled at the airport.
00:07:11
Speaker 4: Yes, and add to that Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: Correct.
00:07:14
Speaker 4: I'm surprised Sunday is not in there because I've always thought that was a tough time to fly as well.
00:07:19
Speaker 3: But when should you fly?
00:07:20
Speaker 4: If you have the option to kind of wiggle your travel days midweek and in the morning, you're going to have your least probability of delays.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: We're talking from six am until ten am.
00:07:32
Speaker 4: You and I got on a I thought it was maybe even a five am flight, and I thought this is absurd, But you know what, it was easy, breezy get through.
00:07:40
Speaker 3: It's tough to.
00:07:41
Speaker 4: Wake up early for a lot of folks, I know, but man, if you can avoid standing in line for two hours, I mean, think about it, Getting through the Atlanta security right now is more than two hours.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: Now you've got to go walk to your gate. You need another hour.
00:07:55
Speaker 4: You have to leave for the airport five hours before your flight takes off at this point to make sure you don't miss your flight.
00:08:04
Speaker 3: That's where we are.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: So that's the other tip.
00:08:06
Speaker 1: They are giving you a lot of people you know already to get to the airport early. They're telling you now to get there even earlier. Now what your airport recommends, you need to check with that airport. Now, here's another key part, folks, keep up with your flight and your security times, with your airport and your airline robes. I know they have the TSA app set up, but the first thing they tell you at the top of my TSA app is this ain't being updated because of the shutdown. You actually cannot trust the information or a lot of it that you see on the TSA stuff because they warn you it's not being updated. So you have to check with your individual airport or airline.
00:08:48
Speaker 3: Wow, that is crazy.
00:08:50
Speaker 1: So they say follow, I mean a lot of them post stuff on x and on social media. Follow your airport. Make sure you have the app, that particular airline app, and you have to do it. But Robes, we fly in Atlanta, maybe one of the airports we've flown out most through most of our lives.
00:09:09
Speaker 2: Two hours is not normal?
00:09:11
Speaker 3: Is that absolutely not?
00:09:12
Speaker 4: Look there are longer lines at Atlanta's airport. I always anticipate that. We always know it might be upwards. Worst case scenario forty five minutes, maybe two hours and five minutes on Saturday morning.
00:09:26
Speaker 3: That is horrific.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: So the my tsa app is what it's called my tsa app. Now, it does have it's kind of a cool feature, Robes. It lets you kind of line up your favorite airports, the ones you fly through, and you have a file to say anytime you need to just click on that and it shows you what the times are I check this morning, comparing times that the airports show versus what the app is showing.
00:09:49
Speaker 2: They do not line up.
00:09:51
Speaker 3: Wow, So you cannot trust this app.
00:09:53
Speaker 1: You would if you were looking at it for Atlanta this morning, you would be off by an hour. Wow, so it's important folks to check with your airline and your airport and don't trust necessarily what you see from TSA. And that makes sense. The other thing we're hear in TSA PreCheck, Now, this has saved a lot of butts over the years. And Rod, this is you at this point. You have to sign up for this thing, don't you.
00:10:17
Speaker 3: Yes, I would say that I mean TSA pre check.
00:10:20
Speaker 4: When we were traveling several times a week for our jobs, which we did, it was it was the best and most important thing I had on my person to have a TSA PreCheck because it can make the difference between missing your flight and making your flight, and certainly takes a lot of the worry and anxiety. There's nothing like sitting or standing in this line just looking at your clock, looking at your boarding time and freaking out. It is the worst feeling, especially if you're about to go on vacation. You're supposed to be relaxing, you're supposed to be having fun, and you are struggling because you can't control what's happening.
00:10:57
Speaker 3: TSA PreCheck takes a lot of that.
00:10:59
Speaker 4: World. Yeah, the waittime you actually have this is less than ten minutes for ninety nine percent of people.
00:11:06
Speaker 1: That's according to DJs. Yes, TSA and that's what they promote. So it makes sense. So we hear it all the time. We hear about it all the time. What exactly is it? Well, it's something you sign up for ahead of time. It does cost about eighty bucks. But if you go sign up today you could have this and as little as three to five days, but they say there are some longer wait times.
00:11:27
Speaker 2: Who knows what the shutdown right now.
00:11:29
Speaker 3: But I haven't thought about that.
00:11:30
Speaker 1: They do advertise that you can have it in three or five days. They give you a number. That number then allows you to be in the TSA pre check line, which robes The reason it goes so well is because everybody's not having to do all the other stuff at the main checkpoint, which is supposed to make this thing go fast.
00:11:45
Speaker 3: Correct.
00:11:45
Speaker 4: You don't have to wear your shoes, you don't have to take your jacket off, you don't have to take your laptop out of your carry on luggage.
00:11:53
Speaker 3: There's a lot of.
00:11:54
Speaker 4: Things that you don't have to do that makes the line go much quicker. Plus, you've already had the background check, you've already given your fingerprints, so you don't have to go through any of the extra security. You actually don't have to go through that metal thing that always makes me nervous about the radiation I might.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: You can just go through a quick metal detector. You don't have to go through that thing that surrounds you.
00:12:12
Speaker 4: We have to lift up your hands above your head and stand there and have it circle around you like you're in an MRI or something. So that's also a benefit. So I have found it to be incredible. It lapsed one time for me, ironically during a government shut to the government shutdown with Trump's first term in office, we had a long government shutdown mine laughs.
00:12:34
Speaker 3: I tried to renew it.
00:12:36
Speaker 4: I had about a month where I couldn't get it. And I'm telling you the difference was night and day. So if you do not have TSA pre check, highly recommend.
00:12:45
Speaker 2: Again.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: This will call you about eighty bucks. Where can you sign up? Go to the website. It's not going to be a horer for a define. Just TSA PreCheck you Google that you find, you put in your zip code and it gives you all the areas around that you can go sign up. You just need some documentation. This isn't a complicate, but it'll be at a CBS or some local store, at a Staples. Little places like that are set up, so this isn't a shouldn't be too difficult if you want to do this. This is also a really big deal folks. If you have TSA PreCheck and you have kids, if they are under thirteen, they can go with you through TSA PreCheck, no questions asked, just go on. Nothing to sign up for If they're over thirteen, you got to make sure they can go through to They don't have to have their own TSA pre check number, but rodes. They do have to have the TSA PreCheck on their ticket, and the reason it gets on their ticket is because you book them under your same reservation. Correct there it is, so this is kind of a cool thing. We've blazed through with Sabine several times in TSA PreCheck.
00:13:44
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and then you can also go on through your individual airline and sign up for TSA PreCheck touchless ID, which in some airports is a separate line, which is even faster because you don't even have to take the time to show that TSA agent your boarding pass or your passport or your real ID. You just get scanned basically by this camera and walk right on through. So that line usually is even faster, and you have to go into your individual airline correct to enable it to say yes, I agree to have touchless ID.
00:14:16
Speaker 2: That is very key everybody.
00:14:18
Speaker 1: If you want to use the touchless ID, what you just said, Robes, you do have to make an extra effort at your airlines app or website to click and you have to toggle sign me up, I'd like to be a part of touchless ID. They have it at about sixty airports, so not everywhere, and not every airline has it, United, Southwest, Delta, American, and Alaska the big ones for the most part, they do have it. But rob this was something that almost came as a surprise to us. We were in an airpoint once and they say, oh you got touchless IDs. Okay, and you really You walk up, A guy says stand here, he takes your picture.
00:14:50
Speaker 2: You walk through. It can take ten seconds.
00:14:52
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, it's even faster than the TSA pre check line. And then beyond that you've got clear which you can some air air ports Atlanta has this for sure, the Clear plus TSA PreCheck, so it's almost like the extra extra lane where you have to pay I believe about two hundred and nine dollars a year, but you actually have already put fingerprints through the system and you can go. An agent actually walks you through up past everyone else with TSA pre check, and you either have your eyes scanned or your finger You just put a fingerprint in their machine and it is smooth sailing.
00:15:27
Speaker 1: It is pricey. It is two hundred and nine bucks robe. This is a different type of it's a different thing from TSA pre check. This is the thing essentially, I guess before the security line. This is supposed to be so quick about just like what you say, a finger or an eyes and they gives you right through a separate lane, a separate total situation. But I hear people swear by it, and now I hear some people roll their eyes and are annoyed by it.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: So feast or famine.
00:15:52
Speaker 4: It depends on which airport you're in and how smoothly is running. And look, you can have a clear line, and then you can have a clear TSA pre check line. There are so many specific avenues. The point is, if you can afford to have all of these different options. You can look which line touch this ID, TSA pre check, clear clear, TSA PreCheck. Some of the big airports have all of those separate lines, which does make things move much quicker.
00:16:16
Speaker 1: We should give a heads up sometimes as well. There isn't a dedicated clear line, but there's a dedicated TSA pre check line, and they'll take the clear people after they get their scan and move them ahead of the TSA pre check people, which will piss you off. Yes, then, and that callses a whole new type of mess, But that happens at airports. We just want to make sure we give your heads up that y'all don't write in next week. So there two j y'all told us no, that's just a heads up there. But stay here, folks. Those are some of the options and things you can do now. But Romes and I have millions of airline miles. We have been flying every week for damn near thirty years and sometimes several times a week. We too have tricks that help us get through that airport faster.
00:17:01
Speaker 2: We'll share them with you.
00:17:02
Speaker 1: Stay here, all right, We continue here on this Saturday, fun travel day for uh no, it's not a fun travel day. Travel you know what, at the best of times, travel can be stressful as hell, but we have found a way at least we have to enjoy it. And if you have to, I will start their rows. We talk about tricks. We're going to give some of our things that work for us. But part of it yes getting up and getting out of the door early and not being stressed, but also being ready for an experience, an adventure and embrace that, hey, this is going to be a good time. And we always some of our favorite things to do is to go to an airport.
00:17:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say it's part of why we bonded so much, even through work, because oftentimes we would have to travel together and it is a pain, and we weren't traveling for pleasure necessarily.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: It was for work.
00:17:58
Speaker 4: But what you do is you get in the right mindset. When we get up in the morning, what do we do. We blast music, We make it a party. We just decide we're gonna have fun and laugh through all the misery regardless. And some of the fun is people watching too, because people are mostly miserable at the airport, which it is kind of a way to look at it where you're just enjoying all the chaos, taking it in and having some fun with it. We enjoy the process, even the pain, because we end up finding.
00:18:27
Speaker 3: A way to have fun with it.
00:18:28
Speaker 4: We make games out of it, we people watch, We just say it's gonna be It kind of is the same mindset for me, honestly, Babe, as running a half marathon or a marathon. I get in my head this is gonna take a couple hours, but I am going to have fun along the way, even if it's painful in moments.
00:18:44
Speaker 1: So that really does help get in your mind right when you head to the airport. The other thing, at least trick tip for us is the timing getting there and timing it out early. It drives me crazy. World I see other people. You know, this is why I don't like to travel people, because I like to get to the airport at a certain time, and everybody's trying to cut it closed.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: So why do we have to leave so early? This kind of a thing. It will save you.
00:19:07
Speaker 1: You travel enough, you will learn that Roblout had flat tires. I've accidentally gone to the wrong airport before for a flight. We all have, and I was so early in my planning I had time to get to that airport, get in another car, go to the correct airport and still make my flight. Folks, we beg you you gotta go.
00:19:29
Speaker 3: Early if you look at it.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: Look, I know airport food is expensive, there's no question about it. But if you just say, okay, this is the price of my of my travel, I'm gonna sit somewhere. If you if you like to have a mimosa, say I'm gonna have a mimosa, and just give yourself enough time to have a full meal by the gate. That way, if anything goes wrong, if you miss your meal, at least you don't miss your flight. You know you've got to You've got a plan. So because even my daughter's like, what am I going to do with all that extra time?
00:19:56
Speaker 3: Relax?
00:19:57
Speaker 4: Sit down either like have a movie that you've downloaded that you're watching, read a book, like have a mimosa, like we like to do. But just decide ahead of time that it's going to be an event. It's going to be an experience. Get there really early, and if you can find like we actually love airports. I get excited about going to an airport and so I don't mind getting there early because it's an adventure and if you can get in that headspace, it makes you want to leave early, which eliminates ninety nine percent of the problems.
00:20:29
Speaker 1: We would also suggest this is something we do well and it's hard to quantify right just how much this helps, but packing appropriately accordingly will absolutely save you some time going through the airport. Yes, that's security even, but it's if you got junk and it's everywhere and you're having to pull stuff out, and if everybody else is having to do that or packing, if you can get that down and nail that and what goes where, and I need access to this thing, so it goes in that pocket even when you get up to the belt to put your off on ropes, to know what's in what pocket and just be able to drop it in the bin and keep going.
00:21:06
Speaker 2: It's worth it to put a little struggle like that on.
00:21:08
Speaker 4: Yes, to download those airline apps, don't. I mean, we don't check luggage unless it's just absolutely it's got to be a huge, huge threshold for us to check luggage. We just carry on and if I need something, I can buy it when I get there.
00:21:26
Speaker 1: No, that's a very you know you that wasn't a tip I was going to name, but that's a good one. If you pack accordingly and you're not having to check a bag so much time, you're saving yourself another line you don't have to get into. That's a very good point, and some of them those lines are chaotic as hell. The other main tip for me, and that I've gotten you kind of on board with this, first thing smoking is the line I always use. What flights you want to take first thing smoking?
00:21:50
Speaker 2: Every day?
00:21:51
Speaker 1: What time is that one leave? Five forty five? I'll take it five forty five. I'll take it first thing smoking because that robes and they have all the research, lowers greatly your probability of a delay or cancelation.
00:22:03
Speaker 3: I hear you.
00:22:04
Speaker 2: I have come on, y'all, hear a voice.
00:22:06
Speaker 3: It's easier than.
00:22:09
Speaker 2: You know what.
00:22:09
Speaker 4: I agree, Especially going I like to get where I'm going coming back. I like to take a little bit of a later flight, just because sometimes it's fun to slay on the beach a little bit longer and I'm not in as much of a rush to get home.
00:22:20
Speaker 3: So yes, but I do agree first.
00:22:22
Speaker 4: Flight out when you're headed out for your vacation or for your big plans.
00:22:26
Speaker 3: It saves you a whole lot of headache.
00:22:28
Speaker 2: It does.
00:22:28
Speaker 1: And the last thing, and not everybody can do it. If you don't have tsa pre check, if you don't have clear it does. It sometimes makes a difference. There's a designated business class or first class line. Look, not everybody can do that. Sometimes it makes sense, but that does, and it can save you some time robes.
00:22:45
Speaker 2: If you don't want to pay an.
00:22:46
Speaker 1: Eighty dollars fee or two hundred and nine dollars and just want to do it as a one off on this one to get through the airport a little better. They do have designated lines. If you can get that higher class ticket, yep.
00:22:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, you either can pay for it, get up early. There's someone you always have to pay a price, whether it's your sleep or it's with your wallet. But there are ways to at least minimize your weight times and minimize your frustration.
00:23:10
Speaker 1: Good luck out there, folks. We will see you at the airport very soon. We'll be there next week. We'll let you know how that goes. Right, We're saying all this now, like, hey, guys, it'd be fine, pack your patience, get there early, enjoy the experience. Yeah, we'll we'll record another episode after we get Yeah, we gotta go to Atlanta.
00:23:28
Speaker 3: We gotta go to Atlanta Hartsfield next week.
00:23:31
Speaker 2: Great.
00:23:32
Speaker 1: We'll keep you updated, all right, folks, always appreciate you spending some time with us. Good luck out there if you happen to be traveling, but we will talk to you soon.
00:23:38
Speaker 2: TJ. Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy Robock. Talk to
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, it is Saturday, March twenty first, it is day thirty six of the partial government shut down. And what impact is it having today after a month. Well, if you're at Atlanta Hartsville Jackson International Airport right now as we are recording this, the current main TSA security line, the wait is two hours and five minutes. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. That is a real and if you want to try another one somewhere else in the airport, they have a couple more. The other two. One of them's ninety minutes and one is ninety five. Now we've gone through Atlanta a whole lot in our lives robes.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: Is that typical?
00:00:52
Speaker 3: No, that is not git all weekend.
00:00:54
Speaker 2: It's a busy airport.
00:00:55
Speaker 3: It's a busy airport.
00:00:56
Speaker 4: But I would even think on a Saturday morning, that's usually a chill time at an airport. Thursday night, Friday night, Sunday night, those are all big travel nights from what I can recall.
00:01:06
Speaker 1: Saturday mornings, well, Saturday morning is when a lot of people do want to take off and go somewhere. They're heading somewhere. You throw in, what do we have now? Spring break going on.
00:01:15
Speaker 4: Oh, that's true right now as well. It's a spring break month.
00:01:18
Speaker 2: You reeled off.
00:01:19
Speaker 1: Do A lot of people know we are seasoned travelers, obviously, but if folks hearing our voice right now, it seems common sense. What are the busiest days times generally to fly. You just hit on a couple they're already. But Monday morning and Thursday night, those make sense.
00:01:40
Speaker 3: Yes, they absolutely make sense.
00:01:41
Speaker 4: And look, I think one of the big hacks this is why I'm a little shocked that it's already two hours and five minutes, is that when you get I guess it is a little bit later, But when you get one of the first flights out of an airport, it's your best shot at it not being delayed, first of all, and perhaps having the least amount of crowds.
00:02:01
Speaker 2: Oh that was before, my dear.
00:02:03
Speaker 1: Yes, getting there and getting the early flight they'll keep you from having a flight cancelation or delay. But it is doing nothing right now for these tsa wait times. Yes, folks, we are hopping on here. We're going to go through. Look, there's a lot out there and people telling you tips and tricks and all the stuff you can do.
00:02:22
Speaker 2: Frankly, ropes. There's not a whole lot.
00:02:24
Speaker 1: There's a handful of things, maybe five, but it's not a whole lot we can do to avoid it.
00:02:31
Speaker 3: That's the hard part.
00:02:31
Speaker 4: Even folks who are seasoned travelers and have all the tools at their ready, still it's whether or not you can afford some of these tools because they are expensive, and whether or not you actually are forced to travel at certain times. Sometimes you don't have the option to pick some of these lesser travel days or times. That's pretty much your wiggle room to have something that you pay for, some service, or trying to rearrange your flights for the least traveled periods.
00:03:01
Speaker 1: So we're going to help you out here a little bit and quickly the update right now at least when is this going to end? We don't know, and there's no sign, no indication, no hope, no offering.
00:03:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, they even brought Home in in the guy who solved all the problems in Minneapolis. He didn't solve all the problems, but certainly got fail well.
00:03:19
Speaker 3: He righted the ship. Everything was a total mess.
00:03:21
Speaker 4: He came in and he made things clear, and it seemed like he was a voice that both Republicans and Democrats respected to an extent.
00:03:31
Speaker 1: You know what, I didn't realize this to your point. Homan met with Republicans and Democrats on Thursday. Rome's They said, it's the first time in six weeks that both sides have gotten in a room to discuss the shutdown.
00:03:47
Speaker 4: Well, that's disgusting. First of all, that is hauling and that should not be allowed. But yes, if one guy can bring them together and look over Ice, this was this is all over Ice, So it makes sense to bring and the guy who at least solved that problem, this basic standoff that was going on in Minneapolis now coming in to try and solve I actually felt hopeful for the first time hearing that he was getting him.
00:04:13
Speaker 1: Yes, he met with him on Thursday and Friday. Nothing came out of that. But here we are on day thirty six. Now they did vote again, was it Thursday or Friday? In the Senate? But what is the same thing they did in the last yet even close? You're just going to keep voting on the same legislation. What's the point? But that is what they are currently doing once again. But yes, it failed once again on Friday, and not even all of the senators got involved.
00:04:34
Speaker 2: To vote. They didn't even bother the vote.
00:04:36
Speaker 4: Honestly, there have only been five votes correct, So that's also appalling, And not that you want them to keep voting on the same thing with the same outcome, but to not even do anything to give some allowance on one side to see where the vote heads the next time. To have only had five votes in thirty some days, thirty six days where people aren't being paid, anyone who has to travel either for business or play, and this again is spring break season. It's just unacceptable that they're not working harder and making allowances.
00:05:07
Speaker 3: That's what it is.
00:05:08
Speaker 4: That's what our founding fathers set up, so that you have to negotiate. You don't get everything you want. You don't get it your way or no way.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: And a reminder there are food banks being set up, donations are being made, tip boxes are even set up at some airports to pay the people that we say are incredibly important to this country, safety, our tsa agents. Again, I think another miss paycheck is when.
00:05:32
Speaker 4: Is it this?
00:05:32
Speaker 3: I believe it's next Friday.
00:05:33
Speaker 1: Okay, duff he did mention that, so, yes, they have missed a couple of paychecks, one full paycheck already those rates continue to be up there. Call out rates are still at around ten percent, they say, nationally, but some airports we have seen are going up into the twenties, thirties and even forty plus. Percentage of TSA workers who are calling out day and day out not because they're just pissed. They're trying to find a way to make money, world to put food on the table, their money. They are told you have to come to work, but you're not going to get paid. Who would be okay with that?
00:06:04
Speaker 4: And it's fair that most Americans can't miss a paycheck. I couldn't miss a paycheck for the majority of my first i'd say fifteen years on the job. I could not have missed one paycheck. I had to not take maternity leave as long as I wanted to because I had to get paid. Like everyone who works understands, you can't just not get a paycheck.
00:06:23
Speaker 3: Not getting two paychecks. That's devastating.
00:06:26
Speaker 1: And we should a reminder folks with folks you're seeing at the TSA gates. These folks are making forty fifty thousand dollars, so you can't if you have a family and depend on what city you're living in you got to drive to an airport that's way out somewhere. That's just it does not work. It doesn't make sense. So that is where we are with the shutdown. So what does this mean for all of us at the airports? It continues, These long lines continue, So everyone start with that Robes.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: We kind of hit on it.
00:06:52
Speaker 1: First of all, when to fly, These are strategies that can help if you have the option. Robes, you do not want to fly on a Thursday evening and a Monday morning, and it's because we are uch very frequent travelers. Those are the times you get the rush of business traveled at the airport.
00:07:11
Speaker 4: Yes, and add to that Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: Correct.
00:07:14
Speaker 4: I'm surprised Sunday is not in there because I've always thought that was a tough time to fly as well.
00:07:19
Speaker 3: But when should you fly?
00:07:20
Speaker 4: If you have the option to kind of wiggle your travel days midweek and in the morning, you're going to have your least probability of delays.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: We're talking from six am until ten am.
00:07:32
Speaker 4: You and I got on a I thought it was maybe even a five am flight, and I thought this is absurd, But you know what, it was easy, breezy get through.
00:07:40
Speaker 3: It's tough to.
00:07:41
Speaker 4: Wake up early for a lot of folks, I know, but man, if you can avoid standing in line for two hours, I mean, think about it, Getting through the Atlanta security right now is more than two hours.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: Now you've got to go walk to your gate. You need another hour.
00:07:55
Speaker 4: You have to leave for the airport five hours before your flight takes off at this point to make sure you don't miss your flight.
00:08:04
Speaker 3: That's where we are.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: So that's the other tip.
00:08:06
Speaker 1: They are giving you a lot of people you know already to get to the airport early. They're telling you now to get there even earlier. Now what your airport recommends, you need to check with that airport. Now, here's another key part, folks, keep up with your flight and your security times, with your airport and your airline robes. I know they have the TSA app set up, but the first thing they tell you at the top of my TSA app is this ain't being updated because of the shutdown. You actually cannot trust the information or a lot of it that you see on the TSA stuff because they warn you it's not being updated. So you have to check with your individual airport or airline.
00:08:48
Speaker 3: Wow, that is crazy.
00:08:50
Speaker 1: So they say follow, I mean a lot of them post stuff on x and on social media. Follow your airport. Make sure you have the app, that particular airline app, and you have to do it. But Robes, we fly in Atlanta, maybe one of the airports we've flown out most through most of our lives.
00:09:09
Speaker 2: Two hours is not normal?
00:09:11
Speaker 3: Is that absolutely not?
00:09:12
Speaker 4: Look there are longer lines at Atlanta's airport. I always anticipate that. We always know it might be upwards. Worst case scenario forty five minutes, maybe two hours and five minutes on Saturday morning.
00:09:26
Speaker 3: That is horrific.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: So the my tsa app is what it's called my tsa app. Now, it does have it's kind of a cool feature, Robes. It lets you kind of line up your favorite airports, the ones you fly through, and you have a file to say anytime you need to just click on that and it shows you what the times are I check this morning, comparing times that the airports show versus what the app is showing.
00:09:49
Speaker 2: They do not line up.
00:09:51
Speaker 3: Wow, So you cannot trust this app.
00:09:53
Speaker 1: You would if you were looking at it for Atlanta this morning, you would be off by an hour. Wow, so it's important folks to check with your airline and your airport and don't trust necessarily what you see from TSA. And that makes sense. The other thing we're hear in TSA PreCheck, Now, this has saved a lot of butts over the years. And Rod, this is you at this point. You have to sign up for this thing, don't you.
00:10:17
Speaker 3: Yes, I would say that I mean TSA pre check.
00:10:20
Speaker 4: When we were traveling several times a week for our jobs, which we did, it was it was the best and most important thing I had on my person to have a TSA PreCheck because it can make the difference between missing your flight and making your flight, and certainly takes a lot of the worry and anxiety. There's nothing like sitting or standing in this line just looking at your clock, looking at your boarding time and freaking out. It is the worst feeling, especially if you're about to go on vacation. You're supposed to be relaxing, you're supposed to be having fun, and you are struggling because you can't control what's happening.
00:10:57
Speaker 3: TSA PreCheck takes a lot of that.
00:10:59
Speaker 4: World. Yeah, the waittime you actually have this is less than ten minutes for ninety nine percent of people.
00:11:06
Speaker 1: That's according to DJs. Yes, TSA and that's what they promote. So it makes sense. So we hear it all the time. We hear about it all the time. What exactly is it? Well, it's something you sign up for ahead of time. It does cost about eighty bucks. But if you go sign up today you could have this and as little as three to five days, but they say there are some longer wait times.
00:11:27
Speaker 2: Who knows what the shutdown right now.
00:11:29
Speaker 3: But I haven't thought about that.
00:11:30
Speaker 1: They do advertise that you can have it in three or five days. They give you a number. That number then allows you to be in the TSA pre check line, which robes The reason it goes so well is because everybody's not having to do all the other stuff at the main checkpoint, which is supposed to make this thing go fast.
00:11:45
Speaker 3: Correct.
00:11:45
Speaker 4: You don't have to wear your shoes, you don't have to take your jacket off, you don't have to take your laptop out of your carry on luggage.
00:11:53
Speaker 3: There's a lot of.
00:11:54
Speaker 4: Things that you don't have to do that makes the line go much quicker. Plus, you've already had the background check, you've already given your fingerprints, so you don't have to go through any of the extra security. You actually don't have to go through that metal thing that always makes me nervous about the radiation I might.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: You can just go through a quick metal detector. You don't have to go through that thing that surrounds you.
00:12:12
Speaker 4: We have to lift up your hands above your head and stand there and have it circle around you like you're in an MRI or something. So that's also a benefit. So I have found it to be incredible. It lapsed one time for me, ironically during a government shut to the government shutdown with Trump's first term in office, we had a long government shutdown mine laughs.
00:12:34
Speaker 3: I tried to renew it.
00:12:36
Speaker 4: I had about a month where I couldn't get it. And I'm telling you the difference was night and day. So if you do not have TSA pre check, highly recommend.
00:12:45
Speaker 2: Again.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: This will call you about eighty bucks. Where can you sign up? Go to the website. It's not going to be a horer for a define. Just TSA PreCheck you Google that you find, you put in your zip code and it gives you all the areas around that you can go sign up. You just need some documentation. This isn't a complicate, but it'll be at a CBS or some local store, at a Staples. Little places like that are set up, so this isn't a shouldn't be too difficult if you want to do this. This is also a really big deal folks. If you have TSA PreCheck and you have kids, if they are under thirteen, they can go with you through TSA PreCheck, no questions asked, just go on. Nothing to sign up for If they're over thirteen, you got to make sure they can go through to They don't have to have their own TSA pre check number, but rodes. They do have to have the TSA PreCheck on their ticket, and the reason it gets on their ticket is because you book them under your same reservation. Correct there it is, so this is kind of a cool thing. We've blazed through with Sabine several times in TSA PreCheck.
00:13:44
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and then you can also go on through your individual airline and sign up for TSA PreCheck touchless ID, which in some airports is a separate line, which is even faster because you don't even have to take the time to show that TSA agent your boarding pass or your passport or your real ID. You just get scanned basically by this camera and walk right on through. So that line usually is even faster, and you have to go into your individual airline correct to enable it to say yes, I agree to have touchless ID.
00:14:16
Speaker 2: That is very key everybody.
00:14:18
Speaker 1: If you want to use the touchless ID, what you just said, Robes, you do have to make an extra effort at your airlines app or website to click and you have to toggle sign me up, I'd like to be a part of touchless ID. They have it at about sixty airports, so not everywhere, and not every airline has it, United, Southwest, Delta, American, and Alaska the big ones for the most part, they do have it. But rob this was something that almost came as a surprise to us. We were in an airpoint once and they say, oh you got touchless IDs. Okay, and you really You walk up, A guy says stand here, he takes your picture.
00:14:50
Speaker 2: You walk through. It can take ten seconds.
00:14:52
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, it's even faster than the TSA pre check line. And then beyond that you've got clear which you can some air air ports Atlanta has this for sure, the Clear plus TSA PreCheck, so it's almost like the extra extra lane where you have to pay I believe about two hundred and nine dollars a year, but you actually have already put fingerprints through the system and you can go. An agent actually walks you through up past everyone else with TSA pre check, and you either have your eyes scanned or your finger You just put a fingerprint in their machine and it is smooth sailing.
00:15:27
Speaker 1: It is pricey. It is two hundred and nine bucks robe. This is a different type of it's a different thing from TSA pre check. This is the thing essentially, I guess before the security line. This is supposed to be so quick about just like what you say, a finger or an eyes and they gives you right through a separate lane, a separate total situation. But I hear people swear by it, and now I hear some people roll their eyes and are annoyed by it.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: So feast or famine.
00:15:52
Speaker 4: It depends on which airport you're in and how smoothly is running. And look, you can have a clear line, and then you can have a clear TSA pre check line. There are so many specific avenues. The point is, if you can afford to have all of these different options. You can look which line touch this ID, TSA pre check, clear clear, TSA PreCheck. Some of the big airports have all of those separate lines, which does make things move much quicker.
00:16:16
Speaker 1: We should give a heads up sometimes as well. There isn't a dedicated clear line, but there's a dedicated TSA pre check line, and they'll take the clear people after they get their scan and move them ahead of the TSA pre check people, which will piss you off. Yes, then, and that callses a whole new type of mess, But that happens at airports. We just want to make sure we give your heads up that y'all don't write in next week. So there two j y'all told us no, that's just a heads up there. But stay here, folks. Those are some of the options and things you can do now. But Romes and I have millions of airline miles. We have been flying every week for damn near thirty years and sometimes several times a week. We too have tricks that help us get through that airport faster.
00:17:01
Speaker 2: We'll share them with you.
00:17:02
Speaker 1: Stay here, all right, We continue here on this Saturday, fun travel day for uh no, it's not a fun travel day. Travel you know what, at the best of times, travel can be stressful as hell, but we have found a way at least we have to enjoy it. And if you have to, I will start their rows. We talk about tricks. We're going to give some of our things that work for us. But part of it yes getting up and getting out of the door early and not being stressed, but also being ready for an experience, an adventure and embrace that, hey, this is going to be a good time. And we always some of our favorite things to do is to go to an airport.
00:17:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say it's part of why we bonded so much, even through work, because oftentimes we would have to travel together and it is a pain, and we weren't traveling for pleasure necessarily.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: It was for work.
00:17:58
Speaker 4: But what you do is you get in the right mindset. When we get up in the morning, what do we do. We blast music, We make it a party. We just decide we're gonna have fun and laugh through all the misery regardless. And some of the fun is people watching too, because people are mostly miserable at the airport, which it is kind of a way to look at it where you're just enjoying all the chaos, taking it in and having some fun with it. We enjoy the process, even the pain, because we end up finding.
00:18:27
Speaker 3: A way to have fun with it.
00:18:28
Speaker 4: We make games out of it, we people watch, We just say it's gonna be It kind of is the same mindset for me, honestly, Babe, as running a half marathon or a marathon. I get in my head this is gonna take a couple hours, but I am going to have fun along the way, even if it's painful in moments.
00:18:44
Speaker 1: So that really does help get in your mind right when you head to the airport. The other thing, at least trick tip for us is the timing getting there and timing it out early. It drives me crazy. World I see other people. You know, this is why I don't like to travel people, because I like to get to the airport at a certain time, and everybody's trying to cut it closed.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: So why do we have to leave so early? This kind of a thing. It will save you.
00:19:07
Speaker 1: You travel enough, you will learn that Roblout had flat tires. I've accidentally gone to the wrong airport before for a flight. We all have, and I was so early in my planning I had time to get to that airport, get in another car, go to the correct airport and still make my flight. Folks, we beg you you gotta go.
00:19:29
Speaker 3: Early if you look at it.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: Look, I know airport food is expensive, there's no question about it. But if you just say, okay, this is the price of my of my travel, I'm gonna sit somewhere. If you if you like to have a mimosa, say I'm gonna have a mimosa, and just give yourself enough time to have a full meal by the gate. That way, if anything goes wrong, if you miss your meal, at least you don't miss your flight. You know you've got to You've got a plan. So because even my daughter's like, what am I going to do with all that extra time?
00:19:56
Speaker 3: Relax?
00:19:57
Speaker 4: Sit down either like have a movie that you've downloaded that you're watching, read a book, like have a mimosa, like we like to do. But just decide ahead of time that it's going to be an event. It's going to be an experience. Get there really early, and if you can find like we actually love airports. I get excited about going to an airport and so I don't mind getting there early because it's an adventure and if you can get in that headspace, it makes you want to leave early, which eliminates ninety nine percent of the problems.
00:20:29
Speaker 1: We would also suggest this is something we do well and it's hard to quantify right just how much this helps, but packing appropriately accordingly will absolutely save you some time going through the airport. Yes, that's security even, but it's if you got junk and it's everywhere and you're having to pull stuff out, and if everybody else is having to do that or packing, if you can get that down and nail that and what goes where, and I need access to this thing, so it goes in that pocket even when you get up to the belt to put your off on ropes, to know what's in what pocket and just be able to drop it in the bin and keep going.
00:21:06
Speaker 2: It's worth it to put a little struggle like that on.
00:21:08
Speaker 4: Yes, to download those airline apps, don't. I mean, we don't check luggage unless it's just absolutely it's got to be a huge, huge threshold for us to check luggage. We just carry on and if I need something, I can buy it when I get there.
00:21:26
Speaker 1: No, that's a very you know you that wasn't a tip I was going to name, but that's a good one. If you pack accordingly and you're not having to check a bag so much time, you're saving yourself another line you don't have to get into. That's a very good point, and some of them those lines are chaotic as hell. The other main tip for me, and that I've gotten you kind of on board with this, first thing smoking is the line I always use. What flights you want to take first thing smoking?
00:21:50
Speaker 2: Every day?
00:21:51
Speaker 1: What time is that one leave? Five forty five? I'll take it five forty five. I'll take it first thing smoking because that robes and they have all the research, lowers greatly your probability of a delay or cancelation.
00:22:03
Speaker 3: I hear you.
00:22:04
Speaker 2: I have come on, y'all, hear a voice.
00:22:06
Speaker 3: It's easier than.
00:22:09
Speaker 2: You know what.
00:22:09
Speaker 4: I agree, Especially going I like to get where I'm going coming back. I like to take a little bit of a later flight, just because sometimes it's fun to slay on the beach a little bit longer and I'm not in as much of a rush to get home.
00:22:20
Speaker 3: So yes, but I do agree first.
00:22:22
Speaker 4: Flight out when you're headed out for your vacation or for your big plans.
00:22:26
Speaker 3: It saves you a whole lot of headache.
00:22:28
Speaker 2: It does.
00:22:28
Speaker 1: And the last thing, and not everybody can do it. If you don't have tsa pre check, if you don't have clear it does. It sometimes makes a difference. There's a designated business class or first class line. Look, not everybody can do that. Sometimes it makes sense, but that does, and it can save you some time robes.
00:22:45
Speaker 2: If you don't want to pay an.
00:22:46
Speaker 1: Eighty dollars fee or two hundred and nine dollars and just want to do it as a one off on this one to get through the airport a little better. They do have designated lines. If you can get that higher class ticket, yep.
00:22:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, you either can pay for it, get up early. There's someone you always have to pay a price, whether it's your sleep or it's with your wallet. But there are ways to at least minimize your weight times and minimize your frustration.
00:23:10
Speaker 1: Good luck out there, folks. We will see you at the airport very soon. We'll be there next week. We'll let you know how that goes. Right, We're saying all this now, like, hey, guys, it'd be fine, pack your patience, get there early, enjoy the experience. Yeah, we'll we'll record another episode after we get Yeah, we gotta go to Atlanta.
00:23:28
Speaker 3: We gotta go to Atlanta Hartsfield next week.
00:23:31
Speaker 2: Great.
00:23:32
Speaker 1: We'll keep you updated, all right, folks, always appreciate you spending some time with us. Good luck out there if you happen to be traveling, but we will talk to you soon.
00:23:38
Speaker 2: TJ. Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy Robock. Talk to