Travelers Be Prepared For Long Security Lines In New York For Spring Travel

If you were planning on traveling for the spring or early summer you better not wait to get to the airport. Despite reports saying that travel is down, the crowds at Albany International Airport are bigger than I have seen in a very long time.

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I recently went away for a quick weekend trip and when I arrived to the airport early on Friday morning I was expecting it to be fairly busy but this was as busy as Thanksgiving. Long lines of people at every turn is what I found and the security line, while efficient, still took almost an hour to get through.

Make sure that you are prepared for waiting in that line and give yourself enough time. There were several people behind me with flights at 5:45am that were likely going to miss their flights or get there at the last possible second.

While the construction has made things a little more tight inside, the security are now starts at the bottom on those busy travel days. Obviously later in the week is always going to be a bit more busy that other days, but it is a bit stressful when you have to stop near baggage claim and wait to go upstairs to go through TSA.

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Another concern is that there were still many people in line with me that did not have a Real ID yet. You're going to need one of those for any domestic flight, so if you've been putting it off you're going to need to make sure to get that done, and soon.

The security overall at ALB is very good at what they do. Even though it took almost an hour to get through security, I gave myself more than enough time. I also didn't feel like I was going to miss my flight. They kept the line moving and were very helpful is getting people through every aspect in a timely manner. So shoutout to those guys.

Just be prepared this spring and summer because as more people start to travel, the longer those lines will get. I'll say it again, don't cut things too close. Plus, Albany International now as an Uncommon Grounds inside of it, so go relax and have a nice cup of local coffee.