Plan to Spend More Time in Line at MSP Airport This & Next Week

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As travel continues to rebound this year, the next several weeks look to be the busiest in a while at Minnesota's MSP Airport.

If you and your family are doing any traveling for Spring Break, here's a heads up about the time it will take you to get through the lines at Minnesota's biggest airport. The Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in Bloomington (which was recently named the Most Outstanding Airport in North America) says the next few weeks could be the busiest since the beginning of the pandemic.

March is typically a very busy month for MSP. Two years ago, my wife and I headed out for a quick trip to New Orleans in late February of 2020. (We were there for Mardi Gras on Fat Tuesday and came back to Minnesota just days before the pandemic hit two years ago.)

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While it wasn't very busy when we were in the TSA line at MSP, I remember an agent saying that if we were traveling again in March to plan ahead for much longer lines at the security checkpoints, thanks to all the Spring Break travelers. (Sadly, of course, that didn't happen that year when everything shut down.)

But this year, travel is back and airports like MSP are once again getting busier than they've been recently. So if you haven't traveled in a while, MSP has a few tips to make sure you get to your destination on time this spring:

Arrive at MSP two hours ahead of your scheduled departure for domestic flights and three hours ahead for international. Always check with your airline for any guidance about airport arrival times.
If you arrive at the airport to pick up or drop off a passenger, remember that you can go up or down on the roadway in front of Terminal 1. See a full list of pick-up and drop-off tips on this webpage.
The TSA offers a handy checklist of security-related tips to consider as you prepare for your trip and go through security screening.
Face masks are still required at MSP airport and on your flight. Find out more about what MSP is doing to help keep travelers safe through its Travel Confidently program.

Now if you're staying here in Minnesota on a Staycation for Spring Break this year, maybe you'd like to do it at the former Vikings' general manager, Rick Spielman's house... it's for sale right now. Keep scrolling to check out the pics!

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