TSA Orlando

[luvnwdwgal]

We just got back yesterday from WDW. The TSA agents on our flight out of Cleveland were wonderful. So nice to our 3 young granddaughters on their first flight. The TSA agents in Orlando were horrible! We have flown into Orlando many times and have never experienced such rude and nasty TSA agents.

 

[Gitelfor]

TSOs at CLE are direct (government employees) of TSA. At MCO, they are contract employees of Passengers First.

I can’t say if that accounts for the difference in attitude. They may just have been having a bad day. MCO can be a very stressful environment at the security checkpoints.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Oh that’s not a good way to experience an airport.

TSA pre ck Has made our lives much easier. Most people know what to do and not do and the process just feels simpler which makes TSA easier for guests and the agents imho.
Orlando seems to get a lot of complaints which perhaps is in line with how many people are moving thru that airport. My recent experiences have been really good elsewhere.

 

[Disney.Dreamin.Dee]

They've always been horrible.
Although actually they were not nearly as bad the last time I went which was late August this year.
I'm going again in a couple weeks and I have a very very early flight home so hopefully they haven't dealt with too much BS on their shift and will be nice lol.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

MCO TSA has, sadly, been awful for at least the last decade. I think part of it is because the airport is so crowded with tourists, many of whom have large families and lots of kids and may not be used to flying all the time - unlike airports that see a lot of regular-flyers/work-commuter types. No matter what time of day/week we go, it is always over-crowded for the number of lanes they have available, and the TSA agents there swing between diligence to the point of absurdity and missed flights...to "screw it, just go, the line's too long." Of all the airports where I've experienced TSA, MCO is definitely the one I look forward to least - even with precheck.

 

[mickmom728]

I agree with MCO being horrible! Last Wednesday we were in lines that stated wait times of 20-25 minutes and it just kept increasing. We were there in plenty of time but the woman behind us had about 40 minutes to make her flight and was very upset. We even got out of line because a man and his son heard the agent say they weren’t letting you through if your flight was more than two hours out. I approached a woman who was directing lines and asked if that were true and she said that it usually states it on the display above but it didn’t that day. She said anyone was able to go at that time so we got back in line. They were realigning the lanes and no one seemed to know what the others were doing. They were all arguing with each other and yelling at passengers who were confused on what line to go to. Utter chaos!

 

[OKW Lover]

The TSA agents in Orlando were horrible! We have flown into Orlando many times and have never experienced such rude and nasty TSA agents.

Sounds like a one-off experience then.

We are local so we fly out of MCO regularly. TSA has always been fine for us.

 

[MrKnight]

The volumes at MCO are extremely high, it's one of the busiest airports in the country, service quality goes down when an airport is that busy..

 

[Lumpy1106]

Agree on how awful TSA is in Orlando - and this is someone flying FROM LAX! The lines are always horrendous and the agents seem far more interested in when they get to take their next break then actually scanning passengers. Sometimes you get lucky and get to walk by the magic dog, other times they pull you out of the regular line and into the wheelchair line that actually takes a lot longer. We've witnessed them having trouble with the full body scanners and just letting people through - not even bothering to do the secondary screening in the old X-ray machines. REALLY unprofessional, rude, and surly. There's just no excuse for JUST how bad it is.

 

[Capt_BJ]

BUT ... a few posts down:

I had a very positive encounter with tsa in MCO when I needed to get back home after losing my license traveling down from Boston. When I got to the security line I asked an officer that walked by what to do. He asked me what id I happened to have; I gave him a medicare card and credit card. He had me follow him to another officer which looked at the cards and then I was escorted past everyone to the x-ray machine; the other people on line had to wait for me. He kept checking that I was following him. I took off my shoes, put my stuff in a bin, walked through the machine and waited while another guy swabbed my stuff telling him I was a 1+1.(interesting code) That was it!

 

[kanerf]

TSA Pre Check is definitely worth it. BTW if you are a US Government employee or a contractor who works on site, you can often get it for free.

 

[Donna M]

We travel through MCO yearly and have not experienced any rude agents. I´m sorry you did.

I am the person quoted above. I wish I knew the agent´s name because he was so kind to me and I wanted to leave a comment.

 

[Ross Kratter]

I fly in and out of MCO several times a month and have never come across nasty TSA agents. Clueless ones, yes, but never rude or nasty.

 

[Anthony1971]

I cant say we have ever had a rude TSA agent at MCO they are straight forward in telling you what to do period. I have experienced far more lets say straight forward in other airports. But lets face they are not there to be friendly they are there to check peoples ID and make sure people follow the airport rules which does differ from airport to airport you may know you are who you are or a child truly is yours but they do not...... MCO is one of the more lax airports I have been through. While the MCO line is long it moves quickly I have been in much shorter lines where they stop the bag X ray machine on a constant basis to have another person look.... Pull the bag off like you are supposed to and have someone check it....

 

[thanxfornoticin]

TSA Pre Check is definitely worth it. BTW if you are a US Government employee or a contractor who works on site, you can often get it for free.

We also have a credit card that paid for it. I understand several will. It's worth looking into! LOVE TSA Pre.

 

[RogueX]

Oh the joys of TSA through MCO....sigh. Atleast my last trip didn't involve any full body pat down, extra screenings, etc. And no screaming about people needing to wake up and get in line. That was a few years ago and he was a joy to behold.

6 agents who had to clear me for flight in Boston for one trip and they didn't give me half the crap that I've gotten in several years of travel from agents in MCO.

 

[maxiesmom]

TSA Pre Check is definitely worth it. BTW if you are a US Government employee or a contractor who works on site, you can often get it for free.

Sometimes even with TSA Pre Check they make you go thru the full line. That is what happened to me in October.

 

[Ross Kratter]

Sometimes even with TSA Pre Check they make you go thru the full line. That is what happened to me in October.

I have never seen that happen in Orlando.

 

[maxiesmom]

I have never seen that happen in Orlando.

Well I lived it. So it happens.

 

[EACarlson]

I have never seen that happen in Orlando.

No, it's never happened to you. It happens everyday everywhere that someone gets the SSSS on their boarding pass and can't use precheck. Having Pre means you're eligible to skip certain things, not a guarantee you're going to be able to.