The Best Way To Cut The Airport Security Line

Airport security checks are necessary to travel, but when you are running late, the long lines can feel excruciating.

And when every minute counts, the number of travelers in front of you can mean the difference between you making or missing your flight. Sometimes your time crunch could be because you woke up late, sometimes it might be for reasons outside of your control. Either way, you will need to speak up or lose your seat on the plane.

So what is the most successful way to humbly submit yourself to the mercy and grace of your fellow travelers ahead of you, so that you can catch your flight?

There is no guarantee of how someone will respond, but these are your two best bets, seasoned travel experts say:

Ideally a Transportation Security Administration agent in charge of directing the security check line is your best strategy, said Olivia Christine Perez, a travel expert who has visited all 50 U.S. states and 43 countries. Tell them your boarding time, she recommended: “Most times they will usher you along to keep the flow going.”

Perez has successfully tried this tactic herself.

“I will never forget the first time I almost missed a flight and needed to cut in line,” she recalled. “I went one by one, asking each person if I could get in front of them. Finally, one of those people said, ‘Asking us one by one isn’t going to help you; ask the folks in front first.’ So that’s what I did. I got through in minutes and no one seemed to care.”

Flavia Cornejo, the travel blogger behind Latina Traveler, agreed that if she were running late to a flight she would first try to ask one of the security agents “to not annoy other passengers as much directly.”

In some instances, a TSA agent may be unsympathetic to your request. In those cases, you want to briefly but clearly make your case to the travelers ahead of you.

Although it is stressful, try not to make your travel emergency everyone else’s problem. Stay calm. Cornejo said when she has needed to cut in line, she makes her request to travelers urgent but not pushy.

“I try my best to be kind when asking people and hoping they’ll see I’m being genuine instead of being demanding and just expecting others to care,” Cornejo said. “I know under stressful situations this may not be the easiest thing to do, but I’ve noticed people are more receptive to this.”

Cornejo…