San Diego International security wait times: what to expect
From October 12 to November 9 we logged 244,280 security checkpoint readings at San Diego International. The standard lane averaged 2 minutes, and TSA PreCheck averaged 2 minutes. 96% of standard-lane readings were 10 minutes or less, and none were over half an hour.
When the line is longest
The standard line at SAN is longest around 10 AM, when it has averaged 5 minutes, and shortest around 11 PM, at under a minute. By day of the week, Sunday has been the heaviest (3 minutes on average) and Saturday the lightest (2 minutes).
| Time of day | Standard | PreCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Early morning (4–8 AM) | 3 min | 2 min |
| Morning (8 AM–noon) | 4 min | 3 min |
| Midday (noon–4 PM) | 3 min | 2 min |
| Evening (4–8 PM) | 1 min | 1 min |
| Night (8 PM–4 AM) | 1 min | 1 min |
Average wait across the last 28 days. A dash means the lane is usually closed then.
Is PreCheck worth it at SAN?
PreCheck and standard waits have been almost the same here, within a minute of each other on average, so PreCheck matters less at SAN than at busier checkpoints.
Terminal by terminal
| Terminal | Standard avg | PreCheck avg | Busiest hour | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 | 3 min | 1 min | 7 AM | — |
Common questions
- What is the best time to go through security at SAN?
- Over the last 28 days the standard lane has been quietest around 11 PM, averaging under a minute, and Saturday has been the lightest day.
- How early should I get to SAN?
To plan your arrival, use the worst hour rather than the average: at SAN that is 5 minutes in the standard lane around 10 AM. Allow that on top of your airline's check-in and bag-drop deadlines, and more on Sundays and holiday weekends. The live board above shows what the line is doing right now, and the chart projects the next 12 hours.
Where these numbers come from
Each airport publishes its own checkpoint wait estimates. This site reads them every minute and keeps every reading. Closed lanes are left out of the averages, and times are local to the airport. The averages above cover the last 28 days and are recalculated every hour. The posted wait is the airport's estimate, not a timed measurement, so treat it as a guide.
The full archive is free to download as an open dataset, and the about page explains who runs the site and why.