Airport Airport

SAN San Diego Airport TSA Times

IATA Code:

SAN

Timezone:

UTC/GMT -7:00 hours

Airport local time:

Sunday, 7:37am


Last Updated:
7:00 AM (UTC/GMT -7:00 hours)2026-03-22
Add Your Time
  • Data

    Qsensor makes use of data from TSA for this airport.

  • Disclaimer

    Waiting times may not accurately reflect your experience. It is advisable to arrive at the airport well in advance and follow the recommendations of the airlines and airports.

  • Airport Last Updated

    7:00 AM (UTC/GMT -7:00 hours)2026-03-22

Unlock Live Terminal Data

Find real-time security wait times and terminal-specific information. Pay once, access forever.

  • Real-time wait times
  • Terminal comparisons
  • Total average

The average wait time at 7 am at this airport is 21 minutes

Current: 24 min (Similar to usual: avg wait time is 21 min)

Unlock Wait Time Trends

Analyse security wait time patterns over time and plan your perfect arrival. Pay once, access forever.

  • Trend analysis
  • Peak time identification
  • Weekday breakdown

Wait Times by Day of Week

Average wait times based on the last 4 weeks of data.

17m
Mon
16m
Tue
15m
Wed
20m
Thu
18m
Fri
15m
Sat
20m
Sun

Unlock Smart Arrival Times

Pay once for lifetime AI-powered suggestions for optimal airport arrival times based on current conditions.

  • Personalised timing
  • Airport traffic considerations
  • Security wait factors
Recommended Airport Arrival Time
Domestic Flights 2h 0m before departure
International Flights 3h 0m before departure
Based on current average 24 min wait time at this airport

Unlock Best & Worst Time

Discover the optimal times to fly through this airport based on historical patterns. Pay once, access forever.

  • Lowest wait time periods
  • Peak hours to avoid
  • Time savings insights
  • Day-specific recommendations

Best & Worst Times to Fly

Based on historical tsa wait times across all days of the week.

Best Time
Night
9pm - 4am
8 min avg wait
Worst Time
Morning
8am - 12pm
23 min avg wait
Flying in the Night instead of Morning could save you up to 15 minutes in tsa lines.

Guide to San Diego International Airport (SAN)

SAN is the primary gateway to “America’s Finest City.” Located just minutes from downtown and the picturesque San Diego Bay, SAN is a bustling transit hub offering more than 85 nonstop flights. Currently, the airport is undergoing a massive, historic transformation. With the recent opening of the airy, $3.8 billion New Terminal 1 (Phase 1A), SAN is actively upgrading its facilities to offer more gates, vibrant local dining options, and enhanced passenger experiences. However, this construction project has temporarily altered how travelers navigate the airport campus—from parking and rideshare pickups to inter-terminal transit, read more in our FAQ below.

San Diego Airport FAQ

The current TSA wait time at San Diego Airport is approximately 24 minutes.

TSA wait times at San Diego Airport vary throughout the day. Check the historical wait time chart on this page to find the quietest times.

Rideshare pickup logistics depend on your arriving terminal.

  • Terminal 1: Exit baggage claim and use the pedestrian crosswalk to reach the transportation island closest to the terminal building.
  • Terminal 2: Exit baggage claim and use the main crosswalk to reach the Transportation Plaza. You must go to the island farthest from the terminal (Lane 2) on the right side. To help drivers find you in the high-density traffic, look for specific alphanumeric pylons, such as “Terminal 2, Column A”.

After exiting baggage claim, look specifically for overhead signs reading “Rental Car Shuttles” or “Rental Car Courtesy Shuttles”. Do not simply follow generic signs for “Ground Transportation,” as these will often lead you to city buses or hotel shuttles instead.

No. Due to the massive, ongoing New Terminal 1 construction project, the pedestrian sidewalk and roadway connecting Terminals 1 and 2 have been permanently closed. The only way to transit between the terminals is by using the free Inter-Terminal Shuttle (also called the Terminal Loop Shuttle), which operates daily from 4:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m..

Airline terminal assignments are a common source of confusion, especially following recent construction moves.

  • Terminal 1: Southwest Airlines is the dominant domestic carrier here, alongside Frontier, JetBlue, Sun Country, and Breeze. As of January 2026, Air Canada and WestJet have also permanently relocated all of their operations to Terminal 1.
  • Terminal 2: This terminal hosts Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, as well as major international carriers including British Airways, Japan Airlines (JAL), Copa, and KLM.

The most convenient parking is at the Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 Parking Plazas, which cost $2.50 per 15-minute increment, maxing out at $38.00 per day. For budget-conscious travelers, the on-site Long-Term Lot on North Harbor Drive caps at $22.00 per day (or $20.00 if pre-booked online). If you are picking up a passenger, you can wait for free for up to one hour at the Cell Phone Lot, located at 2311 McCain Road (near the intersection of N. Harbor Drive and Liberator Way). You must remain with your vehicle at all times.

Yes. Expedited biometric screening via CLEAR+ is available at the security checkpoints for both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 West. Standard TSA PreCheck lanes are also heavily utilized across the airport to expedite the screening process.

No. Overnight stays in the gate areas are strictly prohibited at SAN. After the final flight arrivals of the evening are processed, all guests must return to the pre-security side of the airport. The airline ticket counters and security checkpoints close completely for the night and do not reopen until approximately 4:15 a.m..

20,000+

Trusted by travellers monthly

Award Winner

UK Travel Awards

Similar Airports

Explore wait times for other airports in the region

SNA
John Wayne Airport

Santa Ana, United States

LAX
LAX Customs

Los Angeles, United States

LAX
LAX International Airport

Los Angeles, United States

OAK
Oakland International Airport

Oakland, United States

SMF
Sacramento International Airport

Sacramento, United States

Live Airport & Flight Intelligence

Real-time security wait times, flight delay tracking, and airport busyness data — all in one place.

Security Wait Times

Live TSA, CATSA, and security checkpoint wait times by terminal and queue, with historical patterns to help you pick the best time to arrive.

Updates every 5–15 minutes from official feeds and crowdsourced reports
Per-terminal and per-queue breakdowns
Historical charts showing quietest times to fly

Flight Delay Tracking

Live status for individual flights with 14-day rolling delay averages, on-time rates, and side-by-side route comparisons.

Real-time departure and arrival status
Email alerts for delays and cancellations
Similar-flight performance comparisons

How It Works

1

Search

Find your airport or flight number

2

Check Live Data

See current wait times, delays, and busyness levels

3

Travel Smarter

Use insights and alerts to plan your journey

Official Sources

Data from TSA, CATSA, and airline systems

Always Current

Continuous updates throughout the day

Flight Alerts

Email notifications for delays and cancellations

Global Coverage

Hundreds of airports worldwide

Qsensor FAQ

Live data: For the majority of the airports we track we use live data from the airport. For the remaining airports we provide an estimate, and we communicate that it’s a best-guess only.

Search: By airport name, IATA code, city, county, country or region. To save you time, we keep your last visited airports on the front page. If you can’t find an airport, contact us using the contact form and we will look to add it. 

Current average wait time: The airport’s latest average security, passport control or customs queue wait time. If the airport has multiple queues, we display the average of them. If you want a more granular view that includes wait times for individual queues, take a look at the terminal level wait times. We regularly update each airport’s data,  but make sure you click the “i” icon to check when the last update was made.

Terminal level wait times: The latest security or customs queue wait time for individual terminals. Click on the terminal to access more information at the terminal level. Please note that this data is not available for all airports. We are working to expand this functionality to as many airports as possible.

Historical wait times: The typical wait time on different days and times over the past 2 weeks. Click the filter at the top right of the graph to cycle through the days of the week.

Add a security or customs queue wait time: How was your airport security experience? Contribute to the community by inputting your wait time. This feature is only available for airports where Qsensor does not automatically track data. To add a wait time, simply click the “Add Your Time” button on the airports page and follow the instructions.

add time button

Please note that this data is monitored and may be modified or deleted if found to be invalid.

Click the “i” icon to view and take note of more contextual information on each airport. “Airport Last Updated” denotes the last time the data was refreshed.

Our sources for wait time data vary and may include air travel data aggregators, federal agencies such as the TSA, CATSA CBP, or information from the airport and its affiliated service providers. For some airports, Qsensor utilises its proprietary queue modelling technology to project wait times. Additionally, we crowdsource data from passengers that have inputted their wait time using the “Add Wait Time” button.

Qsensor is not affiliated with any airport, airline, or associated service provider.

We regularly check queue times and flight delays for accuracy, however all times are estimates and waiting times and delays may not accurately reflect your experience. It is advisable to arrive at the airport well in advance and follow the recommendations of the airlines and airports.

There are a wide array of ways that queue data is measured. Including but not limited to looking at how long a passenger takes to get from scanning their boarding pass to exiting the security or customs area. Auditing passengers on how long it took them to pass through security or customs as well as Qsensors’ proprietary system for user added wait times. 

For airport wait times, we currently support over 110 airports worldwide. Whether it be London Heathrow, Istanbul, or Miami – we have got you covered. More are added all the time. Is Qsensor missing an airport that you want to be supported? We are more than happy to accommodate your request, get in touch via the contact form. 

For flight delays and cancellations, we currently support 7 airports, with the goal of expanding coverage going forwards.

Qsensor automatically tracks wait times for a variety of airports including London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Amsterdam Schiphol, Kempegowda Bangalore, Madrid Barajas, Hong Kong, Istanbul, and many more!

For flight delays and cancellations, we track Gatwick, Heathrow, Barcelona and more.

Qsensor is available in English, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic.

Send the request via the contact form below:

Contact form

Make sure you include the name of the airport and its IATA code in your request!

The flight delay tracker gives you a comprehensive view of flight status delays, both for the current day and historically on a per flight basis. Tap on a weekday to see all flights that have historically taken off on that day and their typical delay over the past two weeks. You can also search for your flight using your flight number and view the airport’s average delay.

Get insights into flight on-time performance and make better travel decisions. Please note, this feature is not available for all airports, but we’re adding more all the time!

To keep wait times relevant, the message “There is currently no data for this airport.” is shown when no traveller has recently inputted a wait time.

add time button

For airports Qsensor automatically tracks, this message may also be shown if we haven’t recently gotten data from the airport. This typically rectifies itself within 12 hours.

If you have a suggestion for an airport you want to be tracked or a feature added, share it via the contact form.

Any feedback is appreciated <3

Please review the T&Cs and privacy policy.

Simply refresh the page and you should see the premium content.

If you switch browser or device, click “Tap to Unlock” and then login with the account you used to pay for premium and then refresh the page.

Follow us on socials and the blog for updates on Qsensors’ development, helping travellers with airport wait times and flight delays, and letting everyone know what Qsensor is all about.

This FAQ section is updated periodically, please check back for updates. This FAQ was last updated on the 15th of March, 2026.

map map

Testimonials

Samantha Novae
Euismod ipsum

“In purus at morbi magna in in maecenas. Nunc nulla magna elit, varius phasellus blandit convallis.”

More information

Are you looking for a different airport?

Browse over 130+ airports worldwide.

Find An Airport