Live from Delta News Hub (Terminal C only) · Typical ranges from observed airport readings · FAA status live · we never invent a wait.
Standard-lane waits at LGA typically peak around 4 am (median ~12 min) and are quietest around 9 pm (~1 min), from 1,435,778 observed readings.
Conservative on purpose: we plan for the high end of the wait and show every term so you can adjust it.
No sourced wait data for that hour, so we use the 2-hour domestic arrival guidance TSA and most airports publish, plus your drive.
Even at the low end of the estimate you have little time to spare.
Constants: 15 min at the gate before doors close · 12 min to the gate · 10 min curb to check-in · 15 min at bag drop (counters typically close 45 min before a domestic departure — confirm with your airline).
The security wait isn't what changes your plans.
A 20-minute queue is easy to plan around. A departure that is delayed 40 minutes — or a gate that moves to another terminal — is what makes you leave at the wrong time. Otto watches the trips it books and tells you before the gate agent does. Free for your first year.
Terminal TA: Terminal A CheckpointTerminal TB: Concourse B Checkpoint, Concourse C Checkpoint, Concourse D CheckpointTerminal TC: East CheckpointTerminal TD: Terminal D CheckpointCheckpoint list as of August 2026; live open/closed status appears above when the airport publishes it.
LGA has TSA PreCheck lanes. TSA's stated goal is that about 99% of PreCheck travelers wait under 10 minutes — but no individual is guaranteed expedited screening, and PreCheck lanes close outside peak hours, so check the live lane status above. TSA PreCheck
TSA and most airports recommend arriving 2 hours before a domestic departure and 3 hours before an international one; several large hubs advised 2.5–4 hours during the 2026 staffing lapse. The leave-by calculator above uses the actual wait where we have one, and this guidance where we don't. LGA official page
Every number on this page is labeled with what kind of number it is. Live is a reading the airport itself published, with the airport's timestamp when it has one and always with our read time; we read LGA's feed every 3 minutes and demote a reading to “last known” after 20 minutes and to “typical” after 60. Typical is the median-to-75th-percentile of what the airport's own display has shown for that weekday and hour, from an open, CC BY 4.0 archive polled about once a minute (thin weekday cells fall back to all days, and say so). When we have neither, we show no number.
Drive + 10 min curb-to-check-in + (15 min bag drop if checking) + security (the high end of the range, or the live reading) + 12 min to the gate + 15 min at the gate before doors close. Bag-drop counters typically close 45 minutes before a domestic departure — confirm with your airline. With no wait data at all we use TSA's 2 h / 3 h guidance.
A modeled wait is uncertain; a single number implies precision the data doesn't have. Users judge interval forecasts more accurate and prefer them when a point forecast turns out wrong, so typical waits are always shown as a range and the leave-by uses the high end.
Airports sometimes leave a stale number on the board (we check their availability flags and timestamps), lane closures happen without notice, and feeds stop updating during staffing crises. That is why the FAA status feed is read independently and why the arithmetic is printed — so you can adjust it.
Live: Delta News Hub (Terminal C only). Typical: US Airport Security & Immigration Wait Times (nycwaittimes.com / digitalhen) (CC BY 4.0), 2026-04-01 → 2026-08-28. Delay status: FAA National Airspace System status. PreCheck facts: TSA. Page content updated August 2026.
A security line is easy to plan around once you can see it. What actually makes travelers leave at the wrong time is the number this page can't watch: the departure that is delayed, the gate that moves to another terminal. Otto watches every trip it books and re-does that math for you.
Otto monitors its own bookings from T‑7 days and closely from T‑72 hours — schedule changes, delays, gate and terminal moves — and tells you before the gate agent does.
PreCheck only shortens your line if the indicator prints on your boarding pass. Otto stores your Known Traveler Number and puts it on every reservation.
A ground stop turns a security question into a rebooking question. Otto finds the best alternative, processes the exchange, or books a fresh ticket and cancels the original when that's faster.