Line is Close to curb. Took only 15 minutes to get through TSA, friendly agents. You ONLY need drivers license ID, it will bring up your boarding pass. Leave your shoes on. No Liquid, Dump or throw away liquids. (No new sealed water disposable bottles either. You can step out of line and drink them or surrender them.) Fruit etc. is ok with TSA, you can eat it before you pass through the Agricultural iInspection. Nice experience it's much easier now. Mahalo! read more

So when I regularly travel in and out of Lihue Airport, I normally use the main TSA Checkpoint each time I fly out of Kauai. The line is either long or short, but moves quickly. TSA Agents most times are friendly, they are quick and sometimes personable. There are also multiple conveyor belts and metal detectors that should get you and your luggages inspected quickly, some operate faster than others. Word of Advice for frequent travelers. Get yourself TSA Pre-check, CLEAR, or Global Entry to bypass regular TSA. Don't forget that WiFi is also free at LIH! read more

Get to the airport at least two hours early if your family isnt all Pre check. Slowest security line I've experienced. Nearly missed our flight. Agents had no desire to help or show any sense of urgency. read more

Always polite, efficient and very fast. The line moves fast, just don't forget to empty your pockets and remove your belt

They had a TSA pre-check line open when we checked in around 5pm for our flight. Was quick and easy to get through.

Hands down the worst TSA in the system! There are 2 security points here. Both are horrible! The agents are rude! Give yourself enough time to go through to your flight. Usually a machine is down at checkpoint 1. There will be agents standing around not helping open a lane... you'll see it. Lihue TSA you should be embarrassed. read more

Better and faster with their new scanner. No need to take out your electronics, only shoes. It was very efficient and lines went fast. read more

The folks at this check point were friendly and courteous, as expected in a place like Kauai. This can be a tough job day in and day out, but our experience here was great. No issues, and the TSA agent checking our ID's even noticed that it was my wife's birthday, and greeted her with a nice "happy birthday." We thought that was pretty cool, and it broke up the normally mundane routine of removing your shoes, electronic device, and rolling along into the serpentine line up. Very nice experience here. read more

TSA Checkpoint - Lihue Airport - Public Services & Government Near Me - Lihue, Hawaii

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I think its very important that we go threw this screening process.Its really imunitive that we get properly screened!!!good job guys!!!MAHALO!!! read more

Petty and rude. They have no urgency. They stole backpacking equipment that I've had no problem with in the past 3 flights of my trip as I island hopped across Hawaii. read more

Tsa process was so smooth and agent R. Fujieki was so very helpful and cheerful in assisting me and another traveler who had young kids. She is to be commended for her helpful attitude and aloha spirit! read more

I did the TSA Precheck then had to wait for a long time for the female guard to show. I asked her politely why we have to do this when I already been background checked and she bit my head off and was rude. I'm so tired of passengers being treated like crap. This has to change! read more

This TSA sucked worst than others. At least others are nice. These people were jerks. I stood to go through one line but lady told me to go through the other one where it has the machine I do not like. I asked to go through the line I was in. I was told I now have to have a pat down. My entire family had already gone through the line I wanted to go through. I said fine. Then I waited.. And waited... And waited.. And waited. I then asked if they could let me wait near my stuff since they did not want me to leave my stuff.. The last was upset that I was not waiting quietly. The problem of course she had either forgotten me or was choosing to ignore me and my promised past down. She had not told any one yet. Finally she calls a guy and tells him. They then stand around talking for a while. I interrupt and ask the be hit if I can wait where I can see my stuff like all other tea have done. He says no because the is none to walk me there... Proceeds to bs with the lady for a minute then finally take me through. Once through... But before my pat down I tried putting in my handles that had been cleared which is apparently wing for some reason.. He yelled at me like I was a terrorist trying to put cleared clothing on my uncleared body. The pat down was a sexual assault. Nothing out of the ordinary for TSA but would get you arrested if you did it anywhere else. read more

Long lines, one guy (efficient, courteous) checking both TSA lines and one scanning line for bags. The screeners screened and then hand checked everyone...not very smart or nice. What is the point of the scanning booth if they hand check you anyway? I had to run to catch my flight in my bare feet. Hawaiian Air recognizes this as a problem and delay departures, luckily. They need to increase staffing at 5 am open.. getting to the airport two hours early does not help for early am flights around 6 am. The lines take over an hour to go through and pre check passangers get to pop on ahead constantly ..Figure it out TSA! read more

I would say every one here is friendly, my beef is not with the staff at all---- they do a fine job, I just think the way this place is setup needs a mgmt. shift-plan on waiting a long time and I recommend you eat before you come here, not much of a choice for food! read more

On Sunday, September 23rd, as I went through TSA security, I had no clue that I would be sexually assaulted and humiliated. I went through the screening where you put your hands over your head, and was taken aside and shown an on-screen analysis that I had failed, indicated by bright gold blocks on the representation of my body. I couldn't fathom why this would be the case, as I had on a lightweight dress, with pants underneath it. The woman agent took me aside (thin woman with reddish hair) and advised she was going to have to pat me down. She repeated something that must have been an official statement, but it made zero sense to me. Then she asked me if I was "sensitive." I still could not comprehend what was happening, but answered that "yes, I am sensitive." She then asked me if I wanted to have the pat down in a private room and I said "no," I did not want to do that. I was having difficulty understanding what was happening. She proceeded to do the pat down, and she touched every inch of my body, including my breasts, but more upsettingly, my vagina. I could not actually believe this was happening! When she was finished, I could hardly function and began crying. I got my stuff out of the bin, and went to sit down. I cried for a long time. The agent was very nasty and rude. I was sexually assaulted. I have read, subsequently, that this is all perfectly fine. read more

Flew out of Lihue airport yesterday. TSA was an absolute circus. Long winding lines with a single individual to screen passengers. Watched an elderly lady in a wheelchair have to navigate her way thru security without any help. TSA agent on 5/9/18 had to handle both "common folk" and TSA pre-check line. Witnessed a second agent find every excuse to not work her lane. One could have not created more chaos. Give yourself a 2 hour window for all the hoops to jump. In a modern world there should be absolutely no excuse for this level of poor service. read more

Very slow. Terrible service for the pre-check which American Airlines uses. Probably 50 people ahead of us. And it is taking a long time. Good thing we came early. read more

WORST TSA ever!!! What a joke! How about NOT putting the least experienced/capable person on the X-ray machine- especially when the line is out the door!!! Multiple rescans- then a group of 4 TSA agents stood around looking at ONE bag for about 10 minutes before taking it out of the line for further inspection. The supervisor needs to be demoted for not recognizing(or caring) that the line WAS NOT MOVING!! I've seen slow TSA operations many times- but this was a joke. read more

so rude at TSA pre check line this morning, not helpful and making rude remarks at us as passengers

By far the worst experience with TSA ever- these people were nasty rude. Sad that our beautiful vacation ended with being treated so horrible. We had 7 guest traveling myself my husband our 3 children my mother and my sister. My husband went in the line opposite of me and the kids he over heard them tell me to leave our laptops in the bags. he followed the instructions and was yelled at and had to go back through the line....my 9 year old took his out being confused and was yelled at to put the laptop back in. I was busy helping my kids get through the line with this nasty women and forgot to take my hat off last minute I set it in the bin. The women then says the hat needs to be smashed down and put my sons suitcase on top of my hat smashing it. I purposely was wearing this hat so it didn't get smashed. This is not a rule she was just being hateful. so hateful my daughter started to cry. our flight was very early we weren't holding up a line or anyone. This women also yelled at our other son telling him to hurry up and straighten the bins she wasn't going to do it for him. that It wasn't her job.... no it isn't but be a nice human. I will make an official complaint. read more

Worst check in experience ever. The airport is NOT crowded. It took us 1.5hours to check one bag and get through security. The entire time you are outside sweating. Then, they literally check every bag and find NOTHING. Oh, and NO wi-fi or air conditioning. read more

The guy at the front was extremely slow. For every 30 pre check tsa people that went through the man only allowed 2 non pre check people through. We waited in line for at least 45 min and barely moved! We almost missed our flight! Be sure to get to the airport early! read more

Anyway, recently flew back to Kauai recently. There was a young woman sitting next to me wearing a sarong, with nothing underneath. Her sarong opened at her hips and saw that she was not wearing underwear. I doubt she was wearing a bra too. Why was she allowed to board dressed like that? read more

I go throught the Lihue airport 4 or 5 tines a year. I carry island honey wrapped in bubble & boxed . Never had a problem. I write a large note with the contents & warn the jars are glass. My last trip, 2 months ago a 2 lb jar had been dropped in it's cushioning on the ground and put back in the box. The entire interior of the suit case had honey everywhere, including medical equipmnt of mine. It took a month at the cleaners to repair. Had they dropped a jar and left me a note there had been an accident, it would have been accetable. This was not. read more

Terrible experience. They were understaffed, only 1 single person checking in the long line of people waiting. 35 minute security wait for afternoon flight on 1/12/17. To make matters worse, the pre-TSA line a dedicated TSA agent, who was sitting there doing nothing most of the time (except for when a TSA pre passenger came up). At other airports, the TSA pre-guy can waive people from the general line up when he is not busy. When I asked him why he wasn't waiving anyone up, he ignored me. I guess he enjoyed having the free time while the rest of us agonized in line. This is way worse than DMV. When I was sent to secondary check for them to rifle through my bag, the lady assigned to me stopped to have a conversation with another TSA agent, making me wait. It was only a minute or so but it just added to the frustration. Rest of TSA staffers there that I saw were rude and not smiling, just barking out orders to hapless passengers (the sheep) which is the usual for TSA. read more

To the wonderful TSA agent that helped my husband through security. I am so sorry we didn't get your name but you will know who you are. On March 8th 2019 we were going through TSA and I mentioned to you how rudely my husband had been treated in Duluth,Mn. My husband has Parkinson's, deep brain stimulator implant, back surgery with two rods and ten screws. You proved that the Aloha spirit is alive and doing well. Thank you for your kindness and professionalism. read more

TSA with aloha! By far the friendliest and most humane TSA agents we've ever encountered. It's amazing how far a little bit of kindness and manners goes to make an unpleasant fact of travel easier for everyone. Mahalo read more

This is by far the worst TSA experience I have ever had, even for here where I have had issues in the past. I was traveling with my almost 6month old baby and husband and due to having a baby, we had to bring a reasonable amount of food for the long journey home. I had 2 pouches of baby food and some yogurts. I was told before I even left my hotel room when I asked about the food I could take for my son and they told me I could take the yogurts (even though it exceeded the amount of 3 oz) and my homemade pouched foods. We are also TSA-Prechecked, so we get to go in that line. We get to the airport and everything is going smooth, until we get to TSA when they grab our bags that we have the issue. We get this blond young lady who gets our one box of the taken out baby formula and pre-filled bottles, she looks at them, and tests them. They were fine, but says she can't let the formula go through, which I said, "it is going against the right of law for you to take a baby's main source of nutrients, you have to let it go through, which she bitterly says fine to. She then proceeds to our food bag, where the baby food is at and she looks at them and says," you have two choices, either leave all the baby food and yogurt or we have to search everything." I told her, " I cannot leave my baby's food here and it is going against my rights, that is not much of a choice. I can leave the yogurt and go my Merry way.." which she interrupt and said, "no, everything has to stay" I said "fine, search, I have nothing to hide." My husband and I were speaking in a hush tone and he is like I do not understand what is going on, so I try to explain, which this TSA agent keeps interrupting and is being argumentative when I said, I am having a private conversation with my husband and she gives a blank stare at me and starts to laugh anytime I was saying to my husband how this is ridiculous now. She then gets mad when my husband said, " you are being rude and let us talk to one another without getting involved." Then I chimed in, "This is going against my right to feed my child when the website says I can take these items and I have called." She then says we are challenging her and calls a few more TSA agents for back-up. This is what makes the situation worse as I had to explain everything over and over again. Then we get this really mean and rude TSA agent who tries to say I am yelling whenI was not yelling yet, ( I am a special ed teacher and have the stern teacher voice at times) and I am getting so frustrated and upset that my blood sugar plummeted and I said I need to have a snack and sit down before I faint. "Which then they were like we need a cop here and if you keep this up, you are not going on your flight, we have the power to keep you here." Then there was a co-worker named Galigher (absolutely amazing and a great diffuser of the situation) who heard I felt shaky and light headed who got me a chair finished looking at our stuff and was overall super nice, let me have my food bag that the blond girl crushed up all our snacks and the supervisor came out and asked what was going on and I told him and he looked mortified! He told me how to make a formal complaint and said he will look at the cameras with the workers and talk to them as this was unacceptable. I made a formal complaint with TSA and was notified that this was not the first complaint like this for this airport and is now investigating this airports' TSA. I wish I could say I would never be back, but I was raised on this island, lived there and now vacation there to visit friends and family during Christmas and New Years time. Just warning, bring all the literature on the TSA website to show and stand up for your child's rights. read more

Consistently the worst TSA experience in the United States. I fly through Lihue airport every week for work and I have yet to have even a neutral experience. Either the workers are rude and make unnecessary snide remarks or it's so slow, I almost miss my flight even though I'm at the airport over an hour early. My latest and greatest experience today involved the TSA precheck worker who motioned me forward before then realizing the security line was backing up (big shocker here...) so then she instructed me to back up. After backing up and waiting for the line to clear, she motioned me forward again and rolled her eyes and said to me, "See...you're in some big hurry all to go four feet". What in the actual?? Is this comment necessary? Aside from not being reality based, it was overtly rude and slimy. I wish I would have gotten her name. Very short hair and glasses... Needless to say, I'll be looking for her next week and plan to speak with a manager instead of filing weekly online TSA complaints. read more

TSA check point SUCKS!!! Just because you have TSA Pre check doesn't mean EVERYONE in the general line has to wait 15mins before we can approach the agent. read more

Checking in to Lihue Airport on Hawaiian Air, suprised to see it that crowded, luckily I got randomly selected as TSA pre approved. Checked in the golf bag, proceeded to the short pre checked line, left the hat and footwear on. Got some seasoned salt from Maui, They stopped all the bags and had to give sample to test, Waiting for the gang to get thru the long line they page me to come back to the gate, there was a United flight going out at the same time. I got to the gate and they called in to find out that someone must have moved the combination lock so my bag was locked, they needed me to open my bag. They relayed in the info and TSA was happy, I was a happy camper too, might have missed my flight back if I had to go thru the line again.. Nice to know that they are doing a great job keeping us safe. read more

Understaffed and less than adequately equipped BUT the TSA personnel are friendlier and more efficient than in almost any airport that I've ever encountered. read more

First time flying out of Lihue airport! Followed "the herd" and realized we were in the wrong lane when a female TSA agent opened our luggage and started to pull out shampoo bottles etc. Tried to explain that we wanted to check this luggage, but ended up in the wrong spot ... she cut me off "Want to get under the plane and load it up yourself?" There was no need for this condescending attitude!! Everybody else we encountered there was very nice and helpful. Feel bad giving one star, but this woman left a very bad taste in my mouth!!! read more

Quick and painless! The line gets a little long but the agents there hustle folks through really quickly and efficiently.

Normal TSA agents! Every one was friendly. They had to search our bag because of our spork! They were laughing about it.

We flew on United red eye from Lihue to LAX flight 1295 on Thursday 7/28. agricultural inspection and baggage check in went fine. Agents were pleasant, although we were 1 1/2 hrs early and weren't in a rush. BUT upon collecting our luggage @ LAX, found the "notice of baggage inspection" card in the luggage. The TSA approved lock was gone along with 2 new, sealed Hawaiian perfumes. Hadn't had a theft in 10 years but it is disappointing. Besides the fact it's nearly impossible to find a phone number to speak to a live body. By hey, Kauai is paradise, right? read more

My experience with the TSA at the Lihue, Kauai airport was a terribly embarrassing. Let me give you a bit of information. I am a Black American male in his late 20s. So, with that said I will begin. Even before I entered the security checkpoint I was already being stared at and before I got to the front my hands were wiped with a tiny cloth for no apparent reason and placed into a tiny machine off to the side. Ok, no big deal just a random check. To my surprise I did not see anyone else in line get their hands wiped. Curious but I shrugged it off. I eventually made it to the front and went through the security machine where for some strange reason my carry on was also stopped. My bag was then taken off so that he could inspect every item inside. He finally wiped the inside of the bag and when I asked what the wiping was for the TSA agent replied that my tiny bottle of bug spray was too big. Not satisfied with that answer, my girlfriend looked it up and saw that it had something to do with searching for bomb residue. She also read that the TSA, in regards to these random searches, does not discriminate. I cannot help but think that this is a lie as, once again, no one else was wiped or pulled to the side. The entire experience made me feel as if I were criminal as I was holding up the line as everyone behind me looked on as if one of the FBI's most wanted was about to be taken down. There really needs to be drastic changes in the way the TSA is allowed to treat people. All people; US citizens and our international visitors. read more

The worst. My husband and I were TSA-pre which honestly I think resulted in worse treatment than regular screening. First we lined up in the TSA-pre line and when we got to the front we had to wait as the one agent that was free had his head down - when he looked up after a minute or so he looked straight at me and then motioned to the people just walking up in the regular line (there was no line there). We check in they give us a card that says we have to go through the regular TSA screening. We proceed to take all of our baggage apart to pull out electronics etc. I was then directed to the screening line where they screened AND patted me down. I escaped that process and found they had taken my backpack apart and removed sandwiches etc which I had to gather up and reassemble. My laptop was in a different order so I'm not even sure I got the right one as there was another Mac next to it. What good is it to go through the screening for Global Entry?!?!?! Ugh. read more