Left today. Had a 1:45 United flight. I was flagged SSSS so could not pre-print my boarding pass and had to get in the kiosk line; so we arrived ~2.5 hours prior to departure, since my wife waited for 45 minutes in the same situation in January. Wife went up to the Hungry Horse to wait for me. The United kiosk line moved quickly, had my boarding pass in 10 minutes and spied the security line on my way up to the HH. The line was just backing out of the screening room, but was moving. Had drinks and some lunch at the newly expanded Hungry Horse - doubled the outside seating area with a tent and a temporary bar.
45 minutes before departure we went to security, there were maybe 12 people stationary in line, but it was moving fast. Being SSSS, I was waived to the front and bypassed the line. After the bag search it took maybe all of 10 minutes to move onto immigration. Well there was a long line here, stretching all the way back to the X-ray screening areas. Luckily most US flights are now pre-cleared and we simply walked through the outside line you normally take for Sister Islands flights. No one was advising passengers of this, but we knew the new routine from a trip last month and asked an agent just to be sure. The gate agents now collect your tourist card when boarding.
The departure lounge was packed and we could not snag a seat. Somehow boarding was a breeze, if not disorganized. Once though the gate there was chaos as 3 flights were simultaneously boarding and three were deplaning. Throngs of people not sure which route to follow to get on their plane or make their way to immigration, utter nonsense. Worst we have seen that portion of the process.
