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Pumpkin spice latte season is once again upon us, as if the wait for airport coffee wasn’t long enough.
Show up at most airports most mornings and witness the pain: bedraggled travelers toting carry-ons and kids, shuffling an inch at a time to place an order, only to line up again to wait for their drink. That’s after navigating the TSA checkpoint.
Friends, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Fliers who are willing to download an app or two (or four), do a little research and manage their time wisely can breeze past the masses and grab their cup of Joe before their fellow travelers have a chance to double check their gate. For ease at the airport, it’s all about the preorder.
The biggest player in airport coffee-to-go is Starbucks, which offers its popular mobile order service in the majority of major airports. The coffee chain expanded the option in airports across the country a couple years ago and has more recently opened some spots that cater exclusively to mobile order customers.
Some Dunkin’ airport locations allow preordering, based on a review of the company’s app, but many do not. Dunkin’ coffee and food is also available to order in advance at some airports’ own food-ordering sites or via the third-party mobile ordering app Grab. Some local coffee shops with airport spots, like Beans & Brews at Salt Lake City International Airport, offer online ordering directly.
Grab is available at dozens of airports, mostly in the United States. While some airports only list a couple of food options, others include several - among them coffee shops.
Travelers who know they will want to skip a line should search for whatever mobile order options exist at their airports so they can check out the options in advance and plan accordingly, said Summer Hull, director of content at The Points Guy, in an email.
Hull said that ordering via the Starbucks app at the airport is her “very favorite and most frequently used game changer.”
“It can easily save 10-15 minutes or more over waiting in line to order and get your drink when you plan ahead and order 5 minutes or so before you get to that part of the airport,” she wrote.
Harriet Baskas, a writer and creator of the blog Stuck at the Airport, cautioned that travelers should be sure they order from the correct location and make sure they’ll have time to pick it up. She often sees abandoned drinks at the pick-up counter.
“That’s been there for 10 minutes,” she said. “That $9 coffee is cold.”
Ordering from the security line is probably not the best plan, Baskas said, “Anything could happen.”
For travelers who want to skip the line once they’ve landed at their destination, Hull recommends ordering upon arriving in the terminal to keep drinks from getting cold due to a deplaning delay.
Baskas is another frequent user of Starbucks mobile ordering at the airport, though she says she often saves her rewards points to use on trips since her favorite items cost more in the airport. In some cases, she said, third-party mobile ordering services might add a small service fee.
Still, she said the preorder option can save travelers time and hassle.
“It’s like the perfect thing for an airport,” Baskas said. “You’re already in the facility.”