Connecting at MSP: two terminals, a real second security line

Last checked 30 September 2026

At Minneapolis-St Paul, Delta's Midwest hub, the two terminals genuinely don't connect behind security — and the trip between them takes longer than the map suggests, even though most of that time isn't security at all.

At a glance

• Terminal 1 (Delta, American, United, Alaska) and Terminal 2 (Sun Country, Southwest, Frontier, Icelandair): not connected behind security. A real second security line is needed either way.
• Budget real time for this one: GateCast's own estimate is about 50 minutes typically, and up to 80 minutes on a bad day, door of one plane to the gate of the next. Most of that is the walk, a tram, and waiting for a train that runs every 15 to 30 minutes.
• Many T1-T2 connections are on separate tickets. Southwest and Frontier don't share tickets with Delta, so bags usually need collecting and rechecking on top of the transfer time above — check this when you book.
• Arriving from abroad, connecting onward: passport control, then customs, then your connection.
• MSP's passport-control wait: half of passengers were through within 10 minutes; one passenger in ten waited about 25 minutes or more (GateCast estimate from US Customs and Border Protection wait data, Sep 2025 to Sep 2026).

Two terminals, a real transfer

Terminal 1 (Lindbergh) is the bigger of the two, home to Delta, American, United and Alaska across seven concourses. Terminal 2 (Humphrey) is smaller, one concourse, home to Sun Country, Southwest, Frontier and Icelandair. International flights come through Concourse G in Terminal 1.

Moving between the two terminals means going through security again. A free light-rail train connects them, running every 15 to 30 minutes (every 15 at busy times) and taking 2 to 4 minutes to ride. Travel between the terminals runs 24 hours on the airport's pages, and its two pages differ slightly on the rail timetable, so check Metro Transit for the current timetable. A careful look at every step of the trip — the walk to the train, a connecting tram at Terminal 1, waiting for the train itself, then the walk to the checkpoint and the queue there — adds up to GateCast's own estimate of about 50 minutes on a typical day and as much as 80 on a bad one. That's roughly double what a simple terminal-change estimate would suggest, and worth planning for as a real transfer.

If you have checked bags, there's another wrinkle: Southwest and Frontier don't share tickets with Delta, so many connections between the two terminals are on separate tickets. That means collecting your bag and rechecking it with your next airline, on top of the transfer time above, and working around that airline's own cutoff for accepting bags (commonly 45 minutes before departure).

Arriving internationally

Follow these steps in order.

1. Everyone arriving from abroad: international arrivals are handled at Concourse G in Terminal 1. Go through passport control.
2. Everyone: clear customs.
3. If you're connecting onward: recheck your bags and go through security again. On a few routes, eligible connecting passengers don't collect and recheck their bags, but still go through security again. Check with your airline.

Passport control at MSP: half of passengers were through within 10 minutes; one passenger in ten waited about 25 minutes or more (GateCast estimate from US Customs and Border Protection wait data, Sep 2025 to Sep 2026).

Tips

• If your connection crosses Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, don't treat it like a same-terminal change. Budget close to an hour.
• Check Metro Transit's rider alerts for service changes on the light-rail line before you travel.
• TSA PreCheck genuinely helps here, but not all day: Terminal 2's fast lane closes mid-afternoon, so check the time as well as the terminal.

Checked 30 September 2026. Terminals, schedules and security lanes change, so confirm with the airport and your airline before you travel.

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