I left out of MSY on 11/16. The TSA Pre-check was longer than normal but they have the area to put in extra TSA folks (and we could have used an extra one when I went through).

Bring shades or plan your seating in the concourse strategically. The walls facing the tarmac are glass ceiling to floor and there are no shades, drapes, etc. The concourses run almost exactly north-south, this means in the mornings and afternoons the sun is going to be either in your face or at your back depending on where you sit.

We flew back in Saturday evening. The wife was parked at employee parking and I was at USPark. We figured the best idea was for her to get her vehicle while I waited on the bags and then she would pick me up outside.

Baaaaaaaaaaad idea.

Because there is only the one road that acts as both entrance and exit, it took her a full 30 minutes to get from employee parking (which is at the old MSY) through the line of traffic to the airport. Apparently most people are enamored with the idea of being picked up first so the vast majority of people waiting on rides congregate at the first two doors. This makes a bad traffic problem even worse even though the cops are there and (sometimes) making people make a loop if the person they are there to pick up hasn't made it out yet.

If they had just put in separate roads for arrivals and departures each (they could still have the linking road) it would solve what's going to be a massive clusterfrick this weekend.

The parking lot companies have their own route in and out that we mere peons cannot access (any longer, thanks to security arms) so it may overall be faster access both in and out to park there (Park-n-Fly, USPark, etc).

Best bet is to get there 2-3 hours early (maybe even 4) to make sure you are there in time to make it through the traffic as well as the check-in lines.