Texas Man Flies Out Of Austin Airport. Then He Uses Economy Parking—And Realizes The Rules Have Changed

A man noticed an important change to the Austin, Texas airport while getting ready for a recent flight. Here’s what you need to know.

Every traveler has a routine. Some may get to the airport several hours early to ensure they have the best possible experience. Others use the alleged “airport hack.” This is where one shows up to the airport just minutes before their flight, which typically allows them to get fast-tracked through security and make it through the airport in record time.

Given that frequent travelers have set routines when they get to the airport, any sort of airport change or disruption can wreak havoc on their plans. This is especially true in recent years, where government shutdowns and other issues have caused concerns for travelers.

Now, a passenger flying out of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has a warning for frequent flyers out of this airport. What are the new changes?

What Are These New Rules At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport?

In his video, TikTok user @kickbuttcoffee says he recently encountered a strange change after arriving at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

While he says he was able to park his car as per usual in the economy parking lot, his journey to the airport itself looked a little different.

“So the economy parking, you can no longer walk from it to the terminal,” he explains. “You have to take the bus.”

This, he says, is a disappointment.

“I always liked walking, just to move it along and not have to wait for the shuttle bus thing,” he states.

There’s another issue as well. According to the TikToker, one cannot go to the first security checkpoint unless they have TSA PreCheck.

“It took about 45 minutes to get through that screening,” he recalls.

Is This True?

It appears that the AUS airport is currently undergoing some construction.

As the TikToker notes in a comment, one can usually walk from economy parking. However, “they are building a six-story parking garage on part of the old economy and they had it all fenced off and have to walk in the street.”

The airport has confirmed that they are building a new parking complex, dubbed the Yellow Garage. Construction began in early 2025 and is set to be completed in 2027.

This parking garage will have seven floors with approximately 7,000 parking spaces. It will also be connected to the Blue Garage via a pedestrian bridge.

The airport warns that, while this construction is underway, there may be significant changes to walking routes and traffic patterns. Some of these changes may end up being permanent, but most are just short-term changes made to account for this construction.

The removal of a walking route seems to be a short-term change. In a Reddit thread on the topic from October, users noted that they were, at that time, still able to walk from the Economy lot to the terminal. Another commenter under the TikToker’s video claimed they were able to walk from the lot as recently as last week—meaning that this may have just been a short-term interruption that is set to be fixed.

What About The Checkpoints?

As far as the checkpoint changes are concerned, this seems to be accurate.

According to the AUS website, the airport has four checkpoints. The first checkpoint welcomes passengers with “TSA PreCheck, TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, CLEAR with TSA PreCheck, Known Crew Member, ADA screening, Priority/Premium screening.” The second checkpoint is solely for TSA PreCheck. Checkpoint 3 allows for “General screening, CLEAR for General screening, ADA screening, Priority/Premium screening,” while Checkpoint 4 is simply “General screening.”

This change began on October 20, 2026. While this change was announced under the banner of “Advis[ing] Passengers to Prepare for High-Volume Travel for Formula 1 Race,” it appears that this change will extend beyond the time around the race.

Apart from these minor changes, everything appears to be working at normal at the airport—though one may still want to get to the airport a little bit earlier than usual to account for any construction-related interruptions or delays.

BroBible reached out to AUS via email and @kickbuttcoffee via Instagram and Facebook direct message.