How to Message a Real Person at TSA to Answer Your Travel Questions
Ahead of ” the busiest summer travel period on record, ” the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is preparing for record numbers this holiday season. According to TSA Administrator David Pekoske, seven of the “10 busiest travel days in TSA history” occurred in 2023, including several days when more than 2.8 million passengers were screened at airports across the country.
In the same press release, Pekoske made the usual statements about TSA expecting a large number of travelers during the holidays and being prepared for increased airport traffic. And while most aspects of air travel are beyond our control, you can do yourself a favor by maintaining a TSA text message line to receive real-time answers to any travel or security questions you may have.
How to submit questions to TSA
You can send questions to the TSA, which promises “real-time assistance.” Technically, there are three ways to contact:
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Send questions to 275-872 (AskTSA).
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Post questions to @AskTSA on X (formerly known as Twitter) via direct message.
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Sending questions via Facebook Messenger
We tried texting the TSA to see what you can expect, and it starts with an automated virtual assistant asking you to enter numbers in response to a menu of options. Automated options can answer basic questions, but unless you need fairly basic information—like basic identity rules or what’s allowed through security—a robot won’t help. When we asked if travelers still needed to put liquids in a resealable bag, we had to send seven text replies to get a response.
When we asked a follow-up question, the automated system started us back at the beginning and asked the same set of questions. It seems like every ticket gets closed after receiving a response (whether its response helped or not), and you’ll have to start over again if you want to make a new request. This time, however, instead of going through an automated system with a virtual assistant, we pressed “6” to send a message to a real person. We were curious to see how quickly you could talk to a real person.
Actual TSA employees must be available to answer questions between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, seven days a week, including holidays. It took them a reasonable five minutes to answer our question.
Each new question starts over from the beginning of the TSA automated text menu, but you can press “6” to text a person during regular business hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. When we asked the next follow-up question, this time a real person responded within four minutes.
Of course, you can also call the TSA Contact Center if you prefer – their number is (866) 289-9673. You can speak to a staff member from 8:00 to 23:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 20:00 on weekends and holidays. An automated service answers calls outside of business hours.