The honest fine print, in plain words.

TSA Wait Times is a free travel tool that helps you plan around airport security. This page explains what our numbers mean, where they come from, who we are, and how you can use our data. By using the site, you agree to read these numbers as helpful estimates and to make your own call on the day.

Our waits are estimates, not promises

Every wait time and Leave-By Timeon this site is a best estimate. Real lines move with the crowd, the weather, staffing, and plain luck, so the wait you see can be off by the time you arrive. We can't promise you'll make your flight. Treat our numbers as a planning aid, give yourself a cushion, and always follow the directions of staff at the checkpoint.

Where our numbers come from

When an airport shares its checkpoint wait through a public feed, we read that feed and label the number live, with the minute it last updated. When there's no live feed, we show a predictedwait built by our own model from typical patterns, the time of day, the day of the week, and — when schedule data is available — the day's scheduled flights. We'll never dress up a guess as a live reading. Feeds and models change, and we don't promise either one is complete or error-free. For the full, canonical explanation of how every number is made, read How it works.

We're independent

TSA Wait Times is a small, independent travel tool. We are not affiliated with the TSA, any airport authority, or any airline, and none of them endorse or sponsor this site. Names and codes like LAX or ATL belong to their owners and are used only to point you to the right place. For anything binding — gate times, ID rules, what you can pack — check with your airline or the airport directly.

Using our data

Our predicted wait times are free to read and free to share. If you quote a number or chart from us, please credit TSA Wait Timesand link back to the page you took it from. Please don't scrape the site in bulk or pass our model's predictions off as your own. We may update or remove data at any time, and we offer the site as it is, without warranties.

Want to know more about who we are and how we work? Read our About page.