Travel Toiletry Question: Is Stick Deodorant Permitted Or Banned By The TSA?

Can you buy some at your arrival airport?

Most hotels are providing common liquid/gel items (toothpaste, shampoo, shaving cream) free to guests since the crackdown.

http://tsamassage.webs.com/

does anyone know/understand why TSA lines are suddenly 'nightmarish'? i can't get my head around this story. going on a trip in July, wondering if I should leave for the airport now

http://nypost.com/2016/05/16/stranded-travelers-sleep-on-cots-in-tsa-nightmare/

also wtf

Clowns, Tiny Horses Used to Calm...
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/tsa-lines-causing-frowns-bring-clowns-tiny-horses-n574816

no one knows???

You want the long version?

Every executive branch agency (even, sort of, the Department of Defense) has been forced to play "Washington Monument" games with an obstructionist, federal-government-hating legislature for the last six years. The game is so named because when the National Park Service shuts down, the *first* thing you (as a taxpaying citizen) aren't allowed to do any more is visit the Washington Monument. Did you plan your family vacation right around the continuing resolution deadline? Too bad. Write your Congressman!

Since DHS is part of the executive branch, they get to play this game too. What's the "Washington Monument" for DHS? TSA. Oops, looks like Congress gave us no room to grow our screener staff. Airlines and their passengers aren't going to be very happy with THIS! So you cut screeners (because your salaries & benefits numbers have remained essentially static for the better part of a decade while employees have continued to receive their regular step increases and cost-of-living adjustments) and try to give the Pre✓ program a boost in the hopes that that will ease the pain a little bit, but no money comes, and no money comes, and eventually the Washington Monument strategy actually pans out instead of being a "forward looking impact statement" on the annual (futile) budget request.

Now Congress has apparently folded and authorized $34M to fix the staffing shortfall, but it takes years to hire thousands of new federal employees, especially since these are airport screeners and have to pass pretty extensive background checks. So the lesson here is: Sign up for goddamn TSA Pre✓.

the last few flights I had involved extremely short TSA lines. Guess I was just lucky with timing.

Also depends on the airport / region. Obviously staffing shortfalls at BWI, DCA or IAD tend to get more attention than elsewhere.

I've flown domestically out of LGA and JFK a couple times recently and back via San Diego, Columbus, Miami. No major problems, although longest line was at Miami.

More on how it relates to the TSA pre-check program, and how enrollment has been below expectations:

http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/May-2016/TSA-OHare-Midway-Airport-Delays/

I know I'm signing up for mine today.

do you have to separately do it for your kids? It might be worth it for me just for work travel.

I had actually forgotten the whole shitshow after John Pistole left, too. It took four months to find somebody else to take the job and then another three months for the Senate to confirm him.

So they actually managed to fix a bunch of stuff by July 4 weekend. Apparently nationwide wait time averaged only ~10 minutes and June 30/31 were the highest travel volume days since 2007, which sounds crazy.

yeah I'm flying into O'Hare on Thursday afternoon and have nervously checked wait times and been surprised to see the situation more than manageable.