Many air travelers have shared their grievances online with the Transportation Security Administration over the years. But now Yelp will let users review and rate their experiences with the TSA, and potentially hear a response back.
Yelp announced in a blog post that they had reached an agreement with the federal government that allows federal agencies and offices to claim their Yelp pages, and even respond to reviews with the possibility of incorporating that feedback.
While this agreement includes reviewing national parks, Social Security Administration offices and other branches of the federal government, the most notable is the TSA, who has been subject of much scrutiny by air travelers. Users have previously been able to write reviews about their experiences with the TSA, but now is the first time that the agency can respond back.
"As this agreement is fully implemented in the weeks and months ahead, we're excited to help the federal government more directly interact with and respond to the needs of citizens and to further empower the millions of Americans who use Yelp every day," Yelp said in its blog post.
Some Yelp reviews of the TSA have been praiseworthy, noting their positive experience and relative ease in passing through airport security checkpoints.
"I arrived without an appointment and was surprised to find the office open and well attended by friendly, professional employees. There was no line, and I was in/out in under 10 minutes," wrote one Yelp user.
Others noted negative experiences when interacting with TSA officials.
"They were not only rude to the inexperienced travelers [sic] but almost took pride in publicly mocking those who made mistakes. They weren't interested in protecting those flying, they were more about playing police," wrote another Yelp user.
Currently there are only two airports that have Yelp pages for the TSA: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Long Beach Airport (LGB). LAX currently has a rating of two stars over 70 reviews, and LGB has a 2.5 star rating over 20 reviews.