Do you have to be screened by Tracel Portal (Puffer) machines?

For those of you who do not know what a puffer machine is, is it the machine that blows air on you.  It then analyzes the air for trace amounts of explosives.

It depends on what airport you’re flying through.  If the airport you’re traveling through has a puffer machine, but the machine is still in the pilot phase, then the answer is no.  You are not required because it is on a voluntary basis only.

If the airport has a puffer machine and they have completed the pilot phase and they are using the machine as a primary security measure, then yes, you are require to be puffed.

My advice is to ask the screener if the puffer is in the pilot phase.  If it is, TSA can only request you to go through the puffer as a volunteer. 

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