TSA Holiday Travel Tips Rehash

You may have read our Thanksgiving Travel Tips last month. Well, this is the holiday travel version. If you didn’t read all of our travel tips last month, no worries… Here’s the link: Good Gravy, Let’s Talk Turkey!: TSA Holiday Travel Tips

Here are a few tips that focus on the upcoming holiday travel.

Wrapped gifts are allowed, but not encouraged: Nothing new this year. Wrapped gifts are allowed, but we recommend waiting until you land. If there’s something in the gift that needs to be inspected, we may have to open it. Our officers try their best not to mangle the gift wrap, but it’s not a guarantee and it also slows down the line for everybody else when we have to do this. We’d rather unwrap the gifts that are under our trees.

Eggnog can be an alternate to fuel depending on who’s mixing it. Sometimes there’s a fine line between a beverage and hazmat. Just sayin’…Remember the 3-1-1 liquids rule at the checkpoint. Unless it’s in small container (3.4 oz or less), this tasty liquid treat is not allowed.

Snow Globes: Call us what you will (Grinch, Scrooge, Heat Miser), but snow globes are still not permitted in your carry-on luggage. They are sealed containers full of liquid that would have to be opened to test. We’re not in the business of busting snow globes, so we suggest you place them in your checked baggage or mail them ahead of time.

Photo Courtesy of Brent

Fruitcakes get a bad rap. I personally love fruitcakes and my holiday wouldn’t be the same without them. As I said in last year’s post, contrary to popular belief, fruitcake is a delicious edible and permitted cake, not a WMD. 

Christmas Sweaters: If you have one of those Christmas sweaters with blinking lights, you might get a little more attention. However, we won’t hold it against you if you’re simply wearing an ugly sweater. As I said in last year’s post, While some Christmas sweaters can have a nauseating effect on passengers, they are currently permitted through TSA checkpoints.

Family Lanes are designed to let families take their time and ask questions without feeling rushed by the experienced frequent flyers who can zip through a checkpoint in no time. Also anybody carrying medically necessary liquids, aerosols and gels in excess of 3.4 oz may be directed to a Family Lane.

Message To Mom: I know I’ve complained in the past, but t-shirts and socks would be an awesome gift this year!

Kids 12 & Under can keep their shoes on now!

Legend: Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings? But what I’d like to know is if they’re spicy or mild? Buffalo or BBQ?

Christmas Crackers: Not the kind you eat, but the kind that “cracks” when you pull it apart. They’re really cool and a part of a lot of people’s Christmas traditions, but they’re prohibited on aircraft.

The MyTSA App: Our MyTSA App (available as an iPhone or mobile web app) amongst other great features has a “Can I Bring My…” tool. You can type in the name of the item you’re curious about and it tells you if the item is permitted or not.

Santa Claus: No prohibited items in your beard this year.

Foods: Cakes, pies, bread, donuts, turkeys, etc. are all permitted. Here is a list of items that should be placed in your checked bags or shipped: cranberry sauce, creamy dips and spreads (cheeses, peanut butter, etc.), gift baskets with liquid or gel food items (salsa, jams and salad dressings), gravy (mmm gravy), jams, jellies, maple syrup, oils and vinegars, sauces, soups, wine, liquor and beer.

Yule Logs should be placed in your checked baggage. Preferably unlit…

Follow us on Twitter @tsablogteam for travel tips, blog post announcements, and other useful information. Printout this handy dandy checklist (PDF) so you don’t forget anything and don’t forget to check out TSA.gov for a wealth of information on traveling through TSA checkpoints.

Blogger Bob Burns

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

TSA Week In Review: Flash! Bang!

Live Flash Bang Grenade Found at ELP

Hand grenades again… This time it was a LIVE flash bang grenade in a carry-on bag at El Paso (ELP) and it caused a shutdown of the checkpoint resulting in a 30 minute delay affecting 150 passengers.

Non Metallic Knife (BUF)

A passenger opted out of the body scanner at Buffalo (BUF) and during the pat-down, a 9” nonmetallic serrated knife was found in his pants pocket. The passenger stated later that he opted out of the body scanner because he was trying to get the knife through security. At least he didn’t simply say he forgot it was there…

 A 2’ machete was discovered in  a passenger’s carry-on bag. The passenger stated they were going to the jungle and forgot it was there.

Firearm Found Strapped To Passenger's Ankle (DTW)

Notable News: Earlier this week, we blogged about a 76-year-old man who tried to come through the checkpoint with a loaded .380 strapped to his ankle. Just more proof the technology works… Read more here. - TSA Pre✓™ rolled out in Vegas this week! If you’re interested in expedited screening, check it out! – TSA Administrator John S. Pistole responded to a White House We The People petition. Take a look at the response…

Not counting all of the usual items our officers find, this week they also found stun guns, firearm components, ammunition, replica firearms, brass knuckles, nunchucks, switchblades, butterfly knives, collapsible batons, and several knives with blades up to 8”. 

Knives Found at (JFK)

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home.

Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items in their bag. That’s why it’s important to double check your luggage before you get to the airport. 

On the other hand, there are artfully concealed items...  Artfully concealed means that the prohibited item was intentionally concealed with the intention of sneaking it through security:

SFO – Passenger wrapped an unloaded .380 pistol in aluminum foil and placed it in an X-ray proof bag inside his checked bag. Yeah, with the X-ray proof bag, we can’t see what’s in it, but we can see the bag which means we have to look in it.

SLC – Razor blade taped to bottom of laptop.

RAP – Razor blade concealed in shoe sole.

PSE – Three Lite-Brite’s found in checked baggage with marijuana stuffed in them. Not looking for drugs, but an organic substance stuffed in with electronics is alarming.

Our officers found 13 loaded firearms and 6 unloaded firearms in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday. Here’s a rundown of the 19 firearms our officers kept off of airplanes this week:

12/9:  BHM – Unloaded .40 – FLL – Loaded .22

12/10: TUS – 9mm Loaded w/ Round Chambered – DTW – Loaded .380 w/ Round Chambered

12/11: MSY – Loaded .380 - SGF – Unloaded .380 – ATL - Loaded .22  w/ Round Chambered

12/12:  IAH – Unloaded 9mm – ELM – Loaded .380 – SGA - Unloaded 9mm

12/13: ECP – Loaded .38 – BHM – Loaded .380 – DAL – Loaded .380 w/ Round Chambered – BUR – Loaded .22

12/14: IND – Unloaded .380 – BOS – Loaded .22 – BHM – Unloaded .45

12/15: SLC – Loaded 9mm – MIA – Loaded 9mm

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. 

We also look for explosives and bomb components as well, but thankfully those are extremely rare and we're happy to keep it that way.

Including checkpoint and checked baggage screening, TSA has 20 layers of security both visible and invisible to the public. Each one of these layers alone is capable of stopping a terrorist attack. In combination their security value is multiplied, creating a much stronger, formidable system. A terrorist who has to overcome multiple security layers in order to carry out an attack is more likely to be pre-empted, deterred, or to fail during the attempt.  

Blogger Bob Burns

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Response Posted to White House We the People Petition

If you’re not familiar with We the People, it’s a new web platform created by the White House that gives all Americans a way to create and sign petitions on a range of different issues.

A petition was created asking for TSA to be abolished, and TSA Administrator John S. Pistole has just responded.

Take a look at the response and feel free to leave a comment here on the TSA Blog.  

Blogger Bob Burns

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

TSA Pre✓™ Rolling Out In Vegas Today

They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I think folks will be glad that we’re breaking protocol and letting this news slip.

The TSA Pre✓™ pilot has expanded to the Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport and will begin today for frequent fliers traveling domestically out of Las Vegas via American and Delta airlines. Specifically, it will be at D Gates First Class screening lane.

So what are our next steps after that? In early 2012, we’ll be expanding the pilot to Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP) for Delta passengers and Los Angeles (LAX) for American Airline passengers. 

If that’s not enough good news… (Drumroll please) - US Airways will be the next airline to offer TSA Pre✓™ to eligible passengers.

Last week, we announced that United Airlines would also participate in TSA Pre✓™. Stay tuned and keep checking your inbox because  both US Airways and United will begin notifying their eligible frequent fliers soon, and their participation is expected to begin in early 2012.  Details, including an exact start date and participating airports will be determined and announced as soon as possible. 

For those who might not be familiar with TSA Pre✓™, it includes U.S. citizens who are members of existing U.S. Customs and Border Protection Trusted Traveler programs including Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI programs as well as eligible airline frequent flyers. You can read more about it here on our blog or at TSA.gov.

Approximately 140,000 passengers have been screened through TSA Pre✓™ since it rolled out and the feedback has been extremely positive. 

Blogger Bob Burns

TSA Blog Team 

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Loaded .380 Found Strapped To Passenger’s Ankle at DTW With Body Scanner

Saturday at DTW, a loaded .380 pistol was found strapped to the ankle of a 76-year-old man. We’ve found over 1,100 firearms this year, but what makes this one stand out from the rest is that it wasn’t found in a bag, it was found strapped to a passenger’s ankle with one of our body scanners. It’s just more proof that this technology can and will find dangerous items.

After reading comments around the web this morning, I noticed some comments stating that walk through metal detectors would have found this pistol and that they’re far less expensive than body scanners.  While that’s a true statement, the walk through metal detectors cannot detect non metallic items like explosives, which are the greatest threat to aviation today. Body scanners are far more versatile and can find both metallic and non metallic concealed dangerous items. Hundreds of dangerous, prohibited, and illegal items have been found with the scanners since January 2010. 

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. 

Great job DTW! 

Blogger Bob Burns

TSA Blog Team 

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.