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Delays at the airport are often out of your control, but being mindful about what you pack in your carry-on could help you avoid extra checks by the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.
And it turns out that even some of the most common items can get passengers pulled over for a more extensive search.
This is likely because those items are either difficult to make out in an X-ray screening or have a similar consistency to explosives, Matthew Schieler, a TSA supervisory transportation security officer at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, told the Washington Post.
“We just see a mess of whatever it is,” he said.
The expert discussed 11 items likely to get you flagged by agents, including food.
Of course, food brought in a carry-on must follow the TSA policy of 3.4 ounces or less for liquids, gels and aerosols.
Solid food is often stopped for a second search to test for explosives, Schieler, says, and while the agents won’t mess with your actual food, though, they’ll swab the outside of the container with a test wipe.
Meanwhile, dried beans — while technically a food — were given their own designation on Schieler’s list.
He says it’s because agents can’t decipher exactly what dried beans are on the X-ray, so a bag will almost certainly be pulled out of the luggage line for further inspection.
Some food items that might seem like a solid are actually considered liquids and will get flagged, such as peanut butter.
Similarly, lotions need to follow the same rules for liquids and gels, which the TSA counts as anything you can spill, spread, spray, pump or pour.
“We see a lot of lotions, especially in gift packs,” Schieler said. “If it’s over 3.4 ounces, it’s a no-go. So check those.”
Wipes — whether they’re makeup wipes, baby wipes or all-purpose wipes — are a frequently stopped item at the security checkpoint.
Schieler explained that wipes have the same consistency on screen as food, so they’re often flagged, and because they’re wet, the TSA sometimes has to check for explosive residue.
Shockingly, big readers might want to be careful with how they pack their reading material. Because of the way books are stacked, they can run into the same issue as wipes and lead to a second look.
Another solid that often gets stopped due to its container is Play-Doh. The canisters themselves commonly get flagged at TSA and are pulled to get tested for explosive material, Schieler explained.
Some items are particularly popular over the holiday season, though they’re also collectibles that get stopped year-round — like candles.
“We have to test them,” Schieler said. “They alarm quite often, so your best bet is to just put it in check baggage.”
Snow globes are another common holiday item that people bring back with them through the airport, and even though they’re sealed shut, they fall under the 3-1-1 rule for liquids.
“If it’s under a tennis ball size, that’s 3.4 ounces or less, so those can go through the checkpoint,” Schieler said. “But if it’s larger than that, you’re going to have to either get rid of it, or you have to put it in check baggage.”
He also warned against bringing any gifts that are still wrapped through security. While the wrapping paper alone won’t trigger any warnings, if the contents inside the wrapped gift would require a search, the TSA may ask you to unwrap it or they’ll do it themselves — and Schieler admitted that it “doesn’t make us feel good about it.”
Perhaps not as shocking, guns are one of the most common items stopped at TSA. “We get several guns every week,” Schieler said, and while there are tons of rules surrounding it, you can actually travel with firearms as long as you do it correctly.
Meanwhile, while not technically something that gets scanned in the X-ray machine, your ID is another item that could slow you down at security in the travel process.
The TSA recently started enforcing the Real ID rule, and flyers in the United States will not be able to get on a domestic flight unless they have a Real ID or an acceptable alternative. Travelers who don’t have one will have to deal with extra screening as well as pay a fee of $45 to clear security.
