HOUSTON – While packing your suitcase for your trip, there are different rules for what you can put in your carry-on luggage and what you can pack in your checked luggage.
First, let’s understand the difference between a carry-on suitcase and checked luggage.
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A carry-on is anything that actually goes through TSA security with you and is physically carried to your seat on the plane. These can be roller bags, backpacks, or even purses.
Checked luggage is anything that goes underneath the airplane. You drop off these bags and items at the airline ticket counter when you get to the airport.
One of the quickest ways to derail your trip before it even starts is to pack something in your carry-on that isn’t allowed.
“We often hear. I didn’t know it was in my bag or I forgot it was there When you find a prohibited item,” said TSA Spokesperson Patricia Mancha.
The biggest one is liquids. You cannot take any liquids more than 3.4 ounces on the airplane in your carry-on luggage.
Who packed the ranch? Any item you can spread, smear, spray or spill must be 3.4oz or less in a carry-on. All items need to fit in a single quart-size bag, one bag per passenger. When you #PackSmart it reduces bag checks and speeds up the screening process for everyone. pic.twitter.com/54xbXOCe1i
— TSA (@TSA) November 21, 2024
“If you can spell it, spray it, pour it or pump it. It’s considered a liquid and limited to 3.4oz.,” Mancha explains. “A great way to think about it is that you can bring all the potatoes you want in your carry-on luggage. Once they become mashed potatoes, it’s a liquid and limited to 3.4oz.”
If you bring liquids larger than 3.4 o.z., you will either have to check the bag, surrender the item to the TSA or throw it out.
This is voluntarily abandoned property. You are given options before leaving a prohibited item behind. It can be taken out to a vehicle, given to a non-traveling companion, or placed in a checked bag. Abandoned items are donated to State Agencies:
— TSA (@TSA) November 20, 2024
More: https://t.co/qfoVYyAknN pic.twitter.com/FR61EGZjR7
While you won’t get in trouble for bringing liquids in your carry-on, you could end up in handcuffs if you bring a firearm in any carry-on.
“You can travel with a firearm, but it must be unloaded, packed in hard inside a container and declared with your airline in your checked luggage,” Mancha explains. “At no time are you to bring a firearm, any firearms components, including ammunition, in your carry-on. If it is, then you’re subject to fines of up to $15,000 and you’re subject to fines of up to $50,000 and will not be allowed to participate in TSA precheck and not get a refund.”
There are a lot of rules for what you can take in a carry-on or in a checked bag. For the full list from the TSA, visit their website.
