The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screens around two million passengers daily. The agency is an expert on air travel, airline security, and keeping the friendly skies safe.
When the TSA offers tips and advice, it's often smart for passengers to pay attention. Not listening to the government agency could lead to a host of problems, including items being confiscated or delays getting through security that may even cause you to miss your flight.
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Recently, the TSA warned passengers about one common airport habit they need to stop. It's one that just about everyone has fallen into because it is tempting, quick, and easy.
However, it can also lead to a huge hassle and potential loss, so the TSA is right to urge passengers against it.
Here's the travel habit that the TSA wants you to break next time you head to the security line.
TSA says don't do this at security
The TSA issued the warning about the troubling airport habit in a Facebook post at the start of August. The Facebook post reads:
“Travel Reminder: It's best to remove items from your pockets and place them into your carry-on bag instead of into a bin. This includes items like phones, keys, cheese slices, pet rocks, pocket chicken, hot sauce packets, vapes, wallets, tissues, gum, and mints.”
While this is a lighthearted message, it raises a very serious point that passengers need to be aware of:
- You can't walk through security with many common items on your person, including your phone, keys, and wallet
- Putting these items into bins is not necessarily the safest approach when you are going through security.
Why putting your personal items into a TSA security bin is a bad habit
It may seem harmless to dump out your pockets directly into a security bin and meet the items at the other end of the line.
Unfortunately, if you put your phone and your wallet right into a TSA bin, there is a very real chance that the item will be gone by the time you can pick it up again, especially if you were delayed for advanced screening or had some other issue when going through the line.
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If that happened, it could provide ample time for someone else to walk away with your possessions, which are just sitting out there in the open, because your bin full of valuables arrived at the other end of the conveyor belt before you did.
Even if your items aren't stolen, sending the items through in a bin could lead to them getting lost, misplaced, or forgotten as they make their way through the security conveyor belt. Loose items are simply more vulnerable to disappearing or being overlooked than an entire bag.
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Finally, of course, there is the issue of having to take all these items from a bin and restore them to their rightful place in your pockets. If you're doing that as you are standing at the security line, you could end up holding up the line.
If the items are safe to carry on, you can grab the whole bag, walk away, find a bench somewhere, and then put them away where they belong on your own time.
TSA says don't make air travel harder than it needs to be
With the TSA warning about putting your phone and other pocket items into a bin, it's time to break this habit on your next airport trip. Travel can be hard enough, and there's no reason to create an added risk for yourself.
Instead:
- Keep as little in your pockets on a travel day as possible.
- When you take items out of your pockets, put them directly into a carry-on.
- Heed the TSA's warning not to dump valuables directly into security bins.
By listening to the TSA, you should be able to get to your gate on time, as you won't be spending time tracking lost or stolen valuables that disappeared when left unsecured in an open bin during the security process.
Related: TSA issues stern warning forbidding popular summer item
