What NOT to Pack in Carry On Bag in 2024 (TSA Airport Security)

Items you CANNOT take through airport security in 2024

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Can you bring food through TSA?
What is the liquid limit?
Have the rules changed in 2024?

Avoid being stopped and searched by TSA by leaving these items at home or packing them in your checked luggage. I have been stopped many times by airport security while traveling through the USA and in airports around the world. I almost missed my flight home after having to repack my entire hand luggage in the Danang Vietnam airport! This video is meant to save you from travel delays, stress, and unnecessary embarrassment as your bag is searched and all contents are put on display. 😓

👉 Have you ever been stopped by airport security? Let us know why in the comments!

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CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Items NOT to pack in Carry on Bag
0:32 - Breaking the liquid limit rule (3-1-1)
0:54 - Translation for non-Americans
1:19 - What exactly is considered a liquid by TSA?
2:45 - Tip: Separate food items before going through security
3:00 - COMMENT: What have you been stopped for by airport security
3:20 - What is not included in the liquid limit?
3:37 - How much hand sanitizer can you bring through security?
3:40 - Wear a mask and other tips to stay healthy while traveling
4:15 - UVC sanitizer wand - best purchase for staying sanitary while traveling
4:40 - Nourah: best UVC sanitizer wand (16 lights!)
5:56 - Questions about TSA? Use their Facebook page
6:44 - Can’t bring anything that looks like a weapon
6:52 - Can’t bring anything that sounds like a weapon
7:25 - Are scissors allowed?
7:33 - Wine bottle opener - careful!
7:51 - No golf clubs
8:01 - Leave the pepper spray at home
8:22 - Flip cigarette lighter are allowed
9:01 - Worse trouble than smoking on an airplane
10:18 - Next video: what you are not allowed to bring with you as you board the plane
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Welcome to Portable Professional, your go-to resource for stress-free travel.

Megan here, Hello! I’ve taken well over 300 flights and countless trips in the last decade. I have learned how to have seamless travel experiences without unnecessary stress and anxiety. I’m here to help you also feel confident about your travels while making the most of every trip.

Ready for stress-free travels? Subscribe and join us every Wednesday and Sunday for informative videos full of practical tips. You'll learn how to navigate airport security, pack like a pro, identify scams, and even uncover little-known hacks to take your travel to the next level. (these are my specialty!)

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[PortableProfessional]

Have you ever been stopped by airport security? Let us know why in the comments! 😲

[charleskra]

At the Jackson Hole airport gift shop, they sell bottles of huckleberry syrup (a local delicacy). You buy it, and then the TSA refuses to allow you to take it on board. I am reasonably certain they have 50 bottles of this stuff that keep getting sold, taken away by TSA, and then returned to the airport gift shop to be resold.

[stephaniepartin]

I carry a small ziplock bag with gloves and lysol wipes. When I'm finished wiping down my seat area on the plane, it all goes back into the ziplock to be thrown away. I carry several of these 'ziplock packs' in my luggage and carry-on.

[CaptainSpats]

I once was asked to throw out a small jar of coconut oil at Vienna airport. It was January 2nd and the thing was obviously completely solid, but the security officer told me that *as long as a product was measured in units of volume (here, mL) rather than units of weight, it was considered a liquid at airport security.*

Hope this helps anyone 😊

[HA-gxdg]

Despite me being a flight attendant; i still learned few things from your video!
Perhaps you could do a video about electronics?

[dianataila]

I like to use the MyTSA app when I’m unsure about anything

[Athletics]

Usually, as a flight crew member, we got through security, rather quickly. Often, we had a designated line for crew members. But not always. One time, I was selected "randomly" for a complete search of my bags, and had to empty all my pockets. TSA took their sweet time looking at every pair of socks, underwear, etc....Almost delayed our flight.

[orangehoof]

So, I can bring my hippo onto the plane with me? As a "comfort animal"?
I was stopped on my last trip because of a pocket knife. Where I come from, these are considered "tools", not a weapon. If I tried to stick up someone with a pocket knife, they are likely to die laughing rather than be scared.
And, for what not to pack for Russia, here's WNBA star Brittany Griner with some important advice...

[vanaleyae]

This was just after 9-11. I got stopped for wearing large metal brooch that was sewn into the neckline. They had to pat me down. That blouse became known forever after as the "Frisk me shirt".

[kristenliebsch]

The smaller the airport, the more the scrutiny: I was held up [despite TSA precheck status] for a travel TSA approved scissor. It made it through the larger airport only to be scrutinized by a smaller airport.

[nancyallen]

I automatically placed my liquids baggie and my iPad into a bin at security. I got shouted at and he said, “I didn’t tell you to put those in a bin. Put them away, NOW! “. I thought I was doing the right thing.

[fredferd]

I was stopped for my inhaler. I have asthma. They wanted to take it away as an unknown possibly dangerous item. It had the box with the prescription label on it. Not to mention the label on the inhaler itself identifying it as an inhaler. Fortunately the 3rd employee to come over actually let me go with the inhaler. No apology or explanation as to why this happened was forthcoming.

[noahjuanjuneau]

I’m a ‘senior citizen’ (or so they say) with white hair and age lines… TSA went thru my bags on one domestic flight - they used that sniffer wand thing to search for something in my bag… I asked the TSA dude WHY? He said I was suspicious bcoz I had a marijuana sticker on my laptop case. ‘I do?’ I asked… He said ‘Yeah’ and pointed at it. It’s a Hindu devotional sticker depicting Krishna and a Gopi relaxing together in a jungle setting… I told him ‘You need to take a botany class man… what you’re calling marijuana is definitely a BANANA LEAF!’
…So annoying!

[wendygreeff]

I purchased a clear plastic bag with a zipper at Dischem in South Africa. It was advertised as being suitable for carrying liquids in my hand luggage. Security at OR Tambo International airport refused to let me use it, I had to go and source a Ziploc type bag before they would let me through. On my return I took the bag I had purchased back to Dischem and asked for a refund, which I got, and explained that contrary to their claims the bags were not accepted by airport security. Despite that Dischem continues to sell those bags to this day.
Hope Ollie is now rid of his head cone. I had a dog called Ollie who also had to wear similar cones several times in his life, usually after eating something poisonous! He ate poisons of various types several times during his life, starting with daffodil bulbs when I had him only a week! Surprisingly he lived to be 14.

[DVTrade]

Forbidden items most people don't know about were not even mentioned, thumb down!

[SCSilk]

You’re too young to remember the smoking section on airplanes. Which was ridiculous. Smoke traveled everywhere.

I was so happy when it was banned.

[stevehall]

I had my travel iron and compact umbrella taken from me in the Philippines, The security agent was very nice but said that were the rules in PI even though I have carried both for years through other countries

[marieleelee]

I got stopped in Syracuse for having dried mangoes I got from Marshall’s. Unopened and dry in their own bag. Definitely considered food but not a liquid by any means. I think the scanner just saw a big mass of ‘something’ and they wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything weird. But I was one of the first people in line when the TSA lines opened so it held everyone up. Eventually they let me go and the TSA agent said ‘nice deal’ to me as I left cause the bag still had the price on it. Low key embarrassing but I would have been stopped anywhere I think.

[DukeBX]

What I always worry about is when my electronics go into the tray, it'll go down that little tunnel to screen. Sometimes, I've had to be physically checked after activating the walk-thru medal detector. I'm like...my stuff is on the other side unattended! lol Last thing I want is for someone to just grab an item from the tray and put it in their bag/suitcase while I'm being occupied on the other side.

[tonydamata]

I was pulled aside for a secondary screening when I was traveling back to Kuwait after my leave. I was in uniform, with travel orders and a military ID and I was still pulled aside, patted down and checked with a wand. Not sure what they were looking for but it was very insulting.