10 Essential TSA Tips for Travel
Print or Use Mobile Boarding Pass
Depending on how many of you are traveling together, you may want to print your boarding passes for international flights. This helps reduce the time involved during the TSA check to scan through multiple boarding passes at the airport. To be honest, a mobile boarding pass is most sufficient if only one or two people are flying together internationally.
Wear Slip-On Shoes
You’ll be required to take off your shoes unless you did a TSA pre-check. That means you’ll want to wear socks and easy to slip on and off shoes. This option reduces the time involved during TSA check and helps you slip them off, put in the bin and move on quickly.
Arrive Early for TSA Check
TSA check can take a while, especially if you’re traveling during a busy travel season. That’s why it’s always best to arrive early for your TSA check. Get in line and get your family prepared to go through the TSA check so that you can get to the other side faster.
Prepare While in the Security Line
Always prepare for your TSA check while you’re in the security line. You can get your shoes off earlier, take off any jewelry or other metal items ahead of time and make sure that you ask for any items to be hand checked that you know will need to be manually checked instead of scanned.
Ask for Hand Check Immediately
Always ask for a hand check immediately for items that you know TSA will need to check. These are items like car seats that won’t fit in the x-ray scanner or liquids that need an extra check to make sure they don’t have explosive items in them.
Alert For Liquid Early
Just like you would ask for a hand check of some items earlier, always have the TSA clerks check liquids early. They need to check most, if not all, liquids that will go on the plane for any explosive material or other chemicals that could endanger those flying with you.
Refill Water Bottles After TSA
Since TSA will want to check your water bottles that are full of water for any explosive material, it’s just better to empty your water bottles and fill them after your TSA check. This will save you a lot of time during your TSA check. There’s nothing wrong with filling your water bottles on the other side of security to speed up your TSA check.
Triple Check Your Bins
Before you head off out of the security area, be sure to triple check your bins. I can’t count the times I accidentally left something behind in a bin. It happens to the best of us. That’s why it’s important to triple check your bins to make sure you grabbed all of your items.
Be Courteous
If you’re traveling with a large family or many people together but see the person behind you is traveling solo, you may want to be courteous and allow them to go before your family goes. While this isn’t necessary, it really is a kind gesture if you think you’ll be holding up the TSA check for awhile.
Know the Rules
Lastly, research the TSA rules and your airline’s rules about check-in before you venture off to the airport. There may be some rules that pertain to this particular airport that you overlooked. It’s always best to arrive as prepared as possible for a smooth TSA check and flight
There you have it, our list of 10 essential TSA tips for travel to help you travel quickly, safely, and have a stress free trip.
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