How to Dress and Pack for Airport Security
April 24, 2009 by Travel Guide Greg
Filed under Travel Tips
When you’re packing and choosing your clothes, it pays to think about security at the airport as well as what you’ll be doing on your trip.
You need to decide if you’re going to carry everything on or if you’ll be checking luggage. It will make a difference as to how you pack…. and how you pack can make a difference when you are trying to go through security lines at the airport.
If you will be traveling with carry-on only, then you need to prepare your one quart/one liter-sized, clear plastic zip-top bag. Have it ready ahead of time… you don’t want to be throwing out liquids at the checkpoint or trying to cram some 3 ounce/100ml bottles into a plastic bag at the last minute. All of your carry-on liquids, gels and creams must go into one bag, and they must all be 3 ounces/100ml or less.
If you will be checking luggage, you can put liquids into those bags. You are not limited to the 3 ounces or 100ml, but can carry as much as you want.
Try to pack your carry-on bag in an orderly fashion. It may seem easiest to just throw everything into a backpack, but things that are jumbled up together are hard to make out on the x-ray screen, and that may cause you to be delayed at screening or even be pulled aside for an extra bag search.
If you’re planning to take a laptop computer or other large electronics, it’s safer to pack them in your carry-on bag. You’ll have to take these large electronic items out of your bag for screening. (The exception here is if you have one of the newly approved laptop bags that allows the computer to be screened without removing it. Check with airline or government websites for more information).
Small electronics like iPods, cameras, curling irons, and shavers can stay in your carry-on during screening. If you still carry film for a camera, it will go through screening just fine unless it is faster than 800-speed. (You’ll have to ask for an officer to hand inspect fast film to avoid x-rays.)
If you’re carrying gifts, don’t wrap them until you get to your destination in case they need extra screening. You don’t want to have to wrap them twice.
Think about what you’re wearing too. Anything you have on that is metal is apt to set off alarms. Leave the heavy jewelry home or pack it in your carry-on bag. Are you into body piercing? You may want to remove those for the flight. Even hair barrettes and clothing with big metal buttons can set off metal detectors that are very sensitive. You’ll get through security with any of these things eventually, but you’ll get through faster if you’re not wearing them.
Have your boarding pass and identification available for the officers. Get to the airport early enough so you won’t be rushed. Know what airline cut-off times are for check in. You must generally check in earlier for international flights than you do for domestic flights. And remember it can take a while to get through those security checkpoints even if you’ve packed and dressed for it.
