U.S. Air Travel Rules

U.S. Air Travel Rules
Avoid airport check-in hassles by following these five guidelines from the Transportation Security Administration for quick and easy check-in: liquid carry-on 3-1-1 rule; prohibited items; required identification; carry-on organization; and clothing.
Airline passengers wait at a check-in line
"Casta vacacional" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Daquella manera (Daniel Lobo) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

Liquid 3-1-1 Rule

Liquids, gels or aerosols in 3.4-oz. containers or smaller may be carried on airplanes. One passenger may take one quart-sized or smaller clear, plastic bag with liquid containers. Be prepared to place the plastic bag in conveyor belt for screening during check-in.

Prohibited Items

Sharp objects (scissors, razors, knives, swords); sporting goods (bats, ski poles, golf clubs); guns and firearms; martial arts and self-defense items (stun guns, mace, brass knuckles); flammable items (fireworks, common lighters, parts of guns); and tools more than seven inches in length are not allowed.

Required Identification

In addition to providing a boarding pass, all passengers 18 and over must show at check-in a U.S. federal or state-issued photo ID that shows following: name, date of birth, gender and expiration date.

Carry-on Organization

Make sure electronics are accessible and easy to remove. Items such as laptops, DVD players, video cameras with cassettes and full-size video game consoles will have to go through conveyor belt separately. Avoid lengthy delays searching for items that may need to be individually inspected.

Clothing

Wear shoes that are easy to remove. Passengers are required to remove shoes and send them through conveyor belt. Consider wearing slip-on shoes.

Accessories

Avoid metal accessories when possible. While permitted for carry-on, items such as keys, mobile phones, heavy jewelry, metal on clothing or in hair, and heavy belt buckles may set off metal detectors and would need to be removed and sent through the conveyor belt.

Article Written By Leslie Kawai

Leslie Kawai earned her Bachelor of Arts in English literature and Master of Organizational Behavior at Brigham Young University where she currently teaches advanced business writing courses. Kawai also writes as a correspondent for utahadventurer.com and the Utah Valley Daily Herald.

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