The AAA, which tracks travel patterns, predicts nearly 8 million people will fly this upcoming holiday season.
And 7.99 million of them will be in front of you, slowing down the security line with their bad packing choices.
There's no call for that. Unlike some national security forces we've encountered on our travels, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is not some implacable monolith on high that refuses to transmit its intentions to the public. The agency has outreach officers whose job is to answer your burning carry-on packing questions well before you arrive at the airport for your flight.
When the TSA seizes a forbidden item from your luggage, that's the moment to pause and reflect on how you could have avoided the situation by asking a TSA information officer before you packed. The TSA doesn't keep this information secret—the rules are available through multiple methods.
The best way to start is by checking the long list of common items posted on the TSA's official website.
The TSA's mobile app, MyTSA, which is available from both Apple's App Store (iPhone and iPad) and Google Play, has the same "Can I Bring" info page that you'd find on the TSA website. (You don't have to enter any personal information for the app to work.)
Unfortunately, the MyTSA app doesn't include a chat mechanism for posing questions to a live agent—it just refers you to the other contact methods listed in this post. But the app will tell you what the projected wait times will be at the TSA-operated checkpoint for any airport at any hour that you choose.
Sometimes, the item you're looking for isn't explicitly covered on the TSA website or mobile app. That's when you need to step up your airport pre-game and find someone at the TSA to actually ask.
Method #1: Via social media
Take a picture of your item (or just type your question) and send it to @TSA on Threads or @AskTSA on the Social Media Platform Formerly Known as Twitter, or X.
A real live person will answer your question between 8am and 6pm Eastern time—often with a gentle dad joke supplied free as part of the service.
Questions are usually answered within 3 hours, as the below example from Threads shows.
