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When purchasing your ticket online, enter your full name as it appears on your ID. Do not enter a nickname, even if it’s one your best friend uses. The name on your boarding pass must match the name on your ID.
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Enroll in TSA PreCheck. This is the best way to get through security because it allows you to keep your shoes, belt, and light outerwear on. The lane typically moves quickly because it is the lane with travelers most familiar with the screening process. Children 17 and under traveling on a parent’s reservation can go through the TSA PreCheck lane with their parent.
Download the free myTSA app. The app has a handy ‘What can I bring?’ feature that tells you where to pack your luggage. It will also tell you the expected wait time at the checkpoint. It will also tell you if your flight is delayed at the airport. It will also tell you when TSA PreCheck lanes are open.
Photo: WBAL
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Put your cell phone in your carry-on bag at the checkpoint. Don’t put your shoes in a trash can where someone else put their shoes. You don’t want to put your cell phone in the trash can and then hold it up to your face.
Photo: WBAL
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Wear shoes that are easy to put on and take off. Shoes that lace up around the calf will slow you down. Slip-on shoes are best. And it’s a good idea to wear socks.
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If you’re waiting in line at a checkpoint, use your time wisely. Remove everything from your pockets and put it in your carry-on. Empty your pockets completely — everything from tissues to breath spray, anything that isn’t metal. This will help you avoid a search. We know travelers don’t like being searched, and TSA agents don’t really like it either.
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Never bring a water bottle through security, but you can bring an empty water bottle or reusable insulated container and fill it up on the safe side of the checkpoint. It’s a great way to refill with fresh water, help the environment, and save a few dollars by not having to buy it at the airport.
Photo: WBAL
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Don’t joke about having explosives or claim to have a bomb, because the next thing you know you’ll be having a very serious conversation with the local police officer and might miss your flight.
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Never carry a firearm through security. If you are traveling with a gun, the proper way to pack it is to unload it in a locked hard case and declare at the airline counter that the gun case will be transported in the belly of the aircraft.
Photo: WBAL
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Do not allow pets or children to pass through the X-ray machine at the examination site. (In fact, it does happen.) There is no need to expose it to X-rays. Remove pets from carry-on cases and children from carriers. Please pass through the metal detector.
Never use your mouth as a helping hand. Your ID is handled by someone else and is passed through an authentication reader along with thousands of other IDs. And putting it in your mouth while playing with your cell phone? It’s disgusting.
Don’t place small objects directly on the x-ray belt. Phones, keys, boarding passes, and other small items can fall between the rollers of the conveyor belt and be difficult (or impossible) to retrieve. Instead, place these small items in a bowl, trash can, or, preferably, in a carry-on bag.
Photo: WBAL
