Travel ban on liquids and gels eased to an extent

The Transportation Security Administration announced today that effective September 26, 2006, travel-sized containers of liquids and gels will be permitted under specific conditions. Each container of liquid or gel must be a 3-ounce (or less) size and all containers must fit "comfortably" (unlike airplane passengers in their seats) in a 1-quart clear plastic bag with a zip-type top. The link above has a photograph of comfortable little bottles nestled comfortably in their 7.5-inch by 8-inch bag.

The bag is to be placed in one of those plastic boxes for your shoe, laptops, and so on for both x-ray and eyeball screening. Larger amounts of prescription liquids and baby formula must be declared at the checkpoint for additional screening.

The TSA suggest packing your normal allotment of liquids and gels in your checked baggage and keeping only the amount you will actually need on the flight in your carry-on bags. More information is on the TSA page, including some videos of step-by-step screening for male and female travelers, those with babies, and those with special needs.

While updating an unrelated page on travel, I realized that Minimus is a good source for minimal sizes of liquids and gels. Minimus sells single-serving sizes of many things: one tea bag, those little individual serving boxes of cereal you see in diners, 1-oz tubes of toothpaste, shampoo, and the like. See their personal care page for more stuff. (October 1)

NOTE: I have read of passengers having containers of liquids confiscated when the containers were - say, six ounces but only half full. The rule is that the containers must be a 3-ounce size or less; the rule is not 3 ounces or less of liquid/gel/whatever. (October 16)

 Create your own free wiki!Support Community Add to Del.ici.ous Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to fUrlPublic, Platinum wiki Privacy Policy RSS