Airline travel and Christmas gifts tips to get you through TSA

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If you plan to travel this Christmas with gifts for your loved ones, be prepared. Before you buy, make sure you can fly.

With the holiday season in full swing, Southwest Florida International Airport is bracing for its busiest time of the year, as up to 25,000 passengers a day prepare to take the skies. We looked into how you can avoid ending up on TSA’s naughty list.

As travelers pack gifts and the lines at RSW get longer, TSA prepares for a 6–8% increase in screenings compared to last year.

Bob McLaughlin, TSA federal security director at RSW, said, “A lot of people transport gravies and turkeys, turkey gravy and ham gravy and all those kinds of things, or homemade jellies or marmalades and those things, those items, need to be in the checked bags, because, again, they’re going to easily exceed 3.4 fluid ounces.”

Here are some tips to prepare so you can spend less time worrying about your bags and more time enjoying your destination.

  • Don’t wrap gifts before flying (TSA agents might need to inspect them, and that can slow down the line).
  • Consider shipping gifts ahead of time (before having to spend a fortune on overnight shipping.)
  • Use a tracker like an Apple Airtag in your checked luggage for peace of mind.

Holiday food like cookies, candies and even canned goods are OK to bring in your carry-on bag as long as they follow TSA’s liquid limits, but toy weapons need to go in your checked luggage, just like real firearms.

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