Packing medicine for air travel?

[cheryterese]

Do prescription medicine and vitamins need to be packed in their original containers or can I portion them into baggies for each day of the trip?

Also wondering about liquid medicine. It's a bigger than 3oz prescription, liquid.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Did you check tsa.org? All your questions will be answered there. In case they don't mention this, you do not have to have prescription meds in the original bottle.

 

[cheryterese]

Did you check tsa.org? All your questions will be answered there. In case they don't mention this, you do not have to have prescription meds in the original bottle.

I checked the southwest website and couldn't find my answers, so I came to DIS, lol!

 

[NotUrsula]

Do prescription medicine and vitamins need to be packed in their original containers or can I portion them into baggies for each day of the trip?

You can carry pills any way you like on a domestic flight; TSA has no authority to interdict pills. (If you had hundreds of them they might call over a LEO to speak with you about it, but normal Rx amounts won't cause any reaction at all.)

Also wondering about liquid medicine. It's a bigger than 3oz prescription, liquid.

There are no size limitations on liquid meds, Rx *or* OTC (including contact lens solutions.) However, liquid meds are supposed to be "declared" -- which means that you are supposed to alert the TSO's that you are carrying them. To reduce the hassle, what I do is to just put all of them in a separate gallon baggie with MEDICATIONS written on the outside of it, and put it in the bin with my 3-1-1 baggie.

 

[cheryterese]

You can carry pills any way you like on a domestic flight; TSA has no authority to interdict pills. (If you had hundreds of them they might call over a LEO to speak with you about it, but normal Rx amounts won't cause any reaction at all.)

There are no size limitations on liquid meds, Rx *or* OTC (including contact lens solutions.) However, liquid meds are supposed to be "declared" -- which means that you are supposed to alert the TSO's that you are carrying them. To reduce the hassle, what I do is to just put all of them in a separate gallon baggie with MEDICATIONS written on the outside of it, and put it in the bin with my 3-1-1 baggie.

Great, thanks. My son takes several vitamins (4 per day) to help with his disorder and I put them in baggies (1 for each of 7 days) because I really didn't want to have to pack the giant bottles for each. But then I wondered if that was allowed. They will be in my purse. The liquid will be too, and I'll do as you mentioned. Thank you!

 

[clanmcculloch]

I would recommend that if you're not going to keep your Rx medications in their original bottles that you at least bring a copy (picture, printout, whatever) of the Rx info. That way if something happens to the prescription, you've got all the info handy.

I would also recommend that you bring at least a few days extra of the medication just in case there's some kind of weather delay. If you're stranded, it's nice having all the medication handy rather than scrambling to try to get the Rx filled in a strange city.

 

[cheryterese]

I would recommend that if you're not going to keep your Rx medications in their original bottles that you at least bring a copy (picture, printout, whatever) of the Rx info. That way if something happens to the prescription, you've got all the info handy.

I would also recommend that you bring at least a few days extra of the medication just in case there's some kind of weather delay. If you're stranded, it's nice having all the medication handy rather than scrambling to try to get the Rx filled in a strange city.

Good advice, thanks, especially since we will be flying back to Buffalo.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I checked the southwest website and couldn't find my answers, so I came to DIS, lol!

That is because, as already posted, the TSA has the authority to determine what can be taken through security, not the airlines. If you look carefully on WN's website for what is allowed to be packed in carry-ons, they give you a link to the TSA website.

 

[keishashadow]

You can carry pills any way you like on a domestic flight; TSA has no authority to interdict pills. (If you had hundreds of them they might call over a LEO to speak with you about it, but normal Rx amounts won't cause any reaction at all.)



There are no size limitations on liquid meds, Rx *or* OTC (including contact lens solutions.) However, liquid meds are supposed to be "declared" -- which means that you are supposed to alert the TSO's that you are carrying them. To reduce the hassle, what I do is to just put all of them in a separate gallon baggie with MEDICATIONS written on the outside of it, and put it in the bin with my 3-1-1 baggie.

didn't know this was permissable. far better to keep meds in their original bottles to avoid confusion, some pills can look very similar.

 

[a742246]

I use the weekly medicine containers the ones that have the days of the week compartment in them. I never had a problem with the TSA.

 

[aubriee]

I use the weekly medicine containers the ones that have the days of the week compartment in them. I never had a problem with the TSA.

Same here!

 

[NotUrsula]

didn't know this was permissable. far better to keep meds in their original bottles to avoid confusion, some pills can look very similar.

Just to be clear, the extra baggie with "medications" written on it is meant to hold LIQUID medications, not pills. Pills can travel wherever you would carry them under any other "away-from-home" circumstance -- in my case in my handbag, which is why I NEVER carry them in the original bottles; as I don't carry a monster handbag.

I do have detailed photos of the original bottle labels stored on my cell phone and in the cloud, should I lose something and need to have it re-filled. My pills don't look anything alike; they are all either a different color or a different shape, and I put them in a weekly organizer that is the size of a roll of Starburst candy.

 

[stitch68]

We just flew in October ~ for liquid meds, there isn't a size limit, but it needs to be in it's original container.

As for pills & vitamins.......I have a weekly pill holder, and I filled it for the 1st week, then have one of the multiple pill containers that screw together, and put my meds seperatly in each one...also vitamins seperately. I did not carry any original medicine container with me. I did have copies of each med, with my name & such from the pharmacy "just in case", but never had to show it.

When in doubt, go to the TSA website, it has everything.

Our airport isn't that far away, and we hadn't flown in several years, so we just went over one day (during the week, when it's less crowded) and walked up to the area, and got a extra TSA person and she was very happy to answer all of our questions on all subjects.

 

[CPT Tripss]

I would recommend that if you're not going to keep your Rx medications in their original bottles that you at least bring a copy (picture, printout, whatever) of the Rx info. That way if something happens to the prescription, you've got all the info handy.

I would also recommend that you bring at least a few days extra of the medication just in case there's some kind of weather delay. If you're stranded, it's nice having all the medication handy rather than scrambling to try to get the Rx filled in a strange city.

That's always a good thing to do when traveling, regardless of how you package your meds. If you lose them and their original bottles, they are still lost.

 

[mlittig]

I also use the weekly medicine containers and have not had any problems with security