Quick flying question

[LilyWDW]

Hey all.

I just want to check on a couple things for my flight this Friday. I read the TSA site and the like, but would just like to get 2 things clarified.

1) Contacts (daily disposables) do not count towards your 3-1-1 correct? But you still have to declare them?

2) Are Netbooks treated the same as Laptops? Will I have to pull it out and put it in it's own bin to be sent through?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Jestocost]

Hey all.

I just want to check on a couple things for my flight this Friday. I read the TSA site and the like, but would just like to get 2 things clarified.

1) Contacts (daily disposables) do not count towards your 3-1-1 correct? But you still have to declare them?

2) Are Netbooks treated the same as Laptops? Will I have to pull it out and put it in it's own bin to be sent through?

Thanks for your help!

1) That's the way it's supposed to be. Prescription and OTC meds, including saline solution for contact lenses, are exempt from the 3-1-1 requirements but such items do need to be declared and handled as instructed at the security checkpoint. You will occassionally find some TSA screener with their own personal interpretation of the rules, however.

2) Yes.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

2) Are Netbooks treated the same as Laptops? Will I have to pull it out and put it in it's own bin to be sent through?

Thanks for your help!

The above poster has given you an incorrect answer. Any electronic smaller than a standard laptop does not have to be removed from your carry-on:

http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/04/traveling-with-e-readers-netbooks-and.html

Great question! Electronic items smaller than the standard sized laptop should not need to be removed from your bag or their cases. It’s that simple.

This does not mean that TSA won't make you remove it anyway.

 

[LWQuestie]

1) That's the way it's supposed to be. Prescription and OTC meds, including saline solution for contact lenses, are exempt from the 3-1-1 requirements but such items do need to be declared and handled as instructed at the security checkpoint. You will occassionally find some TSA screener with their own personal interpretation of the rules, however.

My experience with this (in the past year or so, since I started wearing contacts again) is that I put the contact stuff in a separate ziptop baggie and put it in the bin next to my 3-1-1 bag. I don't say anything about it to the screeners and they've never said anything to me about it. I haven't made any sort of declaration or anything. This is through 4 or 5 airports in different states, including MCO.

 

[SilverMickey]

I agree that TSA can interpret the rules differently... We had to remove our 5" screen GPS. and put it in a separate bin.

 

[Jestocost]

The above poster has given you an incorrect answer. Any electronic smaller than a standard laptop does not have to be removed from your carry-on:

http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/04/traveling-with-e-readers-netbooks-and.html

Great question! Electronic items smaller than the standard sized laptop should not need to be removed from your bag or their cases. It’s that simple.

This does not mean that TSA won't make you remove it anyway.

The bolded portion is the important part. How many Netbook users can actually explain to the TSA why their device is a a Netbook vs. a laptop and how many TSA screeners would care that there is a distinction? IME, TSA screeners demand that DVD players, video cameras, Kindles, iPads, etc.--all of which should be exempt the removal requirement--be removed more often than not.

 

[LilyWDW]

Thank you all for your advise and information. I really do appreciate it as I have not flown for awhile and didn't want to miss something important. Per your advice I have moved my contacts to a separate ziplock which will be easy to access. I have also made sure I will be able to easily remove my Netbook if that is also needed.

Again, thank you all.

 

[PrincesCJM]

I always put my contacts, solution and prescriptions in the same bag, separate from my travel sized products. I have never had an issue with it. When I flew out of MHT (Manchester NH) in July, they were the first airport that actually tested my full size bottle of contact solution. The TSA agent dabbed a small amount on a tested and watched for a particular reaction. In all of the times I have flown post 9/11, this was this first time I ever saw it.

In terms of the netbook, I would just take it out of the case ahead of time. I'd rather be prepared for it than risk slowing down the security line.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

IME, TSA screeners demand that DVD players, video cameras, Kindles, iPads, etc.--all of which should be exempt the removal requirement--be removed more often than not.

I fly quite a bit, usually internationally, and not once have I been asked to remove a Kindle, camera, cell phone, or iPad from my carry-on in the US or in other countries. I also have not seen others asked to do so. Again, an ignorant TSA screener may ask you to do so. It's easier to comply than argue.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Update to above post - I was traveling through the Marco Polo Airport in Venice this past weekend, and the security personnel required all iPads to be removed from carry-on for screening.