I realize the topic of liquids for carry on has been beaten to death, but I have been unable to find an answer to this question using the search function.

I was told by a woman at the luggage store the other day that all liquids for carry on must not only be less than 3 oz, but also MUST be in the original packaging. So this basically means that if it's not a product marketed as a "travel size", you can't bring it as a carry on! That would be a real bummer, because I plan on doing carry on only for my trip, and many of my favorite
products are not available in travel sizes, so I had planned on decanting some into smaller travel bottles.

Could this possibly be true? I have scoured the TSA website, and have not found anything to confirm this statement. If it's not true, do you think there are some overzealous TSA screeners that are confiscating things for not being in the original packaging? I can't figure out where this notion is coming from.

This is not correct.

Hi J,

>do you think there are some overzealous TSA screeners that are confiscating things for not being in the original packaging?

Probably.

Do all of these things have to go in carryon?

Are they not available in Europe?

Apparantly some overzealous TSA screeners are confiscating things for "looking bigger" even though the bottles are within the limits they might perhaps have a strange shape.

I just had 2 small clear refill bottles with shampoo and conditioner confiscated. The reason was that "they didn't have an original label".

So , next time I'll buy a travel size bottle of any shampoo and conditioner, empty them and fill them with my stuff.

In February, I had a couple of liquids and creams decanted into smaller containers and it was not a problem.

And Ira, you are so right. I had a little baggie of things that I noticed all over the place upon our arrival in Paris.

However, there were a couple of things that I had in carry-on that I would have really been upset not to find upon my arrival. I think at least part of the decision to pack them or not depends on one's destination. Everything I could have ever wanted was at my finger tips in Paris. But had I been going directly to a small town or even a village, that might not have been the case.

There's nothing to stop you from putting shampoo in a 3oz bottle that is labeled "hand lotion." Even the overzeaous TSA screener who is rejecting unmarked bottles, isn't testing contents to see if they conform to labeling, I hope.

I've read that a TSA screener can reject a container that is larger than 3 oz, even if it is obvious to most that it contains less than 3 oz. currently. The most obvious case would be toothpaste -- I always save my tubes when I'm near the end for travel, and it is very clearly less than three oz, yet I've read they can reject that. I have done that several times, and they didn't throw them away, though.

As for what the lady in the luggage store told you, she doesn't know what she's talking about. How on earth would the TSA agent even know if it were the original container or not? I always save my 2 oz. travel shampoo bottles and then refill them at home from larger bottles, for example.

You 1st two sentences in your second paragraph aren't clear to me as the second sentence doesn't relate to the first.

If someone had a clear bottle confiscated, I'd suggest you not use one (never heard of that), but as I said, there isn't any way they could even know for things like shampoo. They aren't sealed in the store like pills. Perhaps it's because a clear bottle isn't really labelled as to size, and a real product is.

Ira,
It's not that I couldn't get these things in Europe, it's just that I'm picky about products (high maintenance, what can I say?), and I would rather not have to make trips to various department stores searching for my preferred products, only to have to toss them on the return flight because they were full size.

It's okay, really. As long as I know ahead of time that there's a chance someone might toss my decanted jar of Frederic Fekkai overnight hair repair, or my decanted pot of Creme de La Mer, I just won't bring them. I can live without them. I can even "gasp" tolerate using the products at the hotel. But what would really stink is if I bought special jars for this stuff, and decanted it only to have it tossed prior to departure. (These are too pricy to waste that much, man!)

So anyway, that's why I was asking.
Even if it's not a true rule, given the aparrent confusion of many TSA screeners regarding the rules, perhaps I should just not try it?

I hope this "woman at the luggage store" wasn't the same person who told the poster that BA is no longer handing out free pillows and blankets on overnight flights!

As to possible TSA "confusion" I won't even go there.

Dont know if this helps,
but I found empty travel sized bottles at the Walmart - which have a sticker on them that says "3 ounces".
So you can fill them with whatever you want, and it is obvious to the screener what the volume of the container is.

Christina,

That is exactly what happened to me, but a full tube of prescription cream the same size was acceptable. The logic escapes me.

cristina- your post and others point out the inconsistancies of TSA screening. I did what you described with a few tubes that were slightly larger than 3oz but mostly empty. They were confiscated and subjected my carry on to a more intensive search.

I too have had containers larger than 3 oz. but were very obviously almost empty confiscated and tossed. The entire bottle has to be 3 oz. size or smaller, not just the contents.

At this end, it's the size of tehcontainers that matters, not whow much is left in them.

But you can use decanted stuff.

Well, as far as larger containers that are nearly empty, I know that TSA specifically adresses that on their website. They say that bottles larger than 3oz are NOT acceptable, even if they are partly empty. Also, they mention "rolled up" almost empty tubes of toothpaste as an example of what is not allowed. It makes absolutely no sense to me, but whatever.

Christina, I think I see why my first post was unclear to you. What I was trying to say was that, if this silly rumor were true, it would mean that we couldn't bring any product onto the plane (as a carry on) that isn't available in sizes smaller than 3 oz. Many higher-end beauty products (especially things like liquid foundations, face creams, certain hair styling products) are not available in anything other than full-size.

This lady at the luggage store was actually not the first person I had heard this from, either. It sounds like a few of you other posters have experienced the overzealous screeners as well.

I think you guys are right. I'd bet money that the reason a few of the screeners are insisting on "original labels" is because they want to see the size printed on the bottle.

A lot of this stuff really takes some of the joy out of travelling. And with the arbitrary rules so inconsistently enforced, I must say it dosn't make me feel much safer.

"As for what the lady in the luggage store told you, she doesn't know what she's talking about. How on earth would the TSA agent even know if it were the original container or not? I always save my 2 oz. travel shampoo bottles and then refill them at home from larger bottles, for example. "


The lady in the luggage stoere was NOT incorrect.

Things to keep in mind.

1. The TSA is run by an IDIOT.
2. The TSA website does not require original labels and there was a poster on another board I frequent who actually called the TSA and was told the bottles don't have to be original.
2. The TSA allows some of thier hired idiots to play a game known as "make up your own rules"
3. One varation of "make up your own rules" is to state that the liquids MUST BE in the ORIGIAL LABLED bottles. The way around this IDIOT move is to buy the "el cheapo" bottles at your local discount store and empty them. I then rinse them out and allow them to dry. I then refill them with MY stuff. The TSA Agent is happy, my bottles are "labeled", He/she thinks they know what they have there. How this makes us safer is unclear but there you have it. The things we do to keep the TSA happy.
4. The rules do say the items must be IN a container under 100 ml (which is actually a little larger then 3oz) so you can't bring an almost empty whatever if the bottles bigger then the stated size.
5. In spite of several months, some TSA agents cannot tell the size of the bottle if it is not clearly printed.

If you don't want to allow your TSA agent to play the game ask for a supervisor. (My experience has been that the TSA agents hate this and will back down while trying to convince you that "you will miss your plane waiting on him/her" So be it.)

Well, I would say that she most certainly was incorrect, and virtually everything you said agrees with her being incorrect. Shampoo does not have to be in its original container, just a bottle 3 oz. or less. I always move shampoo from a larger bottle to a small 2 oz bottle, that says some kind of shampoor brand and 2 oz. on the label. However, it definitely is not my product's original packaging. I also put sunscreen lotion, hair conditioner, etc. in these bottles. They are not the original packaging at all, they aren't even necessarily the same product.

I do find it rather odd that these agents are so stupid that they supposedly can't figure out that a 4 oz. tube of toothpaste rolled up to less than 1/2 its original size must be less than 3 oz. I could understand for borderline things, they can't be guessing.

I guess I am missing something. Why would anyone need shampoo on an airplane? Put it in your checked luggage, in a Ziploc bag.

1) Not checking a bag, and your hair is really unruly withour its favorite shampoo and conditioner.

2) Even if you pack the shampoo, you might want hand sanitizer or lotion for use in flight. Same rules apply to these liquids.