We're taking carry-on luggage. Are umbrellas allowed, the teeny collapsible ones?

should be fine, I'd have thought. After all, they still let us all go through with keys. I travel regularly and nobody's bagged my brolly yet.

Having said that, if you're at all unsure, then why not slip it into your checked-in case at the airport and whip it out on arrival?

we're just taking carry-on...that is the problem. just want to make sure it is allowed and won't be confiscated.

Are you leaving from the US? Follow this link to the Travel Safety Admin's do's and don'ts for carry on items.

I just looked and it said umbrellas.

Just travelled from Ireland to Italy and back with an umbrella in carry-on luggage. It had a pleasant trip and wasn't confiscated.

www.vistaphotos.com

I take mine all carry-on the time and never have problems. Last week, though, the screeners in Halifax Nova Scotia opened it (to make sure it wes really an umbrella? to make sure I hadn't hidden anything inside it? to see whether opening an umbrella inside is bad luck?) before giving it back.

I think you will be allowed to carry your umbrella on. If they take it away, ask them to give it to one of the attendants, and hold it for you at the front of the plane. You can pick it up at the end of the flight. I've seen this done with other items.

We both always carry small collapsable umbrellas in our carry on and have never had a problem, international or domestic. NO PROBLEM!

Why not just buy one when you reach your destination?

Why on earth would anyone suggest just buying a new one if you already have one? What a waste of money. Do you also suggest leaving all your clothes at home and "just" buying all new ones at your destination?

Patrick, if you have an umbrella that you care about, like a lot or whatever, why would you risk losing it to the vagaries of Security Rules? Umbrellas cost $5.

And yes, actually we avoid overly obsessing about packing because we figure we can buy anything we forgot upon arrival.

I wouldn't worry too much. Hey, they let my kids carry their skateboards on planes.

My wife bought a large (un-collapsable) umbrella as a souvenir of the recent Tour de France when we watched the last stage in Paris. It was too long to fit in either of our suitcases, so we had no option but to try and take it on the plane as carry-on luggage.

I had grave doubts that we would be allowed to take it on, but we had to give it a try. To my surprise, no one even raised an eyebrow, either at Zurich airport or even at Singapore airport where the security was so tight that we had to line up for over an hour to get through the boarding gate for the second leg of our flight to Australia.

To Koshka:

What in the world are you talking about? What risk? Why would anyone think they are going to confiscate an umbrella? Has anyone ever had one taken? I'm here to tell you it is not even a remote possibility of a problem. Would you leave your favorite necktie home because they might confiscate that? The odds are just about as great.

Patrick, obxgirl mentioned that leaving from the US was chancy with an umbrella carry-on (tho I wish she had provided the promised link)

Assuming lonrho's wife was trying to take her cherished umbrella OUT of the US, why would she not choose to leave it at home rather than risking losing it to an over-zealous Security Person in Podunk, Iowa? When she can buy an umbrella when she arrives? (apologies to anyone from Podunk)

I have to wonder why your questions to me are so confrontational. I merely offered a cheap alternative to losing something you love.

And yes, in fact WE DO leave many of our treasured clothes at home, because baggage gets lost and things aren't replaceable. I am wondering why you have such a problem with the way we choose to travel?

Some facts.

In the free world, no-one would question for a split second whether unbrellas were allowed. Indeed, printed tickets - the old fashioned kind with those charming pictures of raincoats in the small print - explicitly state that "an umbrella or walking stick" may be carried on board in addition to free allowances.Even showing a drawing of an umbrella for the verbally challenged.

In the non-free world (aka the United States), there may well be a Frederick the Great-style "everything is prohibited unless permitted" mentality. So your Transportation Security Administration helpfully publishes a list. In which it assures us that umbrellas are just fine to take on board.

It might help if people quoting them bothered to read what they have to say. At http://www.tsa.gov/interweb/assetlib..._7_24_2003.pdf

Sorry if I seem confrontational. It just seems like with all the potential problems worth worrying about, why anyone would think that their umbrella might be confiscated is beyond me. I believe flanneruk has answered correctly. Meanwhile no one has given even the vaguest reason to suspect anyone would confiscate an umbrella. I could really care less if you choose to leave everything you own at home if that's what you want to do, but please don't do it under the mistaken belief or recommendation that anything you carry might be confiscated by some subversive security agent. That's just plain silly.

The answer to this is so simple...look at the TSA website..umbrellas are allowed , but they may be opened by inspectors, so that takes 2 seconds!


I leave my good jewelry at home, but other than that I have never formed an emotional attachment to an umbrella or any clothing!

Indeed, thanks flanneruk for the link; I'll print off the list next time I want to take my knitting along on a flight!