Have you mailed things to yourself from an airport ?
 

With all the TSA regulations regarding what we can and cannot bring onto an airplane, I read story after story of people who have had their favorite pocket knife confiscated. Is it possible to mail the item to yourself from the airport? Has anyone actually done this?

Depends on the airport, I would think. But once you've entered the TSA's area, they are VERY opposed to you leaving. Better to leave anything that might cause problems at home, or put it in a checked bag.

Thanks for your input!

My husband once mailed something from the Vancouver airport. I think it was a small pair of scissors. The security officer was actually the one who suggested it.

The Canadian security officers are much more relaxed and helpful than the TSA people in the US. I've even seen them handing out quart bags for people who hadn't pre-packed their liquids. Do NOT count on a TSA officer doing anything other than confiscating your knife. After all, they even confiscate cup cakes...

Couldn't you just leave the security area, mail your package, and then go back through security? Yes, that would be inconvenient, but might be worth it if they're about to confiscate something that is meaningful to you.

No. Once you're in the TSA area, you're in.

"The requirement for all the passengers is that once they enter the screening area and submit themselves to the screening process, to complete the screening," said Aguilar. (Chief of the TSA office in San Diego.)

See also: http://www.elliott.org/blog/the-insi...-with-the-tsa/

It's not easy to find a box or padded envelope, stamps, and a mail box at an airport. I've wanted to mail postcards a few times and never managed to do it.

Maybe it's a US thing. I can't find any mention of a post office facility at JFK, except perhaps in the Air Cargo facility, but the London Heathrow site says:

"you'll find post boxes and coin-operated stamp machines in each terminal, usually in both departures (after security) and arrivals."

However, my point still stands. If you enter the security check area with something the TSA may confiscate, you can't then leave if they decide they are going to confiscate it.

If you want to get a pocketknife home, put it into your checked luggage. Or if you want to mail it to yourself, do so before going to the airport.

Agreeing with the post above, once it's been confiscated by TSA, there's nothing you can do about it.

<<<Couldn't you just leave the security area, mail your package, and then go back through security? Yes, that would be inconvenient, but might be worth it if they're about to confiscate something that is meaningful to you.>>>

Not usually. Sometimes they'll let you do that, but generally not and I certainly wouldn't want to count on it. They don't want someone "testing" the system so once you're in the security area, you're stuck.

Put it in a checked bag, mail it <i>before</i> you get to the airport, or simply don't take the item with you in the first place.

<Couldn't you just leave the security area, mail your package, and then go back through security?>

I'm still stuck on where do you think are you going to find a box, buy stamps, and locate a mailbox in an airport?

Why do you have a "favorite pocketknife" in your pocket going thru airport security in the first place?

"
Why do you have a "favorite pocketknife" in your pocket going thru airport security in the first place?"

That's really the question, isn't it? If you know, as you clearly do, that the TSA won't allow an item through, there's no reason to have it with you. Duh.

I have packed a heavy object wrapped in dirty clothes in a flat rate box and mailed it home in a USPS flat rate box. That way I have less to worry about carrying on the plane. If I can I try to fly using only 1 carry on bag.
I just love it when my pants fall to my knees because they made me remove my belt.
I think a lot more women should wear their swimsuits through the scammer and then put on their travel clothes at the gate.

I had my pocket knife removed from my carry on luggage (which I had forgotten about). The airport I was in had a service with packaging etc. right in the security area. It cost me $10.00 but I was able to mail my knife home and it was there waiting for me when I returned home. That was a few years ago and I don't know if that service still exists. I'm more careful now about what is in that checked bag!

Was that before or after 9/11? And which country?

Post 9/11 in the USA. Upstate NY.

Either Buffalo or Rochester, cannot recall.

Later this month we are flying out of Reno and I am trying to find out how early I can check my luggage. While looking at their website I found a description of the service I must have used. They have one in Reno!

http://www.renoairport.com/passenger...enger-services

Dear me. I'm obsessing.....

It is a service called 'Airport Mailers'

http://www.airportmailers.com/index.html

My husband always carries a pocket knife. It's habit. Once in a while, he forgets it's there. It may be a "duh" moment to some, but it happens.

And I always have a book of stamps with me.

@mrssparky - thanks! I'll check it out.

I contacted the TSA regarding this issue. Here is the part of their response relevant to our discussion:

Passengers are provided several options for disposing of prohibited items, assuming that possession of the items is not prohibited by law. Passengers may (1) ask their air carriers to place the items in checked baggage; (2) return the items to their vehicles; (3) give the items to non-traveling companions; or (4) mail the items if possible.

You'd better print that out and take it with you. And keep your fingers crossed. Just because someone at TSA said that, doesn't mean the person you're dealing with will honor it.

It's that "if possible" part of #4 that's going to get ya. It really is 1,000 times easier just to check the item in the first place or not take it.

When I traveled in a large group in high school, one of the adults usually said "remember to put anything sharp and pointy in your checked bag tomorrow morning" the last evening. The next morning, they would give one more reminder to put anything into checked bags that needed to be checked when we loaded the bus to head for the airport. If you still forgot, you lost the item at security and no whining allowed.

If you're worried about your husband forgetting that he has a pocket knife, pin a note to the top of his bag so that when he packs and when he puts the bag in the car there's a visual reminder to check for the pocket knife. Anything that I need to remember the day I fly out is put on a note and put on the handle of my bag so that I can't miss it.

Remember to remove the note when you load the bags in the car, otherwise it just looks strange. ;)

@Iowa redhead: good tips!

<And I always have a book of stamps with me.>

I'm guessing most people do not.

If you can remember to always pack stamps, why can't you just remember not to go thru security with prohibited items?

Our neighbor's pocket knife tripped him up at the airport so he pushed it into the dirt of a potted plant in the lobby and when he returned, he retrieved it again.

...Beware of Airport Mailers...

A company called Airport Mailers provides drop boxes at the security checkpoints and offers to "Mail it Home Safely" any items that you forgot to leave behind. They currently charge $12.95 to $24.95 plus postage for this service. The problem is they don't bother to insure the shipment when returning your item. When my item was lost by the USPS they refused to offer me any compensation. They have twice said they would credit back my card but have failed to follow through on that offer as well. At this point I have paid them to lose my item for me. Hope this helps someone else not to have the same experience.

This post is 3 years old.

Yes, at Atlanta airport. Went to a window where I bought a mailer and mailed my Swiss Army knife home. I think it was a regular US post office.