carry on luggage- question re liquids
 

If I recall the restriction used to be "3-3-1"-- no more than 3 containers, less than 3 ounces in a 1 qt plastic ziploc bag. Has the number of items you can put in the ziploc bag changed? I'm flying to LA from the East coast for just a weekend and want to try to just bring a carry on. Am wondering how much I can bring when it comes to makeup, lotion, toothpaste, etc... TIA!

It's not 3-3-1, it's 3-1-1:

3 ounces per container, in a 1-quart bag, and only 1 of the bags per passenger. Apparently you're welcome to bring as many 3-ounce containers as you can fit into the 1-quart bag.

Here's the official TSA policy:

http://www.tsa.gov/311/index.shtm

Thank you anonymous! that's exactly what i was looking for. Thank you for correcting me- this makes packing for my trup much easier!

Don't fixate on &quot;3 ounces&quot;. Many travel sized containers are smaller than 3 oz. You can put as many 3 oz <u>or smaller</u> containers as you want inside that quart ziplok baggie as long as it still closes

I put between 10 and 15 separate products into the baggie -- mouthwash, toothpaste, mascara, lipgloss, face creams/cleansers, eye drops, woolite packet, etc. etc.

(for my packing class demo I actually squeeze in about 35 items - but that is overkill just to show what's possible)

I fly a lot, most of it overseas on long flights! I think the 1 quart size bag is doable! I fit a lot of stuff in that bag and can live with it! Besides toothpaste and chapstick I put nasal sprays, Purell hand sanitizer, deodorant (in case the flight breaks down somewhere and you have to spend the night in a hotel) and any little liquid/cream thing that I may need for a 13 hr. flight.

It's a small price to pay for a little security!

just a clarification of SirHalberd's post - solid products like Chapstick, solid deodorants, lipstick etc no longer need to be in the baggie. (they were included when the rules first came out - but have been allowed for several months now)

Liquid/gel deodorants and brush on or gel type lipgloss/lip conditioners still have to be in the baggie - but not solid chapstick and such.

Plus mascara has to be in the bag.

The items must be in a container that has a MAZIMUM 3 oz. capacity! Very improtant - you cannot take a 6 oz. tube of toothpaste that is half full. The container must be clearly marked in an amount 3 oz. or less or it will be tossed, even if in has only 1 glob of stuff in it.
Debi

In the last 3+ mo I've found TSA at several airports to be more laidback about the 3-1-1.

It used to be that you must have the clear plastic bag out of your carryon and they inspected it by hand.

For example, Lately I've found that they don't care if it stays inside your luggage, they just x-ray it. On 1 trip I forgot to take it out and nobody said anything, and since then (6 times through security) I've just left it in my bag.

They also haven't cared that my gel deodorant wasn't in the bag when I left it elsewhere in my luggage by mistake.

You still need to comply with the 3-1-1 rules, but the TSA doesn't seem as hyper sensitive as they were 6mo ago.

.......It's a small price to pay for a little security.......

Absolutely love this statement. Just shows the state of brain washing !!! Has absolutely nothing to do with security. All to do with image.

As mentioned, if you need more try using 1 or 2 oz. bottles instead. 3 oz. are actually fairly large if you are only traveling for a couple weeks. As long as they fit comfortably into the 1 quart baggie, you're OK.

In several places on the TSA website, you see &quot;3 ounces (100 ml).&quot; I just noticed this week that the contact lens solution I've taken through security at lest 8 times(usually inside my carry-on) actually holds 3.5 ounces (104 ml) and has never been questioned.

Perhaps when it is one of a dozen small items in the baggie and looks vaguely to be within limits, no one stops to read the fine print on the label.

I've never put mascara in the plastic bag, and haven't had a problem. I also asked them about face powder and they said it did not have to be in the plastic bag.

A couple months ago, I was lectured by a TSA employee for not pulling my zip lock out of my luggage for inspection. I appologized for forgetting to pull it out, but he apparently decided that I needed a &quot;talking to&quot; {eye roll}.

well - since face powder is a powder and not a liquid -- why would it need to be in the bag?

You may have had good luck w/ mascara - but twice in the last 5 months I've observed agents finding mascara in handbags and taking it out. Don't know if it was discarded or if they were allowed to put them in the baggie after the fact . . . . .

How strictly the rules are enforced and interpreted vary wildly from one airport to another. Although lipstick and deodorant are supposed to be ok outside the bag, I saw someone being &quot;corrected&quot; on this last week.

To save myself the hassle, anything that I think may be remotely &quot;questionable&quot; I put in the ziplock. The security lines are long enough without having my carryon pawed through.

Sorry, guys in OZ we don't do imperial any more. What are the rough dimensions of a &quot;one quart baggie&quot;.
You can give it to me in inches cause I understand those!

it is a liter/litre baggie everywhere quarts are not used . . . . .

Contact solution is NOT included in the three ounce rule. You can take a bottle of contact solution on the airplane, it should be in its own separate baggie. It is considered a medical necessary product and the TSA states this exception on its website.

So it frees up space in your baggie for other bottles of stuff.

I would have declared the contact solution separately if I needed a larger container, but the 3.5 oz bottle fits easily in my baggie and I went blithely along assuming it was only 3 oz.

I fly a lot. No matter how long these security arrangements have been in place there are always some people who do not get the word!

I still notice passengers having items confiscated because they violated the rules. I noticed women with large containers of really expensive perfume and face cream given the choice to go back to the ticket agent and ship it with the checked in bag or tossing the items out!

Next time you fly take a look at the junk that TSA finds! A quick look in the box shows jackknives, box cutters, huge containers of ?? liquid! Big bottles of expensive booze, fancy colognes and one time I saw one woman have 3 tubes of hemorrhoidal cream taken away! Why did she think she would need so much on a 12 hour flight?

*

It is a small price to pay for security. If we don't take the war against terrorism seriously we are doomed! There are nut cases and religious zealots out there who can't wait to murder as many innocent people as they possibly can!

I went to Las Vegas last weekend and did carry-on. I usually check but thought I'd give it a try. I put all the liquids in really small bottles...I got them at a craft store actually..I got a ton of stuff in that quart bag. I was afraid it was too full and they might confiscate it but they didn't. I had no problem coming or going.

I am traveling next month and haven't done so in over a year. I have also never travelled with face powder (loose powder) in a bottle. What is the rule on loose powder specifically? Are powders not allowed at all, even in a 3 oz. container?

I know a compact is an option, but I was just wondering, as loose powder looks better on me and shopping for it while there is not an option. Thanks.

I've found that the free baggie the TSA hands out at the airport is larger than my own baggie, so get a couple of those free baggies when you can. They'll hold more little bottles.

On size: I usually take the small bottles of shampoo, etc. at hotels, empty them out, and fill them with my own liquids. Never a question of how much those small bottles contain.

My backpack has a small mesh pocket on the side for water battles. I put my liquids baggie in there and, of late, no one seems to care that it's not taken out and put separately in the bin.

AmySabato: &quot;<i>Are powders not allowed at all, even in a 3 oz. container? </i>&quot;

The rules are for <u>liquids and gels</u>. Nothing to do w/ dry or powdered products. You can take as any loose powder you want in your carry on and it does not have to fit in the quart sized baggie.

Just a question about mascara, is it okay for it not to be in a clear tube?

Mascara goes in the ziplok baggie - doesn't matter if it is a clear or opaque tube.

My sincerest thanks for your responses.

Janisj, another Aussie asked earlier in this post if anyone could supply the dimensions (in area) of the bag. I'm reading through old posts to try and find this exact information myself - leaving next week!

I've seen the bags listed in carry-on rules as 1 quart or 1 litre, however in Australia our bags are sold by area as they are flat and not 3 dimensional. Are you able to advise the size in inches or centimetres of the bags which are &quot;1 quart&quot; in size? I failed maths in year 12 and haven't been able to find a conversion tool on the net.

quart bags in the US are 17cm x 20cm. As long as you have something close it'll be no problem. Nobody measures the exact size of the bag, so anything roughly 20cm x 20cm would be just fine.

Or for those who are metric challenged 17cm x 20cm is roughly 7in x 8in.

Thanks. Even the Aussie airline sites mention the volume, rather than area.