What can I do if my pomade tin is 0.1 oz over the TSA limit?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 7 Aug, 2023
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From personal flying experience, I’d estimate it has less than 0.1% chance of being thrown out (less than 1 in a 1000).
If that is in your risk tolerance, I’d chance it. 0.1% risk probability times $20 (estimating your pomade cost) is a $0.02 financial risk, plus whatever inconvenience you’d have if you happen to not have your pomade.
In short, I’d risk it without a second thought.
3.5 is larger than 3.4 so TSA is within their right to throw it out or make you put it in your checked luggage, period.
If they give you grief about this then just understand they’re doing their job; they have zero incentive to jeopardize their job so that you can have pomade at your destination.
If they were being petty then they would invite you in the back room with rubber gloves after you gave them a hard time for doing their job.
If you’re losing sleep over pomade then visit the airport a day early and ask a TSA agent directly for their advice.
If you decide to separate it into smaller containers then just make sure the container size is clearly labeled. Unlabeled containers are subject to immediate rejection.
You could also put the large container into your checked baggage (provided you are traveling with such, of course), and optionally fill a smaller container with a sufficient quantity for use during your airplane travel, to be taken in your carry-on.
From the TSA website:
Pack items that are in containers larger than 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters in checked baggage.
Note: I would advise to put containers with liquids into sturdy, waterproof zip-lock bags (or similar) when packing them in checked luggage, to improve their resistance to spills during the inevitable rough handling. As commenters have pointed out, squeezing all redundant air out of plastic bags and soft bottles before closing them makes such a container much less likely to burst and spill due to air pressure changes.
How do I risk-free deal with this?
There is no way to make anything with the TSA 100% "risk-free". It’s highly unlikely that a TSA agent would flag it but it’s not impossible either. Some TSA agents even flag items that are perfectly legal and allowable. When that happens you can either try to elevate to a supervisor (and likely miss your flight in the process) or just give it up.
Use a red marker to get rid of the ounce label?
No. This will just draw attention to it and that’s the last thing you want to do.
Or do I need to put it in a different container
No. This will just draw attention to it and that’s the last thing you want to do.
because TSA is that petty and will question it?
Some TSA agents are that petty, many are not. You won’t know until you get there.
In all likelihood it will go through just fine. If you absolutely cannot live without this item and must be 100% sure then consider repacking it into a smaller container. That’s what I do with my after shave (while I was still shaving that is :-))
They would rarely notice such a difference, particularly since many checkpoints no longer require bottles to be taken out. Even if you did have them out in a clear plastic bag, the bottle would not look sufficiently oversize to get obvious attention. However, they might just happen to look when yours pass and then you would have to get rid of the entire container.
It is the container size that matters and so the easiest and safest way is to simply transfer the contents to some container of the right size. This is common enough that travel bottle kits are sold explicitly for such purpose and can cost very little, only a few dollars for one or more. You can search for travel bottles on Amazon to see many examples. Many of those listed explicitly say TSA approved but any bottle of the right volume works. When you use any bottle, it is best that the volume is indicated to remove any doubt by security.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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