When you’re packing and choosing your clothes, it pays to think about going through security at the airport as well as what you’ll be doing on your trip. What you wear and how you pack can make a difference as to how smoothly you go through airport security.

You need to decide if you’re going to carry everything on the plane or if you’ll be checking luggage. It will make a difference as to how you pack, and how you pack can make a difference going through security lines at the airport.

If you will be traveling with carry-on bags only, you need to prepare your one quart/one liter-sized, clear plastic zip-top bag. Have it ready ahead of time. You don’t want to be throwing out liquids at the checkpoint or trying to cram some 3 ounce/100ml bottles into a plastic bag at the last minute. All of your carry-on liquids, gels and creams must go into one bag, and they must all be 3 ounces/100ml or less.

If you will be checking luggage, you can put liquids into those bags. You are not limited to the 3 ounces or 100ml. You can take as much as you want.

Try to pack your carry-on bag in an orderly fashion. It may seem easiest to just throw everything into a backpack, but things that are jumbled up together are harder to make out on the x-ray screen, and that may cause you to be delayed at screening or even be pulled aside for an extra bag search.

If you’re planning to take a laptop computer or other large electronics, it’s safer to pack them in your carry-on bag. You’ll have to take these large electronic items out of your bag for screening unless you have one of the newly approved laptop bags that allows the computer to be screened without removing it. Check with airline or government websites for more information.

Small electronics such as iPods, cameras, curling irons and shavers can stay in your carry-on during screening. If you carry film for a camera, it will be fine to go through screening unless it is faster than 800 speed. You will have to ask for an officer to hand inspect fast film to avoid the x-ray.

If you’re carrying gifts, don’t wrap them until you get to your destination in case they need extra screening. You don’t want to have to wrap them twice.

Think about what you will wear, too. Anything you wear that has metal on it is apt to set off alarms. Leave heavy jewelry home or pack it in your carry-on bag. You may want to remove body jewlery for the flight. Even hair barrettes and clothing with big metal buttons can set off metal detectors that are very sensitive. You’ll get through security with any of these things eventually, but you’ll get through faster if you’re not wearing them. Also, be prepared to remove your shoes if asked to walk through the metal detector.

Have your boarding pass and identification readily available for the officers. Get to the airport early enough so you won’t be rushed. Know what airline cut-off times are for check in. You must generally check in earlier for international flights than for domestic flights. It can take a while to get through those security checkpoints even if you’ve packed and dressed for it, but planning ahead can certainly help it go smoother for you.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 7:47 pm and is filed under Adventure Travel, Travel Basics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.