All Food and Electronics Larger than Cellphones out for Screening
Dec 30, 19, 6:19 am
#406
Join Date: Aug 2015
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As a practical matter, it is in your best interest to separate potentially suspicious items to maximize your probability of passing the screening the first time without drawing additional scrutiny (e.g., separation and re-scanning after the initial pass, swabbing, groping). Or, enroll in Pre-check, where magically these items no longer are suspicious and can all be left in your carry-on.
Dec 30, 19, 7:15 am
#407
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Join Date: Jul 2001
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Even when I’ve had PreCheck and received PreCheck or PreCheck “light” screening, there are times when I’ve been told by TSA to have the iPads and laptops and food removed and separated for screening despite being allowed to keep shoes and even coats on. But the TSA is inconsistent, so YMMV.
Some of the larger smartphones seem bigger than the controller-removed Nintendo Switch consoles, but if you show them to TSA, you will probably get a pass on the large smartphone but may not with the Switch.
Some of the larger smartphones seem bigger than the controller-removed Nintendo Switch consoles, but if you show them to TSA, you will probably get a pass on the large smartphone but may not with the Switch.
Dec 30, 19, 2:38 pm
#408
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 7
The idea behind separating electronics is to permit the screening to capture an unobstructed view of any devices to ensure they are not a disguised weapon.
As a practical matter, it is in your best interest to separate potentially suspicious items to maximize your probability of passing the screening the first time without drawing additional scrutiny (e.g., separation and re-scanning after the initial pass, swabbing, groping). Or, enroll in Pre-check, where magically these items no longer are suspicious and can all be left in your carry-on.
As a practical matter, it is in your best interest to separate potentially suspicious items to maximize your probability of passing the screening the first time without drawing additional scrutiny (e.g., separation and re-scanning after the initial pass, swabbing, groping). Or, enroll in Pre-check, where magically these items no longer are suspicious and can all be left in your carry-on.
Dec 30, 19, 7:10 pm
#409
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 37,756
Sorry, I had a nice descriptive post, but it was eaten by the forums because I had a link to the TSA website and I haven't posted 5 times yet. 
So, the short vague version: What are they after with this (besides "whatever the TSA agent feels like that day")?
"The new procedures, which were announced last July, require travelers to place all electronics larger than a cell phone in bins for X-ray screening in standard lanes."
To my mind almost every electronic item is larger than a cellphone... phone charging bricks, fans, batteries, cords, etc. Do they want all that junk in a bin, or am I overthinking this?
So, the short vague version: What are they after with this (besides "whatever the TSA agent feels like that day")?
"The new procedures, which were announced last July, require travelers to place all electronics larger than a cell phone in bins for X-ray screening in standard lanes."
To my mind almost every electronic item is larger than a cellphone... phone charging bricks, fans, batteries, cords, etc. Do they want all that junk in a bin, or am I overthinking this?
Bombs generally will be organics + electronics. Electronics rarely contain organics other than in thin sheets (their cases). By separating your electronics you greatly reduce the chance they'll see electronics overlaid with organics.
Also, homemade bombs will likely contain a variety of wire. (While it's quite possible to make a circuit board at home it's not exactly what bombmakers generally know how to do.) Electronic devices contain very little wire (it's mostly circuit boards) other than wires used to connect devices (power wires, headphones etc.) Again, everything out makes it less likely you'll have overlaid images that look suspicious.
Dec 30, 19, 11:49 pm
#410
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 25,273
I don't know all the details but there is one thing that's fairly clear:
Bombs generally will be organics + electronics. Electronics rarely contain organics other than in thin sheets (their cases). By separating your electronics you greatly reduce the chance they'll see electronics overlaid with organics.
Also, homemade bombs will likely contain a variety of wire. (While it's quite possible to make a circuit board at home it's not exactly what bombmakers generally know how to do.) Electronic devices contain very little wire (it's mostly circuit boards) other than wires used to connect devices (power wires, headphones etc.) Again, everything out makes it less likely you'll have overlaid images that look suspicious.
Bombs generally will be organics + electronics. Electronics rarely contain organics other than in thin sheets (their cases). By separating your electronics you greatly reduce the chance they'll see electronics overlaid with organics.
Also, homemade bombs will likely contain a variety of wire. (While it's quite possible to make a circuit board at home it's not exactly what bombmakers generally know how to do.) Electronic devices contain very little wire (it's mostly circuit boards) other than wires used to connect devices (power wires, headphones etc.) Again, everything out makes it less likely you'll have overlaid images that look suspicious.
Dec 31, 19, 6:55 am
#411
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Baltimore, MD USA
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Posts: 4,245
In-universe*, the explanation is probably that those in the PreCheck lane are pre-vetted to an inherently higher level of trustworthiness so their possessions require a lower level of scrutiny than some unvetted granny from Glendale or an unvetted business traveler from Boston or an unvetted toddler from Tampa.
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*In-universe is a term used by sci-fi fans to denote explanations that comply with the established rules and premises of completely fictional universes such as those in Star Wars, Star Trek, or Buckaroo Banzai.
Jan 1, 20, 6:29 am
#412
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
Didn't in the recent news from the TSA "whistleblower" he say that x-ray machines at regular checkpoints were lowered in sensitivity to equal those of the Pre-Check x-rays (or was it the body scanners that have been reduced in sensitivity?).
Jan 1, 20, 6:02 pm
#413
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 25,273
Claims that some advanced features of the carry-on bag x-ray machines had been disabled which might explain the all electronics out policy. But, if the x-ray machines can't provide a complete view then why aren't carry-on bags better screened in the Pre lines?
Last edited by Boggie Dog; Jan 2, 20 at 11:59 am
Jan 1, 20, 6:39 pm
#414
Join Date: Oct 2015
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Feb 17, 20, 12:38 pm
#415
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 7
I was still curious, so I did an @ AskTSA on Twitter. I've edited their response to remove my name, a link to a YouTube video, and to join multiple posts, but here is the important part:
Electronics larger than a cell phone applies to laptops, gaming consoles, printers, DVD players, media streaming devices, tablet computers, and e-readers. Your phone charging brick, charging cable, USB power bank, travel fan, and USB charging hub can remain in your carry-on bags.
Feb 18, 20, 6:32 am
#416
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In part for kicks, I decided to take a bunch of huge apples — most bigger than cellphones of sort — inside my carry-on with a whole bunch of electronics and related stuff for my flight yesterday as a PreCheck passenger using a dedicated PreCheck screening checkpoint. There was no extra inspection of my carry-ons and I didn’t remove the food. In other parts of the world and even at the regular TSA screening line or at the TSA checkpoints where there is “PreCheck light”, this “mix” would generally mean that the bag is not getting cleared so fast and easily as with the regular PreCheck screening.
Feb 18, 20, 9:00 pm
#417
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 25,273
Even as that seemed to have been about WTMDs, what you ask is not just a question to be asked about electronics. It should also be asked about food in cabin baggage.
In part for kicks, I decided to take a bunch of huge apples — most bigger than cellphones of sort — inside my carry-on with a whole bunch of electronics and related stuff for my flight yesterday as a PreCheck passenger using a dedicated PreCheck screening checkpoint. There was no extra inspection of my carry-ons and I didn’t remove the food. In other parts of the world and even at the regular TSA screening line or at the TSA checkpoints where there is “PreCheck light”, this “mix” would generally mean that the bag is not getting cleared so fast and easily as with the regular PreCheck screening.
In part for kicks, I decided to take a bunch of huge apples — most bigger than cellphones of sort — inside my carry-on with a whole bunch of electronics and related stuff for my flight yesterday as a PreCheck passenger using a dedicated PreCheck screening checkpoint. There was no extra inspection of my carry-ons and I didn’t remove the food. In other parts of the world and even at the regular TSA screening line or at the TSA checkpoints where there is “PreCheck light”, this “mix” would generally mean that the bag is not getting cleared so fast and easily as with the regular PreCheck screening.
