This helps. It's what I thought the rules meant, but your version is much clearer and more direct.

I can work within these rules.

Thanks again for all your efforts, Bart. ^ ^

yes it does and thank you ^. now in line with that, if i can ask another question...yesterday, goalie-sis was msy-dca and had her 4oz bottle of saline ("not in the baggie" but in her briefcase) confiscated-even after declaring it. using your explanation, she should have been allowed to bring it with her in her briefcase am i right.

now on a related aside-she asked a supervisor after passing thru as to why and before she was given an explanation, she was asked for i/d so what does she pull both her dhs and retired military i/d's which really thru the supv for a loop as the supv asked she was a "plant". goalie-sis said no (she isn't) and just wanted a consistent answer-the one she got was "it's policy but if you want, i can make an exception for you and retreive the item for you" goalie-sis almost blew a gasket as a) you can't make exceptions-security is there for a reason but it needs to be done right and b)-"assuming you did make the exception, do think i would aactually use the saline after it had been sitting in a trash barrell"

I've got an 8 oz bottle of sunscreen. Can I pour it into a 3 oz unmarked bottle (actually two bottles one for my son and one for me).

Will they confiscate unmarked clear plastic bottles with 3 oz??

Thanks.

keith

From others' experiences ... a definite maybe on that. :td:

my little botttles are all mismarked
 

Almost all of my little travel size 3 oz. bottles do not contain what the label says. I reuse them and fill them with other things. I may have shampoo in a hand lotion bottle, or facial toner in a shampoo bottle. Some of them have been used so much the writing has worn off-they are essentially unmarked. Almost none show the ounces.

Is TSA going to open and sniff to see if the ingredients match the label? If not, will my little bottles be taken away? What if the ounces aren't marked? Will screeners just eyeball size and let them through if the "look" to be about 3 ouces?

Based on what I have just read...better for your stuff to be in the original manufacturer's packaging...even if what is inside is not actually what came in the original bottle :)

Indeed, this was my experience. However, I'm going to try it again (bringing the same tiny containers in my Ziploc, which, btw, cleared SAT no problem, thanks to Bart!) this coming Wednesday, same airport, same time, same day of week. I'll be bringing a printout from TSA.gov plus Bart's recommendations from earlier in this thread. Let's see what happens this time. Because frankly, they don't make manufacturer-labeled bottles that are small enough that all my toiletries would EVER fit into that baggie. I just can't help it- I'm a high-maintenance girl!

GG

I'm trying to find somewhere on the TSA web pages that says explicitly that liquids CAN be in unmarked containers. Is there such a place? Thanks.

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That is a great analogy, Bart.

Cheers,

"Crystalysis1"

Just make sure none of the reused bottles are labeled liquid explosives, or such. :)

Went on a late night hunt for 3 oz plastic containers at wally world last night but all I could find is 4 oz plastic containers. I thought I'll try them and just fill them half way and thought all would be OK for my trip today. I was contemplating on taking off the label but I didn't.....Well stopped at the "liquid checkpoint" and showed my plastic bag with liquid containers. She looked over them and said I couldn't bring them through....I said well they are only half full (=2oz) but no change in her mind since the bottle said 4 oz. Luckily its only one night I'm going to be gone but I guess I'm going to have to try harder in finding 3oz bottles. :rolleyes:

I got some Sprayco "travel twins" 3 oz bottles at K-Mart (who had a whole section with travel-sized toothpaste etc.). They don't actually say "3 oz" on them but the label for the pair does. In case it helps, UPC is 4641210186.

I love the Transportation Stupidity Administration.

Today, flying SJC-SEA, I printed out their list of approved and prohibited items. When they saw my 4 oz bottle of saline solution, they said I cannot fly with it. I argued with them, and pulled out their list I printed from their web site.

The lady stated, "We don't follow that list, we have our own." I asked for her name and badge number, and for her supervisor.

Supervisor comes over and apologizes, and lets me through with my contact lens solution. After screening, I ask what the issue is with the saline solution, which is expressly allowed.

He states that they only allow saline solution if it is medically required. I state that without my contact lenses, I cannot see. He kinda, sorta agrees, without expressly stating so.

Thank you Uncle Sam for making flying more difficult than doing one's taxes.

Bart, are we talking about 3 ozs of weight or 3 liquid ozs (which is a size measurement)?

Also, will TSA screeners know what this translates into if I bring foreign containers with the sizes marked in grams or mls?

If you want the email for the Customer Service Manager from the TSA for SJC, let me know via private message.

I emailed her about the same exact issue last week in Terminal A - and she apologized and said she would clear it up.

This is one of the "bad" features of the "american" measuring system--the same word for two different types of measures. One oz is a volume oz and the other a weight oz. I think the tsa rules (for liquids) refer to volume oz's. 33.8 oz (volume) = 1 liter. [In the metric system liter (litre) is a volume measure, gram is a weight measure--different words.]

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Ah, but did she say when ? Apparently not.Which we have known all along. First time they have actually said as much though, I think.

Quick, retrain that err... lady - some SSI violation here shurely :rolleyes:

Just wanted to let everyone know that I made it through security in IND yesterday with my mini, hand-labeled and unlabeled bottles. : )

GG

I had no problems today in SFO. Just a quick glance and they where deemed fine.

in fact i had a pleasant experience. The checkpoint was lightly trafficked and the girl at the metal detector wanted to chat for a bit. We spent a good 10 minutes talking (not about security), it was quite pleasant. There was no other customer there during that whole time.

Yippie! Did they question them at all?

The Ooze Test
 

In Seattle, I saw TSA doing the ooze test. Someone had a container of something that might have been gel. So they held it upside down for a minute. If it OOZED, then it's a gel, otherwise it was OK as a solid.

So I will now freeze everything right before going to the airport.

I tried that logic @ BOS with my gel deodorant: it's one piece! :(

Nope. I wrote a full report here, post #1734.

:)
GG

I think that the TSA should place on its homepage a picture of this procedure being done. Heck, I would like to have a picture of that. Think of the possibilities. :D

Late to the party, since I just got back from the Bahamas, but yes, that's exactly what happened at EWR. My shampoo in a travel-sized 3 oz Nalgene bottle was confiscated because it was not labeled. Or, as the screener said, "I know it's not a threat, but I am taking it anyway".

Travel with unmarked containers at your own risk. It seems to be very much about what the screener thinks the rule is.

Dear Bart,

I just wanted to confirm something that we were told at the airport this past weekend and confirmed by the TSA agent at the airport. Penn State's Ag program produces great ice cream and packs it to go in dry ice. We didn't buy any since we could never imagine that ice cream, not alone dry ice, would be allowable under the new rules.

However, a guy on our flight was able to bring the ice cream in a bag on board in his carry-on as long as there was no more than 4 lbs. of dry ice. The concern seemed to be more over the dry ice than the ice cream.

Does this work?

Thanks in advance.

WHAT? What did you say/do? Did you ask for a supervisor?

Remember: bring your prohibited items list printout and Bart's instructions to speak with a GSC so you know what to do and say when this happens. That is NOT right!!! Plus, it should NOT be up to the screeners to interpret the rules. ARGH!!! :mad:

GG <- my troublyness seems to be increasing, LOL

Is that a Stephen Colbert word?

No, it's a Bouncer word. It's part of my first-ever FT-given moniker (post #1738). :D

GG

I was running a bit late so I didn't have time to go a couple of rounds with a supervisor. I did inform the screener that I knew for a fact that the bottle was under 3 ounces and that it contained shampoo, but she insisted on taking it anyway, her explanation being that she could not accept my word as to the size or the contents since it was unlabeled and therefore she was confiscating it. Hence the, I know it's not a threat but I am taking it anyway remark.

Silly me didn't bring my usual printout since I didn't think I had anything that would trip their radar, other than a prescription tooth medication in original packaging that was under 3 ounces that I could have dumped in my Freedom Baggie (TM) if they'd given me crap for it.

Ironically, I was concerned about losing my prescription toothpaste at EWR the most...and they didn't even find it in my bag or inspect it. So apparently, if I want to sneak things through there, the best way is to distract them with a decoy unlabeled bottle of terroristic shampoo.

As a test, I left my face toner in a cheapie travel bottle in the baggie on the return trip through MCO. They didn't bat an eyelash at it.

*sigh* This keeps getting less and less fun.

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I think you are onto something. Shortly after the liquid ban went into place in Aug. I was transiting to the US off an international flight into Canada. I had lotion & some other banned liquids in my backpack that I had intended to transfer to my checked bag before continuing on to the US. I got distracted & forgot, so they should have been confiscated at the checkpoint. However, the agents were in such a tizzy that I was insisting on bring an empty water bottle with me that they completely missed the actual contraband. :rolleyes: Security at its finest.

yet another 3 oz question for bart
 

but first, thanks for all the advice and input.

now as to my question....is there any sop, directive, page number, etc. that one can refer a screener or supervisor to regarding "one's own 2.75oz plastic bottle". what i'm getting at is this-for what's left of my hair ;), i use a bit of hair gel and have decanted it into a small clear 2.75 oz plastic bottle. the bottle has no label and have written "hair gel" on it for 2 reasons-one to tell the screener and 2 so i know what's in it. i've been reading that it has been hit and miss regarding whether one can take it or have it taken but what is the official policy and can a reference be shared so as to inform a screener supv if they are incorrect? thanks as always for your input-tho i may not always agree with it :) and in most cases you are only the messenger, it has all been VERY helpful ^

My wife and I printed up some decorative labels that just wrap around the 3 oz bottles we purchased. For example one for shampoo, with the brand name followed by "shampoo", a nice background and "3 fl oz" on the bottom right. We put these on our bottles. I can't say we've really tested them, since SYR TSA are reasonable (today was SYR-ORD-YVR) but I think it's a good idea to provide information on the bottles. If they think I'm trying to deceive them I can always say "my wife made them for me".

Shouldn't it be written on the bottle that it's the "Kip Hawley Is An Idiot" brand hair gel?

Thanks for the follow-up! I might try it on our next trip.

rotflmao
"khiai" gel.
screener: what's that?
me: just a hair product i picked up in hawaii.
(think it might work?)

Bart, is there an "official" date when we can bring aboard "baggies" for UK-bound flights?