Electric Blanket in Checked Baggage
 

My girlfriend is DRIVING Nuts to see, if she can take her electric blanket to NC for the weekend. We live South Florida.

Please Help as the TSA website is NO help.....USair referred me to the TSA.

SCA

I travel with a heating pad and have had no trouble with United and Air Canada flights (MN & CA) in the past 5 weeks.

Hope that helps.

Worst comes to worse, TSA open her suitcase, see it is an electric blanket and close up her suitcase. No biggie. Stick it on top so they don't have to rummage through her stuff (or put things grouped in large Ziplock bags so nothing falls out by accident.)

Why in the world would it be a problem?

That's what I was wondering...

TSA has problems with a lot of innocuous things like pudding and jello. Why wouldn't it with something that has a whole bunch of wires going thru it?

Carry-on is one thing, checked luggage is another. I don't see how an electric blanket would be any different than packing a hairdryer, cell phone charger, or any other electrical device. If they can't tell what it is on a scanner, they'd just pop open the suitcase, see it's an electric blanket and move on.

If anybody says anything I would just say you are carrying the blanket as food for your python.

Heat 101
 

It would only be a problem if a pax tried to plug it in during the flight. You know, to keep the endangered parrots they're smuggling from freezing in the baggage hold.:D

I would expect it to get a bit of looking if it were carryon, but this is checked.

Nobody's going to stop you from checking pudding or jello, either.

Mrs. Gargoyle took an electic heating pad (about 14 x 18", not a blanket) to Italy in November. I can't recall whether it was in checked or carryon, but either way, it didn't get a second glance.

She then took it to France in Dec., and that was definitely in carryon. Also back to Italy yesterday. No problem on any of those flights.

Should we get a separate FF number for the heating pad, so it can earn EQM's?

Gargoyle: thanks for the heads-up that carryon might be ok. I had to buy a new heating pad in MN and it uses way less watts than my laptop, so when I'm in business class with 110v seat plugs I know it will work. On overnights if my back gives out it would be a blessing so now I need to decide if I really need it (and the hassle of finding something to take out of my carry on bag-of-back-relief-tricks in order to make room for it and still meet UK regs.)

I've been using hot water bottles but they don't work as well and cool off too fast.

It should be ok, but bear in mind that some TSA'ers free-lance, making up rules on the fly. So there is always a chance of hitting one of those bad apples. (but that applies to anything you carry, from sewing needles to frozen lasagna).