Tips for taking gifts through airport security

Don’t set yourself up for disappointment when you travel with wrapped gifts. (Courtesy Thinkstock)

It’s father’s day or the time of year that sends people dashing through the airport with arms full of holiday presents, ready to bring them to loved ones across the country, all fanciful and wrapped beautifully.

But should they be? Taking a wrapped gift through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is always an interesting proposition, so let’s run through a few tips as we approach Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanzaa.

• You CAN bring a wrapped gift through the security lines at any airport in the country, but be forewarned: The TSA reserves the right to unwrap and open the gift if it believes it has seen something suspicious during the scanning process. It might not be a bad idea to play it safe and bring wrapping paper and tape through security and wrap the gift at the gate, although you might have to improvise on a pair of scissors.
• Be diligent about what you take as a gift. Anything that even remotely resembles a weapon – even a water gun – is not allowed and can be confiscated. Forget about the wrapping being ruined; the TSA can outright take the gift.
• Large gifts, such as a golf club, baseball bat, etc., should be checked as luggage.
• Got anything that involves liquid? Sorry—holidays are given no special treatment, so any gift that has more than 3.4 ounces of fluid will be confiscated.

Here’s a TSA video on the can-do’s and can’t-dos of holiday travel. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=tsa+gift+packing+video&qpvt=tsa+gift+packing+video&FORM=VDRE