TSA shares tips for spring travel at Pittsburgh International Airport
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - TSA officers at the Pittsburgh International Airport shared their best tips for spring travel on Tuesday.
First off, when buying your ticket, the TSA recommends making sure the name on your boarding pass and ID match, even if you go by a nickname.
Wear shoes that are easy to take on and off so you can move quickly through checkpoints. To avoid pat-downs, which the TSA said officers aren't too keen on either, spend your time in line emptying your pockets of everything, even non-metallic items like tissues and breath mints.
It's also recommended that you put your phone inside your carry-on and not in a bin where other people have placed their shoes, because you don't want to put your phone in a bin and then touch your face with it.
Don't place small items directly on the X-ray belt because they can fall between the rollers, and officers are also reminding people to never put pets or children through the checkpoint X-ray unit, which the TSA says does happen.
Don't bring your firearm to a checkpoint. Just because someone has a concealed carry permit doesn't mean they can carry a gun onto a plane. Passengers can only travel with firearms if they're unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case in checked baggage.
You can't bring a bottle of water to the checkpoint either, though you can bring an empty or reusable bottle to fill it up on the other side.
For more information on what you can and can't bring, the TSA recommends downloading the myTSA app, which will also tell you estimated wait times at checkpoints and let you know if there are flight delays.
And if you want to get through the line quickly while keeping on your shoes, belt and a light jacket, enroll in TSA PreCheck.
