This is what the federal agency has to say about all those viral TikToks.
On this o.k. Thursday morning I am felicitous to announce that no , you havenotlost your marble and your head is not playing untamed tricks on you . The rumour are , in fact , somewhat lawful : TSArules — the one that all of us find ourselves questioning when in descent for airport certificate — do actually change and are not , technically , mark in stone .
Do n’t look at me — the TSA sound out it ! But it ’s a little more complicated than that , so before we get into it , let me explicate why I took it upon myself to embark on this investigative travel journey .
Picture the last clock time you were at the airport . You ’re the next one up for security check , and your laptop is in your bagful . TSA agents are n’t giving you any hints . Do you oh - so - confidently draw in it out of your old bag and place it in a disjoined ABA transit number , do you assertively keep it in your luggage , or do you sheepishly ask an agent what to do ?
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If you ’re like me , and like the majority of travelers , you ’ll happen yourself pick out the last pick — because many travelers are at sea about what to do at protection check , since principle seem to be changing all the time . Within this community of frustrated traveller ( to which I proudly belong ) , a few members decided to share their thoughts on TikTok . Thanks to these picture , I now sleep together I am not alone in my TSA frustrations .
" TSA never fails to make me feel like the dumb individual alive , " read the overtext on a TikTok TV with over 1.4 million views . " On the way here they said ' keep everything in your bags including laptop . ' now on the fashion home they ’re like ' are you [ redacted ] stupid ? Why do you have your laptop in your suitcase ? ? ' "
Many , many traveller appear to have experienced the same phenomenon . On the social media program , other drug user poke playfulness at the position — most of them by bringing up the same old laptop dilemma , like the TikTokers fromthis videoandthis other one .
And so we asked the Transportation Security Administration now . Are they always changing theruleson us or are we losing our minds ? According to TSA representative Lisa Farbstein , the answer is neither .
" TSA has standard operating procedures across the rural area depend on what equipment is at the local checkpoint , which is why it is very important for travelers to ante up attention to the guidance that the TSA officeholder are providing at a checkpoint , " Farbstein told Thrillist . " Our showing procedures are the same , but the technology uncommitted at airports may disagree somewhat . "
In short , TSA linguistic rule always delay the same — but the thing they expect you to do might actuallyvarydepending on the airport you ’re flying out from andits available equipment . At times , you might even run into more or less different unconscious process within the same airport , and it has to do with very specific protection hindrance methodology . " Sometimes military officer remind traveller to bequeath their shoes on if they have been screened by a passenger screening canine while they were in a checkpoint line , " pronounce the representative . " In which event , the traveler can keep their shoe on . Also , travelers 75 and old are permitted to keep on their shoes . "
And to respond everybody ’s query about those goddamn laptops — once again , it depends . This time , it look on the scanners with which the drome is equipped . Computed imaging scanners are thecréme de la crémeof scanner , and they take into account TSA agents to see 3D pictures of your bag and what ’s indoors . As the interpreter explains , in airports that have these scanner on bridge player , rider may be advised to leave their electronics in their bag . If it ’s an X - ray scanner , though , the officers can not access 3D images , so electronics must be taken out and placed one by one .
Hopefully , this has cleared your doubt and given you some public security of mind . This detective mission is over — onto the next one . And if you have any other TSA - related doubts , feel barren to visit the TSA website or reach out directly to the representation on X ( formerly know as Twitter ) or Facebook Messenger at @AskTSA .
