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At Phila. International Airport, TSA Issues Reminders to Holiday Travelers

By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As we approach the busy holiday travel season, the federal Transportation Security Administration is providing some reminders to air travelers to make the airport checkpoint experience go more smoothly.

Today, at a security checkpoint at Philadelphia International Airport, officials displayed both confiscated items and items accidentally left behind recently by travelers.

The TSA says it confiscates hundreds of specifically prohibited items each month at Philadelphia International: knives and other sharp objects, fake explosive devices and other items shaped like weapons, and more.

Even bottles of drinking water are banned.  If you want to carry water on your flight, bring an empty bottle and fill it after you are past the checkpoint.

TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy also urged holiday travelers not to pre-wrap a gift that may require inspection at the checkpoint.

"Either put it in a gift bag (which can be opened by inspectors), or wrap it when you get to your destination," he advises.

McCarthy says that each time a TSA officer stops to physically screen a carry-on bag, it slows down the line.

"If you go to TSA.gov, in the top right there's a search bar, and it reads,  'Can I bring my...?'  In that search bar you can type in anything, any item, and it will tell you whether you can bring it in your carry-on, in your checked luggage, or whether it's allowed in neither."

Meanwhile, the airport's lost-and-found room is chock full of clothing, electronics, and other possessions left behind at checkpoints that the TSA was unable to reunite with owners.

Ann Pappas of the TSA suggests that you tape a business card to gadgets or put your contact info into a pocket in case you forget an item at the checkpoint.

She says you might also want to stow keys, cell phones, eyeglasses, and other items in your carry-on bag, or a zip lock bag, rather than throwing small items individually into the gray bins at the x-ray machines.

After 30 days, officials say, lost-and-found items are turned over to the state of Pennsylvania's surplus department, which arranges for them to be donated to various charities.

 

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