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Tips for Traveling Through a Security Checkpoint with Your Pet – TSA

October 3, 2023 • 0 Comment

If you want to fly with a small pet, your pet can travel with you in the cabin of the aircraft on many airlines. Before you can board the plane, however, the pet must be screened by TSA officers at the security checkpoint. With the holiday travel period approaching, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is expecting to see a marked increase in the number of pets brought to the security checkpoint at airports around the country. Traveling through the security checkpoint with your pet can be easy when you know what to expect. Below are some tips from TSA:

  • All pets should be brought to the security checkpoint in a hand-held travel carrier.
  • Remove the pet from the carrier just prior to the beginning of the screening process.
  • Place the empty travel carrier so it can be x-rayed.
  • Never place a pet in the x-ray tunnel. The x-ray at the security checkpoint is used to screen passengers’ personal property and carry-on luggage only.
  • If possible, carry the pet during the screening process. Alternately, a pet can walk through the screening process if the owner has the pet on a leash.
  • A TSA officer will give the pet owner’s hands an explosive trace detection swab to ensure there is no explosive residue on the owner’s hands.
  • Once the screening process is complete, owners should return the pet to the travel carrier at the re-composure area away from the security checkpoint. This location helps ensure the safety of the pet as well as other passengers.

    Here are some other travel tips to make your trip thru security as easy as possible:

  • Acclimate the pet to the process of traveling by familiarizing it with the travel carrier in the days leading up to the trip. This familiarization will help ensure the pet is more relaxed as it travels through the security process and the airport.
  • Be on the lookout for “working” K9s and handlers at the airport. Areas where it is common to see a working K9 at airports may include a security checkpoint or in the terminal concourse. If you encounter a working canine, please be screened at an alternate checkpoint.
  • Know the temperament of your pet and ensure that you can maintain control of it in a busy and potentially crowded transportation environment. This is especially important for cats, who often get skittish when they are removed from their pet carrier and hear and see the sounds and sights of a checkpoint.
  • Travelers who have pets that may be skittish when removed from a pet carrier, and may attempt to struggle or jump away should request that a TSA officer screen the pet in a private screening room. The traveler will be escorted to the room with the pet still in its carrier.
  • When traveling with service animals and pets, it is a good idea to contact your airline directly for policy details as they vary by airline and time of year.
  • Familiarize yourself with the pet relief areas at airports. There are locations available outside the terminal and after security at many airports. Find pet relief areas at airports in the U.S. here. Find pet relief areas at airports in Canada here.

    More Information
    Taking your human on a plane: what every pet needs to know – TSA
    Information on the TSA’s regulations regarding pets going through airport checkpoints.

    TSA provides tips on traveling with pets through airport security

    Don’t put pets through airport X-ray machines, TSA says






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    Tips for Traveling Through a Security Checkpoint with Your Pet – TSA