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5 Things You Should Avoid Carrying in Your Hand Luggage on Flights

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Before you set off for a journey, the most important thing you shouldn’t ignore is luggage planning. It is advisable to plan your packing smartly so that you carry appropriate stuff required by you during the journey and do not carry inappropriate goods which can lead to trouble in your trip. As a traveller, you should know different stuff that you should never carry in your hand luggage on flights. Also, it is advisable to buy a international travel insurance cover with luggage loss and baggage delay cover, which will provide reimbursement of expenses made, to purchase essential items like medicines, toiletries, clothes, etc. due to delay in luggage. Also, if there is a luggage loss, the insured person can get coverage for total or partial loss of checked-in baggage as well as losses for any damage incurred to goods and articles inside the baggage during the luggage check-in.

Now let us see 5 things you should never carry in your hand luggage on flights

• Liquids or Liquor

Liquids like baby food or milk are only allowed up to 100ml. Usually, the security checks what is in the content or tastes of the fluids. Other than that, there is not much worry. If someone carries medicines, due permissions can be taken or adjusted in the check-in luggage. Don’t worry about liquor; a certain amount, as much as 5ltrs with alcoholic levels between 24%-70%, can be in your check-in luggage.

• Avoid Carrying Two Laptops

You can carry one laptop but not two. International flights usually do not allow passengers to carry more than one laptop in their hand luggage. So, remember before you promise someone to help move their laptops to a different city. It won’t be a good idea.

• Toy Replicas of Firearms and Ammunition

It is definitely not a good idea to carry toy replicas of firearms and ammunition in your hand luggage. Carrying these things can unnecessarily lead to a problem at the airport.

• Sharp or Pointed Objects

It is advisable not to carry any sharp objects in your hand luggage. Razor blades, box cutters, swords and sabres, crowbars, nail guns, staple guns, and martial arts and self-defense items are not allowed. It would be best if you avoided them in your hand luggage. However, you can carry your razor in the check-in luggage. Another set of objects you should avoid in your hand luggage are balls of any kind, martial art items, or things you can use to hit or throw at someone.

• Jams

You may want to carry different types of jams in your hand luggage on flight, however, you will be stopped while checking your bags if you are carrying a bottle of a jam. Only if it is less than 100 ml and properly packed inside a plastic bag, the jam bottle can pass through security.

To ensure the security of your belongings, explore Different Ways to Secure Luggage while Travelling.

List of Prohibited Items in Checked and Cabin Baggage

1. Radioactive Items

Radioactive materials are forbidden or heavily controlled in air travel for safety reasons. Radioactive and magnetized chemicals like mercury, drain cleaners, and some briefcases with linked alarms are extremely dangerous. They are thus forbidden in checked and cabin luggage to ensure the safety of crew and passengers.

2. Lithium Batteries

Batteries that are damaged, short-circuited, or have manufacturing faults can cause fires or explosions. The biggest worry is with lithium-ion batteries, widely used in electronic devices like laptop computers, cellphones, cameras, and other portable devices. These batteries have a higher energy density, which makes them more efficient; they are also more susceptible to thermal runaway if damaged or exposed to specific circumstances. If the batteries are transported in checked luggage, the traveller must guarantee that they are less than 100 watt-hours in size. However, a flyer can take 100 to 300 watt-hours of batteries in carry-on luggage.

3. Compressed Gas and Cylinders

Butane, oxygen, liquid nitrogen, propane, Aqua Lung cylinders, fire extinguishers, oxygen tanks, SCUBA tanks, and other deeply refrigerated or flammable gases are prohibited in checked and cabin luggage. If you require oxygen, you must carry a portable oxygen concentrator or request that your airline offer oxygen assistance.

4. Oxidising Materials

Bleaching powder or liquid, peroxides, chlorine for pools and spas, spillable batteries, drain cleaners, spray paint, fertilisers, paint strippers, tear gas, strong acids, and fire extinguishers are all considered hazardous and are not permitted on commercial passenger aircraft. Corrosive materials such as alkalis, wet cell batteries, mercury, acids and mercury-containing gear are forbidden in checked and cabin luggage.

List of Prohibited Items in Cabin Baggage

1. Liquids

Many individuals think that liquids such as packaged beverages or body lotions are acceptable to bring on board a flight, but the fact is considerably different. Liquids such as infant food, milk, and toiletries are limited to 100ml. Remember that the bottle carrying the liquid should be transparent. You do not need to bother packing water because the flight attendants will serve you as required during the journey.

2. Guns and Firearms

You may carry well-packaged ammunition and unloaded weapons, starter pistols, BB guns, compressed-air guns such as pellet guns, paintball markers, and toy replicas in checked luggage, but remember to disclose them at the security check-in. The firearm must be unloaded and stored in a rigid-sided container if allowed by the concerned officials. However, some airlines will not accept ammunition, even if it is well-packaged. Along with guns, ammunition, firecrackers, tear gas, torch lights and gunpowder, weapons such as whips, nan-chakus, batons and shock guns are prohibited.

3. Sharp or Pointed Objects

Almost every sharp object you can imagine will not be allowed on an aircraft in your hand baggage. This includes obvious weapons such as knives, Swiss army knives, saws, swords, and machetes, as well as minor devices with blades such as pairs of scissors measuring 4" or longer. Baseball, softball, cricket bats, clubs and sticks like wooden poles, cues, bludgeons, truncheons, and martial arts equipment are considered blunt instruments that might cause significant physical damage or endanger aircraft safety.

4. Explosives and Flammable Items

Fireworks, flares, hand grenades, blasting caps, dynamite, detonators and fuses, smoke canisters and smoke cartridges, flammable paints, butane, fuels, gasoline, gas torches, lighter fluid, strike-anywhere matches, paint thinner, arc lighters, plasma lighters, electronic lighters, E-lighters and replicas of explosive materials are all prohibited on board aircraft. However, you may include fuel-free or disassembled lighters in checked luggage. These items have the potential to inflict significant physical harm or pose a hazard to the aircraft's safety. Bringing them on board will cause unnecessary difficulties for the passengers.

Check for Items You may Carry

1. Batteries

Almost everyone carries a phone and laptop charger with them at all times. There are restrictions on taking batteries on board; however, you can pack dry batteries in either cabin or checked luggage. You can carry lithium batteries with 100-watt hours or fewer in the cabin baggage if they cannot be removed from the device. You are not allowed to bring open lithium batteries on a flight.

2. Medicines

You can bring prescription and over-the-counter medicines in unspecified amounts on board the flight. Other medical essentials, like inhalers, EpiPens, casts, canes, crutches, blood-sugar test kits, liquid nourishment for travellers with disabilities, and medical equipment like mastectomy supplies, can also be brought in cabin luggage.

3. Pets

Some people love to travel with their pets. Some airlines permit their passengers to carry small pets, but they are thoroughly checked at security. Nevertheless, you have to contact the airline for their policy. Pets must be in an airline-approved pet carrier that fits below the seat in front of you. The carrier should have ample ventilation for their safety.

4. Small Tools

Pliers, screwdrivers, and wrenches are permitted as long as they are 7 inches or shorter. You may also bring nail clippers, pill cutters, and tiny scissors with blades no longer than 4 inches. All other tools, particularly sharp ones, should be carefully wrapped and placed in checked luggage.

5. Expensive Items

Although it is not an official necessity, jewellery, cash, and other expensive items must be carried as long as they comply with security standards. It's a good idea to store them in a separate compartment in travel bags or cabin luggage to keep them orderly. If you keep them in checked baggage, you risk losing your luggage, and the airline will not be liable for your expensive items and will not reimburse you.

6. Electronic Devices

Most electrical equipment is fragile and expensive. Thus, they must be treated with care. However, because it is impossible to determine whether the bags are treated gently or not, they should avoid keeping them in checked baggage in the first place. The airlines do not cover loss of property or theft. So, you must avoid putting them in checked luggage and choose cabin baggage to travel electrical items safely. Taking your electronic gadgets to the security screening station would be best.

FAQs

1. What is banned from hand luggage?

The particular things prohibited from hand luggage differ according to the airline, nation, and airport security requirements. However, there are some general limits and bans that are routinely enforced. Here are some items that are often prohibited or limited in hand luggage:

• Sharp and blunt objects like knives, razors, box cutters, scissors, bats, etc.

• Flammable items like fireworks, gasoline, and lighter fluid

• Chemicals like bleach, pepper spray, tear gas, chlorine

• Tools like crowbars, saws, drills, guns, pistols and firearms

2. What items are not allowed on a plane in hand luggage?

Certain things are not permitted in hand baggage due to safety concerns. Such goods include chemicals, hazardous compounds, explosives, bleach, combustible objects, liquids, gels, and aerosols. Note that liquids up to 100ml are permitted. Sporting equipment with sharp points or edges is likewise prohibited in hand luggage. You are not allowed to carry firearms, including hunting rifles, guns, pistols, revolvers, toy guns, replica firearms, and fake guns that mimic real weapons. It is always advisable to go through the airline website for better clarity.

Conclusion

Next time when you are flying ensure that you do not carry the above-mentioned goods in your hand luggage on flights. Also, to keep the goods in your checked-in luggage secure and also to avoid any financial loss due to any other journey-related trouble like flight delays, it is advisable to fly with a valid travel insurance policy.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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