I Asked a Friendly TSA Agent to Share the One Packing Mistake That Gets People Stuck in Security

The way I see it, there are two kinds of travelers: Those who get to the airport three hours early so they can make sure their gate exists, grab a coffee, and catch up on the news before boarding, and those, like me, who roll in at the last minute because they want to spend as little time as possible at the airport before boarding their flight. Whichever archetype you are, there is one reigning truth that unites us all: No one wants to spend extra time stuck in the security line.

And, according to one former Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent I spoke to, there is one obvious yet common mistake many travelers make that ups their chances of getting caught up in security: overpacking their carry-on. And there’s actually a very good reason why this should be avoided at all costs. 

“I always advise travelers to never overpack their carry-on bags,” says Michael Delgado, a former Transportation Security Officer (TSO). Packing your carry-on so it bulges isn’t necessarily a faux pas in itself, but it could mean more time and hassle when going through the security line.

Although I’ve never had the airline weigh my carry-on luggage, some carriers have weight limits, and all have size limitations. The standard is that cabin baggage should fit in the overhead bin, and you should be able to lift it yourself (or with the help of a kind fellow passenger, as I’ve experienced at times). While those are airline-specific regulations, TSA sees all passengers — no matter which plane they board.

So, what’s the holdup? An overfilled suitcase is more difficult to screen. “It makes your bag harder to see through the X-ray,” says Delgado. Not being able to see what’s inside during screening — or seeing a jumbled mess of unidentifiable objects — can mean your bag may need to be hand-screened “because the X-ray operator can not readily identify the masses in the bag,” he says.

If your bag is overpacked, it’s 10 times more likely to be pulled for a secondary screening, warns Delgado. That means two TSOs will need to get involved in a visual inspection of the contents of your carry-on. Once your bag gets pulled, you’ll have to wait in the queue (if other pieces of luggage are being hand-screened ahead of yours) until you are called for your bag. 

Typically, an officer will have you stand close by so that you can observe the inspection and answer any questions they may have. Afterward, you may have to rearrange or repack your bag once the contents are assessed, which can eat up even more time at security. And sometimes, you might even have to discard things.

Although I haven’t had my carry-on pulled because I overpacked, I have had my bag of cords (to be fair, it does have four charging cords rolled up in separate compartments) flagged for extra screening. It happened twice, so I now pull the cord bag out of my hand luggage from the start so that TSA agents can view it more easily (which is a tip I’d recommend).

If you overfill your baggage, remove any self-contained packing cubes and put them in a separate bin to eliminate having one large block of packed items. If you’re looking for ways to avoid overpacking, take a look at the things pro travelers never pack in their carry-on and what flight attendants always avoid packing for inspiration of what to cut from your own luggage. While traveling with just a carry-on is freeing, getting stuck in the security line because you overstuffed your bag and fretting about missing your flight is probably not worth that extra outfit or neck pillow.