The TSA has specific guidelines for what size and types of liquids can be carried on an airplane. All liquids must be in containers that hold 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less per item. These containers must be placed in a single, clear, quart-sized bag. Only one item per bag is allowed. The bag may be placed in a carry-on bag or in your checked bag.
How Strict Are The TSA About Quart Sized Bags?
This is the part where you find out all your worrying was probably a waste of time.
At the end of the day, it comes down to the judgment of the TSA officer who inspects your toiletries bag.
And in general, they are not looking very closely at the capacity of your toiletries bag.
You only need to look at the reviews on Amazon to see that while it’s almost impossible to find a clear transparent “TSA compliant” quart bag that’s actually 1-quart size they all have happy customers regardless.
Almost everyone is getting away with it!
Occasionally someone like Kate does get into trouble:
Or Crystal:
If you do want to try to travel with a larger toiletries bag I recommend buying one that isn’t flat. It’s much less noticeable and the dimensions are unlikely to be checked if the front-facing dimensions of the bag are roughly 6 x 9.
You’d probably waltz through with a bag that was 6 x 9 x 2 inches which is almost 2 quarts!
The TSA security officers just eyeball it and so long as it’s about the shape of a paperback book it’ll pass.
There is no measuring or mathematical modeling involved!
Can the bag be larger than one quart?
For example how about a quart vs gallon bag?
Well you certainly couldn’t take a gallon size plastic bag, fill it with containers of liquid and expect to take it through airport security in your carry on baggage. However, a security agent is unlikely to disallow it if it had only 2-3 containers of liquid that were no larger than 3.4 ounces in it.
How strict is TSA with quart size bags?
TSA Security agents do not appear to try to work out the volume of a liquids bag to see if it falls within the TSA 311 bag size rules, so as long as you are close to 1 quart you should be ok.
FAQ
Are Ziploc sandwich bags quart-size?
What size is a quart-size Ziploc bag?
How strict is TSA with quart-size bags?
How much can you fit in a quart-size bag?
