TSA dos and don'ts for holiday travelers

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Though it may not feel like it outside, we are just weeks away from Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday travel season.

Before you start planning your trip over the river and through the woods, the TSA wants to make sure you're up to speed on what you can and cannot carry.

On Monday the TSA showed us tubs of heavy tools - some with razor sharp edges - taken from travelers.

Agents have confiscated large knives, brass knuckles, replicas of grenades, ammo - all forbidden.

A nice wrapper doesn't help, as someone carrying a set of carving knives found out.

Michael McCarthy of the TSA tells us, "This was a wrapped item. But it is a carving set. So this is an item that would not be allowed in your carry on luggage."

The knives could legally go in checked luggage, says Michael McCarthy.

Same with firearms. But first you must contact your airline.

"The right way is to declare it to your airline, put it in a hard-sided locked case unloaded," McCarthy said.

It also seems we leave a lot behind at the TSA checkpoints - belts, coats, and even carry on luggage.

More than a half dozen lap tops were left behind this month, along with cell phones, keys, IDs - all left behind in those gray tubs.

Anna Pappas, who oversees the TSA Lost and Found, advises travelers to consolidate while waiting in line.

She tells us, "Just gather all of those items and put them in your carry on bag prior to walking through the security checkpoint."

As for the electronics you can't fit into your carry on, Anna says, "Put a business card on your laptop."

If you are one of the many who has left belongings behind, you can contact the TSA Lost and Found through the following contact information:

610-521-7206
Open Monday - Friday, 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
phllostandfound@tsa.dhs.gov