By now, most people who have been through airport security lines are familiar with the 3-1-1 rule for liquids: all liquids must be in a container that holds 3.4 ounces or less; they must fit in a single one quart size ziplock bag; and only one bag may be used, removed from the carry-on and placed on the conveyor belt.
But what happens if you are coming home from vacation and your forget that you have something in your carry-on that is more than 3.4 ounces? I recently found out on my way home to Newark Airport from Orlando. I've seen plenty of containers in the trash, thrown away for being over the 3.4 ounce limit. However, in my case, the TSA officer asked if he could check my bag after it went through x-ray. He did and pulled out a bag with perfume and lotion in it which I had purchased from a store in Disney World. My heart dropped because I realized what was in the bag. I had no room in my luggage for the bag which came as part of a promotional kit and had put the bag in my carry-on, not thinking of removing its contents. My luggage was already checked so it was too late to put the liquids in my checked bag. The officer looked at the perfume and said I was in luck - the bottle was exactly 3.4 ounces. But then I said there's more in the bag. The lotion was almost 7 ounces. I was determined not to have the lotion, which was not inexpensive, thrown out. Besides, the bottle was signed by the designer! I asked the officer if I could take the lotion and try to find two containers to put the lotion into and he agreed.
My husband and I went first to one of those stores in the aiport that sells magazines, etc, but they didn't have any containers. A customer suggested we go to a store called LUSH and see if they could help us. We did, and they were a big help. Not only did they have 3.4 ounce containers, but they put the lotion in the containers for me and taped them up. They couldn't have been nicer and my problem was solved.
Lesson learned: if something like this happens to you, try to find a place like LUSH, where you can put the liquid in to separate containers, thus satisfying the TSA and getting youself out of the dilemma.
And yes, I know, what difference should it make if you have one bottle with 7 ounces of fluid, or two bottles with 3.4 ounces of fluid in each, but would you really want to question the TSA about that? I don't think so, because you will probably find your precious liquid in the garbage.
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