I watched a woman at the Denver airport last summer argue with a gate agent for 20 minutes because they pulled her checked bag off the plane. The reason? A portable power bank buried in her suitcase. She had no idea it wasn’t allowed. The flight left without her bag, and she spent the first two days of her vacation wearing airport gift shop clothes while her luggage caught up.
That kind of thing happens constantly. The rules about what you can and can’t put in checked luggage have changed a lot in the past couple of years, and even frequent flyers are getting tripped up. Some of these items will get confiscated. Some will get you fined. And a few could actually delay your entire flight. Here’s the stuff you need to stop tossing in your checked bags.
Spare Batteries and Power Banks
This is the big one, and the TSA is not messing around about it in 2025. Spare lithium-ion batteries and lithium-metal batteries, including portable power banks and phone-charging cases, are completely banned from checked bags. Not discouraged. Banned. If they find one during screening, they will pull your bag, remove the item, and hand it over to the airline as a hazardous material.
The reason is pretty simple. If a lithium battery gets crushed, punctured, or overheats in the cargo hold, it can go into something called thermal runaway, which is basically a chain reaction where the battery keeps getting hotter until it catches fire. In the cabin, the crew can grab a fire extinguisher and deal with it. In the cargo hold, nobody’s watching. In 2024, the FAA recorded 89 incidents of lithium batteries overheating or catching fire on flights. That’s the highest number ever.
All spare batteries and power banks go in your carry-on. Period. If you have larger batteries (between 101 and 160 watt-hours), you’re limited to two per person and you need airline approval ahead of time. Anything over 160 Wh, like big portable power stations or lithium-powered generators, is not allowed on the plane at all.
Laptops, Tablets, and Cameras
Technically, you can put a fully powered-off laptop or tablet in your checked bag. But every travel expert and airline employee will tell you not to. Checked bags get stacked, dropped, tossed onto conveyor belts, and shoved into cargo holds. Your laptop screen doesn’t stand a chance against that kind of treatment.
Then there’s the theft issue. More than a million bags were lost or stolen in a single recent year, and expensive electronics are exactly the kind of items that go missing during the baggage handling process. TSA officers have literally been caught stealing electronics and money from checked luggage over the years. It’s not common, but it happens enough that some companies have policies forbidding employees from checking electronics when they travel for work.
Most airlines won’t reimburse you for lost electronics, either. Their contracts of carriage spell it out clearly. Travel insurance might not cover it if you voluntarily put a $1,200 MacBook in a checked bag. Keep electronics in your carry-on.
Cordless Curling Irons and Butane Styling Tools
This one caught a lot of people off guard. In August 2025, the TSA updated its rules to ban curling irons and straightening irons that use gas or butane cartridges from checked luggage. If they find one in your checked bag during screening, they’ll pull it out and hand it to the airline as a hazardous material.
You can still bring a cordless butane curling iron in your carry-on, but only one per person, the safety cover has to be over the heating element, and you can’t bring spare cartridges. Corded styling tools are fine in either checked or carry-on bags. If you want the simplest option, just bring a regular corded curling iron or flat iron and skip the hassle. If your hotel or Airbnb doesn’t have one, a basic Conair or Revlon corded flat iron runs about $15 to $25 at Walmart or Target.
Vapes and E-Cigarettes
E-cigarettes and vapes use lithium-ion batteries, which puts them in the same category as power banks. They cannot go in checked luggage. If you vape, the device has to be in your carry-on bag. You can’t use it on the plane, obviously, but it has to be with you in the cabin.
A lot of travelers don’t think twice about tossing a disposable vape pen into a checked bag, but that’s exactly the kind of device that can cause a fire in the cargo hold. Just stick it in your jacket pocket or personal item and move on.
Jewelry, Cash, and Important Documents
Airlines are very upfront about this in the fine print nobody reads. If your checked bag gets lost and your grandmother’s engagement ring was inside, the airline will not pay for it. Most airline contracts of carriage specifically exclude jewelry, cash, electronics, and heirloom items from reimbursement, even if the airline loses the bag entirely.
Same goes for passports, birth certificates, and other personal documents. Beyond the obvious problem of losing them, those documents contain enough personal information to make identity theft easy. About 7 out of every 1,000 passengers deal with lost luggage. Those aren’t terrible odds, but they’re not great odds for your passport and a wad of vacation cash. Keep anything valuable or irreplaceable in your carry-on or personal item.
Fireworks, Sparklers, and Anything That Pops
It’s not just the big stuff. Sparklers, bang snaps, poppers, bottle rockets, all of it. Fireworks of any kind are banned from both checked and carry-on luggage, year round. The TSA says they see a spike in people trying to bring them around the 4th of July, but the ban applies every single day. Don’t buy fireworks on vacation and try to fly home with them. Don’t pack leftover sparklers from a wedding. Just leave them behind.
Pressurized Containers
This category is bigger than most people realize. Propane canisters, CO2 cartridges, scuba tanks, spray paint, bear spray, whipped cream canisters, those are all banned from checked bags. Changes in air pressure during the flight can cause pressurized containers to expand and potentially burst.
If you’re heading to a camping trip or a scuba destination, just rent or buy the pressurized gear once you arrive. One exception: if you used a small propane canister during your trip and it’s completely empty, you can pack it in your checked bag to recycle or refill at home. But it has to be truly empty.
High-Proof Alcohol
Most alcohol is fine in checked luggage as long as it’s in unopened retail packaging. Wine, beer, regular vodka, tequila, all good. But anything over 140 proof (70% alcohol by volume) is completely prohibited in both checked and carry-on bags. That includes Everclear, Golden Grain, and certain overproof rums like John Crow Batty Rum.
For regular liquor between 48 and 140 proof (24% to 70% ABV), you’re limited to 5 liters per passenger in checked bags. So if you’re bringing back a few bottles of rum from the Caribbean, you’re fine. Just don’t try to bring home a bottle of 190-proof grain alcohol.
Specialty Glues and Flammable Adhesives
Model glue, rubber cement, and certain superglues are all considered flammable and cannot go in checked luggage. If you bought a model kit or craft supplies on vacation, check the label before packing. Regular white school glue (like Elmer’s) is fine. But anything with a flammable warning on the label needs to stay out of your suitcase. If you’re a crafter heading to a retreat or convention, ship your supplies ahead or buy them when you get there.
Smart Luggage With Non-Removable Batteries
Smart suitcases with built-in USB charging ports became popular a few years ago, and the rules around them have gotten stricter. If your smart bag has a removable battery, you need to take the battery out before checking the bag and carry it in the cabin with you. If the battery is built in and can’t be removed, major airlines (including American, Delta, and United) will not accept the bag as checked luggage at all.
If you’re shopping for luggage at places like Amazon, Walmart, or TJ Maxx, look for smart bags with batteries that pop out easily. Brands like Away and Samsonite make models with removable batteries specifically for this reason. If you already own a smart bag with a non-removable battery, it can only fly as a carry-on.
The Penalty for Getting This Wrong
One last thing worth knowing. Failing to declare dangerous items in your luggage isn’t just a slap on the wrist. Under federal law (49 U.S.C. 5124), you could face fines up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison. That’s the extreme end, and most people just get their stuff confiscated, but the law is on the books and the TSA does pursue civil penalties. A quick check of the rules before you pack takes about five minutes and could save you a massive headache at the airport.
