Can you bring Walkie Talkies on a Plane?

Packing your bags for a well-deserved trip with your family? Surely, if you own a pair of walkie talkies, you have this question: Can I bring walkie talkies on a plane?

The answer should not come from your relatives or friends. You should rely on yourself to make sure that you get the correct answer to this question. For a hassle-free journey, make an effort to get the right information from those in authority. The TSA and your airline are the best sources for this.

 

Short Answer

Yes, you can bring your walkie talkies on a plane. Keeping them in your carry-on bag or checked bag is allowed. Just make sure that these fit in the overhead bin or under your seat. As for the batteries, there are guidelines on the TSA website that you must know. There are limits on battery sizes and quantity. Read thoroughly. However, you may be able to follow all the TSA rules about bringing of walkie talkies on a plane, the final approval still depends on the TSA officers.

 

Long Answer

 

You should do the planning a few days before you travel. More importantly, before you pack your bags (carry-on and checked bags), make sure that you know what and what not to bring. This is especially true if you plan to travel with your walkie talkies. You don’t want any hassle while you are in the airport’s screening process.

Below are the TSA rules that are followed by airlines. Your airline may also have additional guidelines that you may want to check.

 

TSA Rules

The Transportation Security Administration or TSA has rules for bringing walkie talkies on a plane. Avoid the inconvenience, read and understand their regulations before you think about having your walkie talkie with you when you travel.

For more information, you may visit the TSA website.

 

Radio

According to the TSA website, you can bring your radio either on carry-on bags or checked bags. However, you must make sure that it will fit when you put it in the overhead bin or underneath your seat. Otherwise, you will not be permitted to bring them with you.

If you will notice, though, there’s a part that says the TSA officer has the final decision on whether this item will be allowed when you go through the checkpoint. I believe that they have written or enumerated some factors that will prevent travelers from bringing their walkie talkies on a plane. Thus, they have this ‘disclaimer.’

 

Lithium Batteries

If you have a lithium battery with 100-watt hours or less installed in your walkie talkies, you may have nothing to worry about as it is allowed for checked or carry-on bags. However, TSA specifically prohibits loose lithium batteries in checked bags. Meaning, you can put these items in your carry-on bags instead.

Soon as you reach the planeside or the gate, you will be asked to remove these batteries from your carry-on bag. You will put them in the aircraft cabin above or near you. This procedure is strictly followed to make sure that the battery terminals are safe from a short circuit.

The same rule applies if your spare batteries for your walkie talkie are rechargeable lithium-ion or lithium metal, as well as if you have external battery chargers for lithium-ion batteries.

Learn more here: Lithium battery with 100 watt hours or less.

Subject to airline approval, you may be able to put lithium batteries that are over 100-watt hours only in your carry-on bags—not checked bags. Each of the allowed 2 spare batteries must not exceed 160-watt hours. If you have only one spare battery, it must not go beyond 300-watt hours. To reiterate, this may or may not be allowed.

Learn more here: Lithium battery with over 100 watt hours.

 

Battery Size and Quantity Limits

TSA limits the entry of lithium metal batteries that are not rechargeable. Only 2 grams are allowed per battery. The same procedure applies to all other types of lithium batteries for personal electronic gadgets.

You may be allowed to carry one or two spares of larger lithium-ion batteries (from 101 to 160-watt hours) or lithium metal batteries weighing 2 to 8 grams. This will depend on the approval of the airline.

These battery size limits include the larger batteries for laptop computers and audio/visual equipment.

Again, the TSA officer will assess the situation and have the final say on whether he will allow you or prevent you from going inside the plane with your walkie talkies. This is even if you carry the permitted lithium batteries with 100-watt hours or less installed in your radio.

As long as the batteries are for personal use, there are no limits on how many of these batteries you can bring. However, for larger-sized batteries mentioned earlier, you are limited to only 2 spare batteries.

Learn more here: Battery Size and Quantity Limits.

 

 

Travel Worry-Free

Airline officers follow protocols strictly. They perform their duties to ensure the safety of all passengers—and that includes you. It would help if you did not feel disappointed with these TSA regulations and instead follow them without hesitations. So when you pack your walkie talkies, see to it that these would be permitted.

For more information on what and what not to bring on a plane, particularly when the information you need is regarding your walkie talkies, you must check with your airline the rules that apply to your situation. The majority of the regulations are the same as other airlines. However, it is still best to consult with them so you can travel without any worries. You may visit their website or get the contact information of the airline’s customer service. Talk to support so you can obtain the appropriate information.

 

Conclusion – Can you bring walkie talkies on a plane?

Yes, you can. Your walkie talkies, along with their batteries, must be for your personal use only. You can choose to keep it on your carry-on bag or your checked bag. What’s important is that it has to fit under your seat or underneath the overhead bin. The TSA, however, has set some rules, particularly with the battery sizes and quantity, which you have to follow to make sure that you’ll have a worry-free travel. Your airline, on the other hand, may have additional guidelines.

If you want to know more about these regulations, you may choose to talk to a customer service representative of the airline. Listen, write down, understand, and remember everything. You do not want to get stressed out before you reach your destination because you do not know or intentionally ignore the rules.