Phones Get Stolen At TSA Checkpoints More Often Than You Probably Realized

If you're a frequent flyer, going through airport security checks can feel like a mind-numbing chore standing between you and your destination. You almost go through it on autopilot, letting the airport powers-that-be handle it all. Somewhere in that fugue state, you may forget the very real possibility of making it past every checkpoint minus a phone. And yet, it's a very real possibility.

In fact, according to the TSA, somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 items get left behind at security checkpoints on a monthly basis. Obviously, not all of those are phones, but plenty are. Now, TSA's electronics rules do cover what's allowed in checked bags versus carry-ons, but those guidelines don't really help once a device is sitting unattended in a tray.

Travel + Leisure spoke to one flyer who learned about airport theft the hard way. She was sprinting between gates to catch a connecting flight when she dropped her phone in a bin and kept moving without it. The realization only hit her once the plane started to take off. She pinged the airport from her laptop while still airborne but no reply came back. Eventually, the airport admitted it had never turned up.

Forgetfulness isn't the way you can turn phoneless, though. A viral TikTok from a flier, picked up by the New York Post, has a TSA agent telling her that placing your phone bare in the bin is "the fastest way to get it stolen." Phones, she relayed, are what agents see vanishing the most.

The most basic way to keep your phone safe is rather unglamorous. Just tuck it into a zipped pocket inside your bag before the bag goes anywhere near the scanner belt. That way, anyone with sticky fingers has to fumble through a zipper while standing next to a bunch of TSA agents, which cuts the appeal.

For travelers who have TSA PreCheck (typically US citizens), things get easier. Small electronics can stay inside carry-on bags during screening, which means there's no reason to leave a phone in a tray to begin with. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to most regular passengers, since some TSA checkpoints make you remove your laptop and other bulky devices regardless.

The Travel + Leisure report also features another flyer who once had her camera lifted at an Indonesian security checkpoint. She now sticks to a deliberate loading order. She starts off with her first bin for whatever she cares about least, often just a jacket or a scarf. Then comes the carry-on. Electronics and anything actually worth stealing get loaded last of all.

And if a bag is pulled aside for extra screening, experts suggest asking the agents to gather your other belongings so you can keep them at the inspection table. If a device does still vanish, notify the nearest TSA officer.

If you can't track it down immediately, the TSA holds recovered items for at least 30 days and lets you file a claim through its website. Try to be quick with that, though, as anything not picked up within that holding period gets its memory wiped or destroyed outright to keep personal data from leaking. After submission, an acknowledgement letter with a control number tends to land roughly four to six weeks later.