Know the rules and save time boarding holiday flights

Experts predict air travel will be down anywhere from 4-7% over the busy Thanksgiving period next week.

But with fewer flights and available seats, planes and airports may seem as crowded as ever.

The holidays bring out a greater percentage of infrequent travelers, and trying to board with banned items will slow up the trip for you and others.

TSA agents put together some "do's" and "don'ts" as a way to remind fliers at the Eastern Iowa Airport what can present a boarding problem.

Since 2006, security rules limited carry on liquids to nothing larger than three ounces, all placed in a clear, plastic zip-lock bag.

You can carry larger items on checked luggage, but by the time you discover the mistake the luggage is already aboard the plane.

And the biggest "no-no's" confiscated by agents haven't changed.

"What we commonly see at checkpoints are toothpaste and bottles of water, these are things you can't take through a checkpoint, you can get some some of the sterile side if they offer it, or when you get to your destination," said Iowa TSA Security Director Jay Brainard.

It may seem like a minor point, but arriving at a checkpoint with banned items can make things a lot worse during the busiest flying days of the year.

In Cedar Rapids, those days next week are the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after.

Incidentally, if you get to a checkpoint with something you can't carry on an airplane, you can donate it.

The airport's collected seven tons of banned items since 2006, so someone's still not getting the word.

Dave Franzman, KCRG-TV