This year, the Transportation Security Administration has made a few important tweaks to security rules at the airport.
In February, the TSA clarified that portable chargers and power banks containing lithium-ion batteries are banned from checked luggage. If you're bringing them, now you've got to carry them on the plane.
In July came a more welcome modification to the rules: The TSA announced that for the first time in nearly 20 years, passengers no longer have to remove their footwear at airport security checkpoints (with rare exceptions).
Now there's been a change to the list of items banned from checked luggage.
Cordless hair curling irons and flat irons that are powered by gas (butane) have been pronounced unfit for checked luggage.
If airport security officers find that you have packed those items in your bag, your luggage could potentially be confiscated.
If you want to travel with a cordless hair curling iron, you must now put it in your carry-on bag (just like you have to do with those lithium-ion batteries, if you have any).
Why? Because gas-heated curling irons, like battery packs, have been deemed a risk for spontaneous fires. It's much easier to extinguish flames in the main passenger cabin, where there are flight attendants trained to deal with such emergencies, than in the plane's luggage hold, which is unattended.
The prohibition is bad news for Conair and other curler manufacturers that have marketed these items specifically for travel. Many products, like the one pictured below, are sold with travel cases.
Even if you do remember to put your cordless hair curling iron in your hand luggage, the "safety cover must be securely fitted over the heating element," according to the TSA's new information page. (That's not a surprise because it's been the rule for a long time.)
But you should probably think twice about packing a butane-powered curling iron at all, because the spare gas cartridges that heat the iron are also prohibited. (That's nothing new, either. Butane was banned from aircraft many years ago.) You may not bring spare heating cartridges in either checked bags or in carry-ons.
Cordless hair curlers that are heated by rechargeable electric batteries are not affected by the ban. Due to the power of the batteries, however, you might be wise to put those curlers in your carry-on, too, to sidestep potential trouble.
For the full list of items that are banned or restricted by the TSA, consult the agency's newly updated What Can I Bring? list.