TSA Guidelines on Bringing E-Cigarettes and Vapes on Planes

Airlines regularly allow passengers to bring their E-Cigs, Vapes and accessories onto flights.

Do you have big trip coming up? Are you going to Europe for a week and don’t know if you can bring your vape on your travels? Well, good news.

You can bring your vape with you on a plane, but there are some rules every vape-enthusiast needs to be aware of.

1. First and foremost is that vaping and charging your battery on the plane is prohibited and extremely dangerous.
2. Second is to always double-check with the airline’s rules and restrictions to make you are complying with their policies.

However, this article will explain how you can safely and legally bring your vape or e-liquids on most plane trips and into airports without trouble.

Speaking of trouble... Be sure to check if vaping is allowed in the place your are going. Many countries have made vaping illegal to use or illegal to sell vape products.

Carry On Bags, Ok. Checked Bags, No.

When you take your vape, make sure it’s backed on your carry-on and not your check in luggage. When a carry-on bag is checked at the gate or plane side, all electronic cigarette and vaping devices, along with any spare lithium batteries, must be removed from the bag and should be taken with you in the aircraft cabin.

According to the TSA website, passengers are allowed to bring onto the plane electronic cigarettes and vaping devices, such as batteries, atomizers, only in their carry-on bags. However, passengers are not allowed to have any of these vape related items in their checked bags due to safety measures.

How much vape juice can I take on a plane?

For carry on bags, passengers are allowed to carry up to 100ml of liquids such as e-juice bottles. Anything more than 100ml will have to be put inside the checked baggage. It’s advised to avoid glass containers because it could be considered a hazard and has the possibility of breaking and spilling.

It is recommended that passengers place bottles in a quart-sized clear zip-lock bag.

This should allow you travel with more than one 100ml bottle if needed.

Batteries Allowed Only in Carry On

You may travel with dry batteries (AA, AAA, C, and D) in your carry-on or checked baggage. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits loose lithium batteries from being transported in checked baggage.

It’s a good idea to bring a vape battery case to hold your batteries for the duration of the trip. Always take precaution. You wouldn’t want to be the next guy who ends up on the news for starting a fire during a flight because your vape pen decided to explode!

Typically most vape devices and E-cigarettes are powered by lithium batteries, which, if exposed to excessive heat or damage, can lead to disastrous consequences. In one instance, a fire erupted mid flight on an American Airlines trip when a passenger with a carry on e-cigarette claimed the device malfunctioned and had a thermal runaway. The device began to overheat increasingly, resulting in a small fire that was immediately extinguished by the crew. Luckily, no one was harmed, but it did result in questions being raised concerning the safety of traveling with vaporizers and e-cig devices.

To avoid potential fires it is always a good idea to read up on how to properly care for e cigarettes and vape batteries. With vape technology advancing year after year it is always good to stay up to date on how to charge and carry your device. 

Other vape tips when traveling...

Stock up on coils

You might have a good idea of when to change your vape coil already but having a couple of coils to replace ones that have burnt out will make sure your vape experience is not affected. Carrying some with you can save you in a crunch instead of having to look for a local vape shop in the country you are going to.

Consider buying empty vape juice bottles

TSA and most airline carriers do not allow bottles over 100ml. This can be a problem due to some vape juice bottles being available in a 120ml option. Buying some empty e liquid bottles that are smaller than 100ml might be a good idea to distribute your e juice into approved TSA liquid containers.

Empty your vape tank

Cabin pressure inside the airplane can cause the e liquid in your vape tank to leak. Emptying your vape tank ahead of time can save e juice from leaking in your bag and possibly ruining whatever is in your carry on.

Buy vape battery containers / place vape batteries in a battery case

Some airline carriers require that all vape batteries be stored in a separate battery case. Having a couple of vape battery containers available just incase can save you a headache of having to throw away a perfectly good vape battery, or buying a new one once you arrive.

Tired of reading? We got you. Check out our quick video on traveling with your vape for a brief rundown of this article.

In conclusion:

Yes you can bring vapes onto planes, but be responsible.

To bring a vaporizer and e-cigarette device onto the plane, you must have it with you on your carry-on bag. Nothing besides juices and e-liquids can be stored in the checked baggage. If you are to carry e-liquids in your carry-on bag, they must be stored in a transparent case and can only contain up to 100ml.

Vaping or “stealth vaping” is strictly prohibited on a plane. Even if done discreetly, vaping on a plane could trigger alarms and, if discovered, could easily lead to an arrest.

It’s great that airlines allow vape-lovers to take their mods and equipment with them, so in return, we should respect the rules and regulations set in place that are really there for our own safety.