🎧 Headphones

Headphones — wired or wireless — are permitted freely and do not need to be removed from your bag at most checkpoints. At some US airports with older equipment, tangled cables in a bag can create an unclear X-ray image and prompt a bag check, but this is a minor inconvenience rather than a restriction. Coiling your cable or placing headphones in a case makes the X-ray image cleaner.

Wireless headphones with built-in batteries are permitted in both carry-on and checked baggage. The lithium battery inside a standard pair of headphones is far below the regulated watt-hour threshold that would trigger restrictions. For checked baggage, best practice is to ensure the headphones are in an off state or in their case to prevent accidental activation.

Wireless Bluetooth headphones are now permitted during all phases of flight on most airlines, including take-off and landing, as long as the device is in flight mode. Noise-cancelling headphones are also fine to use throughout. Individual airline policies vary slightly — some may ask you to keep one ear free during safety announcements — but there is no blanket ban.

Storing headphones in their original case or a small pouch keeps cables neat and produces a cleaner X-ray image, reducing the chance of a bag check. If you are wearing over-ear headphones as a neck accessory through the terminal, remove them and place them in a bin tray at the security checkpoint to avoid triggering a metal detector.