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Home » TSA » What the TSA Does With Your Lost Items + How to Claim Them
TSA

What the TSA Does With Your Lost Items + How to Claim Them

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 8, 2017May 8, 2017 6 Comments

What does the TSA do with all the stuff that is left behind in security checkpoints each year?

Answer: it auctions it.

Check out this interesting video that explains the process–

Allegedly, the money goes back into a general fund.

Just how much is left? At Detroit for example, the following was recovered last year–

  • 158 laptops
  • 59 cell phones
  • ~700 pairs of glasses

I am surprised there were not more cell phones left behind!

How To Claim Lost Items

What happens if you leave an item behind at a TSA checkpoint and only discover it after your flight has departed? You have about six months before the TSA will auction the item off.

The TSA website lists contacts for lost and found by airport. Simply type in your airport code and a telephone number will come up. For example, here is Los Angeles:

TSA Lost and Found

Call the number listed and leave a message. If your item is found, you will receive a return phone call. Pick-up can be arranged in-person or if the item is of sufficient value shipping can be arranged (for a fee of course).

CONCLUSION

The best way to avoid ever leaving items behind it to triple check around you for missing items and perform a mental inventory count. I’m not one to talk about lost items, but I have made it a priority not to lose anything…further.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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6 Comments

  1. Chris Reply
    May 8, 2017 at 10:52 am

    So let’s say I forgot to check or remove an item that isn’t allowed through screening (e.g. a bottle of booze). Could I “lose” it at the TSA checkpoint and claim it later?

    • Matthew Reply
      May 8, 2017 at 11:01 am

      That’s a great question. Try it and report back.

  2. dotti m cahill Reply
    May 10, 2017 at 1:32 am

    Is it the same auction and store as the lost baggage is located– alabama???

  3. Mr. A Reply
    June 10, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    For the record, you can’t leave a VM at the LAX TSA number(s) provided (or the number you have on the picture above). This is NOT as easy as you make it out to be.

  4. Leon DeHaven Reply
    October 14, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    you can’t call the voice mail at LAX. Left my phone — had to send e-mail explaining what happened. But nobody there during weekend –not as easy as this article says.

  5. William Charles Sinock Reply
    May 2, 2024 at 11:09 am

    First off, it has been 10 months sense this item came up missing. I do not know for sure that I left 16 ten ounce silver bars at a TSA check point. In my memory is that the silver was setting on a table while my bag went through the ex-ray machine a second time. I have no memory of that silver returning to my bag. Why am I investigating this now? When I did not have it when I reached my destination; I thought I left it at my best friend’s house. When asking him about this, I got the impression that is was there at his house, this assumption turned out to be false. I returned to his house ten months later to do my own search, with no positive results. The value of this silver is about $3,000.00. You can see why I want to investigate.

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