Key Points
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Spare lithium-ion batteries and power banks must go in carry-on bags due to higher fire risk and lack of containment.
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Devices with installed batteries are allowed in checked luggage but are safer in the cabin where issues can be handled quickly.
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Regulations focus on risk management, as lithium battery incidents can escalate rapidly and are harder to control in cargo holds.
Even though lithium-ion batteries
are in just about every travel tech essential
these days—from your cell phone, headphones, camera, and even your electric toothbrush—how to pack these items safely isn’t always clear.
Specifically, what can go in your checked luggage versus your carry-on can leave even regular travelers uncertain. Besides, if so much of what we travel with—including the phone you use to store your boarding pass—relies on lithium-ion power, why are there such specific rules about where those items can go?
It turns out, the answer isn’t about the phones or laptops themselves—it’s about risk management, as each object is categorized based on how exposed the battery is and how easily a problem could be handled in-flight.
Here's why lithium-ion batteries aren't allowed in checked luggage.
What’s Not Allowed in Checked Luggage
The rules are pretty straightforward. Anything considered a spare lithium-ion battery, like loose camera or laptop batteries, rechargeable phone or laptop cases, and most importantly, power banks
, cannot go in checked luggage.
“Spare (uninstalled) lithium ion and lithium metal batteries, including power banks and cell phone battery charging cases, must be carried in carry-on baggage only
,” the Transportation Security Administration states on its website.
It’s a policy that also aligns with guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration and global standards from the International Air Transport Association.
Travelers specifically need to be wary of packing power banks because, unlike your phone or laptop, where the battery is integrated into a larger device with built-in safeguards, a power bank is essentially a compact energy storage unit designed to deliver charge on demand. While they’re efficient, if their terminals come into contact with metal objects, it can cause a short circuit.
“Lithium-ion cells can pack a lot of energy into a small space, but they can go into thermal runaway, making them heat up quickly and catch fire,” Seymour Segnit, CEO and founder of device charger company Magfast
, told Travel + Leisure.
“The reason regulators class them differently is that power banks have cell pack liners that are tightly assembled cells at risk of collapse, and with less protection against crashes than a laptop battery. Thus, aviation authorities put in place procedures and protocols to avoid this type of fire, because, even if rare, it was still an unacceptable type of incident.”
Power banks are also more vulnerable to physical damage, which can happen easily in the cargo hold as bags are stacked and often shift during flight. It’s also worth noting that 44 percent of fliers travel with a power bank, per an IATA survey , making this regulation even more critical.
“In the cabin, if a bag starts smoking or a battery acts up, crew members are right there,” former Virgin Australia flight attendant Emily Demirdonder told T+L. “I've seen flight attendants respond to something in under 90 seconds, and the [cargo] hold does not have that response capability after the cargo door is closed.”
Because of that, TSA officers may remove spare lithium batteries if they’re detected during a post-check-in screening.
“I have always been told that the cabin is controlled and everything that posed a risk stayed where the crew could physically reach it and respond,” Demirdonder said. “That wasn’t policy for the sake of policy—response time is everything at 35,000 feet.”
What Is Allowed in Checked Luggage?
This is where the rules get more nuanced—and where a lot of the confusion comes from.
Devices with lithium batteries installed inside them—like cell phones, laptops, tablets, or cameras—are generally allowed in checked baggage under guidance from the TSA and the FAA. The key distinction is that, unlike power banks, the battery is contained within a device in a protective casing, rather than being loose or exposed, and its temperature is regulated.
With that said, though, just because they’re “allowed” doesn’t mean they’re risk-free—or even recommended.
Both the TSA and FAA consistently advise that these items should be kept in your carry-on whenever possible, because cell phones and laptops can also experience thermal runaway—something that can be better-handled in the cabin. However, if you do want to put allowed items in your checked bags, airlines recommend that the electronics be completely powered off to reduce the chance of heat buildup or accidental activation.
Why Airlines Err on the Side of Caution
While lithium battery incidents on aircraft are relatively rare, they’re taken seriously because of how quickly they can escalate. According to 2025 FAA data,
the agency tracked 97 cases involving smoke, fire, or extreme heat, including 21 incidents linked to cell phones and 8 linked to laptops.
Against that backdrop, regulators take a precautionary approach, especially with what’s in checked luggage. And even though the likelihood of any single battery sparking an emergency is low, the number of batteries onboard any given flight is too high to take the risk, as nearly every passenger is carrying at least one.
“Inside the cabin, a [damaged] battery is rapidly identified and doused with water or sealed in containment bags,” Segnit explained. “Detection in the cargo hold relies on sensors and systems that are not as effective for lithium fires. Self-created oxygen makes fires virtually impossible to put out, and these can blow up in under a minute.”
That cumulative risk is why the rules are structured the way they are—and why they focus so heavily on where batteries are located, not just whether they’re present.
Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
