Travelers left nearly a million dollars at TSA airport checkpoints last year

Air travelers do not keep the change.

They left nearly a million dollars at security checkpoints at US airports in the last fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, the Transportation Security Administration announced this week.

As they rushed to put their laptops back in their bags, maybe skipping a foot on their shoes and rushing to their doors, the passengers left a record $ 960,105.49 in unclaimed money. at these checkpoints, an increase of more than 10% over the previous 12-month period.

This increase is accompanied by an increase in the number of air travel to the United States. National and international airlines serving the United States last year transported a record 1 billion passengers, according to the Department of Transport.

The madness of getting out of the line of safety leaves travelers, especially those who stack bins, without looking closely at the inside, at the risk of leaving money or even a wallet, said the TSA, which recommends to the travelers to put in their bag objects of their pockets – BAGS before passing the point of control.

Another distraction: the bins themselves.

"Unfortunately, it's easy for passengers to accidentally leave items, including wallets and change, in bins," says TSA. Indeed, if an advertisement is at the bottom of a ferry, a traveler peeking in the ferry can be distracted by advertising and not realizing that there is a change in the basket. "

This is not just the change that travelers leave at checkpoints, but sometimes "unmarked money envelopes".

So where does all this money go?

The TSA has always used this money for the maintenance of checkpoints and the translation of signs in languages ​​other than English, said agency spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The TSA plans to use the money recovered last year for training at checkpoints, according to the agency.