TSA tips to cut down on long airport lines this holiday season

(WJBK) - The TSA at Detroit Metro Airport is gearing up for two of the biggest travel days of the year.

It expects 40,000 passengers on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving - and just as many the Sunday after. It is offering a few tips to get you through screening quicker and cut down on long lines.

Rule number 1?

"Prepare," said Michael McCarthy, TSA. "If you are prepared for the screening process it will make your experience a lot smoother, it will make our officers' jobs much easier."

Preparing means knowing what you can and can't pack. Some passengers run into issues like bringing some Thanksgiving staples along with them.

"If you are trying to pack some homemade gravy or a nice bottle of wine, that is going to have to go in your checked luggage," said McCarthy. "You can't have those over-sized liquids in your carry-on luggage. The same thing goes if you have a new carving knife you wanted to bring. You can't have sharp blades in your carry-on luggage."

And what about bringing leftovers back home?

"Food is fine," McCarthy said. "Food can travel - but if it is a liquid, it cannot."

The TSA also recently changed some rules. In the past, only laptops had to be removed from carry-ons. Now, it is any device larger than a smartphone. It recommends placing those devices in an outer pocket, so you don't have to dig through your stuff in line.

 It is recommended arriving two hours early for domestic flights. As always, you can check out the guidelines for yourself at TSA.gov