You Can Get Drinks Through Airport Security—If They’re Frozen

Don’t worry about spending $5 on an iced coffee or a bottle of water when you get past security at the airport. There’s a trick that allows you to bring your own drinks, bypassing the TSA’s annoying 3.4-ounce maximum. Just freeze it, says The Points Guy.

According to the TSA, you can, in fact, freeze liquids to get them past the security checkpoint. Here’s what the agency says:

Frozen liquid items are allowed through the checkpoint as long as they are frozen solid when presented for screening. If frozen liquid items are partially melted, slushy, or have any liquid at the bottom of the container, they must meet 3-1-1 liquids requirements.

The problem, of course, is that once you go through security, you have a frozen-solid bottle of water or iced coffee or whatever. If you just let it melt, you’re going to have a very drippy bottle on your hands. If there's a microwave or other thawing method in your terminal, you could use that, but the technique might be more useful for a liquid that isn't water—something more delicious than the airport could offer you. The freezing move might also be useful if your flight is particularly long. If your beauty products have enough water in them to freeze, you could also be taking huge bottles of facial toner through security, presumably.