How to Travel with Cremation Remains
Providing urns are included in the cremation services in Tallahassee, FL. However, when you’re going to travel by air with cremation remains (cremains), you will need a container for the cremains that is approved by both the Transportation Security Administration and the airline you’re flying with.
You can travel with cremains in checked baggage with most airlines – some airlines only allow cremains to be in carry-on luggage – but they must be in a sealed container that can be easily scanned. To ensure that your cremains don’t get jostled around in baggage handling, the safest way to travel with cremains is to put them in your carry-on luggage.
Cremains must be able to be X-rayed, so the container that is holding them must be made out of a material that the X-ray machine can penetrate. These kinds of materials would be wood, cardboard or plastic. Granite, marble, and steel are opaque, and cremains in urns made of these materials cannot be seen when they are scanned by the TSA.
If the TSA is unable to scan the contents of the urn, you will not be allowed to take it on the plane. This means that either you take the urn out the car, if you parked at the airport, and take the flight without them, or you will have to cancel your flight, get an approved container, and schedule another flight.
Airline flights are typically non-refundable, so even if you use Frequent Flyer Miles to book your flights, you’re now having to pay for two flights instead of one. That’s a costly error.
The funeral home director can help you get the right urn to successfully travel with cremains. Be sure to let them know, as you’re planning the funeral, that you intend to fly with the cremains to another location and you’ll need a TSA-approved container.
Different airlines have different policies for traveling with cremains. Domestic flight rules differ from those of international flights. Be sure to check, well in advance of your flight, your airline’s website for their policies on traveling with cremains. If you do not see any information on the website, then call the customer service number and talk to a representation about any special requirement the airline may have for traveling with cremains.
Be sure to have all the right paperwork with you. The funeral director can guide you in exactly what is required, both domestically and internationally (the funeral director will contact the embassy of a foreign to find out what their rules and regulations are for cremains being brought into the country), and can help you with any arrangements at the other end of the flight, especially in foreign countries, that need to be made to enable you to successfully get the cremains of your loved one to their final destination.
At very minimum, for domestic air travel with cremains, you will need a copy of the cremation permit and the death certificate for the deceased, the cremains receipt, and the authority of the authorizing agent form that you signed authorizing the cremation. International flights may require additional paperwork, but the funeral director will know this and be able to provide you with what you’ll need.
For more information about cremation services in Tallahassee, FL, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can call us today at (850) 627-1111.
