Airline travel regulations are becoming stricter year by year, making airline travel more and more difficult. While airline travel regulations in the past were just common sense rules, some of them these days are getting borderline paranoic. Here are a few of the most common airline travel regulations you should know about.

Check-in: allow yourself plenty of time to check in. After 9/11 the airport regulations in the US changed and security checks became a lot tighter and slower. Thus it takes more time to check in than it did before. Airport regulations say that you have to have your luggage checked in at least 1 hour before departure for domestic flights (within US destinations), or at least 90 mins before international flights. Just to be on the safe side, be at the airport 2 hrs before take off and don't delay your check-in.

Baggage restrictions: as flights are getting cheaper and cheaper, airlines try to recoup some of their money by charging passengers more and more for baggages. While a few years back you could typically carry for free 2 x 30 kg suitecase, now the weight limit came down to 20 kg or even lower. Various airlines have various baggage restrictions, some of them being more generous, while others being more restrict. However for the future be prepared to pay more and more for your baggages; and I think it is also just a matter of time when the free luggage era will end, and airlines will charge passengers for all their luggage.

Carry-on baggage restrictions: This is getting tighter as well. Typically 2 on-board luggages were allowed, but this is auickly cut down now to one. Some airlines now also have a weight restriction of 7 kg, but this is not enforced yet. Most of the time it is OK to carry on a small roller-bag / personal bag and a laptop or handbag.

During the security checks laptops and video cameras has to be removed from their carrying bags and X-rayed separately by placing them on some plastic trays given at the security points. Most often you will have to remove your shoes, get them X-rayed, and you will have to walk through the metal detector gate without shoes. So it will take some time until you collect your belongings (keys, watches, bags, laptops, shoes, cameras etc.) after the X-ray. Make sure you won't forget something.

Carrying liquids, gels on airplane: because of some recent terrorist attacks on various airports worldwide, liquids and gels now are forbidden or heavily regulated onboard. However you can carry liquids, gels, juices etc in the main luggage you check-in. The above restrictions are for on-board baggages only. Here is a summary of the main guidelines:

• You can carry up to 100 ml (or 3 ounces in the USA) of liquid hair gel,
• All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers. Larger containers that are half-full or larger toothpaste tubes rolled up are not allowed. Each container must be three ounces or smaller. Examples of items limited to 3 ounces are: creams, lotions, moisturizers, bath oils, mosquito repellents, deodorants, eye drops, hair gel, bubble-baths, liquid soaps, liquid mascara, facial cleaners, nail polush removers, shampoos and conditioners, toothpaste etc.
  However after the security checks, inside the airline terminals you can purchase juice, water and other liquids.
• All liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in a single, quart-size (about 1 liter), zip-top, clear plastic bag. Larger size bags or bags that are not zip-top such as sandwich bags are not allowed. Each traveler can use only one, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag.
• Each traveler must present their quart-sized plastic, zip-top bag for X-ray screening.
• There are exceptions for baby formula, breast milk, and other essential liquids, gels, and aerosols, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

Forbidden items on-board: please pack all these items in the main suitecases you will check-in, otherwise these will be confiscated for security reasons. Forbidden items are:

• cigarette lighters with fuel (empty ones are OK)
• beverages purchaed before the security checkpoint
• scissors larger than 4 inches (small ones are OK)
• gel-type candles
• any types of knives, except plastic knives and rounded butter-knives
• box cutters
• ice-picks
• baseball bats, golf clubs, cricket bats
• ski poles
• guns
• flares, fireworks
• flammable liquids
• realistic toy replicas of firearms
• tools longer than 7 inches (18 cm), like hammers, crowbars, saws
• martial arts weapons
• any type of flammable items
• spray paints

Cell phones: must be shut off during the flight. You can not use your cell phone after boarding the airplane. There is no evidence that this would interfere in any way with the aircraft's on-board instrumentation, so this measure it is more an anti-terrorism measure than for technical safety. The US government hopes this way airplanes can become less of a target for terrorists by not being able to communicate the aircraft's position, take-off and landing time etc.

Laptops and other electronic devices: can be operated onboard after the plane reached the cruising height. Be aware however that most planes on the economy class do not have electric outlets.

Plants, seeds: don't bring on board plants, seeds etc. because it's prohibited by the US customs and if they see it will be confiscated.

Please be aware of the above airline travel regulations and obey them as much as you can.