TSA-Approved Power Banks: The 2026 Rules for Flying With One

Key takeaways

• Power banks fly in your carry-on, never in checked luggage. If your bag is checked at the gate, take the power bank out and keep it with you.
• 100Wh or less needs no approval. 101 to 160Wh needs your airline's approval, 2 at most. Over 160Wh cannot fly.
• Read the watt-hours on the label, not the mAh. Depending on the cell, 27,000mAh can land on either side of 100Wh.
• Since March 27, 2026, international flights allow 2 power banks per passenger and ban recharging them during the flight.
• In the US, airlines add their own rules. Southwest allows 1 power bank and American, Delta, United, Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue 2, none recharged from seat power.

A dead phone at the gate means no mobile boarding pass, no ride from the airport and no way to text that you landed. With a power bank in your carry-on, you land with battery to spare. It only has to get through security and onto the plane first. This guide covers what the TSA and the FAA allow, how to read the numbers on your power bank and the limits airlines added in 2026.

Can You Bring a Power Bank on a Plane?

Yes, in your carry-on bag. The TSA allows power banks in carry-on bags and does not allow them in checked luggage. The FAA sets the same rule for every spare lithium battery, power banks and battery charging cases included.

The reason is fire. A lithium-ion battery that overheats can catch fire, and flight crews are trained to handle a battery fire in the cabin. In the cargo hold, nobody can reach it.

• Carry-on bag: yes.
• Checked bag: no, at any size.
• Bag checked at the gate or planeside: take the power bank out first and keep it with you in the cabin.
• The final call: the TSA officer at the checkpoint decides what goes through.

What "TSA-Approved" Actually Means

The TSA does not approve, certify or list power banks by brand. It screens what you carry, and its officers decide at the checkpoint. When a product says it is TSA approved or TSA compliant, it means the power bank meets the carry-on rules. It is 100Wh or less, and it travels in your carry-on bag.

Belkin's product pages say it that way, "TSA carry-on compliant", with the watt-hours printed where they matter. The Laptop Power Bank 25K is rated at 90Wh and the Laptop Power Bank 27K at 99.99Wh, both under the 100Wh line.

A power bank clears security easily with 3 things:

• A watt-hour rating on the case, so the officer does not have to guess.
• An undamaged casing, with no swelling, cracks or scorch marks.
• Covered ports, in a pouch, a case or its box, so the contacts cannot touch keys or coins.

Power Bank Rules by Watt-Hours

Airlines and regulators measure a power bank by its watt-hours (Wh), the energy it stores. Not by milliamp-hours (mAh), and not by the watts it puts out. The FAA's lithium battery rules set 3 bands.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Sources: FAA PackSafe, lithium batteries (updated August 11, 2026), and ICAO's power bank restriction of March 27, 2026, for international flights.

A laptop power bank rated at 140W or 240W is not over any limit. Watts measure how fast it charges a device, not how much energy it holds. The Laptop Power Bank 27K puts out 240W and stores 99.99Wh.

How to Find Your Power Bank's Watt-Hours

Most power banks print the watt-hours on the case, often next to the mAh. If yours lists only mAh, multiply the mAh by the cell voltage and divide by 1,000. That is the FAA's formula, volts times amp-hours.

The cell voltage matters more than most people expect. Belkin's own laptop power banks show why. The 25K is rated at 90Wh, which works out to 3.6V per cell. The 27K is built on a 26,190mAh cell and rated at 99.99Wh, which works out to 3.8V.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Watt-hours = mAh x volts / 1,000. The rows are the arithmetic. The rating printed on the power bank is the one that counts.

So the common rule of thumb, "under 27,000mAh", is close but not exact. At 3.6V the 100Wh line falls at 27,778mAh, and at 3.8V at 26,316mAh. Read the watt-hours on the label. If there are none, look up the model's specifications before you pack it.

New in 2026: How Many and When You Can Charge

This year brought 2 changes. On March 27, 2026, ICAO, the United Nations agency that sets international aviation standards, limited power banks to 2 per passenger and banned recharging them during flights. The rule is written for international flights.

In the US, the FAA sets no count for power banks of 100Wh or less and says airlines may set stricter limits. Most major US airlines now do. American, Delta, Southwest, Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue also cap each power bank at 100Wh. On those airlines, the 101 to 160Wh approval route does not apply to power banks.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

From each airline's own published policy, read September 21, 2026. Southwest publishes its effective date. The others do not. Spirit Airlines stopped flying on May 2, 2026.

Among the airlines that set a rule, 3 points repeat: 2 power banks at most (1 on Southwest), no recharging from seat power and no overhead bin. Rules move, so check your airline's page the week you fly.

How Much Power Bank to Pack

Capacity is a trade between weight and hours. Pick for the longest stretch you will spend without an outlet. International flights and most major US airlines now allow 2 power banks, and Southwest 1, so 1 larger power bank beats 3 small ones.

A day trip or a short flight: 5,000 to 10,000mAh.

• A 10K recharges a phone more than once. Belkin rates its Power Bank 10K with Integrated Cable at 55 hours of added video playback on an iPhone 17 Pro.
• A magnetic 5K snaps onto the back of an iPhone. The Slim Magnetic Power Bank 5K with BoostSolid Cell is 8.8mm thin, so it barely changes the fit in a pocket.

A long-haul flight with a phone, earbuds and a tablet: 10,000 to 20,000mAh.

• Pick one with 2 or 3 ports, so everything charges from 1 power bank. The Power Bank 10K with BoostSolid Cell charges 3 devices at once from 2 USB-C ports and 1 USB-A port.
• Look for pass-through charging. It lets the power bank charge your phone while it recharges from an airport outlet, so 1 outlet does 2 jobs.

A laptop: 25,000 to 27,000mAh, with 60W or more over USB-C.

• Belkin rates the Laptop Power Bank 25K at 17 extra hours for a MacBook Pro 14 and the 27K at 22, and both stay under 100Wh.
• A power bank with less output than your laptop's own charger still works. It charges the laptop more slowly.

For the rest of the bag, our travel checklist covers chargers, cables and adapters by kind of trip.

At Security and On Board

Getting a power bank through the checkpoint is the easy part. The rules that catch travelers out in 2026 are about where it rides and when you use it.

• Keep it in reach, not overhead. American, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue all keep power banks out of the overhead bin. Put it under the seat in front of you or in the seatback pocket.
• Keep it in sight while you use it. Southwest and American want a power bank in use to be visible, not buried in a bag.
• Leave it off for taxi, takeoff and landing on Delta, Alaska and Hawaiian, which do not allow one in use then.
• Charge it before you fly. Recharging a power bank on board is banned on international flights and on most major US airlines, so top it up at home or at the gate.
• Cover the ports. A pouch, a case or the original box keeps the contacts away from keys and coins. Tape over the ports works too.
• Never pack a damaged or recalled one. A swollen, cracked or recalled power bank cannot fly in any bag. Check yours against the CPSC recall list if you are unsure.
• If it gets hot, say so. Tell a flight attendant right away if a power bank is overheating, swelling, smoking or burning. Crews are trained for it.

How Belkin builds and tests its power banks is in our power bank safety guide.

Belkin Power Banks That Fly

There is a pick below for each of the 4 trips above. Every one is under 100Wh, so it flies in a carry-on with no airline approval, and every one is in stock on belkin.com.

Best value

Power Bank 10K with Integrated Cable

• 10,000mAh
• 20W
• Cable built in

• 36 to 38Wh, far under the limit
• Pass-through charging at the gate
• Charges 2 devices at once

$24.99ShopShop All

Snaps onto an iPhone

Slim Magnetic Power Bank 5K with BoostSolid Cell

• 5,000mAh
• Qi2 15W
• 8.8mm thin

• BoostSolid Cell, 3x the lifespan of liquid cells
• 22.5W USB-C for a wired top-up
• Temperature checked every 20 milliseconds

$69.99ShopShop All

Phone and laptop in one

Power Bank 10K with BoostSolid Cell

• 10,000mAh
• 60W USB-C
• 3 ports

• Charges a laptop, a tablet or a phone
• 27% smaller than standard 10K banks
• BoostSolid Cell, 3x the lifespan of liquid cells

$89.99ShopShop All

For a laptop

Laptop Power Bank 25K

• 25,000mAh
• 90Wh
• 140W cable built in

• TSA carry-on compliant at 90Wh
• Charges 3 devices at once
• 17 extra hours for a MacBook Pro 14

$99.99ShopShop All

Flying with a MacBook Pro 16 or 2 laptops? The Laptop Power Bank 27K in the carousel below is rated at 99.99Wh, the most a power bank can store and still fly with no airline approval. Why the BoostSolid Cell lasts longer is explained in how long power banks last.

Flying With a Power Bank: Your Questions Answered

Every power bank here is under 100Wh and flies in a carry-on.

Power bank

Power Bank 10K with Integrated Cable

$24.99Shop

Magnetic power bank

Slim Magnetic Power Bank 5K with BoostSolid Cell

$69.99Shop

Power bank

Power Bank 10K with BoostSolid Cell

$89.99Shop

Laptop power bank

Laptop Power Bank 25K

$99.99Shop

Magnetic power bank

Power Bank 10K with Magnetic Ring

$99.99Shop

Laptop power bank

Laptop Power Bank 27K

$149.99Shop

Related Reads

Power banks

How Long Do Power Banks Last? Belkin Built Technology that Changes the Answer

Safety

Worried About Power Bank Safety? Here's How Belkin Keeps You Protected

Power banks

Magnetic power banks: all you need to know