10 airport security mistakes you're making that could cause you to miss your flight

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You have your boarding pass, you finally found your headphones at the bottom of your bag, and you’re ready to head through airport security on your way to somewhere awesome.

When you reach security, however, you find you forgot to remove your five-ounce shampoo bottle. Mistakes like this can add unnecessary time to your airport security process.

Here are a few airport security mistakes that could cause you to miss your flight.

You're not properly packing your liquids.

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Not to mention your aerosols, gels, creams, and pastes. Basically, any liquid-like substance needs to be in a container of 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less if you’re taking it through security in your carry-on.

The key word here is “container.” If you throw a six-ounce bottle of lotion in your hand luggage, you won’t be able to bring it through security even if it only has one ounce of lotion inside. Sorting out all your incorrectly bottled liquids could cost you valuable time.

You're not keeping an eye on your boarding pass or passport.

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Though airports don’t publicize the fact, things get stolen from security screen stations fairly regularly. The Guardian's reporting of a case of a missing MacBook Air made headlines, namely due to the apparent lack of response from the airport to the theft.

If you’re used to slinging your passport, identification, and boarding pass into a plastic tray and shuffling along through the x-ray machine, you might want to revise your security strategy. If your essential documents are picked up by the wrong passenger, you could end up dealing with a stolen identity along with a missed flight.

You're not bringing a travel consent form when flying solo with small children.

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Due to an increase in child abduction cases involving parental custody conflicts and human trafficking, many airports and immigration officers are now asking for aconsent form from anyone traveling with a small child.

Anyone from a member of airline staff to a security agent at security can ask for this proof that you’re not illegally transporting a child across borders. Even parents who are married and share custody of a child should carry copies of the notarized consent form if they plan on flying with the child without their partner.