Airports harvest nearly $1M from money left in security bins, including $52k from SFO

Harried passengers fill those ubiquitous gray plastic bins with laptops, phones, wallets, purses, shoes and whatever loose change was jangling around in their pockets before shoving them into the X-ray machines.

A lot of times things get left behind in those bins. Sometimes, it’s a belt or a pair of sunglasses or a cellphone.

Sometimes it’s cold, hard cash.

The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that during fiscal year 2019, its agents scooped up $926,030.44 in unclaimed money that passengers left behind at security checkpoints.

That’s actually a slight decrease from the previous fiscal year, during which people neglected to keep track of more than $960,000 in loose coins and bills, TSA officials said.

Of the three major international airports in the Bay Area, only San Francisco made the top five in terms of neglected cash, having harvested $52,668 in fiscal year 2019.

During that same period, Oakland passengers forgot to pick up nearly $11,000 and San Jose travelers lost $6,682.

That all pales in comparison to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the national loose change champion, which took in a little more than $98,000, according to the TSA.

While the TSA says it does everything it can to reunite travelers with their wayward currency, all this unclaimed money is somewhat of a boon to the agency, which spends it on “critical aviation security programs.”

To avoid giving an accidental donation to the TSA security fund, people should put all loose items into carry-on bags, agency officials said.

Contact information for the TSA’s lost and found offices around the country can be found here: https://www.tsa.gov/contact/lost-and-found