Half of us drag a laptop on holiday — Expedia's 2022 survey put it at 50% of travellers, with 41% admitting they still hop on Zoom calls while supposedly out of office. That's a lot of computers moving through airport security, and according to a former TSA agent, the humble laptop sleeve is quietly slowing the line down.
Caleb Harmon-Marshall, who spent years working for the TSA and now writes the Gate Access newsletter, says zippers are the main culprit. Two problems: first, a zipped bag hides what's inside, so if the X-ray can't get a clean read, you'll be asked to pull the laptop out — and fighting a stuck zipper in front of a queue of impatient passengers is nobody's idea of a smooth departure. Second, zippers are metal, and metal parts can confuse the screening image in the same way loose coins in your pockets do. When that happens, your bag gets flagged, an agent has to hand-search every item, and everyone behind you waits.
The fix is simple: switch to a checkpoint-friendly sleeve with no zipper and no metal hardware — that means skipping snaps and buckles too. Magnetic or Velcro-style closures are the smart play. The Cuyana Leather Laptop Sleeve works like an envelope, with the opening tucked neatly inside, while the JETech Slim Laptop Sleeve closes with magnets and costs considerably less. Both slide a laptop out in seconds if security asks, and a strong magnet holds just as securely as a zip.
It's worth knowing that some checkpoints now use CT (3D) X-ray scanners, which let you leave laptops in your bag entirely — but those machines aren't everywhere yet, so at plenty of airports you'll still be pulling your device out the old-fashioned way. A quick-access sleeve means you're ready either way. The same logic applies to the rest of your carry-on: small swaps based on what screening actually requires pay off far more than luck. A smooth zip-out at the checkpoint is a two-second fix; a flagged bag can eat ten minutes or more of your airport time.
If you fly even a couple of times a year with a laptop, this is one of the cheapest upgrades going — most simple sleeves cost well under what you'd spend on a single airport lunch.
