The hassles of luggage, security and paperwork can be low points for almost anyone travelling by air. However, for a trans traveller, those are just of few of the things that can make air travel a particularly fraught experience. While in many respects, the LGBTQ community has come a long way towards being treated as equal citizens, the gender specificity of airport procedures often remains challenging for trans people.

To help make flying easier and less stressful for the trans community, Cheapflights.ca, the champions of simple travel search, turned to queer travel writer Bani Amor for a first-person look at the challenges that can arise from gender non conformity when travelling by air. Written as a practical guide for navigating many of the snags trans people face, Cheapflights.ca’s Transgender travel tips: A guide to flying while trans tackles everything from how to manage sensitive and critical medications to what to expect (and what’s allowed) during a pat-down to when to ask for a supervisor when going through security.

Here is just some of the guide’s key advice, courtesy of a travel writer who has been there:

Planning – The best way to ensure a positive experience is to do as much research and be as prepared as you can be. Be ready for all parts of your trip, from the bigger aspects like knowing the norms and expectations of the culture you’ll be visiting, to the smaller details, like looking up the locations of gender-neutral bathrooms in the airports you’ll be passing through. The Government of Canada has a page compiling information and resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit Canadians, which is a good place to start your research.

Packing – If you’re travelling with medical supplies like syringes, medications and hormones, make sure they’re all together in the same bag, each preferably in its original packaging, with proof that they were prescribed to you. Consider checking these with your luggage unless you’ll need them in the air. If you do choose to bring them in your carry-on, remember that doing so may flag you for additional screening. Items like liquid hormones, gel-filled breast forms and other prosthetics don’t need to meet the carry-on liquid limit as they are considered medically necessary

Security – With the new legislation, passengers regardless of gender identity can request either a male or female security officer to complete their physical search, or they can request a split search where a male officer searches one half of their body and a female officer searches the other. Passengers may also request that their screening be done in a private area and that a witness be present.

At airport security points across the U.S., TSA agents use Advanced Imaging Technology (or AIT) machines that passengers must pass through for the detection of dangerous objects. Before each passenger enters the machine, a TSA employee must press a blue "male" or pink "female" button on the machine so that their Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) software can detect "anomalies" not consistent with the passenger’s assigned gender, and the TSA agent is doing this by judging your gender presentation.

As of March 2017, anyone passing through security at a U.S. airport who opts out of AIT screening will be required to undergo a Universal Pat-Down (UPD), which must be performed by someone of the same gender and can be done in private or in the company of a witness of your choice with a second officer of the same gender present.

Final thought - Keep in mind that having a greater awareness of how to prepare, what to expect, and what your rights are when travelling is powerful in itself. In fact, many trans passengers don’t experience any issues at all when flying, and we hope you don’t either. Following simple tips like arriving early, travelling in groups and documenting your experience can all make a world of difference in allowing yourself a smooth flight.

To read Cheapflights.ca’s complete "Transgender travel tips: A guide to flying while trans," visit www.cheapflights.ca/news/transgender-travel-tips. And, for more general gay and lesbian travel advice, check out Cheapflights’ newest LGBTQ travel tips, a rundown of everything from staying safe, travelling as a family and tapping into the local community to tours, packages, Pride events and other queer-centric celebrations and scenes.

Founded in 1996, Cheapflights is a leading global flight comparison and deals publishing platform dedicated to taking the complexity out of finding the best value flights through the application of innovative, intuitive technologies: Smart search. Made simple. It is now a market leader in the U.K., U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand generating more than C$4 billion in global downstream revenue for its partners as it expands into numerous other territories. More than 120 million users visit its websites and apps each year, receiving more than two billion search results a month from across 900,000 routes. The 10 million strong opt-in subscribers to the Cheapflights newsletter receive the best deals from more than 120 travel businesses – for whom it has driven more than C$80 million in revenue this year. Together, the Cheapflights platforms generate enough bookings for its partners to fill a Boeing 747 every five minutes.

In 2011, Cheapflights became part of the privately owned online travel search and inspiration network, Momondo Group.

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