Traveling after a death is hard enough. Traveling while carrying someone’s cremated remains can feel like you are trying to keep your footing while the world keeps moving. If you are preparing for flying with ashes—especially an infant or child’s remains—this guide is here to make the practical steps clearer and more predictable.
We will cover travel with cremated remains at the airport (what screening actually requires), how to choose a travel urn container that is more likely to pass screening, what to pack, and how to choose an infant urn for ashes or child urn that makes sense for both travel and long-term keeping. We will also connect travel decisions to funeral planning, including keeping ashes at home, water burial, and other next steps families commonly consider.
Why Travel With Ashes Has Become More Common
Cremation is now the majority choice in the United States, which means more families are navigating airports with ashes. The National Funeral Directors Association reports that the U.S. cremation rate is projected to be 63.4% in 2025 (with a projected burial rate of 31.6%). The same NFDA statistics note that among people who prefer cremation for themselves, 37.1% would prefer their cremated remains kept in an urn at home—one reason travel plans often include bringing ashes to a family home, then deciding later what comes next.
The Cremation Association of North America reports a U.S. cremation rate of 61.8% in 2024. You are not doing something rare—you are doing something many families are quietly doing every day, even if it feels unfamiliar and overwhelming in the moment.
What TSA Requires and What “TSA Approved Urn” Really Means
People often search for a TSA approved urn as if TSA has a certification program. In practice, TSA is focused on whether the container can be screened clearly. A Transportation Security Administration fact sheet summarizes the core realities families need to know: containers holding cremated remains must go through the checkpoint X-ray; if a container creates an opaque image and the contents cannot be cleared, it may not be allowed through the checkpoint; and TSA will not open the container, even if the passenger requests it.
A separate TSA travel tips document adds something families find grounding: it recommends keeping the urn with you in your immediate possession, warns that checking the urn can create a risk of inadvertent loss, and reiterates that the urn must pass screening and will not be opened. That is why “TSA-friendly” is less about a label and more about choosing a container that produces a clear image on screening equipment.
If you want a family-facing, step-by-step explanation that translates these requirements into plain language, Funeral.com’s Flying With Cremated Remains: TSA Rules, Airline Tips, and Travel-Friendly Urns and TSA-Approved Urns: What to Bring When Flying With Cremated Remains are written with the emotional reality in mind.
Choosing a Container That Screens Well Without Sacrificing Dignity
For air travel, the most reliable approach is often to use an X-ray friendly travel container for the flight, then transfer to a permanent urn later if you want to. TSA’s fact sheet specifically recommends temporary cremation containers made of materials that can be successfully X-rayed, mentioning wood, plastic, or non-lead-lined ceramic, and notes that contents may be transferred after transportation.
This can feel like a strange compromise until you reframe it: the travel container is a protective carrier, not the final memorial. It is completely reasonable to prioritize what gets you through the airport smoothly, then choose the “forever” urn later—when you are not making decisions under pressure.
For long-term options at home or for a memorial space, Funeral.com’s cremation urns for ashes collection is a broad place to compare materials and styles. If you need something smaller or more proportionate for a baby or child, the small cremation urns collection can be a better fit. If your plan involves sharing a portion among parents or close family members, the keepsake urns collection is designed for that kind of gentle, practical memorialization.
A TSA-Friendly Packing Approach That Reduces Stress
When people worry about airport security cremation remains issues, what they are really worried about is losing control of the moment. Packing for predictability helps. Keep the container accessible in your carry-on, pad it so it cannot shift, and avoid placing hard-edged items against it. If the container is fragile, build a “soft nest” around it with a scarf or small towel so it cannot bang against laptop corners, toiletry kits, or rigid water bottles.
It also helps to bring a small set of essentials so you are not improvising under pressure:
- Carry on ashes (not checked), so you keep the urn with you from curb to destination.
- A copy of the cremation certificate (and death certificate if you have it), stored with your travel documents.
- A simple label or note inside your bag that identifies the item as cremated remains, in case you need to hand the bag to staff during rebooking or secondary screening.
- Extra time, so a delay at screening does not become a crisis.
You do not need a speech at the checkpoint. A quiet sentence—“I’m traveling with cremated remains”—is usually enough. If you want more privacy, ask for a discreet screening area. The TSA travel tips document notes that if the X-ray operator cannot clear the remains, TSA may use other non-intrusive means of resolving the alarm, but the container will not be opened. Understanding that one constraint early often reduces anxiety about how to bring ashes on a plane.
Flying With a Baby’s or Child’s Ashes: Urn Options That Fit Travel and Life After
Choosing an infant urn for ashes or a child urn is not only a sizing decision. It is a proportion decision, a “what can I live with” decision. Many families want a container that is small enough to feel appropriate, but secure enough that they do not worry every time they move it. That desire for both tenderness and security is normal.
Two Funeral.com resources can help you move from overwhelm to a workable choice: Infant & Child Urns: How to Choose the Right Size, Style, and Memorial Option and Urn Size Guide & Calculator. Many families use a simple starting guideline (roughly one cubic inch of urn capacity per pound of pre-cremation body weight, then rounding up), not because grief should be reduced to math, but because it prevents the avoidable pain of choosing something too small.
For child ashes travel, three practical features tend to matter most:
- Secure closure, ideally threaded or screw-top for travel stability.
- X-ray friendly material for the flight, especially if you are anxious about screening.
- Proportionate size that fits comfortably in a carry-on without being jostled.
If you are not ready to choose a permanent urn immediately, it is acceptable to travel with a temporary container now and select a long-term memorial later. In practice, many families do this: they choose a travel-friendly container to reduce airport risk, then take time at home to decide whether they want a small urn, a keepsake, a home memorial shelf, or a different plan entirely.
When Carrying Everything Feels Too Risky: Keepsakes and Cremation Jewelry
Some families decide they cannot bear to fly with all the ashes at once. They keep the primary remains at home and travel with a small portion for a destination memorial, or they share a portion among close family members. This is where keepsake urns and cremation jewelry can be emotionally protective: they reduce the pressure of “one container, one person, one trip.”
For a small, shareable container, start with Funeral.com’s keepsake urns. For wearable keepsakes, the cremation jewelry collection and the cremation necklaces collection include pieces designed to hold a tiny symbolic amount. If you want practical filling and sealing guidance before you commit, read Cremation Jewelry 101, which explains what these pieces can realistically hold and how families typically use them alongside a primary urn.
If your family is also navigating pet loss and wants a small memorial while traveling, Funeral.com’s pet urns for ashes, pet keepsake cremation urns, and pet figurine cremation urns collections can support a parallel plan without adding complexity to your travel day.
After the Flight: Keeping Ashes at Home, Water Burial, and Other Next Steps
Once you arrive, the question often becomes what to do with ashes. Some families bring the urn home and create a quiet memorial shelf. Others plan a future ceremony. Funeral.com’s what to do with ashes guide offers options without forcing a timeline, and its guide to keeping ashes at home can help you think through safe storage and peace of mind.
If your travel is connected to a water burial or burial at sea, do a little homework before you book a boat. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains that cremated remains may be buried at sea in ocean waters of any depth as long as the burial takes place at least three nautical miles from land, and it requires notification to the EPA within 30 days after the event. Funeral.com’s water burial guide and its biodegradable ocean and water burial urns guide can help you choose an approach that fits both the moment and the rules that apply.
Cost Clarity for Planning Families
Even in grief, cost can shape what is possible. The NFDA reports a national median cost of $6,280 for a funeral with cremation (including viewing and service) in 2023, compared with $8,300 for a comparable funeral with burial. If you are trying to understand totals, add-ons, and realistic ranges, Funeral.com’s how much does cremation cost guide is designed to help families make decisions with fewer surprises.
Closing
The goal is not to make this easy. The goal is to make it doable. Choose a container that is more likely to screen smoothly, keep it as carry on ashes so it stays under your control, allow extra time, and give yourself permission to separate “travel container” decisions from “forever memorial” decisions. You can honor your child with a plan that is both practical and deeply loving, one step at a time.
