It's Lost & Found Day! Here's how to claim lost items you forgot at a DC area airport TSA checkpoint

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2 million travelers pass through the country's Transportation Security Administration checkpoints everyday - so you know lots of items are going to be misplaced and left behind.

So on December 9th - National Lost & Found Day - 'celebrate' by calling the airport you departed from to check and see if your lost item has been found.

Here are the numbers to the TSA offices at our local airports:

- Baltimore Washington International-Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI): 410-689-3620
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA): 703-603-2516
- Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD): 703-662-2234

Find your airport here: https://www.tsa.gov/contact/lost-and-found

If you think you think you left something behind at the airport check-in counter, in the gate area, a restaurants, shop, or restrooms -- contact the airport directly or the airline.

Some of the most common items that people leave behind at TSA checkpoints include glasses, keys, identification, mobile phones, laptops, and jewelry!

What's better than finding your lost items at the lost and found? Not losing them to begin with!

Here are five tips to help make sure you don't leave items behind at a checkpoint (and if you do) ways to help make sure those lost items will be returned:

1. After showing the TSA officer their ID and boarding pass, travelers should put their driver's license back in their wallet or their passport back in a carry-on bag so is isn't left behind in a bin.

2. As travelers know, they must empty their pockets before they go through the checkpoint screening equipment. When emptying pockets, travelers should put those items into their carry-on bag so they are less likely to leave something in a bin when they leave the checkpoint.

3. Don't remove jewelry unless it is very bulky or if, from previous experience, an individual knows it will alarm the scanner. If a traveler does remove jewelry, it is best to place it directly into a carry-on bag instead of in a bin.

4. Travelers should put an ID tag on their carry-on bags. Yes, sometimes people actually leave their entire carry-on bags at a checkpoint. Regardless of whether it's a duffle bag, rolling suitcase, knapsack or tote bag, please put an ID tag on it.

5. If someone is traveling with a laptop, it's a good idea to tape a business card, return address label, or hand-written name/address/contact information directly onto the laptop. TSA will contact the laptop's owner to return it if contact information is affixed to the laptop.

MORE from the TSA: https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/2016/12/09/how-claim-item-you-left-behind-baltimorewashington-area-tsa-checkpoint