Flying with Ray-Ban Meta glasses: TSA, battery rules, in-flight use and travel abroad

Yes, you can fly with Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Ray-Ban's own safety guide covers flying with them, and nothing we read from TSA or the FAA names smart glasses as barred. The rules that apply are the general ones for lithium batteries, personal electronics and filming. In practice that means keeping the glasses and their charging case in your carry-on, handing the glasses over if an officer asks to screen them, and following your airline's rules in flight.

This guide is based on TSA's FAQ, the FAA's PackSafe page and United's page on electronic devices as they stood on Oct. 26, 2026, the FAA's 2013 announcement on personal electronics, Ray-Ban's safety guide and FAQ, and our own guides. We haven't flown with the glasses or tested them at a checkpoint.

At the TSA checkpoint

TSA's FAQ page doesn't mention smart glasses. Officers can still screen your belongings. The FAQ lists "refusing to submit a recording device for screening" as interference with screening, and camera glasses record, so hand them over if you're asked. Our turn on and off guide shows the power switch on the left arm, which switches the electronics off.

Battery rules for the glasses and the charging case

Three sources cover the batteries.

The glasses' battery can't be removed. Ray-Ban's safety guide calls it "not user replaceable" and says not to try to remove it. Under United's checked-bag rule, that keeps the glasses in the cabin. United's page also says: "Completely turn off all devices with lithium-ion batteries when not in use." The glasses' power switch is how you do that.

The Ray-Ban Meta charging case works like a battery case for the glasses. The glasses charge only inside it, and our battery life guide lists what a full case adds: up to 32 hours for Gen 1, 48 for Gen 2, 50 for Gen 3 and 48 for Audio. Ray-Ban's FAQ refers to an embedded battery in both the glasses and the case. The FAA page doesn't name smart glasses cases, but it lists battery charging cases among the spare batteries that must stay in the cabin. Pack both the glasses and the case in your carry-on.

United also limits each passenger to two portable chargers, which it says to keep on you or in your personal item, out of overhead bins and off aircraft power. United's page doesn't say whether a glasses charging case counts as a portable charger. Keeping the case in a personal item meets the rule either way, and it's worth asking the airline before you plug the case into a seat port.

The FAA says its limits "allow for nearly all types of lithium batteries used by the average person in their electronic devices," and it adds that many airlines set stricter limits on power banks. Meta and Ray-Ban publish battery life as hours of use, and the pages we read give no capacity, so we can't give a watt-hour figure for either battery. If you carry extra power banks too, check with your airline.

If the glasses or the case get hot, swell, smoke or burn, tell the crew right away. The FAA says passengers should "notify flight crew immediately if their lithium battery or device is overheating, expanding, smoking or burning." Our overheating guide covers storage temperatures and what the warning lights mean.

Using the glasses on the plane

The FAA's rule on personal electronics dates to Oct. 31, 2013. In that announcement, which we read in an archived copy, the FAA said airlines can allow passengers to use portable electronic devices in all phases of flight. Phones "should be in airplane mode or with cellular service disabled" and can't be used for voice calls because of FCC rules on airborne calls, and passengers may use the airline's Wi-Fi if it offers one. It also wrote: "You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards." Its caveat: "Each airline will determine how and when they will allow passengers broader use of PEDs."

Airlines apply that guidance in their own words. United's page says approved electronic devices must be in airplane mode during flight and can be used except at takeoff and landing, and that phone service can be used only when the main cabin door is open or a flight attendant says so. Its list of approved devices includes cameras and music players. It doesn't name smart glasses, so ask your airline how it treats them.

The glasses connect to your phone over Bluetooth, so the Bluetooth sentence is the closest the FAA gets to them. It doesn't mention glasses. Meta's and Ray-Ban's pages we read don't say how the glasses behave in flight either: Ray-Ban's safety guide covers only batteries and security restrictions, and we searched Ray-Ban's India store FAQ and found no mention of airplanes, aircraft, airlines or flying. What works in flight depends on what the glasses need from your phone:

• Anything your phone plays, such as music and podcasts stored on it, goes through the glasses over Bluetooth like any headphones, as our music and podcasts guide explains.
• Meta AI, calls and messages need a connection through your phone. Ray-Ban says the glasses need a smartphone with the Meta AI app, a Meta account and wireless internet access, as our Ray-Ban Meta guide notes. Cellular voice calls are barred in the air under FCC rules, the FAA said in 2013.
• Live translation can work offline on Gen 3 for English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and German once you've downloaded the language packs. Our live translation guide has the steps.
• The capture light blinks when the glasses record. Filming other passengers or crew raises the consent questions in our recording guide, and we didn't read any airline's recording rules.

Photos and video at airports and checkpoints

TSA's FAQ answers the question directly. "TSA does not prohibit photographing, videotaping or filming at security checkpoints, as long as the screening process is not interfered with or sensitive information is not revealed," it says. Interference "includes but is not limited to holding a recording device up to the face of a TSA officer so that the officer is unable to see or move, refusing to assume the proper stance during screening, blocking the movement of others through the checkpoint or refusing to submit a recording device for screening." TSA adds that you may not film or take pictures of equipment monitors that are shielded from public view.

Those examples describe someone holding a device. They don't address a camera worn on your face, which records whatever you look at, including officers, screens and other travelers. If an officer asks you to stop or to take the glasses off, comply and ask about the rule afterward. Beyond the checkpoint, we didn't read any airport's own recording rules. The consent laws for recorded conversations in our recording guide apply anywhere, because Meta's camera glasses record sound along with video.

Traveling abroad with the glasses

Features, warranty terms and recording rules change at the border. Our countries guide lists where Ray-Ban sells the glasses and where Meta AI works. A few points matter for a trip:

• Check Experiences in the Meta AI app before you go, because features differ by country and language.
• Download live translation language packs at home. Meta's own advice is that translation "works best online," with the packs as a backup for patchy coverage.
• Bring a USB-C cable and a plug adapter. The case doesn't include a cable.
• Ray-Ban's warranty applies only in countries it ships to and supports, and its term is one year for US purchases and two years for EU and EFTA ones.
• Learn the local recording rules. Norway's government has said it plans a temporary ban on camera glasses in parks, beaches and other public places. It isn't law yet, as our analysis of the regulatory pushback explains.

A short packing checklist

1. Charge the glasses and the case, and switch the glasses off with the power switch before you pack them.
2. Put the glasses in the case and the case in your carry-on. Don't check either.
3. Pack the USB-C cable and a plug adapter.
4. Download live translation packs and any music you want before you leave.
5. Put your phone in airplane mode. The FAA's guidance allows short-range Bluetooth accessories, and each airline sets its own rules.
6. Read your airline's page on electronic devices and portable chargers. United's, for example, allows two portable chargers per passenger.
7. If an officer asks to screen the glasses, hand them over, and don't point the camera at screens shielded from public view.