TSA's hefty haul

People who leave laptops or wallets at the airport security checkpoint almost always rush back to get it. But do they return for the pennies left in the bottom of the plastic bin after they've retrieved all the items they emptied from their pockets?

Probably not.

That may explain how the Transportation Security Administration ended up with a hefty cash "tip" of $765,759.15 last year, and $674,841.06 the year before. The 2015 figure includes more than $9,000 in foreign currency and more than $30,000 in small change collected at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport alone.

Passengers left behind more than $43,700 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, almost $51,000 at Miami International Airport. A hefty $55,086.39 was hauled in by the TSA at Los Angeles International Airport. Last year's collective TSA haul has nearly doubled since 2008, when the agency reported more than $383,000 in unclaimed change.