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Airline passengers in a rush either forget their coins at security, or have no use for chump change.

With today’s check cards and online payments, a piggy bank might seem old fashioned and obsolete. But airports around the US are showing that every penny still counts. In 2010, the Transportation Security Administration collected $409,085.56 in loose change that passengers left at security checkpoints before boarding, either in a hurried rush to catch a flight, or just by choice. $379,480.39 came from domestic coins, and $32,605.17 from foreign currency, reports USA Today.

"Many people aren't carrying change these days anyway," David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, told USA Today. "It just weighs down in their pockets and purses. I know in the city I see a lot of people giving it to homeless people just to get rid of the change." For international travelers, many exchange offices don’t even accept coins towards a different currency, and Stempler said that travelers may not see the use of holding on to the extra change while abroad.

Nevertheless, the TSA "makes every effort to reunite passengers with items left at the checkpoint," Greg Soule, an agency spokesman, told USA Today. But when the money isn't claimed, the agency reallocates it for operating expenses.  

For major hubs, this can add up to a pretty penny. According to the TSA, John F. Kennedy International brought in the most loose change in 2010 with $46,918.06. Los Angeles International came next in line with $19,110.83, followed by Hartsfield Atlanta International’s $16,523.83, San Francisco International’s $15,908.02, and Miami International’s $15,844.83.

For some politicians, these sums are a bit too high. Republican Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida introduced a bill in 2009 that would redistribute the collected funds to the United Service Organizations (USO), a nonprofit that manages welcome centers for military personnel at 41 national airports, reports msnbc.com.

“The money left behind at the airport checkpoints belongs to taxpayers,” Miller’s spokesperson Dan McFaul told msnbc.com. “The congressman feels giving it to the USO to help with onsite airport service for active members of the military would be a good use for it.”

The bill originally didn’t gain much momentum, but Miller is now promoting it to Congressional committees on Homeland Security and Transportation. If Miller can move the bill through, the USO will have quite a few more pennies in the old piggy bank in years to come.