I hate to resurrect a defunct thread – especially since evilbeth’s husband is probably home by now – but I asked a friend of mine who works in airport security about this. Her response:
As long as it is under $10,000 we don’t care how much cash they carry. An amount of $2,000 would be no big deal. People carry large amounts of cash all the time. If it’s over $10,000 it becomes an issue for Customs and they have to make sure there’s not an international connection and whatever else they do.
HTH,
RR