Soon Laptops not allowed as carry-on

[Sunset]

The laptop ban in cabin currently in effect for anyone flying from a number of Arab countries, is likely to be expanded to all flights from Europe.

Europe braces for laptop ban on flights to U.S. - May. 11, 2017

U.S. laptop ban could hit 350 flights a day from Europe - May. 11, 2017

Normally I only put clothing in my checked bag, as I figure the baggage handlers probably won't steal it. Once my sister stupidly put prescriptions in her checked baggage and they were stolen from the bag.

It's not just the thefts, but I have literally seen at the Detroit airport, baggage handlers dropping bags the 15 feet from the cargo door of international planes to the tarmac, I guess it's easier and faster than getting a conveyor belt to use.

I don't feel my phone is a replacement for a laptop, so my plan is to take my older cheaper netbook.

Does anyone have good ideas ?

 

[Meadbh]

Teleconferencing.

 

[Sojourner]

I don't feel my phone is a replacement for a laptop, so my plan is to take my older cheaper netbook.

This seems like the right approach if you want to take zero risks with your main laptop. Personally, I might be willing to roll the dice and put my main laptop in my checked bags... well insulated by many layers of surrounding clothes. I have never had any problems with my checked items being damaged, lost, or stolen, so (knock on wood) I wouldn't be all that concerned about it. Just be sure to do a full backup/image of the laptop before leaving home.

 

[braumeister]

The only time I take my laptop on a trip any more is if I expect to spend a lot of time in a hotel. Most of the time my iPhone does the job for me, even on a trip of a couple of weeks.

 

[euro]

The only time I take my laptop on a trip any more is if I expect to spend a lot of time in a hotel. Most of the time my iPhone does the job for me, even on a trip of a couple of weeks.

I can do without my laptop, but it looks like tablets will be included in this ban and that will be painful - not sure where the line is drawn between a small tablet and a large phone? Maybe they'll kill phones too? Sounds like they will also target cameras and other electric devices (electric shavers?). Of course, this will mean many more checked bags (airlines probably won't mind...) and this will also lead to more theft, lost and misrouted luggage, overcrowding and delays at luggage claims, etc. We'll see where it ends up - I'm trying to minimize air travel as much as I can, but sometimes the alternatives are just not practical or affordable.

 

[razztazz]

Jam it up the airline's and the security/industrial complex's ass and just stop flying

Layoff all those workers, make the bottom collapse from their income streams then they'll think of better less lazy-assed ways of getting things done

The only alternative is submit but travel with bare minimums as far as carry-ons and checked if your body absolutely positively has to be somewhere else

 

[W2R]

Jam it up the airline's and the security/industrial complex's ass and just stop flying

We are much less patient and tolerant than you, and stopped flying in 2009 because for us, it is no fun any more. Honestly unless you HAVE to fly for business reasons, it's just a matter of preference and we prefer to avoid the aggravation.

 

[FIREd]

No way would I travel with a laptop or iPad in my checked luggage (risk of theft, damage, unauthorized access to my data , etc...). If this comes to pass, I'll travel with my phone only. I travel light and almost never check-in my luggage anyway. So I am not going to start now.

 

[Sunset]

We are planning and have already booked some Europe trips lasting weeks each. So while I'd like to not bring any computer, having email access is important, plus browsing to see sights or travel info would just seem simpler on a computer.

I really hate typing on the phone, since I'm a touch typist vs the phone peck peck peck system.

 

[Alan]

No way would I travel with a laptop or iPad in my checked luggage (risk of theft, damage, unauthorized access to my data , etc...). If this comes to pass, I'll travel with my phone only. I travel light and almost never check-in my luggage anyway. So I am not going to start now.

+1

I have a 2 week trip planned to the US later this year. I'll manage just with my phone.

 

[kcowan]

They showed how Emirates handles laptops. They soft pack them in special boxes and seal them. An extra step but seems to be efficient.

 

[W2R]

+1

I have a 2 week trip planned to the US later this year. I'll manage just with my phone.

I wonder if cell phones will be next, after some time has passed?

I can't even imagine that, but yesterday I couldn't imagine not being able to take a laptop or tablet on an airplane as a carry-on. Oh Brave New World.

 

[razztazz]

We are much less patient and tolerant than you, and stopped flying in 2009 because for us, it is no fun any more. Honestly unless you HAVE to fly for business reasons, it's just a matter of preference and we prefer to avoid the aggravation.

I beat you to it. My last flight was Jan 2002 before all the mishigahss started

I tried to fly in 2004 but before they closed the door I started getting some sort of claustrophobia panic attack and stepped off the plane. I thought I'd be spending the day in an interrogation room but "nobody said nuthin'". I had already decided to forfeit my socks and underwear, but the airline even got my bag off the plane.

Even with business. Like someone said --teleconferencing--. If it's a big enough project that requires some rich guy or big wig to survey a factory site far far away I think an occasional charter flight wouldn't bust their budget.

The Wee Folk who just want to visit grandma or seek a cure at Lourdes would be a bit hamstrung but how often d they need to do those things? Maybe here and there they could just suck it up and either A) Do without or B) Eat the travel rules that one time.

Either way air travel would become a ghost town and would have to change.

 

[Sunset]

I'm not really willing to give up ever taking a holiday to Europe/Australia/Russia/China, heck basically the rest of the world.

There are some ships that cross the ocean, which solves claustrophobia issues and laptop issues, but they take a LONG time to cross 6->14 days each way.

 

[Alan]

I wonder if cell phones will be next, after some time has passed?

I can't even imagine that, but yesterday I couldn't imagine not being able to take a laptop or tablet on an airplane as a carry-on. Oh Brave New World.

Hopefully that won't be the next step before I fly in September. Laptop and tablet bans are going to hit the airlines hard enough as it is.

 

[W2R]

Hopefully that won't be the next step before I fly in September. Laptop and tablet bans are going to hit the airlines hard enough as it is.

I hope you are right and that you can take your phone on the plane in September.

I guess it depends at least partially on how they define a tablet; to me some of the bigger iPhones seem just like a tablet, but with a phone function added.

 

[Sunset]

I do think phones will be banned as well, after all with a cell phone a person could phone the bad laptop in the cargo hold, in the same way as is done for IED's and boom...

It will also eliminate all those embarrassing videos about airline treatment

 

[braumeister]

We are planning and have already booked some Europe trips lasting weeks each. So while I'd like to not bring any computer, having email access is important, plus browsing to see sights or travel info would just seem simpler on a computer.

I really hate typing on the phone, since I'm a touch typist vs the phone peck peck peck system.

In ancient times before smartphones, I would often visit an "internet cafe" and rent a computer for an hour. Those places were ubiquitous in Europe back then, and there are still some around. If you really, really want to get on a computer and have no other option, it's a decent choice.

 

[Sojourner]

Jam it up the airline's and the security/industrial complex's ass and just stop flying

Layoff all those workers, make the bottom collapse from their income streams then they'll think of better less lazy-assed ways of getting things done

From what I understand, it's not the airlines that are imposing (or want) this, it's the TSA acting on some sort of intelligence in order to prevent a plane from being blown up via explosives hidden in a laptop. Personally, I would much rather be inconvenienced by not having access to my laptop for a few hours on a transatlantic flight than take the risk of some terrorist exploiting a hole in the security protocols that could have been closed. There's always a trade-off between security and convenience, and in this case, I think it's a reasonable one. But sure... if you don't like the trade-off, no one's forcing you to fly anywhere.

 

[euro]

In ancient times before smartphones, I would often visit an "internet cafe" and rent a computer for an hour. Those places were ubiquitous in Europe back then, and there are still some around. If you really, really want to get on a computer and have no other option, it's a decent choice.

Meh, those have gone the way of the phone-booths.... even hotels have fewer and fewer general access computers available (like those used to print boarding passes in days long past (say ~2010......)

 

[jonat]

The far higher risk is having your laptop, tablet or e-reader (yes, those too) stolen by TSA or airline employees. That's a known issue already with many cases.

I don't need my laptop in flight, but I do need to make sure it gets where I am going. And no, renting locally is not an option for most business travelers.

 

[USGrant1962]

Everything I've read says the ban is on flights "from" the ME, and soon Europe. Presumably you can still carry on outbound from the U.S. Can anyone confirm?

If you are traveling for business you could FedEx your laptop and/or tablet, but that is probably too pricey for leisure travel. Also, I've started to see more ads for services to ship your suitcase directly to your hotel, bypassing the airlines completely. I assume this would be quite expensive for international travel.

 

[Cobra9777]

The only time I take my laptop on a trip any more is if I expect to spend a lot of time in a hotel. Most of the time my iPhone does the job for me, even on a trip of a couple of weeks.

+1 Last few trips, we brought the laptop but never once fired it up. Our smartphones do everything we need while traveling. So this would not be a problem for us at all. We had already discussed not bringing the laptop in the future just because it's kinda heavy and bulky in my backpack. Back in my road warrior days, this would have been a minor inconvenience, as I typically worked on long flights. But watching movies and sleeping are fine alternatives.

 

[gerntz]

So if your mobile phone is your iPad, where does it go? I mean at what size does a phone become a tablet & the other way around?

 

[gerntz]

We are much less patient and tolerant than you, and stopped flying in 2009 because for us, it is no fun any more. Honestly unless you HAVE to fly for business reasons, it's just a matter of preference and we prefer to avoid the aggravation.

Unless I have a lay flat overnight flight, never did think flying was fun (That's happened exactly once.). Nor do I think a cross-country drive is fun. Nor do I think being cooped up on a cruise ship is fun. But I do all of them as a means to an end vs. staying home.

Not having a laptop on a flight is NBD. Never had one before 1995 either.