Flying with laptops and cameras

Derek,
as well as a new case you may well have to consider another form of insurance cover for your photographic kit. I reckon that something will be offered at a price.

quote:

MILLIONS of British air passengers were told last night that they will be travelling without insurance cover for valuable items such as jewellery, laptops, mobile phones and MP3 players that must now be packed in the aircraft hold.

I'm also interested in any one who can reccomend a suitable Pelican case for a laptop and camera gear (at the mo a dSLR body and two lenses.)

I find myself in the UK having carried said gear as handbagage from Sweden before the current 'situation' and am wondering how to get the stuff back. We travel Wednesday, so little time to source a new case, so it will be a purchase for next time we travel. In the mean time I plan to put the laptop in its bag inside our hard case. The camera will be split down and put in tupperware boxes and packed alongside. Then padding out with clothes. I'll be cutting down bulk by putting cables etc. in our soft bags... Guess we need to check our insurance as well.

As an aside, does anyone know if the airports doing anything to increase confidence that cases and their contents will be treated with respect by installing CCTV in areas where personell have access to them? As it is, what happens once the bags go out of sight is anyones guess.

Any Naimees worked at an airport? Do the staff have case tossing contests or worse? Or maybe we'd be better off not knowing...

/david

dave,

as a member of the Royal Air Force, i travel abroad a lot - both via civ air and military. this year alone i've travelled internationally over 35 times. touch wood, i've never had a problem.

however, like you, i've carried my dSLR and Powerbook in a rucksack and boarded with it as hand luggage.

until now. as an Air Loadmaster i've been privvy to how an international airport handles frieght (including luggage). as you say - it's best you don't know!! Heathrow has the capacity to handle 1 - 4 million cases per day. chicago o'hare handles upto 5 million every 24 hours. remember - most of this handling is automated. there's a lot of pushing/pulling/tipping/squashing/dropping envolved!

Security in those air side areas? in theory, every worker is screened in to and out of the sercure area. making it very difficult to get stolen property off the air side site.

between 1989 and 1999, british airlines/facilities processed and/or carried 700million passengers; with less than 100,000 insurance claims against baggage.

Pelican cases are a superb idea. make sure you buy one that is within the carry-on dimensions. when the security state falls below critical, hand luggage my be allowed again in the future. and you'll have a nice new case!

for the time being, the way you've decribed how you're going to pack seems like the best idea. although ALL hold luggage has been x-rayed for many years, i would suggest a larger percentage will now be opened for a practical search by security personel. if you can pack your items "neat", so when viewed by x-ray all items look obvious. bundled cables are often a source of concern. also, forget toiletries that could leak. buy more when you arrive!

quote:

i would suggest a larger percentage will now be opened for a practical search by security personel

How do they do that? Our hard case (Samsonite I think) has a combination lock, and the soft cases padlocks through the zips? OK, the soft cases ar not going to be 100% 'opening proof' since it would be easy enough to take a Stanley knife or probably even burst the zips. But then what would the security people do with all the bits...? And the hard case?

As an aside, something that has surprised me is the number of times luggage can be seen going endlessly around the collection belts. What would stop a.n.other passenger simply picking one of the better looking cases and simply adding it to their own, taking it home and breaking into it with the hope of finding something of value rather than some grannies unwashed undies after a trip to Spain?

/david

quote:

between 1989 and 1999, british airlines/facilities processed and/or carried 700 million passengers; with less than 100,000 insurance claims against baggage

If my maths is right, thats less that 30/day. Are they really that good at not loosing/ damaging stuff?

/david

dave,

the figures are a direct quote from the CAA. does seem low now you've done the math for me!

with regards to your luggage being opened - Customs & Excise and US Homeland Security are trained to open all the major luggage manufactures products. I'm sure other countries/agencies have the same. Think locksmith's secrets.

the problem of taking other peoples bags at arrivals? most people, like you and i, just want their bag and a shower! also, would you go through customs with someone else's bag?

i think the best advise you've been given so far is check you insurance. i certainly got seperate travel insurance for my photo/computer gear.

just done a little bit of research for you and i. Mishandled Baggage

3 Billion Bags a year!!!! 1% mishandled!!!! Wowzers!!!

Of course, 'mishandled' doesn't always mean damaged. could be delayed or wrong destination.

something to think about though.

I had a Samsonite Oyster case with a combination lock that was NOT locked sliced thru by the TSA at Phoenix last November, it looks as if they used a pair of thin shears to hook under the combination clasp and then slice it.

Cost to repair - nothing, Samsonite provided a new combination clasp for free. A few screws tro unscrew and refit.

Derek,

Peli cases are near to impossible to destroy. Most can be ordered with pluckable inserts to ensure to good fit. If, however, you want a custom insert then try these guys:

QED Design

Very quick turn around and not expensive.

Jono

quote:

Originally posted by David Legge:

quote:

i would suggest a larger percentage will now be opened for a practical search by security personel

How do they do that? Our hard case (Samsonite I think) has a combination lock, and the soft cases padlocks through the zips?/david

Er, that would be with a crow-bar these days. Don't lock your baggage for the hold.

I myself was going to take my laptop to New York this November but now think i will just buy a few memory cards instead and leave it at home.

Derek
Just been going through the same thought process. Have found one other good rugged case manufacturer called Storm, whose stuff seems similar to Peli but a little less expensive.
The issue with both Peli and Storm is that with the protection comes weight and some of the medium-large cases weigh a good bit, which will eat in to your allowance. I haven't heard/read that the airlines are giving additional allowance so that may be an additional consideration.
Cheers.

Chris
I have been talking to QED - mentioned above - and they are going to send me a quote for a Peli box to hold my LowePro Computreker back pack. Their view was that the back pack in a box would be a safe option.

Reading on other forums - several people have mentioned placing existing backpacks in hard cases.

As for weight - I think that the hold storage limits will go up to compensate for the recently revised cabin allowance which seemed to give a degree of freedom re cabin baggage weight.

I am not travelling for about 8 weeks so there is time for either a total closedown of the commercial airnetwork, reversion to normal, or declaration of WWIII- perhaps something in the middle <g>

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:

quote:

Originally posted by David Legge:

quote:

i would suggest a larger percentage will now be opened for a practical search by security personel

How do they do that? Our hard case (Samsonite I think) has a combination lock, and the soft cases padlocks through the zips?/david

Er, that would be with a crow-bar these days. Don't lock your baggage for the hold.

How would leaving you case unlocked and in the hold go down with insurance companies when you try to claim for something expensive that has gone missing once out of your sight?

...and using Hi-lines for shoe laces.

Just travelled from Manchester to Stockholm (Arlanda). Handbagage, as you all probably know, is now 1 item to a maximum 'laptop case size' (Actual dimensions on various airport/line websites) which I guess is a problem if you have a laptop and, say, a dSLR with you.

At Manchester there were long queues for the x-ray machines, and now your shoes go through as well. I can imagine how Heathrow would be until they manage to scale up this part of the process.

Arrived at Arlanda, but no lugage in the initial dump of stuff onto the belts. We, and another 15 or so families, were directed to the lost luggage desk where business class were give priority. After about 45 mins in the queue, there was an anouncement that they had found our bags. All came through this time along with everyone elses. I assume that they had lost a few of those baggage trailer thingies out on the tarmac.

I'm still seriously thinking about getting a Pelican or Seahorse case for camera and laptop 'just in case' there is a ban on handbagage again, but the dilema now is what is handbaggage size so that I can carry on when travelling light; laptop case size or the previous standard?

/david

Never say never, but I think the present "laptop-sized" max hand-baggage limits will be with us for a while yet, & the total ban on liquids & gels may well be permanent.
The 2 areas which need to be looked at are
1 from the passengers point of view ; just how much of the stuff you usually try to carry on to a plane is actually necessary, &
2 From the airlines perspective, they must get their hold loaded luggage delivery more reliable & consistant, thereby negating the passengers fears of lost luggage & perception that they must carry everything with them into the cabins due to lack of trust of hold loaded luggage.
matt.

Mat - Agree with you - collecting the luggage from the belt experience is one of the great disappointments of commercial flight.

It takes too long - sometimes as long the flight.

I think that I will solve my problem by getting a Pelican case (as suggested above) that will hold the camera, two lenses and a laptop. Other items eg chargers, cables adapters will go in standard suitcase. My initial thought of having a Pelican case that would hold the full Lowepro back pack will create too large and heavy a box.


Can we take books with us again thru security and onto the plane when travelling to the US, they are not specifically banned, also ball point pens contain a liquid - can they be taken on board to complete the landing documentation.

(I had read somewhere of a ballpoint pen being confiscated by security)

Or do the airlines (BA specifically) hand out pens to everyone now.

Derek,
I only know about BA, & can't vouch for other transatlantic carriers. I would assume the others follow similar guidelines/regs.
For BA flights to USA, (at present), you can now carry electronic items, eg laptops, cameras, psp's, mobile phones. Books are also permitted. Be prepared to have any item thoroughly checked & searched. Pens are at present still banned, I believe, but there is now a large stock of cheapo biro's on board to fill in the landing docs. This info is still in a state of flux, & maybe changed at any time. Best to still check in a little earlier than usual, & check the airline websites for up to date info. Duty free goods are back on board, but with a limited stock, ie,not much booze. If you are continuing on to another internal flight within the USA, then be prepared to pack any liquids purchased/obtained on board back into your hold luggage. The same goes for the flights back into the UK. If your final destination is LHR, then you are OK, but if you are catching another flight to GLA, MAN, etc, then no liquids, etc. Hope that helps.
matt.

Mat

Thanks for the info - it is a few weeks before we go and we have a week in the US before taking an internal flight. The duty free stuff has no impact. Good job that books are no longer banned.

Do you ever go on the Phoenix route?

Hi Derek,
By spooky coincidence I am off to PHX on 17 Sept. Don't suppose thats your flight is it? I only go to PHX once or twice a year, Its just the way our scheduling system works. It would be nice to have a fellow music enthusiast on the flight to talk to!
Matt.

Mat - I go to PHX on October 8th - for quite a few years mid September was our date for going to PHX - the Sunday closest to the 16th being a regular travel date.

Enjoy your layover in PHX - a great place and location -