Tablets and computers on planes!!

[luvtheships]

Well it appears that all flights from Europe may now ban tablets and laptops in the cabin and carry on and only allow them in checked luggage. It's not official yet but the USA Today article was not to promising regarding this.

 

Since I never check luggage flying anywhere my solution will of course be to just use my iPhone and leave my iPad home. If they ever ban iPhones I will seriously rethink flying as the security of having an iPhone in your pocket is really really important but I do also have a Mobal flip phone that hasn't been needed since I got my iPhone. Also I guess another solution is to buy a cheap phone or tablet abroad.

 

But for those that need to have a tablet you actually can get one that will give you access to the web for well under $75 and this might be a good choice for travel abroad.

 

Just don't put sensitive info on it and use it for a utilitarian travel only tablet Good for beaches etc too

 

Of course you can certainly find hotels that have desktops and laptops available for their guests as I know I have but I'm spoiled and like my iPad with me but no way am I putting it in checked luggage. And we all know you can check in and print boarding passes at airports like the old days.

 

I don't check luggage because I travel light anyway and like the security of knowing my stuff won't get lost. I also pack 3 days worth of stuff in my tote just in case the gate agent gets high and mighty about carrying my 19 inch aboard. Lol

 

This post is not meant to cause debate but more of a heads up for travel abroad and I realize that a great number of people still survive without technology so no need to point that out

 

However, students and business travelers need their personal technology so I see a big business looming in airport computer rentals in the same vein as car rentals as well as separate insurance policies for electronics. The airlines open your luggage all the time without you present so it's going to cause them grief as well

 

We are all too well aware of how stuff disappears from luggage

 

Just food for thought but I don't like the way this is going.

 

 

 

 

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[Essiesmom]

Long thread about this on the HAL forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2497987

 

EM

[CruiserBruce]

And on the Cruise Air forum.

 

It is proposed at this time, not a fact. Many are weighing in against it. Lets see if it happens.

[cb at sea]

If someone has "nefarious" purposes with their computer, they can always leave it on, and set to do whatever......whether it's in the passenger cabin or in the "hold"....still gonna do major damage.

[easyboy]

I thought tablets are covered by the proposed extended coverage of electronics ban, being larger than a mobile phone.

[CruiserBruce]

If someone has "nefarious" purposes with their computer, they can always leave it on, and set to do whatever......whether it's in the passenger cabin or in the "hold"....still gonna do major damage.

 

Sorry, lots of bad info here.

 

The on/off state of a laptop doesn't matter here. Most likely the bad guys have removed the battery in order to place explosives in the laptop. So it won't even turn on. Some power source will be required to activate the explosive, in most cases.

 

Secondly, as baggage on most (but not all) long haul planes is put in bag containers, it is unlikely the weaponized laptop will be near the outer skin of the plane, rather it will be encased in other pieces of luggage. Plus the baggage container itself will hold in some of the force of the explosive, and some have been reinforced to further reduce the likelihood of explosive force passing outside of the bag container. And given the relatively small size of a laptop, the amount of explosive present will be small. This is why they are NOT discussing totally eliminating carrying electronics like laptops in checked bags.

 

A small explosive device in the passenger space is another story. Think the "shoe bomber", who needed to place his feet against the outer skin of the airplane to cause critical problems.

[Crusin6]

I thought tablets are covered by the proposed extended coverage of electronics ban, being larger than a mobile phone.

 

 

I think that is what all the fuss is about as well

 

I don't even use a laptop anymore as I can do what I need on an iPad mini which I really want right in my travel purse

 

I really do not want to rely on my iPhone only while traveling

 

 

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[herbanrenewal]

Our local news was questioning having all those personal electronics with lithium ion batteries in the storage compartment. I'm not technically savvy enough to have an opinion on what is safe and what is not.

 

BTW i also travel light - 21in carry-on and under-seat personal item. I hate the idea of having to risk my tablet in luggage out of my control. I'm still disgruntled about a camera that was lifted from checked luggage on flight from Cancun to Washington more than a dozen years ago.

[Crusin6]

Our local news was questioning having all those personal electronics with lithium ion batteries in the storage compartment. I'm not technically savvy enough to have an opinion on what is safe and what is not.

 

 

 

BTW i also travel light - 21in carry-on and under-seat personal item. I hate the idea of having to risk my tablet in luggage out of my control. I'm still disgruntled about a camera that was lifted from checked luggage on flight from Cancun to Washington more than a dozen years ago.

 

 

I travel the same way

 

For this summers trip though I've pre paid what I could and printed my vouchers

 

It's a land based trip so lots of arrangements made. It's back to the accordion folders with hard copy in it.

 

I'm trying to think how much I need my iPad for anyway as I don't watch movies on the plane so I guess I'll check my email on my iPhone while in wifi only because the iPad is basically just so I can read things better and easily check for any bank issues while traveling.

 

 

Still this is very disrupting especially if a traveler has complications while traveling such as an accident etc and they need instant readable communication that an iPad conveniently provides

 

 

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[herbanrenewal]

Still this is very disrupting especially if a traveler has complications while traveling such as an accident etc and they need instant readable communication that an iPad conveniently provides

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yuck - step backwards to the days of Internet Cafes, where you would pay for slow connections in a crowded room on unfamiliar outdated equipment.

[JVilleGal]

I think that is what all the fuss is about as well

 

I don't even use a laptop anymore as I can do what I need on an iPad mini which I really want right in my travel purse

 

I really do not want to rely on my iPhone only while traveling

 

 

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According to what is "known" and that's not much, your iPad Mini won't be allowed. Just cell phones :(

 

 

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[Crusin6]

According to what is "known" and that's not much, your iPad Mini won't be allowed. Just cell phones :(

 

 

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I've pretty much resigned myself to that at this point

 

 

I feel for business travelers and students though and those that use top of the line cameras

 

An iPhone will still allow you to get texts/emails/take pix and of course be notified when your flight is delayed

 

Leisure travelers can easily survive but that doesn't mean I like this at all

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

I know we can purchase additional insurance from the airlines, but I'm wondering how they are going to handle this with laptops, IPads, etc. Maybe the airlines should put together a plan that would allow us to just insure the laptops, IPads, camera, etc., for the replacement value.

[mom says]

Or y'all could fly to and from Europe via Canada or Mexico, who aren't as paranoid about cabin electronics (yet).

[zqvol]

Too much paranoia in this thread. Wait until or if some ban is put in place and then worry about it. As of now no one knows what may or may not happen or if a ban occurs what it will look like.

[luvtheships]

Don't confuse back and forth conversation and exchange of ideas with paranoia.

 

This is a good important informative thread

 

 

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[Flatbush Flyer]

If someone has "nefarious" purposes with their computer, they can always leave it on, and set to do whatever......whether it's in the passenger cabin or in the "hold"....still gonna do major damage.

 

 

Not necessarily true. Unlike the cabin, which is unprotected, the baggage holds of airplanes are far less susceptible to damage from explosives due to the nature of their construction.

 

 

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[sunshine 229]

Call me paranoid, if you want, but one of the main reasons I like to travel is for photography. I have a fairly expensive camera which, till now, I've always brought in my carry-on luggage to avoid the possible damage and theft that checked baggage is susceptible to. I'm planning a trip to Europe this fall and will be away for over a month and was planning to also bring a laptop with me so that I can store pictures and do some photo-editing while away, rather than waiting till I get home to do processing of all those pictures.

 

I understand the need for security, but it will be more than a small inconvenience to me if I have to leave these at home or to risk the loss of thousands of dollars of equipment by putting these items in check luggage. To the poster who wrote

Too much paranoia in this thread. Wait until or if some ban is put in place and then worry about it. As of now no one knows what may or may not happen or if a ban occurs what it will look like.

For someone who is planning a trip based largely around photography, that is not a very helpful attitude. If the ban goes into effect the week before my scheduled trip, or even worse, after I have left on my trip with all my equipment,and am needing to fly back to the US with it, it will be a little too late for me to start worrying about it then. Edited May 14, 2017 by sunshine 229
grammar

[FlyerTalker]

Not necessarily true. Unlike the cabin, which is unprotected, the baggage holds of airplanes are far less susceptible to damage from explosives due to the nature of their construction.

 

I would suspect that the folks aboard Pan Am 103 from London to Lockerbie might disagree.

 

That is, if they were alive to do so.

 

Air India 182. MEA, Gulf Air, United Airlines and more....

[CruiserBruce]

I would suspect that the folks aboard Pan Am 103 from London to Lockerbie might disagree.

 

That is, if they were alive to do so.

 

Air India 182. MEA, Gulf Air, United Airlines and more....

 

Those were different times in terms of security, aircraft construction (particularly the baggage container), explosive detection, etc.

[calliopecruiser]

Too much paranoia in this thread. Wait until or if some ban is put in place and then worry about it. As of now no one knows what may or may not happen or if a ban occurs what it will look like.

We pretty much know what it will look like - the only question is when they will pull the switch. It would be as ridiculous a move as it was back in March, but that's the DHS for you.

[Keith1010]

This is a very big deal.

 

We will all have to just wait to see what happens.

 

Checking in the equipment has a big risk it will be damaged and of course stolen.

 

I do hope they can figure out how to prevent them being used for a terrorist plot to bring down a plane.

 

We'll just have to see what happens.

 

Keith

[Flatbush Flyer]

I would suspect that the folks aboard Pan Am 103 from London to Lockerbie might disagree.

 

 

 

That is, if they were alive to do so.

 

 

 

Air India 182. MEA, Gulf Air, United Airlines and more....

 

 

Nonetheless, the structure of the hold and reinforcement of containers within are far more protective- not perfect but better.

 

 

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[6rugrats]

Don't confuse back and forth conversation....

Hilarious.

[eileeshb]

There's been a fair bit of discussion among photographers about the first ban, apparently the guidelines have it that just camera bodies are banned from the cabin, lenses can currently still be carried on. But if the ban expands to take in flights from between Europe and the USA I suspect that leniency will also disappear. There's going to end up being a booming business in laptop, camera and tablet rentals at key airports for people that need that equipment, and the cloud storage providers are going to be raking in the cash as everyone has to have the ability to mirror all their data from their home systems onto their rented devices.

Anyhow right now this is all speculation, it's rumoured to be laptops being banned from carry-on initially, probably due to the size of their batteries and the fact that they can be more easily taken apart and reconstructed than a typical tablet or smartphone. I don't travel with my serious DSLR camera kit unless I'm going to work at a major sporting event, instead I'll be using my mirrorless kit & gopro for my cruise trip so they're much smaller and should fall under any size limits that are likely to be introduced.