New Air Travel Restrictions

[J. Stephen McDonald]

For an unspecified time into the future, almost nothing can be carried onto an airliner, due to the recent terrorist alert. I've heard many stories about the organized thievery by baggage crews, on stowed luggage. Are these new restrictions going to put videomakers' equipment at high risk? Is there any way to avoid this problem that is practical and affordable?

I suggest a new forum that would focus on location travel issues for videomakers.

[Don Donatello]

the only no carry on that i heard about was from england to the US ...
i heard talk of it expanding to all international flights to/from US but no official statement ... as far as i know you can still carry on flights within US but that could change ...

[Don Bloom]

Can you ship the gear (FedX or UPS) to the hotel you're staying at and have them hold it? I've done that and frankly its a lot easier than trying to get thru security with the gear. The last trip they decided they weren't going to let me on with out checking the small case (about the size of a 21 inch suit case) I talk to a supervisor and finally got it cleared up but it proved to me that shipping it is the way to go.

Don

[Paul Doherty]

I normally take my camera (currently an XL-H1) and lenses as hand luggage. I would much prefer not to have to stow them as hold luggage and could do without the extra cost of shipping them on ahead.

Anyway carrying them yourself as hand luggage is far safer then trusting them to baggage handlers and shipping companies. It's my property so I'm not going to throw it around in the way that happens to general luggage.

At the moment the no hand baggage restriction applies as a temporary measure to all flights within and out of the UK, but there have been noises about it becoming permanent.

Depending on the airline you might currently get a hold allowance of 18kg and hand baggage of 6kg. My guess is that if this changes to just one allowance they won't make it 24kg, but will ease it down to 20kg.

I have a friend in the travel business who will probably take an interest in this issue and I'm due to see him in a weeks time so it will be interesting to see what he has to report.

[Emre Safak]

Well... I'm flying through Heathrow to Boston on Monday so I will soon have something to report (if I make it).

[John M Burkhart]

A big problem I see with shipping cameras directly to your destination via fed-ex/ups is customs.

You very likely will get taxed on the full value of your camera equipment by customs if you ship it to another country. Normally you would bring it with you and have a carnet, but there's nothing that greedy customs people like more than seeing high-value electronics coming through.

[Paulo Teixeira]

Every time I went on a plane, I’ve always carried my camcorder for the same reasons of a lot of you but things are getting out of hand.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...309327,00.html

[Bob Hart]

A few years ago, I allowed a CP16 to go in as baggage hold luggage on a trans-Pacific flight and at the other end, the lens had come off from in-flight and handling shocks.

If your cam has to go aboard as baggage, I recommend dismantling the lens from camera body, securely packing and sealing both.

Request the camera box to go in a baggage hold as close to the centre axis of the aircraft as possible to minimise the lateral shaking which occurs in the aft areas of long widebodied aircraft in flight.

The handlers will probably just go ahead and do what they want to do regardless but there's no harm in asking.

[Tim Goldman]

I made it out of heathrow just befor the new restrictions came into play (left on the 9th, by the morning of the 10th the restrictions were up). From what i saw everything carry on had to be dumped into a clear plastic bag, and no liquids of goo. In chicago they had a bin where we dropped off all liquid and goo, but the rest of my carry on (my backpack with snack food and a book or two) was allowed on.

I think england to america might have different restrictions then chicago to atlanta (for example).

The smart thing i did was wake up early, see that these new security features were in place and head to te airport in chicaho early (like 5:30 am).
by time i was in atlanta heading home, the security check in was 1 1/2 hours of line. ugh, so if you travel, leave early for the airport and no bottle water or even lipstick allowed on the flight

[Paulo Teixeira]

"We had people throw away a whole case of wine, or try to drink their wine in line,"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14308565/


I don’t mean to sound like I’m making a joke out of this situation but I somehow wouldn’t trust being on an Air Plane filled with drunk people.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Paulo Teixeira

"We had people throw away a whole case of wine, or try to drink their wine in line,"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14308565/


I don’t mean to sound like I’m making a joke out of this situation but I somehow wouldn’t trust being on an Air Plane filled with drunk people.

Passd around to enough people, there isn't sufficient volume to get them drunk, just happier to stand in line. ;-)

-gb-

[Bennis Hahn]

I flew two days ago from the Bahamas to the US (an international flight) with my DVX. I was able to keep my DVX and a separate satchel as carry on. I would not, under any circumstances check a camera, unless you can afford to loose it.

[Frank Hool]

i can just confirm thread starters information. My friend traveled just few days ago from us to uk. Because of new order there wasn't allowed any luggage to take into the cabin. So when she got back luggage in London there was two pretty rare musical instruments which both were broken.