Is Your Laptop At Risk While Traveling?

Editorgirl35 writes "Here's an interesting story on DesignNews.com With last week's announcement that the British government thwarted an alleged terrorist attack planned for flights from the U.K. to the U.S., news that travelers are required to check their laptops as baggage on some flights has raised a new level of panic as they try to figure out the best way to protect their laptops."

Comments

How about as hand-luggage?

[aslate]

That's right, you're able to take them onboard the plane again. Baggage advice for UK passengers.

Ship it ahead

[gooman]

I used to do a lot of travel for work, lugging product samples all over the world.
I always travel with carry-on only. Since 9-11, I won't even bother trying to bring samples.
The airport experience is simply the worst part of traveling.

Pick a carrier any carrier (UPS, FedEX, DHL, etc.) and ship what you need to your hotel.
As long as you pack it well (and insure it, of course) it will be waiting for you in your room when you arrive.
Trust me, it seems like a lot of extra trouble at first, but its worth it.

shouldn't that be..

[myowntrueself]

instead of:
With last week's announcement that the British government thwarted an alleged terrorist attack planned for flights from the U.K. to the U.S

With last week's announcement that the British government allegedly thwarted a terrorist attack planned for flights from the U.K. to the U.S

Re:Long Lines

[evilviper]

There is nothing stopping terrorists from taking out all the people standing around waiting to get through security.

"nothing" == "The Laws of Physics"

Small ammounts of exploives are of great concern only in confined spaces (being pressurized helps, too). In a nice wide open space, as in airport terminals, much of the force of the blast will go upwards and outwards torwards the ceiling, and be harmlessly dissapated over that distance.

To harm numbers of people in open spaces, you need serious ammounts of explosives. Suicide bombers who detonate a themselves in crowded shopping malls in Israel, more often than not, only kill a couple people. They have much better odds in more confined areas, such as inside buses, trains, and certainly airplanes.

You should really be FAR more concerned about crowded places, which don't have the numbers of security personelle that airports have. Crowded public places, like the DMV or post office, are far more likely targets.

Checking Laptops

[SPQRDecker]

I flew back from Europe on August 10/11 (Athens to NYC via Prague), and I had to check my laptop bag, since we were only allowed our wallet, passport, and boarding pass with us on the plane. I arrived at my departure airport blissfully unaware of the situation and carrying my iBook stuffed into a flimzy laptop bag (no safer-than-the-plane's-black-box Halliburton case). Even so, the machine survived the trip as checked baggage without any damage. Damage, however, was not the biggest worry for me -- it was loss and theft. As anyone who as ever travelled and changed planes knows, bags get lost all the time and valuables get stolen (which is why most people put them into their carry-ons). I had my ipod, digital camera, and computer in one case, which the airport agent kindly wrapped in security tape before checking. All the same, the bag broadcast the fact that it contained a computer, and baggage handlers don't get paid enough to be honest. When I got to New York (JFK), it was the only bag that did not make it through, although it was not stolen. (Perhaps, with a case as expensive as the one in TFA, perhaps it may have been stolen, since it absolutely screms "Here be valuables!" Fortunately for me, it turned out that the bag was stopped and searched, so it did not make it onto the plane. The airline found it and got it back to me within days, but judging from the massive line of angry people at the desk -- and the fact that many of them left the desk even angrier -- I think I was one of the lucky ones. That may be part of the reason that the rules were relaxed to allow laptops, since forcing people to check their laptops exposes the airlines to alot of expensive liablity for things that passengers would normally take responsibility for in their carry-ons.

It's simple - I don't use UK airports anymore

[The Mutant]

American, living in London, on the road betweet three to five days a week. I usually travel via Heathrow although sometimes I'm out of Gatwick.

I now use City Airport as much as possible, but they only provide short haul service into the continent.

For long haul flights I now Eurostar to Paris or Amsterdam where I pick up a connecting flight.

The fundamental problem is BAA, the airport operator, has declined to add staff to perform the required searches manually, thus protecting their profits. And the airlines are just as bad, attempting to maintain the same flight schedules to preserve revenue.

So the passengers are caught in the middle, and we're expected to strip down to our underwear and file, arms crossed above our heads, gratefully onto to the waiting aircraft.

Not me, and many like me. Business class travelers are avoiding this circus in droves.

We're all either using smaller airports that were not impacted like Heathrow / Gatwick or, if a long flight is needed (I'm off to Cairo in two weeks), we're taking the train to Paris or Amsterdam, and picking up a connecting flight from there.

None of the continental airports are doing this crap. None of the Asian airports are doing this crap. Even the US isn't going this far.

Make no mistake about it - this is all about protecting profits. Nothing more.

A view from the other side

[brettimer]

After having read most of the comments I noticed a lack of responses from anyone that actually handles the baggage. I work for one of the 3 major US/International airlines. Here are just a few thoughts.

• While most people like to blame ramp service workers for baggage problems, sometimes its just "user error" in that the passenger does not correctly pack the bag so that it can successfully make the trip, its not uncommon to have a bag that is over stuffed rip apart when it gets punched by the baggage system down a lateral to where we scan and sort the bags. We try to put everything we can find back in the bag and tape it closed, but sometimes stuff is missed - not stolen, but simply not not found until after the bag is loaded and the flight gone.
• There seem to be alot of comments about how ramp service workers go through bags and look for anything of value. While there are some "bad seeds" out there; most of the workers do want to get your baggage to you on time and with the same contents it had when you started the trip. Additionally, there is very little down time to try to look through baggage; certainly not out on the ramp as a few other posts have suggested.
• Yes, baggage does get thrown sometimes, but it is not because we are out to distroy your baggage, instead its the simple fact that throwing is more efficient - and less tiring - than walking the bag to the cart, especially when unloading a flight. We do avoid throwing anything with fragile markings.

Do yourself all a favor, pack your bags well and don't over pack. In the end, would I check a laptop? Probably not, but I would be more worried about theft on the baggage claim side than plane side.

Re:Soln: Profile passengers, or go on pretending.

[aallan]

...except the IRA was *not* created and funded by the united states, unlike al qaeda

Actually the bulk of the funding for the IRA did come from the US...

Al.

TSA approved locks

[hey]

How about those TSA approved luggage locks?
These locks have a combo that you know and a special key that the TSA has
that can open it too -- "for security".
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=TSA+lock&hl=en &lr=&sa=X&oi=froogle&ct=title