boxst

Hello

I'm flying on Sunday and assuming all this stuff today doesn't blow over, does anyone know what insurance/liability I have for things that are checked in?

i.e. I'll have to check in my laptop, mobile phone, Nintendo (which I'll leave at home probably) etc ..

Thanks,

Steve

FlightMan

I think insurance for this is difficult to get, if not impossible. My advice is leave it all at home.

davegtt

Be interested myself, seems like you cant take a phone onboard, the misses flys to Dublin in a few hours and if she leaves her phone in a suitcase that can easily be opened by a baggage attendant and swiped where do we stand with missing property etc etc...

davegtt

Problem is people dont want to go away and leave their mobiles, what about business travellers who cant leave their laptops etc?

Iwan

We've been told today we aren't supposed to check our laptops in, but that we have to comply with the security rules. Not sure what that means, probably that work still expects us to travel but then will sack us for breach of contract if our laptops/phones get nicked.

boxst

Hello

Thanks for the replies. I need my laptop to check mail etc .. for work. I guess I'll check with them.

Lots of laptops and mobile phones on ebay soon then

Steve

Stephb1986

they have to go in your suitcase make sure you put a good padlock on your case i use a measuring tape through the zips coz why would someone wanna touch that make sure its in loads on knots too

Freak

Baggage handlers at certain places (MIAMI!!!!) will be having a field day with flights from the uk

This no hand baggage crap should only last a short while- will be back sooner rather than later, but with no liquids/gels/toothpaste etc in carry on as the new rule, like the US have implemented with immediate effect from yesterday.

I phoned American Express yesterday ( travel+flight+ damage/delayed/stolen luggage insurance included with the AmEx I have) and they said that during this farce, they had invoked their 'terrorism' clause so wouldnt be covered should anything happen
Check with your provider carefully.
Should still be covered by the Airlines (in my experience very limited!) cover, but personally I wouldnt risk my laptop in the hold-ditto for phone.

KiwiGTI

I've always understood that the scanning machines for hold baggege is a lot stronger and may affect hard drives, film etc Is that true?

David Lock

So what stops a terrorist putting a timing device into a laptop, plugging it in to a bottle of liquid explosive and putting it in his suitcase? dl

davegtt

Well the misses went to Dublin this morning. (Ive been up since half 4 )

I rang the airline last night and they said Dublin airport will let you take hand luggage on now which is good, no other airport is allowing it though. Also told that if we put our mobiles in the suitcase and it goes walkies then its tough, we wont be covered unless we have travel insurance...WTF

Ohh well, she arrived safely and on time so no arguements. The airport wasnt even half as busy as I expected it to be either this morning.

Stephb1986

not a clue but the bags are scanned and they should obviously see a problem in the bags not sure if you can see through laptops though

stilover

According to the news this morning, BA will only pay £50 for a broken Laptop.

An Orchestra are about to fly out, and they normally would have their expensive, sensitive instruments as hand lugage. A chello player books 2 seats, one for him, and one for his instrument.
They are being told, either put them in the hold where they will be just thrown on like any other type of luggage, and brobably damaged, with very little or no compensation or, .................... buy a new one when you get to your destination ??? Yeah, sounds like good advise

They are taking things just too ******* far. It's stupid.

Freak

yes you can- but not very clearly if its in a bag- hence why airports ask you to take them out of carry on bags and put them on the x ray on their own. Gives them a clearer image through it.

Yep- will get cloudiness on film IIRC



This will not last! It is just a knee jerk reaction. Nowhere else has banned carry on (including the US)- its only Ex-uk while they sort this crap out.

KiwiGTI

A few things really.

The detection systems for checked bags are pretty complex these days and they would pick something like that up straightaway, automatically and with manual operators.

Also all checked bags are checked for explosives. Now I think this is where the authorities have a slight advantage in that they already know virtually every explosive compound available - ie: it would probably be near impossible that terrorists would develop an explosive compound that was so new that it was unknown about, without a billion dollar research program behind them.

The construction of explosive devices is well hit and miss too, it would be extremely hard to make a reliable bomb that would explode merely because of an electrical discharge (without a detonator). Many of the components are quite unstable especially when home-made.

David Lock

Fair enough but I think you have your rose tinted glasses on. The reality is a few guys looking at the scanner that deals with 300 plus cases rapidly and looking for a few extra wires in a laptop or camera or whatever. And I thought the point about the latest "liquid" explosive thing was that it couldn't be seen by a scanner or sniffed out by Fido?

Anyway it's not my field so I hope you are correct dl

DCI Gene Hunt

Are you also forgetting that baggage containers are also designed to 'hold' an explosive blast without allowing fatal damage to the superstructure of an aircraft.........

And all 'electrical devices are turned OFF while in a suitcase, thus making an active electrical device VERY easy to identify...... along with ANY mechanical device (i.e. timer)......

DCI
"Your safety matters........."

KiwiGTI

Most quality airport scanners are automated now.

And I think the liquid explosive has to be mixed from a couple of components and used pretty much straight away.

DCI Gene Hunt

Only the belts are automated..... EVERY scanner has a HIGHLY trained operator..... there is NO alternative to the human eye & savy.....

That's assuming its the product you are assuming it is........

KiwiGTI

Of course they have operators, but they usually deal only with false positives identified by the machines (or real postives)

I'm not really assuming it was any product but one of the biggest fears they have had for a while is multiple people bring components together on a plane, components that perhaps wouldn't be suspicious individually.

With the tens of thousands of flights around the world there when was the last time one was blown up by cargo hold baggage? I think most ecurity experts think this avenue has effectively been blocked off because if the effective screening in place.

David Lock

Lockerbie?

ricardo

It was the analysis of the Lockerbie damage that led to the new designs of cargo containers.

DCI Gene Hunt

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Next one will be an **** bomb so we will all have to assume the position for security checks.

DCI Gene Hunt

'No human interaction' is the key really and being able to ascertain that no active power source 'should' be present makes security searches alot easier...

David Lock

I didn't appreciate that so thanks. And I doubt if there are any aircraft of that era used by the airlines and routes that are currently being targeted. dl

Sbradley

David, the containers are a standard design and will retrofit into anything of the same class. So your 25 year old Cameroon Airlines DC10 (for example) will be as bomb proof as a newish MD11.

In theory.

SB

DCI Gene Hunt

Yes that is spot on, however you should also appreciate that 'modern' aircraft' also have their flight critical systems routed away from the baggage/cargo hold area (just in case) but unfortunately this is not the case with older aircraft......

mad_dr

Good idea but you have to be careful here - If you attract too much attention with a big 1 kilo padlock, you're even more likely to have your bag searched and - if they can't get the padlock opened, they can either leave your case behind, or damage it to get into it. As a worst case, you might even have it destroyed if they're suspicious enough.

The best course of action would be to get a padlock that is recognised by the airport security services (I use these to secure my Peli boxes when transporting my digital camera equipment overseas). They're always opened by security but they have keys to the padlock (we are promised that baggage handlers do NOT have them... I live in hope!) so no damage is done and as soon as they see the lenses etc, the treat them gently and with care, as you'd hope they would.

They're just doing a job (that we're mostly grateful for) so the best thing to do is to help them get on with it. The chances of damage/theft are so small it's almost not worth worrying about. Take precautions, but don't go overboard.

David Lock

I remember being hauled out of the lounge at Jo'burg airport once and marched by some mean looking security staff to an empty bit of tarmac - empty that was aside from my suitcase surrounded by barking German Sheperds! Turned out my electric razoz had turned itself on and was buzzing away.... dl