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Gps In Airline Luggage


hsmykids

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I read the posts about using GPS in flight, however my question is about putting it in your carry-on luggage. I do not plan on using it in flight. But does it raise suspicion when you go through baggage x-ray if you have it in your carry-on luggage? I really don't want to be pulled aside and interrogated because the baggage inspector is not familiar with a GPS. It does not seem like any previous posters about GPS and airplane use had any problem passing through security with their GPS.

 

Thank you

JC (HSmykids)

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I will always briing my GPSr with me in carryon luggage, and then after we're in the air I ask if I can use it during flight. Most of the time they say sure use it, it's "harmless" (which is the actual truth). But even on the occasional flight they say not to use it, they never seemed worried that I would still have it "OFF" but in my posession onboard.

 

Yea and I also don't want the baggage handlers from stealing it and/or breaking it whey they toss my bags around.

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You should be fine. WHen I go on a plane I'm an xray baggage nightmare. My carry on is always a back pack, it has a gizillion zippers and pockets, and i keep all of my electronics (digital camera, GPS, cd player, cell phone etc.) in there, i've never been questioned, never been searched, knock on wood.

 

When I got on the plane, i asked the steward if i could turn my GPS on inflight, he said it wasn't allowed, but he was curious to see how it worked, so he after we took off, he asked the pilot if we could turn it on, and the pilot said yes.

 

Unfortunately, even though we were at a window, we couldn't get the GPS to lock.

 

However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not. Put your batteries in your checked luggage, or they will take them from you. They'll also take nail scissors from you.

Edited by Polgara
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However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not. Put your batteries in your checked luggage, or they will take them from you.

I haven't had any problem bringing batteries onto the plane. I usually carry on enough for my GPS and my camera and some spares, and I've never been questioned about them or had them taken from me.

 

By the way, how did you demonstrate your GPS to the steward if you didn't have batteries? Or am I missing something? :lol:

 

I have had good luck using my GPS on flights, both in terms of being allowed to use it, and getting a signal. But I general have to hold the GPS pretty close to the window to get a lock.

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I just returned from a trip yesterday with my GPSr in my carry-on luggage. Had no problems going through security at either airport. It works fine on the plane as long as you have a window seat. They are listed in the back of the airline magazine as acceptable electronic devices to use during flight.

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I just completed a transatlantic flight on Lufthansa and returned on United. I seldom check any luggage, and carried on a small clothing bag and a knapsack. My GPS, digital camera, cellphone and a pocket calculator were in the my knapsack. I also had a 4-pack of lithium batteries. Which one drew scrutiny? The pocket calculator. The others, including the GPS, barely raised an eye, even though Lufthansa had posted in its magazine that USE of a GPSr was not allowed. My friend had a small transistor radio in his carry-on. on the way over, he was pulled aside to a special room where the radio was scanned, but had no trouble with it on the way back.

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Just flew from NC to CT last weekend with laptop, cell phone, digital camera, extra batteries, TB's and GPS in my carry-on. They scanned me three times on the outbound flight, then asked to inspect by bag. Turns out it was the 2005 US Open (in Pinehurst NC) divot repair tool I was bringing as a gift to my father that generated the interest. It was attached to the invite to join me in the corporate tents and on the course on Saturday. :D

They were worried about the sharp points. :D Never asked a question about the electronics.

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I was on a CRJ flight to Washington last week on ComAir and I asked the flight attendant if I would be able to use it after we climbed past 10,000 feet. She said she thought so, but wasn't 100% sure, so she would check the manual. She comes back with the manual and tells me, "oh yes, actually, you can use it at any time during the flight." I must have looked a bit puzzled that she was giving me permission to use it during taxi and takeoff so she hands me her manual and points to the table where it listed GPS units and sure enough it did seem to indicate you could use it anytime during the flight.

 

As for anyone questioning me about my GPSr during screening, I have never been questioned about it, the various travel bugs I carry with it, nor the extra batteries I had too.

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I fly fairly regularly and always take the GPS and other electronics in carry-on. I have never been asked about it. I do find it interesting that there is a wide variety of rules for use of it in flight. American says "no" in the online magazine, A Frontier flight attendant listed GPS as a "no" during the verbal takeoff instructions (she listed it with cell phones as something that can't be used at all during flight). United has happily let me use it. Midwest was unsure and since I asked after the plane took off, the flight attendant was unable to check for sure, so I just didn't use it.

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However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not.  Put your batteries in your checked luggage, or they will take them from you.  They'll also take nail scissors from you.

I work for one of the major battery companies (hint: pink bunny) and I can tell you this is not true. There are prohibitions about shipping some types of batteries in full pallet loads on passenger aircraft but carrying batteries in your carry-on is not a problem. I do it all the time and I often carry more than what would be needed for normal consumption. I often have plenty of extra's to hand out as samples.

 

I've never had a problem with my GPS in my carry-on. I logged more than 50,000 miles last year including several trips overseas and it has never been a problem. The only person who ever asked was the security guy in Jakarta. He saw my Garmin and wondered about the features. He couldn't decide between two Garmin models and was asking for my opinion as a consumer.

 

EDIT: typo

Edited by Runaround
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However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not.  Put your batteries in your checked luggage, or they will take them from you.  They'll also take nail scissors from you.

I work for one of the major battery companies (hint: pink bunny) and I can tell you this is not true. There are prohibitions about shipping some types of batteries in full pallet loads on passenger aircraft but carrying batteries in your carry-on is not a problem.

Well, guess what? At one point after 9/11 it was true for some time. SInce all these people are saying they took battereis on the plane, that rule must have been lifted at some point, which is possible. However, when I flew in the years 2001, 2002, 2003 & last year, when they xrayed my bag and found packaged or loose double AA batteries, they gave me two options, i could turn them over to the security guard standing there, or i could remove the batteries already inside my CD player, (which weren't dead yet), and throw those out, and open my new batteries and put them in my CD player. There was no way they were letting me get on that plane with batteries in my pack.

 

If its true that they aren't making you surrender batteries anymore, then I'm happy cause i'm sick of losing them in the security check.

Edited by Polgara
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However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not

 

So how do all of the nifty electronic gadgest like headphones, portable dvd players, cameras, gps's, etc... get powered during flight?

They didn't take the batteries out of my electronic devices that were already in use, just loose batteries that were in my bag pocket, or batteries that were in their original packaging that were in my bag. So my electronics did work, just like everyone else's that were on the plane.

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However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not.  Put your batteries in your checked luggage, or they will take them from you.  They'll also take nail scissors from you.

I work for one of the major battery companies (hint: pink bunny) and I can tell you this is not true. There are prohibitions about shipping some types of batteries in full pallet loads on passenger aircraft but carrying batteries in your carry-on is not a problem.

Well, guess what? At one point after 9/11 it was true for some time. SInce all these people are saying they took battereis on the plane, that rule must have been lifted at some point, which is possible. However, when I flew in the years 2001, 2002, 2003 & last year, when they xrayed my bag and found packaged or loose double AA batteries, they gave me two options, i could turn them over to the security guard standing there, or i could remove the batteries already inside my CD player, (which weren't dead yet), and throw those out, and open my new batteries and put them in my CD player. There was no way they were letting me get on that plane with batteries in my pack.

 

If its true that they aren't making you surrender batteries anymore, then I'm happy cause i'm sick of losing them in the security check.

I think (not 100% sure though that they were in carry on) that I have carried on extra batteries OK in the past year. It seems to me like one of those things that maybe they went nuts on at first and then relaxed on? For example, I remember having to throw out nail clippers in 2001 and now those are OK.

 

Uhm what you never want to do is wear cargo pants with metal zippers all over them that set off the metal detector! I learned first hand just how that leads to getting felt up by a TSA agent who has to use a hand held metal detector and physically pat down any spot that sets it off (think underwire female apparell there)! :D At least the TSA agent seemed to be the embarrassed one and not me when that happened, even though the "pat down" was done in front of the whole security line! :D (I apologize for the OT remark here). :D

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Tracy and I flew to Montreal in 2002 and had no problems with batteries in carry-on bags. We ALWAYS have two extra pair of AAs. We've flown domestically many times since 9/11 with no problems. I flew to London and Cambridge last summer with MD player, PDA, GPSR, and EXTRA Batteries in a carry-on. The only reason it caught the attention of TSA was a TB that they spotted, but couldn't figure out what the shape was. Batteries, no problem into or out of England.

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I'm one of the 'lucky' ones that's been searched by the airline - Hint, one way tickets are REQUIRED searches, so if you've only got a one way, be prepared - and while they manhandled my violin to the point I thought they were going to break it (I swear, I wanted to hit that guy), they never said a word about my GPSr.

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Well, guess what? At one point after 9/11 it was true for some time. SInce all these people are saying they took battereis on the plane, that rule must have been lifted at some point, which is possible. However, when I flew in the years 2001, 2002, 2003 & last year, when they xrayed my bag and found packaged or loose double AA batteries, they gave me two options, i could turn them over to the security guard standing there, or i could remove the batteries already inside my CD player, (which weren't dead yet), and throw those out, and open my new batteries and put them in my CD player. There was no way they were letting me get on that plane with batteries in my pack.

 

If its true that they aren't making you surrender batteries anymore, then I'm happy cause i'm sick of losing them in the security check.

I flew 3 days after the 9/11 ground hold was lifted. I had plenty of batteries on me and didn't have to surrender anything other than my fingernail clippers. There was never an official ban on batteries.

 

I'm guessing you either ran into a paranoid or misinformed TSA agent or your name is on one of the "suspect" lists that requires extra attention. I work with a guy who has a similar name to someone on the TSA list. He gets all kinds of "special treatment" when he flies. He'll often give us stuff like his cell phone, pda, and mp3 player to take through when we get to the security checkpoint just to save us all time. I can carry 2 of everything and no one stops me but he can have one pda and he's nearly strip searched.

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A few months ago, I took the entrance test for that job of Airport Security Screener. Those people that do that have to identify a suspicious looking article almost instantly. Let me tell you, it is hard to do that when there are other items all jumbled together in a piece of luggage. A GPS looks like a cell phone if it seen as an x ray picture. That (may) be why they are not stopping a person with a GPS in carry on.

 

However, I would not want to risk having my GPS end up in a pile of confiscated items that were not allowed on the plane either, so I keep it in my checked baggage if I am taking it with me. Plenty of opportunity to use it on the ground when I get to my destination. As a result of that though, I don't know if the GPS unit that I have will give a correct travel speed as fast as jet airliners go. Pegging the speedo?? :rolleyes:

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Uhm what you never want to do is wear cargo pants with metal zippers all over them that set off the metal detector! I learned first hand just how that leads to getting felt up by a TSA agent who has to use a hand held metal detector and physically pat down any spot that sets it off (think underwire female apparell there)!  <_< At least the TSA agent seemed to be the embarrassed one and not me when that happened, even though the "pat down" was done in front of the whole security line!  ;)  (I apologize for the OT remark here). :D

My wife had a car accident in spring '01 that required a titanium plate and six screws to hold her radius together while it healed. She also requires additional female support apparell. Whenever we flew she would just roll back her sleeve to show the surgical scar, and tell the metal detector attendent that " I belong in that line over there. :rolleyes: I got to carry all the gadgets and electronics so they would be safe. Flying home from Denver she got stopped for the random additional gate screening (remember that waste of resources and time?) along with several jazz musicians from a local college carrying brass instruments. They saw her getting pulled into the line and told her-lady we're glad to see you here with us; we thought we were being profiled since we're black, young and hip-hop looking. B)B)

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I don't know if the GPS unit that I have will give a correct travel speed as fast as jet airliners go. Pegging the speedo?? :rolleyes:

GPS signals propagate at around 186,300 miles per second. Commercial airplane speeds generally do not exceed 600 miles per hour. Your GPS is roughly a million times faster than your airplane, and will have no trouble keeping up.

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You should be fine. WHen I go on a plane I'm an xray baggage nightmare. My carry on is always a back pack, it has a gizillion zippers and pockets, and i keep all of my electronics (digital camera, GPS, cd player, cell phone etc.) in there, i've never been questioned, never been searched, knock on wood.

 

When I got on the plane, i asked the steward if i could turn my GPS on inflight, he said it wasn't allowed, but he was curious to see how it worked, so he after we took off, he asked the pilot if we could turn it on, and the pilot said yes.

 

Unfortunately, even though we were at a window, we couldn't get the GPS to lock.

 

However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not. Put your batteries in your checked luggage, or they will take them from you. They'll also take nail scissors from you.

I thought that those CD players and stuff used batteries.

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I don't know if the GPS unit that I have will give a correct travel speed as fast as jet airliners go.  Pegging the speedo??  :rolleyes:

GPS signals propagate at around 186,300 miles per second. Commercial airplane speeds generally do not exceed 600 miles per hour. Your GPS is roughly a million times faster than your airplane, and will have no trouble keeping up.

I might be wrong, but isn't the question/concern raised here regarding the ability of the GPSr to calculate and display ground speeds greater than a certain value? Rocket science, it is not. I know for sure that the user manual for my unit clearly states the unit's speed calculation limit. I would suspect that other GPSr's have similar limitations.

Edited by Team cotati697
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I read the posts about using GPS in flight, however my question is about putting it in your carry-on luggage. I do not plan on using it in flight. But does it raise suspicion when you go through baggage x-ray if you have it in your carry-on luggage? I really don't want to be pulled aside and interrogated because the baggage inspector is not familiar with a GPS. It does not seem like any previous posters about GPS and airplane use had any problem passing through security with their GPS.

 

Thank you

JC (HSmykids)

This is interesting. I thought that the express reason that the inspectors existed in today's travel world was to ensure that items packed in carry-on or checked baggage or packaged as air freight which are not recognizable and/or were suspicous in nature were in fact questioned. Sometimes I think that it would be interesting to see what might happen if there were two parallel flights to specific destinations. One carrying passengers, cargo, baggage and crew that had only a passing interest in what might be being brought and transported onboard aircraft as opposed to the other that had employees and policies that resulted in those employees taking aggressive, informed, responsible and appropriate actions to screen such items. If employees and systems are ill-informed in this regard, perhaps an update to the training manuals and procedures is in order.

Edited by Team cotati697
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You should be fine.  WHen I go on a plane I'm an xray baggage nightmare.  My carry on is always a back pack, it has a gizillion zippers and pockets, and i keep all of my electronics (digital camera, GPS, cd player, cell phone etc.)  in there, i've never been questioned, never been searched, knock on wood. 

 

When I got on the plane, i asked the steward if i could turn my GPS on inflight, he said it wasn't allowed, but he was curious to see how it worked, so he after we took off, he asked the pilot if we could turn it on, and the pilot said yes. 

 

Unfortunately, even though we were at a window, we couldn't get the GPS to lock.

 

However...since 9/11/01, you're not allowed to transport batteries on a plane, be it opened package or not.  Put your batteries in your checked luggage, or they will take them from you.  They'll also take nail scissors from you.

I thought that those CD players and stuff used batteries.

I already clarified that above.

 

They did not remove batteries out of my electronics, they just made me take any batteries out of my bag and dispose of them, so YES i had batteries in my electronics, just no longer in my carry on.

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Well, guess what?  At one point after 9/11 it was true for some time.  SInce all these people are saying they took battereis on the plane, that rule must have been lifted at some point, which is possible.  However, when I flew in the years  2001, 2002, 2003 & last year, when they xrayed my bag and found packaged or loose double AA batteries, they gave me two options, i could turn them over to the security guard standing there, or i could remove the batteries already inside my CD player, (which weren't dead yet), and throw those out, and open my new batteries and put them in my CD player.  There was no way they were letting me get on that plane with batteries in my pack. 

 

If its true that they aren't making you surrender batteries anymore, then I'm happy cause i'm sick of losing them in the security check.

I flew 3 days after the 9/11 ground hold was lifted. I had plenty of batteries on me and didn't have to surrender anything other than my fingernail clippers. There was never an official ban on batteries.

 

I'm guessing you either ran into a paranoid or misinformed TSA agent or your name is on one of the "suspect" lists that requires extra attention. I work with a guy who has a similar name to someone on the TSA list. He gets all kinds of "special treatment" when he flies. He'll often give us stuff like his cell phone, pda, and mp3 player to take through when we get to the security checkpoint just to save us all time. I can carry 2 of everything and no one stops me but he can have one pda and he's nearly strip searched.

Well, something was going on, because i had to surrender my batteries each time. I was at the Philly airport when I flew, maybe its their rule. I also had to surrender them in U.S. customs security check when I flew back into the U.S., from an international destination. All my flights were international, i don't know, maybe that had something to do with it. All I know is I pack my batteries in checked luggage, because i'm sick of being the battery fairy.

 

Like I said, if they aren't taking batteries from other people, then that's great.

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I fly fairly often. I typically have amy laptop, pda, camera, couple of GMRS radios, my GPSr, two flashlights and my mp3 player in my carryon. I always have about two dozen spare AA batteries in there.

 

Other than removing the laptop and letting it go through the x-ray machine separately, the daypack typically sails right through. Rarely, they take a quick peek inside, but they have never blinked at the batteries or asked me to turn anything on.

 

Your battery trouble is not related ot the no-fly list. Travelers are cleared from the no-fly list during check-in at the ticket counter. If you are on the list, you wouldn't make it to security (they'd come to you.) If it is determined that you are not on the no-fly list, you are just another passenger.

 

While it's possible that you are getting flagged for additional security (the dreadded SSSS on your boarding pass), this shouldn't cause you to lose your batteries. Your carryons are going to be searched and you'll get the wand treatment, but that's the only extra services. They don't let 'regular' passengers take any items through that you can't.

 

It sounds like you either had a misinformed TSA agent, or you peaved him somehow.

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A GPS looks like a cell phone if it seen as an x ray picture. That (may) be why they are not stopping a person with a GPS in carry on.

 

I've always been asked what electronic devices I'm carrying. I've always said cellphone, camera and GPS receiver. No one has ever taken any out of the ordinary interest in the GPS, in either domestic or international flights. I forgot that I had the credit card sized calculator this time and all the security person made me do was just to open up the calculator, not even turn it on.

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Well, something was going on, because i had to surrender my batteries each time. I was at the Philly airport when I flew, maybe its their rule. I also had to surrender them in U.S. customs security check when I flew back into the U.S., from an international destination. All my flights were international, i don't know, maybe that had something to do with it. All I know is I pack my batteries in checked luggage, because i'm sick of being the battery fairy.

That's either government inconsistency... or they needed them for their flashlights. :rolleyes:
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I've tried to use my GPSr units in flight twice, but found it impossible to get a lock on a signal. Both times that I tried it I was in a window seat. I let the GPS search for a signal for 5 to 10 minutes but both times it could only find 2 satellites with any signal strength, and that's not enough. I figured I just did not have enough access to the sky. Being in a plane is too much like being indoors.

 

Has anyone found a trick to getting a decent GPS signal while in flight? I figure it's kind of fun to see where you are and how fast your going.

 

I've never had any issues with loosing GPSrs or batteries in airport security. My dignity, on the other hand, has been compromized on a number of occaisions.

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Has anyone found a trick to getting a decent GPS signal while in flight?

While you are boarding the plane, poke your head into the cockpit, tell the pilot which seat you are in, and ask if it would be possible to keep your side of the plane facing the satelites throughout the flight. If they still let you board after this, you'll probably get a good signal.

 

 

Ok, don't do that. Instead, once you get up to cruising altitude, just hold your GPSr very close to the window for a few minutes. I've almost always managed to get a signal eventually (on my Garmin Vista), but sometimes I've had to be patient.

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i never have had my GPS taken from me (on either American or international flights) but i have had my nail clippers taken but not my lighter.....my personal favorite was having my plastic fork and knife set confiscated but then given a steel knife and fork for use with my dinner enroute 

 

Let's all go into the rubber chop sticks business and sell to all the airlines..

 

Just couldn't pass that up... :huh: sorry.

 

Seriously though, Just found out that my daughter is coming home for a few days early this week. She is an airline stewardess. I'll ask her what the current fad is concerning this topic. I'll get back to ya .

Edited by OccidentalErrant
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She won't be of that much use, most likely. Each airline has its own policies, and she probably has enough trouble keeping up with her airline's, much less all the rest; they vary widely (wildly!).

 

Personally, I would never, ever put anything of value in my checked baggage. Baggage handlers aren't paid all that well, and some supplement their income in the baggage hold. The only thing I put in checked baggage besides clothes, etc are knives. I always carry a knife, and thus always check a bag to put the knife in.

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Haha, try taking a breastpump on a flight not 6 months after 9-11! I had a conferance to go to for work and my baby was born 9-25-01. If any of you know about breastfeeding, you know that you can't just stop cold turkey without a lot of pain and problems. Passing through security one lady officer asked why I would want to bring THAT with me (after telling her what it was). Open mouth inset foot as I said "Well I don't want to explode."

They let it pass and I was not questioned at all on the return trip.

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She won't be of that much use, most likely. Each airline has its own policies, and she probably has enough trouble keeping up with her airline's, much less all the rest; they vary widely (wildly!).

 

Hmm, Well, if the above is true and you would know more about it than I would, nightpilot, then that might explain the inconsistancies at each airport.

 

That would lead me to believe that the airport security is pandering to the different regulations of the individual airlines.. so that one airline doesn't see a problem with GPS during flight.. They all must use it themselves.. and it isn't a transmitter, but a receiver, while another airline won't allow it.

 

She did just start that job as an airline stew.. and you are right.. she may not know but it might be worth a try..

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...That would lead me to believe that the airport security is pandering to the different regulations of the individual airlines.. .

TSA screeners do not use airline policies in their screening procedures. If they have a question as to whether an airline will allow something, they call the airlines ground security coordinator to make the call.

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...Has anyone found a trick to getting a decent GPS signal while in flight? I figure it's kind of fun to see where you are and how fast your going...

I try to sit in the window seat on the left side. On several occasions, I've velcroed my 3+ to the window. Other times, I've just held it close to the window until it gets a lock. Usually, I can then set it on my tray table and it will keep a weak signal lock.

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I have never had a problem getting my GPS on board an airplane in my carry on. I'd avoid backing it in your checked luggage beacuse if it looks like an electronic explosive device your luggage won't get on the airplane. Happened to a friend of mine who is an electronics technician. He put all of his hand held meters and other widgets in his checked luggage and his luggage was held at he airport he departed from because it looked suspicious and the only way they would open it is if he was present.

 

I've carried some rather unique electronics onto airplanes. If they question it I just have to prove it works, generally I get asked why I have more than one cell phone.

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On a one-night trip from Strasbourg (France) to Vienna (Austria), six months after 9/11, I forgot that I had a pair of nail scissors in my spongebag, which was in my carry-on. At the security check I got the third degree from some minion about this. Bottom line: I could abandon it, or check it in (there and then). They put it in a big Jiffy bag and it went in the hold.

 

At Vienna, I could see the baggage handler guy looking confused at this 12x10 envelope with apparently nothing it. They told me to collect it at lost luggage.

 

When I returned the next day, I had nothing to check in... except for the envelope. The check-in clerk said she couldn't take it because it would fall through the gaps in the conveyor, so I should take it to the gate. As I got there I stood behind someone in a wheelchair, who proceeded to go round the magnetic portal... I thought "wow, how much C-4 could you stuff into the tubes of that chair". Anyway, I handed the envelope to the security guy and he asked what was in it. I told him, nail scissors, Strasbourg made me check them in, and he said "well that's really stupid, how can you hijack a plane with nail scissors ?" and waved me on to the plane.

 

I think I agree with Bruce Schneier: if I was going to try and blow up the travelling public, I'd set off a big bomb in the middle of the people standing in line for the security check. Big choke point, hundreds of people, way less security than in the air, and you don't even have to blow yourself up. Then what ? Would "they" forbid us from carrying anything larger than 6x4 inches within one mile of an airport ?

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More on International travel. I did go to Germany prior to 2001. I flew roundtrip London to Frankfurt. On the return trip, I did get stopped and asked to secure some loose batteries. That is the only time that happened. I've travelled plenty since that incident and have not had that request again.

 

Probably the scariest thing that happened to me was in early 2003. I had a job interview in Charlotte, NC. I got to the airport in Des Moines 45 minutes before my flight. At the ticket counter they noticed something I didn't- my driver's license was expired (by four months)! Tracy wasn't flying with me, and it was a Sunday afternoon, so I had no chance of getting my license renewed before my 7:30am appointment. A cop walked over, looked at my license and joked about, "that's so expired, you'll have to take the written test again!" Well, they let me get on the flight after an extensive search of me and my belongings. I got to Charlotte, picked up a rental car (no questions asked) and drove around Charlotte for a day in a new (500 miles on it) Mustang! Concluded my business and got back on a flight home. I did get stopped going through security because of the steel shanks in my shoes! I renewed my license two days later.

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