AINITFUNNY

Just a thought, HOW are persons who MUST hand carry irreplaceable, highly secret business documents, patents, BEARER BONDS, DIAMOND STOCKS, or extremely valuable items flying internationally now???

Pickles

In their carry on, as always?

AINITFUNNY

I saw nothing in the "permitted list of International flight "carryon's" that indicated that those who Must HAND carry very valuable items would be permitted to ignore the restrictions.

onelove

The only place this would be a problem is LHR with a no cary-on policy. Elsewhere it would be business as usual. If one is transporting loose diamonds they could be carried in concealed waist and vest pouches. They will not set off the metal detector and could be revealed and inspected in a private screening if detected in a pat-down.

The alternative is shipping via fedex or a similar private courier. The costs, including third-party insurance, are pretty steep but it would be better than nothing.

Pickles

What restrictions are you talking about?

GUWonder

The restrictions paranoid Nervous Nellies in the US and UK have instituted and justified and may continue to do so for UK-US flights (and a few others)? http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/20...32006_dhs.shtm

(They even wish to institute and justify more than this, but that's from the same paranoid Nervous Nellies on both sides of the Atlantic.)

Pickles

I did not realize the restrictions extended to not permitting "highly secret business documents, patents, BEARER BONDS, DIAMOND STOCKS, or extremely valuable items" as carry on. Unless there's a new class of "highly secret business documents, patents, BEARER BONDS, DIAMOND STOCKS, or extremely valuable items" that have sharp, pointy ends that could be used as weapons, or are liquids or gels. I'm not completely eliminating that possibility, mind you.

GUWonder

For a while there was almost no hand baggage allowed -- with very few exceptions for baby-related goods, some medication, travel documents, keys without electronic "fobs" and money/bankcards -- and that which was allowed went into plastic see through bags for flights between the UK and US. Basically, the above noted items wouldn't be permitted on a LHR-JFK flight for a few days. I don't know if that's the case not or now since LHR-JFK is one of those routes I've fortunately avoided these last few days.

bordeauxboy

Depending on the quantities involved, the insurance costs alone (for fedex, etc.) would probably drive the business towards private jet service if couriers were unable to hand carry loose diamonds on commercial flights.

Got to believe that if severe carry on restrictions were imposed, that it would lead to a reduction in travel by those business travelers in C or Y class, and a shift of F class travelers to private jets.

nytango

according to the AA site Brussels has the same restrictions as UK

Might be a big problem there.

22wingit

With items THAT valuable, I'm sure that the couriers re-routed to ensure that the items did not leave their person.

jonesing

It would be interesting to see how much extra business has been generated for NetJets and the like because of these restrictions. I bet they will probably not release those numbers publicly.

GUWonder

Around the UK, there's been a big increase in the past week.

goalie

i can speak for goalie-sis (dhs) who has to travel with "certain documents" in her posession AT ALL TIMES. the sop for her is when asked to open her bags is as follows:

show dhs i/d
explain that items marked "secret" or "top secret" cannot be opened unless the person has a "need to know".

generally that works but on occasion, she has had to escalate it to a supervisor and on one occasion the fsd . can't say at which airport but the person would not budge until goalie-sis said to "call this number" and as my late grandmother would say, "one-two-six" and it was all taken care of. goalie-sis said the fsd was a bit humble after that

now, her travel has been all domestic so i can only attest to that but something tells me that if she had to travel internationally, arrangements would be made ahead of time.

onelove

In reality, most extremely high end diamonds and jewelry are shipped via mail or fedex. The Hope diamond was delivered to the Smithsonian by USPS. Rough diamond parcels from De Beers are shipped via mail as are finished goods from the main cutting centers of Antwerp and Tel Aviv.

There are third party insurers that can extend the limits of insurance into the 6 and 7 figure ranges, provided you follow certain packaging and other security guidelines. Also, there are private couriers such as Brinks that do have ways of transporting goods safely. Neither of these options are cheap, but not bank-breaking.

The ones most at risk are the sales reps for finished jewelry that must carry a sample line. A single carry-on could have several hundred thousand to a couple million in goods.

Most sit in first because of upgrades from very frequent travel and not because of purchased first seats. Private jets are not really an economical option. They just don't make enough to afford it.

I am in the jewelry industry but, thankfully, I no longer have to carry goods. (I have looked down the wrong end of a gun a couple times) I do carry some fairly expensive and delicate gemological equipment with me and so far have had no problem carrying it on. If they ban that, I will be in a bind.

I am already planning to drop duplicate equipment sets, clothes and toiletries in most of my major markets. This is an expensive undertaking, but one that will be worth it. The thought of hopping on a plane with just a laptop will be a dream come true rather than having to drag 100 lbs of stuff (all carry-on) with me all the time.

onelove