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QR DOH-USA flights: electronic devices permitted on ALL flights

Old Jul 5, 2017, 9:53 pm
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Qatar Airways Flights to U.S.A. Electronics Ban Lifted


Travel to the United States: Electronics ban lifted

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Qatar Airways is pleased to confirm that with immediate effect, all personal electronic devices can be carried on board all departures from Hamad International Airport to destinations in the United States.

Qatar Airways and Hamad International Airport have met with all requirements of the US Department of Homeland Securitys new security guidelines and we would like to express our thanks to the US and local authorities for their support during this process.

We would also like to thank our loyal passengers for their understanding and patience while the ban has been in place.

Updated on 6 July @ 01:57 GMT
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QR DOH-USA flights: electronic devices permitted on ALL flights

Old May 19, 2017, 8:42 pm
  #196  
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Originally Posted by travelswithmyself
Yeah. Except the official text says only if the device needs to be used onboard - which I presume is referring to equipment that has to be continuously on. Oh well, doesn't really matter if they don't want to let it onboard. Thanks
CPAP isn't continuously on and surely that would fit into the exception.
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Old May 19, 2017, 9:30 pm
  #197  
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Originally Posted by FlytheTail
Thanks for the report. In a few weeks, I'm traveling BKK-DOH-LAX, and would like to use my laptop until departure at DOH. I gather I can follow the same approach and check it at the gate (before gate security)?
Yes, but you won't be able to use it until departure. Don't forget that when you're finished using it, it still has to be inspected, wrapped and packaged, then taken over to the desk.
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Old May 25, 2017, 10:07 am
  #198  
 
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As an update on the latest ...

I recently traveled on a QR trip from an out station in Asia to Doha to LAX in J. When I checked in at the out station, they asked if I had an electronics and whether I would prefer to check in my electronics there or in Doha. I indicated I would check them in Doha. There was no pushback.

In Doha, as others have described, they have a laptop packing operation by the gate. Basically, they wrap the laptops in a box, then seal then in a plastic bag with a seal, give a receipt, and also tag with a First tag for those in J or F. I then went through the security at the gate, turned in the box, and received a bag tag. When that bag tag was loaded on the plane, I received an alert on the QR app.

On board in J, I requested a laptop and received an HP Probook. I think I was the only one who did so. The computer was locked down and there was a notice that everything would be wiped when the computer was shut down. The PC had a Windows 10 OS with Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. It was fine and I worked/saved documents from a flash drive. Now ... if there was internet on the 77L

When arriving in LA, I proceeded to customs. There were two Qatar reps who had a printed list on a clipboard with all the electronic tags. There was a slight delay on the laptops coming out because there were sent to secondary screening. As the bags came out, the two reps took control of them. You would then need to find your bag (there were 30 or so in plastic bags with labels inside -- thankfully, only a handful had First class baggage tags on them). They would check the baggage claim against your and have you sign on the printed list next to your name and baggage tag. Control seemed pretty good. If I did this again, I might see if I could do something to make my plastic bag stick out so I could find it quicker among the rest. Maybe a colored sticker?

All in all, the organization was pretty professional.
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Old May 26, 2017, 5:27 am
  #199  
 
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Any idea if Bose QC35 noise cancelling headphones will be allowed ? I have a DOH-JFK coming up in J and I have read/heard conflicting reports, sometimes allowed and sometimes not from MENA to US.
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Old May 26, 2017, 7:41 am
  #200  
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Originally Posted by Upgrade Me 2017
Any idea if Bose QC35 noise cancelling headphones will be allowed ? I have a DOH-JFK coming up in J and I have read/heard conflicting reports, sometimes allowed and sometimes not from MENA to US.
I don't understand what more you expect for us here. To have stayed at the gate 24/7 for a few weeks and done a survey and determine what percentage of the time it's allowed? No one or two additional anecdotes will prove that it's always one way or always the other way.

If you think about it, it should be clear that it's murky whether it should be allowed (on the one hand, it's clearly bigger than a cell phone, on the other hand, the electronics portion is even way smaller than a cell hone), so different gate people are likely to come to different conclusions.

I'd put in the same camp as film SLR camera bodies, which to some people don't seem electronic, but OTOH have light meters those are electronic. I'd expect some gate people to allow them and others to not allow them.

Ie, the rule is clear about dimensions, but it's not clear about what exactly is and isn't considered "electronics".
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Old May 26, 2017, 9:44 am
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Originally Posted by Upgrade Me 2017
Any idea if Bose QC35 noise cancelling headphones will be allowed ? I have a DOH-JFK coming up in J and I have read/heard conflicting reports, sometimes allowed and sometimes not from MENA to US.
I don't think there is an official policy. There is a fairly thorough secondary screening at the gate in DOH complete with a scan of carry on baggage. They didn't say anything about the Bose headsets on my trip when it went through the xray.

That being said, QR has noise cancelling headsets in J so I'm not sure it matters.
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Old May 26, 2017, 2:17 pm
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No problem with Bose headsets a few weeks ago.
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Old May 26, 2017, 2:35 pm
  #203  
 
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Originally Posted by Upgrade Me 2017
Any idea if Bose QC35 noise cancelling headphones will be allowed ? I have a DOH-JFK coming up in J and I have read/heard conflicting reports, sometimes allowed and sometimes not from MENA to US.
Of course the whole thing is a pretty fluid area and things can change without notice, but QR's written policy is that noise-cancelling headphones are permitted.
Originally Posted by flyyme
The boxes (about 50 in total) came with the J bags. Placed on the
floor by the belt attendant with no QR Agent present.
Picked up my box and walked off happy that the equipment was in good order.
This concerns me greatly - there is basically a row of boxes clearly containing (potentially) highly valuable electronics, and there is no-one to make sure people are not walking off with someone else's box?
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Old May 26, 2017, 4:10 pm
  #204  
 
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Originally Posted by Upgrade Me 2017
Any idea if Bose QC35 noise cancelling headphones will be allowed ? I have a DOH-JFK coming up in J and I have read/heard conflicting reports, sometimes allowed and sometimes not from MENA to US.
Flew a few days ago with my Sony MDR-1000x noise canceling Bluetooth headphones with no problem. I assumed it wasn't allowed so it placed it with my laptop to get wrapped but the guys at the wrapping station said I could bring it along without a problem
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Old May 26, 2017, 4:10 pm
  #205  
 
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Originally Posted by stargold
This concerns me greatly - there is basically a row of boxes clearly containing (potentially) highly valuable electronics, and there is no-one to make sure people are not walking off with someone else's box?
That was not the case at LAX. Two baggage handlers grabbed the plastic bags as soon as they came down the shoot and then carried to the two QR employees with clipboards. We had to show our baggage tags and sign next to our name to get them. It was a pain, of course, to figure out which plastic bags were ours.
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Old May 26, 2017, 10:51 pm
  #206  
 
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
I don't understand what more you expect for us here. To have stayed at the gate 24/7 for a few weeks and done a survey and determine what percentage of the time it's allowed?
No, I just expect polite replies from FTers sharing some of their experiences (if they would like), and I got that above Feel free to not reply, specially if it will cause you an aneurysm.

Last edited by Upgrade Me 2017; May 26, 2017 at 10:56 pm Reason: typo
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Old May 26, 2017, 10:54 pm
  #207  
 
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Originally Posted by pstation
Flew a few days ago with my Sony MDR-1000x noise canceling Bluetooth headphones with no problem. I assumed it wasn't allowed so it placed it with my laptop to get wrapped but the guys at the wrapping station said I could bring it along without a problem
thanks pstation
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Old May 26, 2017, 10:55 pm
  #208  
 
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Originally Posted by SNA_Flyer
No problem with Bose headsets a few weeks ago.
Brilliant thanks SNA-Flyer and C17PSGR, much appreciated. I know there are QA noise cancelling headphones in J, but I much appreciate my own specially on a long haul flight.
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Old May 30, 2017, 5:29 pm
  #209  
 
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Originally Posted by C17PSGR
That was not the case at LAX. Two baggage handlers grabbed the plastic bags as soon as they came down the shoot and then carried to the two QR employees with clipboards. We had to show our baggage tags and sign next to our name to get them. It was a pain, of course, to figure out which plastic bags were ours.
Just had the same experience at LAX. There was quite a line at DOH for people to get their electronics packaged, so I suggest folks arrive at the gate 90 min before departure if you have electronics to check. Seems like a lot of folks didn't know about this policy. There were also many more random security checks being done (where they unpack your carryons and check for explosives) and the security is noticeably more tight.

The process seems quite safe and secure, the only thing that needs improvement is to have a system for them to more quickly identify whose box is whose upon arrival.
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Old Jun 1, 2017, 8:39 pm
  #210  
 
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Just done a journey from Baghdad to Tampa via Doha and Philly. Kept laptop with me until the gate in Doha, boxed, packaged and bagged to the side of the gate as others have stated. Might be worth a mention that I've got a large 17" laptop, but it just fit inside one of the boxes after being bubble wrapped. They didn't seem bothered about my large power brick staying in my carry on, nor were they bothered about my noise cancelling headphones which I was allowed to keep.

I was one of the first off the plane on arrival in Philly; after passport control two QR reps were already in place waiting for the belt to start. Electronics boxes came off the belt first, to be 'caught' by the two QR reps and placed in fenced off area. Must've been about 50 boxes. I had stuck a couple of additional stickers I had with me on the outside of the packaging to help ID it; also worth keeping an eye out on the labels as when they take it from you in Doha it is checked through to final destination; it was the TPA baggage label that caught my eye ahead of the stickers.

Once I'd spotted it, had it cross checked off a list and was free to go. I removed the laptop from the packaging there and then, and placed it back in my carry on for the rest of the journey.

All in all fairly painless.
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