Originally Posted by
USA_flyer
I've flown with mine through SAN and LAX and on no occasion have I had to take it out of the bag. The only time they gave it a second look is when I added some girl scout cookies to the bag.
I carry a letter with me that says that my CPAP machine needs to travel with me in the cabin. I've never needed it but, it should help with being able to take it in the cabin if a over-zealous check in agent causes a fuss.
I always put mine in the overhead bins. It's not very big and doesn't take up a lot of space.
I had created a tag for my CPAP case clearly identifying it as a medical device (along with the relevant regulatory info), just to be safe, but CPAPs are common enough now that gate agents in the US know what they look like and don’t generally make a fuss. In fact, the only time I’ve been stopped re: my CPAP was by a Red Blazer @ EWR policing the tail of a TSA line (actual TSA didn’t even give it a 2nd look).
And +1 re: the overhead compartment; apart from the fact that I need access to my laptop bag more than I need to access the CPAP in-flight, I don’t relish the notion of keeping my device anywhere it could potentially get vomited upon.