CaptainMiles

Unless they start screening at the gate, this will be trivial to circumvent with three people.

1. P1 and P2 go through with their allowance of two phones and two laptops, while P3 stays landslide with the rest of the loot
2. P1 stays airside guarding all bags, while P2 goes out.
3. P2 gets more devices from P3 and goes through, gives to P1.

Rinse and repeat steps 2 and 3 as often as needed.

Note that P3 does not even need to be a person, can be a car.

joan333

If they require checking of laptops how are they going to guarantee safe arrival of it?? I don't think that is possible. It will only mean that travel plans will be cancelled. How are they going to handle reimbursement of flight costs???

MSY-MSP

In some respects this is no different than if someone wanted to bypass the liquid ban right now. I think the limitations would be based on preventing a complete and utter bottleneck at the checkpoint. Flights to the US would likely have a gate screening component, but my guess is that, at least, domestically, the enforcement would be done at the checkpoint.

artemis

How "electronic device" is defined is going to be crucial. So is carving out an exception for medical devices like insulin pumps and CPAP machines.

artemis

I see a business opportunity for Fed-Ex and DHL. They could set up "easy ship" kiosks in airports; passengers could ship their high-value electronics to their destination lodgings or to another convenient location (perhaps one at their destination airport?)

OK, who in this administration has major investments in Fed-Ex stock?

notquiteaff

How are they going to staff all the screeners for all the gates? And by then I might have the contraband Kindle in my cargo pocket, so metal detectors at the gates, too?

A significant percentage of travelers needs > 1 device larger than a phone.

- laptop, iPad, Kindle, Camera, BOSE QC headset -- pick one of these?

Glad I am not a business traveler; most of my travel is discretionary. I guess I will be booking repositioning cruises to cross the pond until this blows over

wco81

Looks like Fed Ex isn't interested in shipping any kind of electronics.

Here is their page for International Economy. You can go through it, choose original and destination, set a value.

https://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home?cc=it&language=en

But if you try to select electrical equipment or computer hardware (there was no category for photographic equipment), it says these shipping services are not available.

Maybe they will do it under a more pricey type of service.

It doesn't appear you can wrap up a Pelican case with gear and ship it back to the US.

chollie

The problems arise when individual screeners are allowed to exercise their own discretion to decide whether or not something is an 'electronic device'.

Don't forget: until a few months ago, toy Harry Potter wands and Star Wars light sabers were confiscated because they were 'lifelike replicas' of weapons.

TomMM

Actually some airports already have screeners in the jet bridge searching carry on bags.

artemis

You can't ship those items using the bargain economy service, no. But you CAN ship them via Fed Ex. You can even ship lithium batteries and other dangerous goods.

Fed Ex High Tech shipping service: http://www.fedex.com/it_english/ship.../hightech.html

Lithium batteries and other potential dangerous goods: http://www.fedex.com/it_english/ship...ons/index.html

Dangerous Goods in particular: http://www.fedex.com/it_english/ship...oods.html#tab1

So yes, you can pack a camera kit in a Pelican case and ship it to the US via Fed Ex (although the batteries may have to be shipped separately, depending probably on their number and size). But it's not going to be cheap! (But it WILL be insured, and trackable.)

artemis

That is indeed the catch. What is actually allowed on the plane and what the TSA "highly trained" screener will allow on the plane may be two different things.

I am definitely seeing a business opportunity for Fed Ex here. People aren't going to surrender their expensive electronics as meekly as they do Harry Potter wands.

lhrsfo

There have been strict rules regarding the shipment of batteries by air for quite a few years now - following the crash of the UPS plane.

notquiteaff

I know. Usually a cursory check looking for them explosive water bottles, right? And few airports in my experience. How would it scale with every airport in the US?

My Scott eVest could probably carry and conceal everything but my mirrorless camera.

CosmosHuman

My stuff is worth way more.

Nothlit

Departing for Italy (from BOS via LHR) on May 22, returning June 4. I feel like a pretty average tourist with the following devices: iPhone, iPad, mirrorless camera with 2 lenses, and an external USB battery pack to keep everything charged during long days of sightseeing. I also haven't checked a bag (domestically or internationally) in years and don't want to start now. These days I travel with a full-size carry-on backpack, which is soft-sided so not really appropriate for protecting fragile devices if I have to check it. I'm going to be super annoyed if this ends up impacting my trip, but just to be safe I went ahead and ordered a Pelican micro case for the camera in the event that I have to check it inside the backpack. Without knowing for sure ahead of time whether the iPad would be allowed in the cabin on the way home, I may just end up leaving it at home, which is incredibly frustrating but not a deal breaker. Worse comes to worst, I'd just abandon the USB battery pack on the way home. It only cost $20 or so.

I don't see how this policy is tenable for the long run, yet I feel completely powerless in the face of it. I'm not sure that complaining to congress members will help... they tend to defer to the security apparatus on matters like this.