Is Checking Computer as Baggage Safe?
 

I have two iMacs I need to transport. I have the original boxes from Apple, as well as the plain brown sleeve boxes that the white graphic ones go inside, so they won't be advertised as computers, and will be double-boxed with their original molded packing inside the white boxes.

Is it safe to check them?

Thanks for any pro advice.

No, it isn't safe; I would never check anything of value. It's just asking for trouble. If you can't carry them on, you should consider shipping them.

No, don't check them. Send they via FedEx, where you can track them. You may not have heard, but some people have had electronics stolen from their luggage. While they weren't as big as iMacs, the chance still exists that somebody could steal something.

Will add to the comments with this - when you ship, insure the package for the replacement value of the item (FedEx and UPS standard policies will not cover most replacement costs for computers).

I recently had a camera stolen from my luggage. Don't take the risk at all.
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United's policy will probably state not to put items of value in there.

In a hard sided shipping case, declared and insured maybe, but that's going to cost more than shipping via ups or FedEx insured for their value.

Pack them up and let FedEx or UPS handle them

You can always carry them on. I sometimes have to take two laptops for work and will regularly carry them on in one computer bag. It's a pain to get through security(pulling out two laptops in two separate bins), but I don't have to ship/check a laptop then which I consider a bigger pain.

Good luck!

If you have to check them, put them in the middle of all of your clothing and the like.

It may not be safe but I checked a bag with six macmini's and one mackbookpro without problem. I'd do it again.

This is my thought, too. I'd use a reputable shipping co. (i.e., UPS) where you can get insurance, tracking, delivery confirmation, etc.

Your chances of everything being OK are probably at least 90 percent. That explains why several people can post "I did it and I didn't have a problem."

That said, I wouldn't take the risk. To an experienced baggage handler, the shape, weight, and weight distribution (toward the center; feels different when you rotate them) of your boxes would be like a flashing red neon sign reading "Computer Inside." The great majority of baggage handlers are honest, but every occupation has its bad apples and a computer can be very tempting. Go with a shipping company.

The "red flag" is easy to avoid. That said I agree with those who point out risks. I do check computers fairly regularly in order to avoid hassles with security when I have several and to avoid having very cumbersome carryon bags as well. I never ever get insurance or specify the value because I do think that to be a 'red flag'. I don't recommend it, but checking computers is far from the riskiest thing one might do. It may be stupid, but relative to what? I understand the risks and accept them. I'd never check them transiting LHR, for example, where I've never had a bag make a successful connection. In most places I just accept the risks and go for convenience.

The answer, as always, is "it depends".

If you're leaving and arriving outside of the US, yes, it's pretty safe.

If either starting point or destination is the US, no, don't do it and take the advice of using UPS or FedEx.

It's like the stock market. If you're going to play, make sure you can afford to lose it.

If you mean "will it endanger the aircraft or passengers?", no. If you mean "might it get ripped off by TSA/Baggage Handlers/Random Individuals?", yes.

You haven't seen how big iMacs are these days, have you? ;)

I would say that putting anything of value in a checked bag, including a computer, is asking for trouble. Can you have it shipped ahead (which is what I often do.)

How come valuables in passenger luggage get stolen, while thefts from air cargo are relatively rare? The containers perhaps? Or the lack of recourse by the passengers.

What a strange comment. It is OUTSIDE the US where you are more likely to have the problem, particularly the third world. I suspect flights inside, for example, Switzerland or Scandanavia would be safest of all, but that is a pretty limited sample of countries.

I did this once with a Dell small-form-factor desktop on EWR-Bogota and it worked perfectly (except for the excess-weight charge :eek:).

What a strange comment. Maybe the poster has not compared theft data recently comparing the major US airports with others in the world. With the exception of a handful of well-documented non-US trouble areas such as LHR it seems that most of the most serious baggage theft problems are in the US. I have not reviewed the data recently so I am not sure what the relative safety is these days.

Somebody reading these posts probably does have the data close at hand. It would be interesting to have facts and not just prejudice to inform us.

Murphy's Law. If something can go wrong, it will.

People check computers without mishap all the time. When you REALLY need the computer at the end of the trip for some REALLY important reason, that will be the one time in one hundred it goes missing.

I would no more put my computer in checked luggage then fly to the moon. If I was unwilling to carry it on, I'd send it by trackable air freight: FedEx, DHL or UPS.

If there's any important information on the machines, back it up before you send them! Hard drives are cheap.

+1000 don't do it.

iMacs are desktops, so that is not an option.

Now, back to OP's question: I have never checked a computer separately. However, once I packed a laptop in its own box and that box inside a bigger suitcase. It arrived safely. Again, two iMacs will be too big for anything like that.

It would probably be safe to check them packed as OP described, but I would purchase adequate insurance.

Why does that matter? If you want to transport a computer on a plane, carrying it on is the only safe option, desktop or not.

It is most assuredly not safe to check a computer or any item of personal or monetary value. But people do unsafe things every day.

Bringing a desktop on-board would be much harder than driving down to FedEx, insuring the package for $2500, and then shipping it. If you bring it on, you have to fight for overhead space, etc.. The box for the iMac would take up at least half of the overhead bin...

IIRC, computers/electronics are not among items that will be credited if your baggage goes missing. If you can afford it going missing or have insurance, than you can take a risk, but I am never confident that a five-finger discount will not take place, even with a TSA lock.

Personally, my computer would not leave my side, not even gate checking on RJs.

I am not sure which iMac size you have, but I would really recommend seeing if you can fit one into a carry-on size luggage, if so, bring it on board. i have seen people carry desktops and large monitors aboard.

I would be more confident that Fedex will get it to your destination.

I think the only situation where I would feel comfortable checking desktops would be if you can "saran wrap" the baggage and ensure it arrives like that. I have seen this at international airports, but I am not sure how TSA would deal with this.

...and OP has two iMacs to transport. :)

iMacs are too big to carry on. These are not laptops.

joe

this thread reminded me of my first computer, an Apple //e that I hauled back and forth to college in the early '80's. It was lighter than some of those Dell 17" laptops now. I think it fit under the seat in front of me. Seat pitch was more forgiving then, and no one had to bring rollerboards. I bought a special bag so I could do carry-on. I had to check the monitor though (lovely green screen).

Fedex the computers!

Welcome to FlyerTalk, FlyingDiver (a.k.a. joe)!

May depend on what you mean by "computer"
 

Intending to gift his host in Thailand, JW returned to the shipping box in which a desktop had been sent him (through FexEx or UPS I don't remember) and paid UA's overweight shipping fee while the box accompanied him to BKK.
His first class tix did nothing to provide special loving care for the computer, however: it arrived with a kick-hole in the side.
!
UA shrugged its collective shoulders, accepted >NO< responsibility and offered >NO< compensation.
I think JW salvaged possibly one internal drive, but the rest became a bone-yard for swap-out parts.
YMMV
:rolleyes:

Thanks. Sorry for not reading the 2nd page (where it was pointed out that these are iMacs) before posting.

This thread reminds me of the first time I took a computer on an international flight. It was 1986, and it was a Mac SE. My company had some hard sided shipping cases custom made for these computers, and I checked it as luggage. I did get a form from the customs folks before the trip, so they wouldn't give me a hard time bringing it back into the country. :)

joe

That won't help if TSA scans the bag. They'll see the laptop on the xray.

TSA will cut through the plastic and open the bag. They don't treat it any different than a lock.

The function of the plastic is two-fold: to make it a pain to get into the bag (meaning a crooked baggage handler may choose an unwrapped bag instead) and to make it immediately apparent that the bag has been opened (definitely means you want to open it up all the way and verify contents before leaving the airport).

My business makes checking bags fulls of computers necessary. UPS/DHL would cost ~5X what the airlines charge for the excess peices in our case.

It is not safe. Sometimes I get stuff stolen. But most of the computers make it most of the time.

100% of my bags are opened by TSA 100% of the time. My best guess is TSA are the ones stealing; they have the best oppurtunity.

What may be more important to you than the computer is the data. Make sure that important data is backed up, and no sensitive data is in the checked computer for thieves to find.

+1

I always keep my laptop with all my inportant info with me in my carry on at all times.

In the Middle East I don't think you'd have a problem... same in Japan. There is very little theft in these countries.... in Dubai you can go down to the waterfront most nights and find stacks of electronics sitting unguarded on the wharf. Nobody steals them.