http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turki...flights-9.html

There's a perfectly useful thread about the subject of the electronics ban...

Do you always wrap your devices in bubble wrap before you put it into your carry-on? If not it's more likely to be damaged in your carry on than in TKs electronics box.

I knew about the electronics ban I thought it would be interesting to share my experience

also powerbank a have not been officially banned

Nobody minds you sharing your experience, but it's generally considered polite to use pre-existing threads about the same or similar topics, rather than start your own.

00 grade work so I'm afraid although the embassy may suspect what's going on the operative is far removed from their mundane existence!

I have protective cases for each device :) I usually have my electronics in my small daypack under the seat, I don't put it in the overhead bin.

Hey guys,

I am flying back to the US on Qatar via Doha. I have my data on an ejectable hard drive slice. Do you think the best play is to check the laptop and carry on the hard drive? Or will the hard drive also be deemed unacceptable electronics? Or is there a special checking procedure for laptops that people are finding acceptable? Thanks in advance.

2,5" HDD/SSD should be fine by size. Also it does not have any own power source so it shouldn't even be in focus of the ban.

Am flying to D.C. today from IST and now understand why I can't take my laptop into the cabin. I had two 500ml bottles of water in my carry on and security never noticed. Great job guys!

Really... And you think that never happens at U.S. and U.K. airports. The security at IST is far stricter than most if not all airports. Just boarded the flight for LHR and from Gozen to TAV Security and TGS, all are doing a great job. And compared to their counterparts in other places they are kind as well. Feel sorry that they have to go through this forced circus act everyday.

Thanks amigoflyer!

I was on TK9 (IST-LAX) a few days ago, and my experience was similar to what's been reported already. They didn't take my power cords, spare batteries, or external hard drive. I saw them taking laptops and tablets, also cameras and even one giant playstation complete with controllers. They also make you turn on your devices at least once to show that they can power on.

The security at the gate starts with checking passports and a bag check. When I was there, there was a queue with three check stations - two staffed by men and one staffed by women. There were a lot of women on my flight, and many had children with them, so it was taking a long time. They were picking men out of the queue to go ahead of all the women. There were a couple of very vocal women who did not appreciate this. :-)

Quite a few people got a very thorough pat down as well as the bag check. I did not.

They write down how many things you have to check in and give that to the next check station. So once you are inside the gate area you sit until they call your name to do the bubble wrap on your items and give you a final claim check. If you do not have items you just go to the boarding lines. All that probably took an extra 40 minutes and it delayed takeoff about that much.

Once landed at LAX, they set up a table next to the baggage claim. People got in line and we waited about 30 minutes after bags starting arriving for one suitcase full of laptops to arrive. The security people then walked the line with a sheet of names of people who had items in that case. They said that for some reason, LAX security was hand checking every item, so the suitcases were delayed more than usual. They showed up one by one, with the final suitcase arriving nearly an hour later. People were upset, especially those with connections.

The airline personnel were as nice as could be expected. Both in Istanbul and LA, I saw outrageous behavior by passengers, from cutting lines and harassing the staff to outright yelling and rudeness. These people are just doing their jobs but people felt like lecturing them about how stupid this all was. There were other people who wanted to rearrange the process and make the staff do things that in their minds were more efficient. All this at top volume, of course.

People refused to sit down and wait - cutting lines, and pushing around the check in stations and insisting that they be served first. There were people insisting that they change the rules for them - in particular business class passengers. Hey, I was in business class too - but once you see that there is is one line, one process, you get over it, yes?

There were several people who just ignored the turn-in station at IST -- or "didn't hear" the instructions to sit down and wait -- which then required staff to go through the boarding lines (or maybe even onboard - I don't know) to find them and make them come back to the station to turn in their electronics. There were people who insisted that the initial gate check staff had taken their equipment, which made everyone run around looking for their stuff. But when they finally looked in their bags, there was the "missing" item. Literally, people lost their things in the space of 20 feet.

All in all the Turkish staff and the security staff at both airports did an amazing job and kept their cool. I was impressed with how they handled so many rude passengers and just kept calm and smiling. I can't even imagine dealing with that once, yet they are doing this every day. Could the process be improved? I'm sure - but hopefully this too shall pass and it will all just get back to normal.

Thank you so much for the detailed report. On your flight, where they checking noise cancelling headphones? Or were people able to bring those on the flight?

They were not asking for headphones, and I didn't see anyone turning them in. I had decided not to take mine just in case, and used the ones provided.

Unfortunately their headphones did not work with my phone. Not sure why, I've used other airline headphones with my iPhone before.

As I posted earlier, and I have flown to both the US and UK since this has occurred, NC headphones are not something they are looking for or banning. Yes I understand that one person has said that they have had an issue, really early on, but no one has experienced this since.