Any airline rules I should know about?

Hi everyone,
This is my first time ever taking a laptop on a plane and through check-in. Are there any rules or regulations I should know about? I intend to take it in a small tote back through check-in. I sort of remember some horror stories of them taking away computers from people.
Any advice would help.
Thanks

 

You are from US then. Only there CIA/FBI/whatever is taking laptops of people on airports - you know - they fight terrorism In the rest of the world sometimes/very unlikely Airport Security is asking to switch laptop ON or just checking this visually... There is no need to panic...

Here is something more: http://aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopi ... ort#p52372

 

melhiore is right. The U.S. terrorism police have granted themselves the "right" to seize your laptop for whatever they consider a "reasonable" amount of time. And you can only assume that they will copy the entire contents of your hard drive and run them through their anti-terror software and check all the contacts in your address book to see if you have any connection with anybody who's ever donated money to any Islamic organization or anybody who's ever attended an anti-war demonstration. Well, you get the idea. Of course, I don't know exactly what they do with your data, but I would only assume the worst.

If your laptop is encrypted they can require that you unlock it for them.

But the good news is they can (so far) only confiscate your laptop on international flights. If you're on a domestic flight in the U.S. your laptop should be safe. As a safety precaution, you shouldn't store any credit card numbers or passwords to sites that store personal information on a laptop, as they do tend to get stolen in airports.

 

Yes, I am from New York and will be going through JFK. Just want to know if I should allow extra time to be pulled over.

 

Possibly yes. My wife has been questioned on one of the international airports. Obviously laptop issue and other electronic stuff she had with her. All this "procedure" took about 1 hour... Obviously you may be lucky and pass through w/o any problems...

 

I traveled weekly with my Acer over the past quarter domestically and the only comment I ever heard from TSA was, 'Neat laptop'. They were much more interested in my corkscrew.

Perry
www.kidpub.com

 

I will be taking American to the Caribbean. I think that's considered international. Hopefully I'll get right through. Thanks

 

my uncles from NY came this Christmas with their laptops (both of them) and they didn't ask anything about them, oh yeah i live in Dominican republic

 

I carry laptops through TSA security regularly and have never had a problem. I also have no problem with US airport security and have always been treated fairly by them.

 

The airline rule you should know about is: Turn off wifi if you're using your laptop during a flight. It can (in theory) interfere with navigational equipment. In practice, some carriers are beginning to offer in-flight wifi connections for a fee. On those flights, of couse you're allowed to use wifi.

As for security checks: I've taken a laptop to more than 20 countries without incident, and I fly domestically enough to have a Platinum card from Delta. Always take your laptop out of its case and pass it through the X-ray machine separately. Other than its size, there's nothing about the Aspire One that's going to raise any eyebrows.

 

Well, there's the funky blue color too! But seriously, is it sufficient to "disable wireless" using the network manager applet (Linux), or should I use the switch? And does it really matter, since all the talk of in-flight wifi "proves" that wireless is safe on planes?

 

I had my One in a case with the external DVD and mouse. The power supply cord was in my tote. All I did was take my One out of the case and place it in the bin separately. I was sure the power brick would raise questions, but they've obviously seen thousands of them before.

 

I installed Truecrypt and will gladly spend the rest of my life in a cell if they try to force me into giving them the encryption key.

 

LOL

no seriously, its not about what I have in my laptop, but its a matter of principle.
if you agree to that, you may as well open the front door of your house and let them in anytime they want.

 

Hey nmesisca, I totally agree with your sentiment. but i think in the end the man will win. While your encryption would probably take a lifetime (or two) to crack using currently available technology, in 10 years or so, the 3-letter agencies will probably have enough computer power to crack today's encryption. But I'm with you -- if they really want to see what's in my computer they're going to have to put some serious resources into it because I'm not sharing my password, either.

 

Sure they will win. If they use a CUDA enabled application it may even take significantly less than what you forecast
Still, if they have no proof of wrongdoing on my part, I will make them work hard for the password (spending money and time, and getting bad publicity in the process).
Then when they will get there and see there is nothing illegal to see, a nice "Told ya so" would go a long way

 

How do you turn off the wifi? :?:

 

the front switch would be the first place..

 

sorry to be a pest about this but I am a newbie and don't know which front switch you are talking about.
Thanks :?: :?: