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US flight rules is changing!!!
- Thread starter msadat
- Start date
glenerrolrd
Workshop Member
The assumption has been that the ban initiated in March and covering specific airports in the middle east .....would be extended to additional airports in the Euro Zone . It very clearly bans all electronics including cameras ..in fact all electronics except phones .
DELTA has already printed the signs telling passengers to europe that on the return they must pack all electronics in checked luggage . The easiest way to implement this type of policy is to have NO EXCEPTIONS ...if its electronic and not a phone it goes in checked bags.
From early travelers it appears that camera lenses are not considered electronic but it is reported that this sometimes takes a bunch of discussion .
For sure you know :
1. Its going to be a real mess going thru security at any of the airports to be named . You can be sure any equipment you are carrying will be hand checked ..each piece .
2. Any equipment check has real potential for disappearing .
Living in the USA and traveling to europe specifically for photography three times a year ...this is a disaster . Its one thing to risk a DSLR worth a few thousand dollars and another to put two M10 bodies in my luggage .
DELTA has already printed the signs telling passengers to europe that on the return they must pack all electronics in checked luggage . The easiest way to implement this type of policy is to have NO EXCEPTIONS ...if its electronic and not a phone it goes in checked bags.
From early travelers it appears that camera lenses are not considered electronic but it is reported that this sometimes takes a bunch of discussion .
For sure you know :
1. Its going to be a real mess going thru security at any of the airports to be named . You can be sure any equipment you are carrying will be hand checked ..each piece .
2. Any equipment check has real potential for disappearing .
Living in the USA and traveling to europe specifically for photography three times a year ...this is a disaster . Its one thing to risk a DSLR worth a few thousand dollars and another to put two M10 bodies in my luggage .
GrahamWelland
Subscriber & Workshop Member
Yes - batteries are batteries ...
I had some feedback from some colleagues who flew back through Doha on Qatar Air a couple of days ago. They said you can keep electronics until you are ready to board plane to US, then they take them (you can keep lens), wrap, box and seal, and give you receipt. Then at JFK, a Qatar employee comes and returns boxes to you directly at baggage claim, separate from luggage. They said it was professional, and that they felt it was handled professionally and securely as possible.
We'll see.
bensonga
Well-known member
This is bad news indeed and at least from the many reports I've read on US news sites recently, it has not been widely reported.
While the Qatar airline may handle this very professionally, I'm not confident that all airlines will be equally careful and professional about securing valuable camera equipment separately from checked luggage and returning it.
A friend of mine travels to Europe regularly (in Spain and France now) and is carrying a pair of Leica M cameras with him. I'm sure he will not be happy to hear about this either with regard to future trips. We are already planning a trip to Wetzlar and other places next Spring.
Gary
While the Qatar airline may handle this very professionally, I'm not confident that all airlines will be equally careful and professional about securing valuable camera equipment separately from checked luggage and returning it.
A friend of mine travels to Europe regularly (in Spain and France now) and is carrying a pair of Leica M cameras with him. I'm sure he will not be happy to hear about this either with regard to future trips. We are already planning a trip to Wetzlar and other places next Spring.
Gary
bensonga
Well-known member
No exceptions made for removing the batteries from the cameras? I suppose if they don't make an exception for laptops with the battery removed they probably wouldn't for cameras either.
They probably wouldn't even make an exception for a film camera. I can just imagine trying to convince someone at airport security that my Leicaflex SL2 really doesn't have any electronics and is therefore safe. :shocked:
Gary
glenerrolrd
Workshop Member
I am in the same position . I have a trip planned to Paris on June 6 ..just about the time for things to be really messed up. This may get canceled .This is bad news indeed and at least from the many reports I've read on US news sites recently, it has not been widely reported.
While the Qatar airline may handle this very professionally, I'm not confident that all airlines will be equally careful and professional about securing valuable camera equipment separately from checked luggage and returning it.
A friend of mine travels to Europe regularly (in Spain and France now) and is carrying a pair of Leica M cameras with him. I'm sure he will not be happy to hear about this either with regard to future trips. We are already planning a trip to Wetzlar and other places next Spring.
Gary
glenerrolrd
Workshop Member
This would work for me .
I can just see Leica, Nikon Canon etc. gearing up for production of new film bodies without meters or electronics, not to mention new film stocks being replenished, assuming these sorts of cameras will be allowed on board. Selenium cell light meters will become all the rage again as they can easily be packed in luggage. Alternatively I guess specialized hardened cases to protect gear (with rated g force ratings for protection) when stored as luggage might be a viable alternative. This has the potential to turn the camera and accessory industry on its ear not to mention for other associated electronics. Indeed and unfortunate but hopefully there will be recommended ways to cope and deal with all this in an acceptable manor.
Dave (D&A)
Dave (D&A)
Last edited:
GrahamWelland
Subscriber & Workshop Member
I expect to see a lot more Pelican 1510 cases on my travels ...
scott kirkpatrick
Well-known member
This has been handled rather gracefully by the Gulf State airlines and by Turkish (who started the "concierge" handling of the electronics just before you board). But it is an exercise in illogic and incomplete thinking. The same people who are trying to keep anyone from a Muslim country out of the US (but cannot say so) are of the opinion that certain airports aren't doing an adequate job of scanning for bombs hidden inside laptops. So they selected the countries with almost no US carriers providing direct flights to insist that any batteries go in the hold, not in the cabin. This is on top of a previous order that no batteries go in the hold, only in carryon luggage. Then it occurred to them that the people whom they want to stop could simply fly to Europe and continue from there, so now they are considering extending the laptop + ban to all incoming European flights to the US. This kind of thinking is highly contagious as the UK has instituted a similar ban. So it is starting to inconvenience US and European airlines as well. I hope this will cause some rethinking.
I fly to the US from Israel half a dozen times a year, usually with camera gear. Often through Istanbul, as they have direct flights to many more US cities than are available from Tel Aviv. We have encountered the "concierge" repacking and special handling. It adds considerable time to boarding and connections, but the concern about theft is reduced. But you have to bring a book, watch a lot of movies, or catch up on sleep for a 10+ hour flight.
I fly to the US from Israel half a dozen times a year, usually with camera gear. Often through Istanbul, as they have direct flights to many more US cities than are available from Tel Aviv. We have encountered the "concierge" repacking and special handling. It adds considerable time to boarding and connections, but the concern about theft is reduced. But you have to bring a book, watch a lot of movies, or catch up on sleep for a 10+ hour flight.
Stuart Richardson
Active member
These restrictions are onerous and pointless. "National Security Theater". Anyone motivated enough is still going to be able to harm people, they will just find another way. In the meantime, they inconvenience millions of passengers and further isolate the U.S. in the international community by creating a sense that people that travel to our country are criminals until proven innocent, and that entire regions of the world cannot be trusted. Airport screening has a 95% failure rate for identifying threats. Yes...95%. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...s-us-airports-allowed-weapons-through-n367851
We are probably losing billions in productivity, wasting millions of people's time all to create a false sense of security. It's madness.
We are probably losing billions in productivity, wasting millions of people's time all to create a false sense of security. It's madness.
jlindstrom
Member
And it's not just cameras.. For many professionals travelling between IS and Europe, this means buying a 2nd laptop just for travelling - one that doesn't matter if stole or lost.
Basically I wouldn't want to bring any other electronics to US except my iPhone. Anything in the cargo is potentially lost..
Basically I wouldn't want to bring any other electronics to US except my iPhone. Anything in the cargo is potentially lost..
ptomsu
Workshop Member
This is totally ridiculous! When I had to travel for business to the US over the past 20 years almost 10 to 15 times per year this would have meant to simply cancel all my business.
I really love visiting the US and there are still a lot of places I would like to see, but I obviously will choose different destination on our beautiful planet then. Going without camera and laptop is a no go for me!
But there is hope that this changes - at least in a few years from now.
I really love visiting the US and there are still a lot of places I would like to see, but I obviously will choose different destination on our beautiful planet then. Going without camera and laptop is a no go for me!
But there is hope that this changes - at least in a few years from now.
jlindstrom
Member
Yes they have for a named list of countries. Outside those US is currently working to expand it to cover all of EU.
GMB
Active member
Whether this adds to security is doubtful. Many experts say the opposite as loads of batteries in checked in luggage increase the risk of fire in the luggage department. And if you can put a bomb into a laptop, its damage its the same whether exploding in the passenger department or in the luggage department.
What is completely strange is that the current US ban not only covers only certain airport, but only the flights from these airports to the US by certain (local) airlines, mostly the Gulf airlines and Turkish Airways. If you board a flight by a US airline from these airports to the US, you can carry on your laptop. So probably the measure has as much to do with protectionism as with security. Also, why only flights to the US and not from the US?
What is completely strange is that the current US ban not only covers only certain airport, but only the flights from these airports to the US by certain (local) airlines, mostly the Gulf airlines and Turkish Airways. If you board a flight by a US airline from these airports to the US, you can carry on your laptop. So probably the measure has as much to do with protectionism as with security. Also, why only flights to the US and not from the US?
stephengilbert
Active member
"Also, why only flights to the US and not from the US?"
Because they can't think of more than one thing at a time.
Because they can't think of more than one thing at a time.