CPAP carry on & non US flights?

[hobbs]

Going to be flying US > Frankfurt Germany > Istanbul Turkey and then Venice Italy > Frankfurt > US. Anyone have experience flying between two foreign country and how CPAP equipment is handled? Never had a problem when traveling US > foreign country and foreign country > US.

[Fred D]

I haven't been from foreign > foreign like you are asking but I have always taken my machine as a carry on and never let it get out of my hands other than going through the screening machine or put in the overhead compartment. I let the person standing by the screener know I have a
bi-pap machine (although I say cpap to avoid confusion) and they normally take it and inspect it more closely but it's is a small price to pay to keep it in hand and away from baggage handlers.

I hope you enjoy your trip and have a safe return.

Fred

[torontoCPAPguy]

Going to be flying US > Frankfurt Germany > Istanbul Turkey and then Venice Italy > Frankfurt > US. Anyone have experience flying between two foreign country and how CPAP equipment is handled? Never had a problem when traveling US > foreign country and foreign country > US.

Your answer is going to be as clear as MUD. Your best bet is to call ALL carriers involved and ask. Simple.
Secondly, laminate and carry a copy of your prescription(s) for all CPAP and medications.
Generally, airlines accomodate those of us with disabilities, albeit sometimes with a little grief just to show who's boss.
Not all airlines, especially charter operators are members of IATA so you can't go by the IATA rules.
NEVER and I mean NEVER let the CPAP out of your sight. Most airlines will permit you to also take onboard as carryon (without penalty) distilled water although they will likely want to inspect it. The same, of course, holds true of laptop computers. Some airlines will permit them onboard, some will not. Some will count them against your carryon allotment.

The bottom line is that it is not a question that can really be answered online here. You need to contact your travel agent AND you need to contact your carrier(s) to inquire. Get names and phone numbers and record them as you may need them later. We travelled from Canada to the UK with a carrier and were permitted a carryon, a purse and a laptop. On the return trip we were advised that only ONE bag was permitted and we had to scramble to get it all into one bag each. Fortunately we were able to. ASK THE CARRIERS AND GET NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS IN ADVANCE.

Generally, CPAP devices are considered medical devices and are permitted as carryon without penalty against your carryon allowance, especially when travelling simply to and from USA from Canada.

Europe? Asia? A whole different story and we have been there and have the T shirt. Imagine being told that you cannot take a walker onboard for personal use? Or a wheelchair? It must be checked in as checked baggage and counts towards your weight allowance. And to top it off it must be packaged (i.e. in a case). Lemme see now. Are we talking about the same walker and the very same plane that took us to England from Toronto? Yup. But coming back the rules are different.

Highly recommend that you label your CPAP as MEDICAL EQUIPMENT - LIFE SUPPORT and the tags for this are sold on CPAP.COM I think. Or you can run off a couple on a colour printer and have them laminated at Staples if in a hurry. You should have no trouble taking a litre of distilled water as carryon but I would check with the carriers. FOR SURE, you need to get a copy of your prescription, laminate it and take it with in the CPAP case and a photocopy in your pocket as backup. And for crying out loud, put your name on the CPAP bag and on the CPAP blower (labelmaker or felt marker). Along with a phone number that will be answered. Just in case you put it down and forget it somewhere.

Im sorry I cant be more assistance but our experience with international travel has been abysmal at best and carryon is a crapshoot unless you know the regulations and have spoken to the carrier (who may not be an IATA signatory).

Good luck. In the end you are likely to have no trouble. Label the carry case MEDICAL EQUIPMENT LIFE SUPPORT CPAP, carry a couple of copies of the Rx with you and be prepared to have the unit inspected closely. If travelling to the USA from Canada or back they will put on gloves when handling it.

[bearded_two]

If travelling to the USA from Canada or back they will put on gloves when handling it.

American inspectors always wear gloves when inspecting CPAPs and will put on clean gloves if requested (some of them do it without being requesting), regardless of the destination. Do the Canadian inspectors change their inspection procedures depending upon destination?

I don't care if the inspectors wear gloves when inspecting my CPAP.

[dtsm]

Your best bet is to call ALL carriers involved and ask. Simple.
Secondly, laminate and carry a copy of your prescription(s) for all CPAP and medications.
Generally, airlines accomodate those of us with disabilities, albeit sometimes with a little grief just to show who's boss.

Generally, CPAP devices are considered medical devices and are permitted as carryon without penalty against your carryon allowance, especially when travelling simply to and from USA from Canada.

Europe? Asia? A whole different story and we have been there and have the T shirt. Imagine being told that you cannot take a walker onboard for personal use?

Highly recommend that you label your CPAP as MEDICAL EQUIPMENT - LIFE SUPPORT and the tags for this are sold on CPAP.COM I think.

All US carriers must abide by TSA regulations (see below). You did not mention carrier for your trip? If you're on US carrier to Frankfurt or wherever, you're ok. Many non-US carriers have on their websites a clear written policy re medical disabilities; easy enough to check and compare against TSA regulations.

Many Asian airlines, including CX, SQ, Asiana and KAL treat cpap users as medical disabilities. Some allow, some don't usage on flights; again check their respective websites.

1. luggage tag - you can buy on cpap.com or print one yourself and go to Staples for lamination ($1.00)
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/medica ... pment.html
http://www.mindspring.com/~jimw203@mind ... -Tag_1.pdf
http://www.mindspring.com/~jimw203@mind ... -Tag_2.pdf

2. Print out copy of TSA guidelines as backup proof that it doesn't count as extra luggage
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/ ... index.shtm

[diboja]

1. luggage tag - you can buy on cpap.com or print one yourself and go to Staples for lamination ($1.00)
http://www.mindspring.com/~jimw203@mind ... -Tag_1.pdf
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/medical ... pment.html

I could not get the mindspring link to work but these do:

http://www.mindspring.com/~jimw203@mind ... -Tag_1.pdf
http://www.mindspring.com/~jimw203@mind ... -Tag_2.pdf

[dtsm]

Sorry, made the necessary corrections to the websites. My bad.....

[glassman]

I have flown out of Frankfurt many times. The inspectors are very familiar with CPAP and in fact, they do not require you to take it out at all. If you say, "I have a CPAP, do I need to take it out?" They will say, "no" (as opposed to giving you a look like "what's CPAP?"). But they require you take put belt and other things in the bin that are not required in the US.
On the other hand, I was flying out of Paris CDG recently and they did make me take the CPAP out.

[billbolton]

Anyone have experience flying between two foreign country and how CPAP equipment is handled?

I have done many sectors outside the US.

In most cases you should be OK to take your CPAP as carry-on, but it will definitely "count" as a carry-on item. There is generally no carry-on regulated exception for CPAP as there is in the US, but the airline staff may just let you take it on anyway as an exceptional additional item.

Often, whether you will get it in cabin as an additional carry-on item will depend very much on the circumstances (time, place, airline, ticket basis, aircraft load etc etc), so I strongly advise you to have a plan whereby you can carry on your CPAP as your single allowed carry-on item, and check some other item of carry-on if needs be.

Having said that, in most cases there wont be any problem, especially if you are travelling on "flexible" (or similar higher price) fares.

If you face a problem, be conciliatory, and ask for the airline staff's help in solving the problem. Definitely do not get angry or lose your cool.... you simply cannot win that battle, as there are a whole host of air safety regulations than can be applied to agitated passengers, and you don't want end up in that tangle.

Cheers,

Bill

[hobbs]

"Definitely do not get angry or lose your cool...." Never in a airport, I want my luggage sent the same place I am going!

[araminta]

"Definitely do not get angry or lose your cool...." Never in a airport, I want my luggage sent the same place I am going!

I have to confess that long long ago, I did get a little gruff with the airline employee at the airport, and as hobbs anticipated, they held my luggage back, and sent it on the flight AFTER mine...

Moral of the tale: Never never do as I did... if you are going to a fancy event the same day you travel.

[tillymarigold]

I flew UK > Spain (specifically, Midlands to Barcelona) and back on RyanAir about a year and a half ago (took a long weekend in the middle of a vacation to see family in the UK), and it was fine except my CPAP counted as my only carry-on. Fortunately I was with my DH so he just carried my book and snacks for me.

They swabbed it in the UK the same as they did in the US, but in Spain they just looked at it on the X-ray machine and didn't swab it.

[SelfDirected]

My work requires me to travel extensively around the world, so for the past 2 years that has meant taking my machine along with me. Except for a few segments, I have always packed it in my checked luggage; as I hate carrying anything but my laptop bag through the airport and on the plane. It has been delayed a few times in Latin America (twice intra-country in Brazil), but never lost or damaged. I believe the machines, at least my Respironics M-Series, are much more durable than most folks give them credit. And I have never had any questions asked when I did carry-on – which has always been between Singapore and Australia. Having never had any trouble, and I spend 8 months a year travelling, I recommend putting your machine in your checked luggage and enjoying the trip.

[BlackSpinner]

I recommend putting your machine in your checked luggage and enjoying the trip.

Don't be that stupid.
There is no guaranty it will arrive. The amounts for lost baggage are too small to cover replacement cost for a cpap machine. Baggage is thrown into the hold, it falls off fast moving carts, it gets run over when it falls off.
Airlines state very clearly that you shouldn't put "valuables" in your luggage.
And I work for an airline.

[torontoCPAPguy]

Just remember that you have FOUR levels of security and regulations to deal with (at least):
1. ATS regulations; apply to all US carriers and are very liberal
2. IATA regulations; apply to all INTERNATIONAL carriers but only if they are signatories to the IATA agreement.
3. Airport security rules at point of departure AND at point of departure on the return or intermediate legs of the journey.
4. Airline regulations; which may be completely different (or indifferent) to government and airport security regulations.

Personally, I always call the airline to see what they have to say. I always check the website for the airports I will be going through and call THEM if need be. And I always keep my valuables with me, especially a change of underwear and toiletries, cellular phones, etc. You cannot possibly imagine how much junk you can cram into a softside piece of carryon luggage when forced to (as we were on the way home from the UK 18 months ago). Despite being on the same carrier and, in fact, the very SAME PLANE!!!! we were not permitted the accomodation on the return flight from the UK as we were flying out of Toronto International. Direct flight both directions. I was appalled. But we whined and managed to get everything accomodated by stuffing things inside one another. They suggested we should have checked some of the items.... great news since our checked baggage was already on the way to the airplane guys. Then the clincher! Buy another suitcase and we will be happy to check it in for you at a cost of (I forget but it was essentially the price of buying another seat on the airplane).

We don't travel internationally a whole lot these days but do travel to the UK often. Still, we call the carrier in advance and get names and numbers. And we check out the airport sites for the latest regs and sizes.

Like I said, everything is as clear as mud once you leave North America and you MUST have a sense of humour about it otherwise you will find your luggage all over the place.

I once asked at the counter if they could send this piece of luggage to London, the other piece to Madrid, the third piece to Barcelona, etc. "No SIREE! We can't do that!" was the gleeeful response from the agent. "I don't understand why not - you seem to be able to do it all the other times we have flown with you". THAT, as we discovered is the real reason that they maintain a healthy supply of those rubber nitrile examination gloves AND the reason that nobody is complaining about the new full body scanners.