New TSA info? No more 3rd carry on?

I returned from a trip to California yesterday and was asked twice about my third bag. Both times I said it was a medical device. The second time the woman told me that as of May 5th. They would no longer allow a Medical Device as a third carry on it would be counted as one of the 2 allowable carry ons.

I have not been on this site for some time and this may have already surfaced as a topic. I was wondering if anyone else had heard this.
Thanks
Suz-E-Q

suzy, this would require a change in Federal law, not just a TSA regulation. I checked the TSA site and could find no indication of any new policy, but the medical equipment exemption is part of Federal law, not TSA regs.
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publicat ... sabled.htm

Note that this document specifically lists CPAP machines as assistive devices, and that as such, they are allowed on board as carry-ons and do NOT count toward the limit of carry on items imposed by airlines.

"Assistive devices do not count against any limit on the number of pieces of carry-on baggage. Wheelchairs (including collapsible battery-powered wheelchairs) and other assistive devices have priority for in-cabin storage space (including in closets) over other passengers’ items brought on board at the same airport, if the passenger with a disability chooses to preboard."

The whole law is quite long, but the part you want to print out is 382.41 paragraph D, The whole document is available here:
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/14cfr.pdf

I just returned form a week long trip to Boston two weeks ago, and a two day trip to northern California a couple of days ago. No mention of any new restrictions on medical equipment. If you are worried, call the airline prior to travel. You can also call TSA or Department of Tranportation.

Hope this helps!

Bookbear,
Thanks so much. That helps. My travel is considerable for work, with most of it International. When I have transfers in Europe my bags don't typically make it. I have learned to pack light and carry on so I really need that 3rd carry on!

Suz-E-Q

I did a quick search and did find that the airline I am a platinum flyer on (Delta) has made recent website changes. They are also making a checked baggage change on May 5th,

Delta.com wrote:Starting May 5, 2008, you may check one baggage item free of charge. If you want to check additional baggage, you'll have to pay an excess baggage fee.

Previously you were allowed two checked bags free per person.

Of greater interest to us is the fact that Delta's wording in the assistive devices section has recently changed.

Delta.com wrote:These additional items are okay to carry on and do not count towards your allowance:

* Food items for immediate consumption
* Assistive devices such as wheelchairs or crutches, provided passenger is dependent on them
* One box or bag of duty free merchandise
* A coat or jacket
* An umbrella
* One item of reading material

I will bet you Delta is going to try to test the wording of the law with the wording highlighted above. Hopefully I am wrong,

Oh...but that box of liquor from the Bahamas is OK.

Something is up with Delta anyway as it didn't say this a few weeks ago.

Suz-E-Q wrote:I returned from a trip to California yesterday and was asked twice about my third bag. Both times I said it was a medical device. The second time the woman told me that as of May 5th. They would no longer allow a Medical Device as a third carry on it would be counted as one of the 2 allowable carry ons.

Which airline were you traveling on?

Suzy, note that TSA regs and Federal law apply only to US carriers, not overseas airlines, or US airlines flying overseas legs of itineraries.

Delta's "dependent upon them" language is problematic. We ARE dependent on them, but most likely not while on board. However (and this is the critical part), we ARE dependent on them for approximately 1/3 of each day, and they cannot be replaced at short notice if they are lost or damaged by the airline. Also, their replacement cost far exceeds the airline's liability limits. One can argue that a wheel chair, cane, or crutch could be replaced on relatively short notice from a variety of sources, a cpap machine could not.

In addition to my Rx and the TSA regs and the copy of relevant portion the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, I carry a Letter of Medical Necessity from my doc. The letter asks that I not be separated from the equipment, that it is used on a daily basis to avoid suffocation while sleeping and that the equipment cannot be replaced on short notice. All this only takes a few pages of paper and takes up hardly any space at all in my bag.

BTW, a number of airlines are changing their policies on checked luggage, not just Delta, making weight limits more restrictive and adding additional charges for bags; but that is a separate issue from medical carry-ons.

bk:
>> provided passenger is dependent on them
> I will bet you Delta is going to try to test the wording of the law with the wording highlighted above.

Or they may just be trying to cover the case where someone brings something onboard that does not belong to them (belongs to someone else).

But what is TSA going to do, require a prescription?
TSA: "Are you dependent on that medical device?" Passenger: "Yes."
What is TSA going to do if the passenger says yes?

xyz wrote:But what is TSA going to do, require a prescription?
TSA: "Are you dependent on that medical device?" Passenger: "Yes."
What is TSA going to do if the passenger says yes?

The TSA doesn't care. They have already stated that it is fine to bring CPAP through security. The baggage limitations and exceptions are Delta's domain at the gate. They might now have the power to force you to check one of your two other carry-ons without recourse. It's the CPAP/2-Bag exception at stake here IMO.

If they told me that I wasn't 'dependent' on CPAP, I'd ask them to give me a 100% written guarantee that I would not wind up on the plane or stuck in a airport for more then 3 hours... or something to that effect...

I'd say that language is used to rule out someone carrying on something that wasn't for them personally... say you were a CPAP salesman and tried to carry on a CPAP machine used as a demonstration tool... That would not be allowed...


However... all this makes me wonder how on earth I'd carry three different carry on bags anyway...


[quote="Bookbear"]Suzy, note that TSA regs and Federal law apply only to US carriers, not overseas airlines, or US airlines flying overseas legs of itineraries.

Delta's "dependent upon them" language is problematic. We ARE dependent on them, but most likely not while on board. However (and this is the critical part), we ARE dependent on them for approximately 1/3 of each day, and they cannot be replaced at short notice if they are lost or damaged by the airline. Also, their replacement cost far exceeds the airline's liability limits. One can argue that a wheel chair, cane, or crutch could be replaced on relatively short notice from a variety of sources, a cpap machine could not.

In addition to my Rx and the TSA regs and the copy of relevant portion the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, I carry a Letter of Medical Necessity from my doc. The letter asks that I not be separated from the equipment, that it is used on a daily basis to avoid suffocation while sleeping and that the equipment cannot be replaced on short notice. All this only takes a few pages of paper and takes up hardly any space at all in my bag.

BTW, a number of airlines are changing their policies on checked luggage, not just Delta, making weight limits more restrictive and adding additional charges for bags; but that is a separate issue from medical carry-ons.

Delta.com wrote:These additional items are okay to carry on and do not count towards your allowance:


* Assistive devices such as wheelchairs or crutches, provided passenger is dependent on them
.......

I think you are reading way too much into this. "Assistive devices" is not intended to apply to cpap machines. Cpap machines are considered "medical devices".

Gumby,
You asked what carrier I was on....it was United. And on top of this it wasn't the TSA that asked about the number of bags both were United employees.

I did see where United is also allowing only one checked bag/person and charging $25 for a second checked bag. I will scan the United information to see if they are changing any other policies.

Paying for food, now paying for checked bags....will it ever get better? Thank goodness my company at least flies me in Business for my overseas flights. But I understand a lot of companies are not allowing Business Class for overseas anymore! Arg!

Rooster, it's interesting... in one document on the TSA web site, CPAPs are specifically listed as "assistive devices", defined as such in a list with many other items; in another document, they are listed as "disability related items". In both cases they are stated as being allowed through the checkpoint and onto the aircraft. Yet another part of the TSA web site (as well as the Department of Transportation's web site) lists them as "medical devices". Now, the airlines may be tightening up the carry on limits as to number or size, but Federal law prohibits airlines from counting medical equipment or assistive devices towards the carry on limit:

(d) Carriers shall not, in implementing their
carry-on baggage policies, count toward a
limit on carry-on items any assistive device
brought into the cabin by a qualified
individual with a disability.

Since CPAPs are listed as 'disability related items' as well as 'assistive devices', it would appear that the airlines cannot limit CPAPs, any more than they can limit leg braces or eyeglasses.