Special CPAP Travel Considerations

[MandoJohnny]

In my short time on CPAP, about 4 months, I have already logged over 20 flights with my machine. I know about the TSA and airline rules that exempt CPAPs from the two carry-on restriction and the fact that TSA routinely checks all CPAPs though the "bomb sniffer." This is a different issue.

I am going to start having to travel every week on a little commuter jet, (aka Buzz Bomb, Barbie Jet, Lawn Dart, Vomit Comet). I have a lot of experience on these from years past, before CPAP. I know they are very tight on luggage space. I also know they will often "gate check" your carry on, and still consider they have met the carry-on allowances. My experience is that gate checking is just as hazardous to fragile stuff as regular checking.

So my strategy is will be to consolidate everything that is fragile into one as-small-as-possible bag that I will actually carry on and let them check the rest. For instance, I will carry on my laptop, but all the laptop accessories will get checked. So here is my question:

What part of a CPAP set up would you definitely want to carry on and not check? I am assuming the machine itself, definitely. But how about the humidifier? I am thinking the mask and the hoses, etc. should be OK in checked baggage.

Also has anyone had experience traveling with a CPAP and a laptop on one of these little jets?

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[billbolton]

What part of a CPAP set up would you definitely want to carry on and not check?

The point with carrying on your CPAP kit is not so much that any particular part is more susceptable to damage than others, but rather that you know for sure that all of it will arrive at the same time that you do!

Its no good from the point of view of getting a sound night of sleeping if any part of your CPAP kit that is packed in checked luggage ends up in one airport, while you end up in a different airport! Maybe it will get reconnected with you by evening, or maybe it wont, and at the very best you will have a day of stress wondering if it will get back to the correct destination!

Being without a full working CPAP system is a much more serious issue than the mere inconvenience of being without socks, toothpaste or a clean shirt etc.

Cheers,

Bill

[mousetater]

Bill,

I agree with you. It is more an issue of timing, although you do want the equipment to arrive in one piece. The one time I flew in one of those really small planes, we carried our carry-on bags with us up to the plane, and handed them to the baggage handler who put them on the plane in front of our eyes. When we landed, he unloaded the "carry-on" luggage right in front of us. So if that is how the luggage is handled, timing won't be an issue.

[MandoJohnny]

You both raise good points. I agree I wouldn't put any CPAP components in regular baggage checking, because they might lose it. I have had that happen! I wouldn't do that with medications either.

However, when luggage is gate checked, it may be rough handled, but it always gets there when you do. You drop it off right outside the airplane door before you step on and you pick it up right outside the airplane door on your way out, usually after a few minute wait. So my main concern is just making sure nothing fragile gets "banged."

[mtsarpilot]

I was just on two commuter flights with American Airlines. These were on the small Embriar jets. They required all bags larger than a briefcase to be checked. If I had my CPAP in it's own carry bag that it came with, it would have easily fit in the small overhead without a problem and I'm sure they would have let me take it onboard. Noone was using those overheads anyway.

But alas, I had it in my suitcase wrapped in lots of clothes as I did not know this was going to be commuter flights. They gate checked the luggage but did not tag it for standard luggage handling. Instead they took it directly from the door of the plane down to the cargo hold, then brought it back to the door of the plane when we got off. Thus it did not go through the conveyor belt system, and never got more than about 10 feet from the airplane. This greatly reduced the chances of them losing it as it never had to go through the maze of mechanisms in handling. This was the case for all gate checked bags.

Check on the policy the commuter you will be flying has for luggage. It may be a non-issue if they are like American's regional carrier.

Joel

[MandoJohnny]

Thanks, mtsarpilot, good advice. This will be American commuter, so I may be OK. So many different small carriers fly Embraers under the American Airlines banner, though, sometimes it depends which one you get and what mood the flight attendant is in. I have found them much less consistent and much less adherent to the rules than regular American. I want to be prepared for the worst.