Hoseheads that fly - a question about packing your CPAP

SleepingBeauty · Post by **SleepingBeauty** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:23 pm

The background story:

I am a member of another site and someone was asking a question regarding the noise level she should expect when her husband gets his new machine. She worried she won't be able to sleep with it. There were various responses - pretty much all agreeing that it is much better than the snoring and gasping most of us did before the machine.

Then people went on to post advice for her husband with his newly acquired CPAP. One woman stated this:

Be aware: when he travels, he should put it in his checked luggage.

I responded that it would be better to carry it because it is a sensitive piece of medical equipment and could break if checked.

She posted that her father checks his. He is a pharmacist and can get a new one if he needs to and that his has never broken.

Now, I know people will do whatever suits them. I was just worried about giving a newbie the advice to check it. Most of us would be in big trouble if we arrived at our destination to find the machine broken - or our luggage didn't make the same flight we did.

My question (finally) is: To those of you that fly with your machine. Do you check it, or do you hand carry it on yourself?

And if you check it, any problems?

I just don't want to push my viewpoint if people are successfully checking it. I know I wouldn't because I don't want the hassle of replacing it!

jennmary · Post by **jennmary** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:38 pm

I have only flown once....but I carried on. Too many things can go wrong with checked baggage. They throw those bags around and on top of eachother and it is a mess. Bags get lost or ripped open or picked up by the wrong person at the luggage conveyor. Your insurance company will NOT pay for another machine if yours gets broken or lost because you checked it with your baggage. And that doesnt fall under the warranty either. So you would be paying for that new machine out of pocket unless you have had the old one for more than the standard 5 year insurance mark.
I can replace a couple hundred worth of clothes and makeup....I do not want to spend thousands replacing my machine, mask, tubing, humidifier...you get the picture.

It is a small bag....and doenst count against your carry on total, so I carry it on. That way I know it is going to get there safe.

Roadie · Post by **Roadie** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 2:06 pm

I fly often, and I always carry my CPAP on.

Too many things can go wrong with checked baggage. It can be bounced around the airport, it can be delayed, it can be lost, it can be broken in to and items can be stolen. When I carry on my bag I am in control of it almost the entire time. If it gets dropped, it would probably be my own fault. If it gets lost, again it would probably be my own fault.

I often fly right after working 16 hours, and I am usually going to start a 12 hour stretch as soon as the flight arrives. In my case the only chance I will get to sleep is either in the airport or on the plane. If I carry the machine with me I just might get an hour or two sleep. If the machine is in the cargo hold... well I can still sleep sitting up, but not as well as I can with my machine.

I try to carry on one complete change of clothes not including shoes. A simple toiletries kit, and my laptop computer and cell phone charger.

If a checked bag gets lost or delayed you would be without your machine for at least a night or two. If it is lost on the flight to your away from home destination you will need to arrange for shipping the replacement machine to a hotel, and let me tell you, some hotels are expert at misplacing packages delivered to guests. At best the hotel notifies me within 24 hours that a package has arrived only 50% of the time. The rest of the time they just don't seem to know nothing about any package. I ALWAYS get tracking information when any package is shipped to me in a hotel.

The only advantage to putting your machine in the checked bags is that it may allow you to travel with your hands empty. I don't discount how nice this is, but for me the risk is just too high.

Roadie

Panhandler · Post by **Panhandler** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:16 pm

I always carry mine. I want it to get there when I do! TSA seems very familiar with them, and my Respironics tank weighs less than my briefcase. The airlines can not count the CPAP against your two carry-on bags. The only problem I've had is with distilled water. I've packed that in a plastic bottle in my checked baggage and had it leak.

Many will use bottled drinking water or even tap water for a few nights.

goose · Post by **goose** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:33 pm

I would never check my machine!!!!
Remember those commercials for Samsonite where there were monkeys handling the baggage???? No offense to any baggage handlers, but I assume that's how my bag is being treated and in fact I have watched my bag be handled in just that manner......

I repeat -- I would never check my machine. Always carry-on and deal with the TSA folks that sometimes don't have a clue!!! It is sensitive Medical equipment and should be treated as such.

Apenas mis dos centavos (just my two cents)

cheers
goose

Suz-E-Q · Post by **Suz-E-Q** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:37 pm

I will be traveling the first time with my CPAP this next week. i travel fairly frequently...maybe not as often as it sounds like Roadie travels....but no less than once a month. I plan to carry my Respironics on.

bearcatx16 · Post by **bearcatx16** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 4:04 pm

Carry it on, in a Pelican 1450 hard sided case w/foam.

Fred

SleepingBeauty · Post by **SleepingBeauty** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 5:38 pm

Thanks, guys. That's what I thought.

She responded that she knows many people that check theirs with their luggage. I can't imagine doing it, but thought maybe I'm too paranoid, maybe others ARE checking it to avoid the hassle of having them make sure it is not a bomb.

I've only lost a suitcase once while on vacation. Our plane developed a problem and we all had to get off, go back into the airport and find new flights. My suitcase went somewhere else and they delivered it the next day. I'd hate for it to have contained a CPAP!

RosemaryB · Post by **RosemaryB** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:01 pm

I handcuff it to my wrist .

Seriously, I would never check mine. I've had lost luggage a number of times, though it always turned up eventually. One of my bags got very wet another time.

When I read the title at first, it struck me that this thread might be about how cpap'ers were now taking flight, having had this capacity stunted by lack of sleep. Too much oxygen to my brain perhaps?

Birdseed · Post by **Birdseed** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:29 pm

In regards to travel and xPAP, this is from the "Our Collective Wisdom" site and it has some terrific advice:

cpaptalk-articles/CPAP-TSA-motel.html

Please share with the "other" site!

Birdseed

jennmary · Post by **jennmary** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:45 pm

I have lost a few bags in checked baggage. My sister checked her babys car seat....and it was never again seen. She had no way to get her baby to the hotel from the airport. Airlines can and do lose important things in checked baggage...just not worth the risk.

MartiniLover · Post by **MartiniLover** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:00 pm

I checked mine seven different trips and never had a problem.

Eighth time was the jinx. I noticed when I plugged it in that it was still very cold from being in the baggage compartment. I got a error message and it quit.

I now hand carry it. I would never check it again.

Eight hundred dollar mistake.

Bookbear · Post by **Bookbear** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:32 pm

Never, EVER check it... always carry it on! A cpap is impossible to replace on the road at short notice. A lost or broken cane, crutch, even a wheelchair or oxygen cylinder can be replaced quickly; a cpap is another story altogether. Also, airlines usually limit liability to $200... can you replace your cpap for that?

By Federal law, the cpap is classed as medical equipment and does NOT count towards the carry-on limit. Foreign airlines are free to do what they like, of course; but US airlines have to follow Federal law and TSA regulations.

I fly a lot, and I've seen how baggage is flung into and out of baggage holds on airplanes.

Always carry it on!

billbolton · Post by **billbolton** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:36 pm

Quite apart from baggage handling issues, is making sure that your CPAP machines arrives at the same place and at the same time that you do.

The only way to do that is to personally courier it, by carrying it on and off the aircraft yourself. End of story!

Cheers,

Bill B.

Bearded_One · Post by **Bearded_One** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:52 am

When going through security in the US, take the machine out of the bag and put it in one of the trays. Current TSA rules require that the inspectors swab CPAP machines.

When I flew to Mexico last week a TSA inspector told me of the mandatory swabbing requirement.

I flew back from Mexico yesterday; I left my CPAP in the bag when I went through security in Mexico and it went through fine. When I went through TSA security in Houston I put in a tray and it took just a few seconds for the inspector to swab the machine.

Mask

Additional Comments: Also have the RemStar BiPAP Pro2 with Humidifier and Encore Pro

Machine	Mask

Additional Comments: Airmini, Medistrom Pilot 24, CMS 60C Pulse Oximeter, ResScan 6