Oxygen Concentrator as Checked Bag

I bleed oxygen into my cpap and need to take trip in a few months. I have an Inogen at Home concentrator I want to take on the trip and plan to get a sturdy pelican case to pack it in to prevent damage.

Does anyone know if checking the concentrator would be an issue?

filovirus wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 6:13 pm

I bleed oxygen into my cpap and need to take trip in a few months. I have an Inogen at Home concentrator I want to take on the trip and plan to get a sturdy pelican case to pack it in to prevent damage.

Does anyone know if checking the concentrator would be an issue?

this is what a quick google search shows-

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CAMW ... vHkndHppIs

if it were me, i wouldn't want to check it, but carry it on board. i'd be scared not just of damage, but it ending up on another flight entirely.

good luck!

Hi filovirus,

I had a couple hours between connections at Chicago O'Hare one time, and I spent it in an airport coffee shop, looking out the smoked glass window. There was a plane pulled up outside with next to it, a sloping luggage ramp on a wheeled flatbed trailer. And then another flatbed trailer next to that.

There was one guy in the plane's cargo hatch and another guy - his partner - at the foot of the ramp. And notionally, the job
of the guy on the plane was to place - and in reality, throw - each case onto the now moving ramp, and for his buddy to take it off at the bottom and load it onto the second flatbed vehicle.

But in the time I watched - and I had nothing else to do, so I saw the whole thing - only one in two cases made it onto the luggage ramp. Every other case missed the ramp and fell the 20 feet ... onto the hard tarmac.

The guy throwing the checked items - he didn't care. And if that's what you hadta do, 10 hours a day, every day, for low money, maybe you wouldn't care either.

You might want to check with the makers of your concentrator what are its survivability characteristics. How might it fare with a 20-foot drop? Even in a sturdy case.

I'm assuming you don't want to be without it for even one night.

rick blaine wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:06 pm

Hi filovirus,

I had a couple hours between connections at Chicago O'Hare one time, and I spent it in an airport coffee shop, looking out the smoked glass window. There was a plane pulled up outside with next to it, a sloping luggage ramp on a wheeled flatbed trailer. And then another flatbed trailer next to that.

There was one guy in the plane's cargo hatch and another guy - his partner - at the foot of the ramp. And notionally, the job
of the guy on the plane was to place - and in reality, throw - each case onto the now moving ramp, and for his buddy to take it off at the bottom and load it onto the second flatbed vehicle.

But in the time I watched - and I had nothing else to do, so I saw the whole thing - only one in two cases made it onto the luggage ramp. Every other case missed the ramp and fell the 20 feet ... onto the hard tarmac.

The guy throwing the checked items - he didn't care. And if that's what you hadta do, 10 hours a day, every day, for low money, maybe you wouldn't care either.

You might want to check with the makers of your concentrator what are its survivability characteristics. How might it fare with a 20-foot drop? Even in a sturdy case.

I'm assuming you don't want to be without it for even one night.

And..... This is why I get so worried when I fly with my stuff. IE: my laptop and nice camera equipment. I love to travel and take quality photographs and I have a lot of stuff...

This has happened to me every single time I get ready to board a plane.
Them : "Um sir that won't fit on the plane you're going to have to check that"
Me : "Uh... No I'm not... I know it fits I've done this like 10 times... Let me try"
Inside my head : "OMG, omg, omg! It'll be ok, Please don't call air port security!"

I've done the math and traveled with my system on at least 8 domestic and 3 international flights. I know it seams like a lot but it works.

I have a back pack with my laptop and 50-500mm Sigma lens and some other odds and ends that don't bulk up the bag that much. I have my Lowepro Photography bag with like 10+ grand worth of gear in it that fits as my official carry on, and my CPAP bag. When they get cute with me and ask me to check stuff as I'm boarding I tell them how much the contents of the photography bag cost and how much the laptop bag costs and then tell them the CPAP is medical - then I ask/tell them "Calmly but with a hint that I'd rather not, I know I can make it work fairly"... so far every time I always get told "that's ok, you figure it out" Then I get to do it all over again once I get on the plane and the flight crew see's me.

I do get really annoyed by other passengers who hog up all the overhead bin space because they don't have any clue about how to pack anything. It's like compulsive laziness, they're not even trying to conserve space. They'll put their regulation sized carry on - sideways and use up two spots in the overhead bin... I've had to work out who's bag it is and make sure it's ok to move it and show them I'm being gentile but I need the space.

The Camera bag and my cpap take up one slot in the over head bin equal to one standard carry on. The backpack goes under the seat in front of my feet. It's all good. But you should see the looks on the faces of the flight crew as they walk up to break the bad news and tell me it won't fit and then I pop it right in like a hand in a glove.

Moral to the story - if it's expensive, or if your health and well being depends on it. DON'T Let them touch it. The only camera gear I "Check" are my Tripod and Monopod, but they're built like tanks. The only way they'll get damaged is if they smash my main suit case all to bits and throw my stuff all over the tarmac. Which I worry will happen too... OK I'm a nervous traveler - but only because I'm limited in what I can pack and I'm the kind of person who likes to travel with everything including the kitchen sink. You should see how I pack our car for long road trips.

Thanks for the detailed story of them unloading luggage - I can add that to my mental list of horrifying images as I board the plane and worry again that they'll ask me to check my stuff and, not take no thank you, for an answer.

If you have something that is medical equipment - You usually get a free pass to bring it on board or at the least have it handled with kid gloves as a "Gate Check" I've seen them "Gate Check" supper important things like medical stuff that just wouldn't fit on the little domestic flights, or sometimes the flight crew will have a spot they can put select items that are important, but I wouldn't ever check anything important at the beginning during your normal check in. Unless it's indestructible or soft and squishy there is a chance, they'll trash it.

I wish you luck with your travels and hope you fly safe and don't have any mishaps.

Rest well,

Gryphon

When I was using an oxygen concentrator, I asked about taking it with me If I traveled. The company I rented it from said to let them know if I traveled, and they would arrange for a concentrator for me to use when I got there. Luckily, I did not need to travel while I was on the machine. Rather than taking one with you, perhaps you could arrange to rent one at the other location, unless you are going to be traveling to several locations.