CPAP Travel Tips?

Thanks so much!
Dorene

SilverD wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 19, 2022 3:37 pm

Looks really nice and useful! May I ask where you purchased the tags?
Thanks,
Dorene

I actually purchased mine through Amazon... Here is the direct product page link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07919KH9M?ps ... ct_details

Lots of nice colors to choose from... I originally chose red... But when I saw that the accents on my CPAP bag were blue, I decided to go the color coordination approach!!! LOL...

The back of the tag is pretty much completely custom... The only words that are standard are the words at the top that says "Emergency Contact"... You can't change that... but everything else is completely custom...

The top part with "Emergency Contact" is supposed to be for an ICE contact... In case it's a life saving emergency and they need to contact someone because you are incapacitated/unavailable... I had a hard time figuring out what to put there because my CPAP is not really going to be found while I am in capacitated... I thought about putting my wife's name there (who would be my ICE)...but decided that I would put my "contact information" there and have my name in the middle...

Still makes sense, the way I did it... But I don't think that is what this top section was originally intended for...

Thanks for the link and the helpful information! Makes good sense to me.
Dorene

OK... I don't plan on "cheating" the system... But academically, I have a curiosity...

Does having a CPAP allow one to bring three carry on items (one large-isa roller and two personal items)...assuming one of your personal items has a medical tag indicating that it contains a CPAP respiration machine? Even if the bag is, say, a backpack with a bunch of other stuff in it?

Again... Not planning on doing this... This just has me curious from an academic perspective... Are there rules and policies the TSA enforces that stops someone from taking advantage of this?

MikeekiM wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:22 pm

OK... I don't plan on "cheating" the system... But academically, I have a curiosity...

Does having a CPAP allow one to bring three carry on items (one large-isa roller and two personal items)...assuming one of your personal items has a medical tag indicating that it contains a CPAP respiration machine? Even if the bag is, say, a backpack with a bunch of other stuff in it?

Again... Not planning on doing this... This just has me curious from an academic perspective... Are there rules and policies the TSA enforces that stops someone from taking advantage of this?

It's not TSA but the airlines that even cares about how many carry-ons you have. But yes you can bring on 3 bags but you better not have anything that's not medically related in that cpap bag, not even a toothbrush.

This looks great! I tried specifying a medical alert tag at bespoke tags.com and found that "medical equipment" was not a choice. How did you get that on the tag?

sleepye wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 25, 2022 7:07 am

This looks great! I tried specifying a medical alert tag at bespoke tags.com and found that "medical equipment" was not a choice. How did you get that on the tag?

Many choices from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=medical+equi ... re-v1_4_15

TSA doesn't care how many bags you carry or for that matter what is in them beyond the stated limits for items within the bag.

Now the airline itself is a totally different matter and how "strict" they are about their rules is up to them and the personnel and likely if the personnel is in a grumpy mood or not or the passenger wants to have an attitude with them.
Kinda like if you get stopped for speeding and the officer has a choice to give you a warning or a ticket...a lot depends on your attitude with them right from the beginning.

A carry on bag that contains medical equipment is exempt from counting as one of our "personal" items. They may or may not care if there is a "medical" tag on the bag. I don't have one (medical card tag) and have never been ask by the airline to prove it is medical equipment. My word has always been good enough...so far anyway but I haven't traveled since the Christmas before Covid.
Hurts nothing to be extra prepared but I am traveling to Vegas next month and I still don't have an official name tag on the cpap machine travel case. No big deal...if my word isn't good enough it's not that big of a deal to show the contents if requested.

So it is the people at the first check in place and/or the gate attendant who might raise a question.
Even then they have a wide latitude on how to act. Last time I returned from Vegas I wanted to put my cpap machine in my checked bag because I simply didn't want to tote it around that big old airport and I don't use an in flight stowed bag I could place it on to roll it all over the Vegas airport which requires a LOT of walking and I refuse to ask for a wheelchair.
So don't go giving me reasons how I could have managed it...don't want to hear it. It's a non stop flight and if for some reason the checked baggage got sent to bum f... Egypt ...I got a spare at home.
Anyway to make a long story short...putting the cpap machine in the checked baggage put me 3 lbs overweight (along with the goodies I had bought) and I just was polite about it and told the check in person "no problem I can just remove my cpap machine which is in a travel bag and it weighs 5 lbs"....she replied "you have a cpap machine in this bag" and I replied "yes, but I just didn't feel like carrying it all over the airport here but I will be happy to remove it"...and then she replied "oh, no problem, we will just let this slide and we won't charge overweight penalty and you don't have to tote it around here".

So the moral of this story (if there is one) is that it's the airline and not TSA that cares how much stuff you carry.
And how lenient they may or may not be is going to depend on the person you are dealing with either at check in or at the gate.

TSA doesn't care how many bags you carry on to the plane...they just care about what is in those bags in terms of stuff that might be used to harm people or blow up an airplane.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 25, 2022 9:54 am

the checked baggage got sent to bum f... Egypt

You shouldn't use that machine again. The mummy's curse - blowing bleep out of your nose.

My CPAP bag, made by the manufacturer, needs no external tag. No airline employee has ever challenged it or asked me to open it.

I don't put it inside a larger carry-on bag. I fear the dreaded mandatory baggage check on the airbridge when boarding a full plane. Has happened to me several times....

dvejr wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:11 pm

My CPAP bag, made by the manufacturer, needs no external tag. No airline employee has ever challenged it or asked me to open it.

The last time we flew, the TSA agent told us that people 75+ do not have to open their CPAP bags.

FYI, the CPAP carryon exclusion is a U.S. thing. I was able to get a waiver from Ryanair in the U K. but that was an exception and a PITA. Usually it was my personal item. Also, all my ResMeds work anywhere in the world if you have a plug adapter. The power brick does the power voltage conversion. And carry an extension cord. and a flat sink stopper if you'll need to sink wash your stuff.

Bubba in NC wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 25, 2022 5:19 pm

FYI, the CPAP carryon exclusion is a U.S. thing.

Absolutely, and a good point.
The medical exemption is only good for any airline that has US departures or any US terminations.
Unless, someone knows of a foreign airlines that also does this?

Unless, someone knows of a foreign airlines that also does this?

I've taken mine on Qantas, Qatar, Singapore, Scoot and a bunch of back blocks airlines in Myanmar. Only twice has it been questioned:

1. In Doha a young-looking security person (obviously a trainee) wanted to open it but was told by her supervisor it wasn't necessary.

2. A Qantas security guy wanted to see it as he had just been diagnosed and wanted to talk about the CPAP experience.

Somebody above mentioned RyanAir - I think a lot of the cut price operators will sting you for every cent they can extract, with all sorts of hidden regulations and charges.

SleepGeek wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:44 pm

Bubba in NC wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 25, 2022 5:19 pm

FYI, the CPAP carryon exclusion is a U.S. thing.

Absolutely, and a good point.
The medical exemption is only good for any airline that has US departures or any US terminations.
Unless, someone knows of a foreign airlines that also does this?

Canadian Airlines do not count medical equipment towards one's carry on limit

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health- ... cal-device