TRAVELS WITH MY CPAP

I flew from Tours in France to Dublin on Ryanair today.
Last year when I made this same trip they asked to see some documentation but ultimately let me carry on the machine.
This time it was a little different. As I dropped off my bag I casually mentioned that I had medical equipment that I was going to carry on the plane in addition to the backback with my laptop. They asked to see my pre-authorization. I showed them my prescription and told them I had a right under international law to hand carry medical equipment with me. They told me I did have a right to hand carry the machine but I didn't have a right to carry a second piece of carry on. They called HQ who gave the go ahead for me to carry everything on board. The agent told me that in the future I must get pre-authorization to carry two pieces of hand luggage if one of the pieces is medical equipment. I didn't have time to argue.

From all of this I conclude that big city airports are familiar with this kind of equipment but smaller regional airports are less likely to understand the need. I am also concerned that the one carry on bag rule is going to be the standard on low-cost airlines in the future.

Before I left I researched the FAA rules and could find no explicit directive that airlines must allow medical equipment in addition to other carry on baggage. And I couldn't find any EU directives on air carriage of medical equipement. The FAA rules state that air carriers must allow medical equipment as carry on but there is no explicit rule stating that they have to allow any other carry on in addition to the medical equipment.

Ryanair is notorious for their convoluted policies and crazy fee schedules. They do allow people to bring medical equipment on the flight free of charge, as is required by law, but they require you to get a pre-authorization from them. I'm glad that they were nice enough to allow you through without the preauthorization, rather than forcing you to check one of your carry-ons at the gate (and paying the required fee).

http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/can ... e-on-board

1. FAA regs are not international law and apply only to flights which operate in US airspace. You are lucky they accommodated you.

A search of this site will get you the pertinent requirements and when/where they apply.

FAA regs are not international law and apply only to flights which operate in US airspace.

FAA regs are not international law - it's the other way around. When the US Senate ratifies treaties the substance of those treaties become domestic law and agencies write regulations to implement the law. My BIG QUESTION is "What exactly is the law as regards the carriage of medical equipment by air carriers who are subject to international treaty agreements?"

http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/can ... e-on-board

Thank you for the link - I wish I had seen that before I started the trip.

The federal regulations are suggestions anyway. The crew can over ride them at any point, which is why if you travel with xpap you should let them know and board first. That way they won't run out of room because the greedy cheap people think they can haul big suit cases as hand luggage.

I just flew within Texas last week. I took my CPAP on without an issue. I placed it on the conveyer belt, never unzipped it, and was never asked about it. I was actually shocked it was that easy.

Isaacrn wrote:I just flew within Texas last week. I took my CPAP on without an issue. I placed it on the conveyer belt, never unzipped it, and was never asked about it. I was actually shocked it was that easy.

Do not confuse the security rules and processes with the actual getting on the plane. Security and the airline procedures are two different animals. the Flight attendants/pilot couldn't care less if security allowed it through if they feel there is too much hand baggage for safety, you are SOL.

I recently flew a couple of short hops within the UK on a small plane (Flybe/Loganair). Fortunately, I examined the restrictions and wrote emails back & forth to their customer service before the trip, as I had never encountered such serious restrictions before. Loganair Economy allows one carryon only, with no exceptions. And further, they are firm about the size not being allowed to exceed.....get this: 15" X 13" X 7" (13 lbs)!! ...regardless of whether it is a cpap or not. (By the way--I do not consider this unreasonable for small planes.....There simply isn't much space on board, and I do not like the idea of my plane sinking out of the air from excess weight!)

My cpap case is very nearly those dimensions, so I had to scurry around for a week to find a cheap packable tote with a zipper that would just accommodate my cpap plus the usual valuables and necessary travel documents, etc. to meet those requirements. I travel a good deal, and always have the same routine of carrying my cpap plus a small, but full daypack. If I'd not checked ahead of time, I'd have had to miss my flight trying to find a way to jam the daypack into my luggage at the last minute to be able to carryon my cpap! I will NOT check my cpap. Ever. And I don't leave a square inch of space in my luggage to have allowed for this.
Whew!

máirtín wrote:I showed them my prescription and told them I had a right under international law to hand carry medical equipment with me.

There simply isn't any international law, or even IATA regulations, on that subject as far as I am aware.

Cheers,

Bill

BlackSpinner wrote:

Isaacrn wrote:I just flew within Texas last week. I took my CPAP on without an issue. I placed it on the conveyer belt, never unzipped it, and was never asked about it. I was actually shocked it was that easy.

Do not confuse the security rules and processes with the actual getting on the plane. Security and the airline procedures are two different animals. the Flight attendants/pilot couldn't care less if security allowed it through if they feel there is too much hand baggage for safety, you are SOL.

I was talking about the TSA procedure. I was never asked about it. It went through xray without issue, no name tag on it. I understand international travel is a bit different though.

Isaacrn wrote:

BlackSpinner wrote:
Do not confuse the security rules and processes with the actual getting on the plane. Security and the airline procedures are two different animals. the Flight attendants/pilot couldn't care less if security allowed it through if they feel there is too much hand baggage for safety, you are SOL.

I was talking about the TSA procedure. I was never asked about it. It went through xray without issue, no name tag on it. I understand international travel is a bit different though.

No nothing to do with international travel. Too much hand baggage = safety concern on any airplane. Safety judgment will over rule all your feelings of entitlement any day any where.

I flew in the US two weeks ago. This was the first time flying with my CPAP equipment, so I was a little concerned. I took a few precautions.

1. I went to the TSA website and printed out their info on CPAP and respiratory equipement. Granted, this only works for the security checkpoint, but I figured that the information might also be helpful with troublesome gate attendants. I folded this and put it on top of the stuff in the bag, so it was easy to get to.

2. I copied my CPAP prescription form my doctor as a backup.

3. I also got a bag tag that declared this as "Medical Equipment" and had a brief blurb on CPAP. I did make sure that the tag was visible while in the gate area. Not only did I want the gate agents to let it go through, I also didn't want other passengers complaining I was trying to take too much on. Ha! They'd probably be the ones bringing giant suitcases on!

But I am looking to replace the CPAP bag and my modest fits-under-the-seat carryon bag with a larger one that will hold everything including my purse. I just had too much to keep track of and was afraid I'd forget something.

Grouch wrote:
....

But I am looking to replace the CPAP bag and my modest fits-under-the-seat carryon bag with a larger one that will hold everything including my purse. I just had too much to keep track of and was afraid I'd forget something.

Don't do that! When traveling by air within the US, your CPAP does not count as a carry-on. However, that exemption is lost if other things are packed in the CPAP carry case. CPAP, hose, power supply and a mask is all that you should have in your CPAP case. The rest of your carry-on items need to be in a separate carry-on bag.