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How to carry a laptop on international flight

TSE

TSE

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
4,089
3,735
St. Paul, Minnesota
I am going to Italy on the 30th for two months to study design. :p

I have no experience on flights whatsoever.

How do I carry a laptop on flight? I've been googling how tos and one article says one thing and another article says another thing.

Can someone who travels internationally give me a rundown?

Any tips for living in Rome?
 
What kind of advice have you read?

It's pretty simple. Carry your laptop in its own bag or in your hand luggage. Take it out of its bag through the x-ray so that the laptop goes through on its own and doesn't inhibit the x-ray machine from seeing what else is in your bag.
 
How about my DSLR Camera?

Thanks guys.... traveling for the first time in my life really... heard horror stories about airports.
 
TSE said:
... heard horror stories about airports.
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Don't listen to them. Just make sure you get there early enough so that if you can't find your gate you'll be fine. As for security, it's really not bad at all. They'll guide you through it.

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TSE said:
Any tips for living in Rome?
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Explore, eat well (it's Italy after all!), and there's this really awesome gelato place near the entrance to the Vatican museums.
 
it's $85 to get a TSA known traveler number
if your airline supports TSA Pre, might be a good investment to walk through security with no checks and not take your stuff out onto the machine
 
TSE said:
I am going to Italy on the 30th for two months to study design. :p
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Should have gone to France, the best country in Europe.

I have no experience on flights whatsoever.
Click to expand...


Its gonna boring, try to sleep.

How do I carry a laptop on flight? I've been googling how tos and one article says one thing and another article says another thing.
Click to expand...

Carry it any laptop bag or laptop suitcase, I really wouldn't want it being carry on because the baggage people throw stuff to much. Keep it with you.

Can someone who travels internationally give me a rundown?
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I do it all the time, be used to local airport fast food, no matter what it might be.

Drink as much as you can at the local airport bar before you board, so you can drunklidy pass out and ignore most of the fight.

Any tips for living in Rome?
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Go to Paris.


But if you must live in Rome, Ive been there a bunch of times, I do have a few tips.

Eating Lunch? Street vendors normally have nice food for cheap
For Dinner? Keep it to small hole in the wall local places
Piss anywhere

And don't get your hopes up, as far as world cities, its not very good to live in, and its gonna suck.

If I were in your field, I would have went ot France, France is so far ahead of Italy its not even close. So I think you will be at a major disadange.

But if you must live in Rome, keep to lunch carts for lunch , little places for dinner, avoid tourists, and piss whenever you want, everyone else does.
 
TSE said:
I am going to Italy on the 30th for two months to study design. :p

I have no experience on flights whatsoever.

How do I carry a laptop on flight? I've been googling how tos and one article says one thing and another article says another thing.

Can someone who travels internationally give me a rundown?

Any tips for living in Rome?
Click to expand...

One golden tip I can give you, "Never argue with the security people in any airport"If you do at the very least you will have extra searches, you could miss your flight, and even be detained by local police.:(

As to laptops they must be out of bag, but you can leave them in their sleeves, they are also placed separately in the trays for X ray.
 
I travel a fair bit and always have a carry on bag, (which always has a change of clothes, toiletries of the size one is allowed to carry on and plugs, cords, adaptors, etc) and a briefcase. My laptop travels in my briefcase, along with books, papers and my iPod.

At security, you will be required to remove the laptop from whatever bag it is in, in order to to be examined by the x-ray machines. Keep an eye on your possessions.

When travelling through airport security make sure your passport and ticket are tucked away securely; I always put mine in the inside breast pocket of my jacket and it is the very first thing I do, before removing my jacket and wallet to place them in the airport security x-ray conveyer belt. This is because I have known individuals who left them behind, beside an x-ray machine, which meant a nightmare later on.

Do not put anything valuable in your checked-in luggage.

Drink plenty of water before your flight, and, after you have gone through security, buy a few plastic bottles of water to drink on the flight. I don't advise consuming too much alcohol in the airport; for one thing, - even without alcohol - you get dehydrated on a long flight; for another, arriving in a strange - by which I mean, unknown - country ever so slightly intoxicated may not be a terribly good idea.

As Happybunny says, do not argue with (but be polite to) airport security personnel.

Meanwhile, good luck and enjoy your extended visit; Rome is brilliant, especially if you are there to study art and design.

 
This advice probably isn't necessary for the Ops plans but offering it for whatever it's worth.

When traveling to international destinations (particularly on business) I try not to appear as a typical tourist or clueless business visitor. Particularly if I'm going to Latin or South America. I do some basic research to learn a few things about the area. Once I land and process through I buy a local paper and a popular local drink and carry them openly. I have my local travel arrangements planned so I look like I know where I am and what I'm doing.

All I'm trying to do is not to appear clueless to local prospectors who pray on the unaware. Hopefully if any are around - and in some areas of the globe they definitely are in the airports looking for marks - they may pass me by.

I've never had too many problems but have had some interesting moments. One in particular was in the Beijing Airport. I was alone in a restroom, stupid of me, and two men dressed in airport clothing followed me in blocking my exit. I got out okay but learned a valuable lesson of not straying too far from the crowd during processing.

Again this is not likely too useful info for in the op but though I'd share anyway.
 
Just because your valuables are in your carry on or in your hotel room, doesn't mean they are safe. Back up everything to the cloud or to an extra drive which you keep separate. Then buy insurance and enjoy your trip. I've had cameras and laptops stolen on trips abroad. My insurance agent gave me great advice, worry about the stuff you can't easily replace; daughter, photos and files. Let him worry about the "stuff".
 
Here's my protip: don't drink a lot of coffee before a 10 hour flight unless you have something really really interesting to do for 10 hours.
 
You can try this strategy to prepare for jet lag. Let's say you normally get up at 7am. Starting a week before, every day get up 1/2 hour earlier, and by the day of the flight you'll practically be on Europe time! :)

Don't know if you'll be driving but be careful. They say not to drive in Rome because it's a zoo. When I drove through Tuscany/Firenza, I managed to snag to traffic tickets for some BS camera thing in town. It really is good ole revenue raising.
 
TSE said:
Any tips for living in Rome?
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Three personal experience tips for Rome, which is a great city (great atmosphere, liked more than Florence)

1. Don't trust taxi drivers. We were taken on a big detour on arrival going from station to hotel to bump up the fare.

2. Don't trust taxi drivers when paying with a note needing change. Keep hold of the note until he produces the change. We didn't and he switched the note I gave for lower value one.

3. Don't trust anyone who asks you for directions...it was a lead-in to an attempted scam.

Transport laptop in sleep mode so you can quickly demo that it's real.
Digital cameras are OK with Xray nowadays.
 
Imaginator said:
Never put anything of value in a check-in bag. Always carry it with you. Not much more to it than that.
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worth repeating.

And make sure you have some basic toiletries and a change of underwear in your carry-on bag just in case your checked luggage gets lost

Scepticalscribe said:
.....Drink plenty of water before your flight, and, after you have gone through security, buy a few plastic bottles of water to drink on the flight....
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don't buy too much water though......a lot of international airports do a final security check at the boarding gate and you might not be get to take those bottles of water onboard
 
Laptop in your carry on bag. Take it out for customs control. Do as you will see other people do. Rome is one of the most beautiful cities in europe. Enjoy!
 
Unless you have a TSA approved laptop bag, you have to take your laptop out and send it through security in it's own bin. That's in the US, don't know what Italian airport security's requirements are for laptops. And if you fly through Chicago, prepare to explain to them what a TSA laptop approved bag because every time (and I am not exaggerating here) I have flown through both Midway or O'Hare, the TSA agent barked at me to take my laptop out of my bag until I explained to them it was TSA approved. TSA at other airports have never given me trouble over it.

General rule of checked bags is don't put anything in there you want back when you arrive. No laptops, cameras, electronics, etc.

Unless you're in first class, don't assume you'll have any way to charge your gadgets at your seat, so plan accordingly. If you were going to load up a laptop with 10 hours worth of movies to make it through the flight, think again.
 
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